Redemption
Written - 8/20/02
Summary - It's the anniversary of the encounter with the Equinox and Noah Lessing has something special in mind to mark the occasion.
Rating - PG
Chapter 5
As the doors slid open with the characteristic swishing sound, B'Elanna did not hesitate as she stepped through them, now determined to show that she wasn't any more intimidated by Lessing's actions than the Captain.
Lessing had moved back to his earlier position at the Captain's desk and sat scrutinizing the Lieutenant as she entered, but said nothing. He was beginning to tire more and was losing his ability to focus on the task at hand as time went on. No matter what, he had to complete this. The irony of the whole thing was that this wasn't easy for him either. He was not by nature an aggressive or vindictive person. This business of badgering superior officers went against everything he had learned and respected about Starfleet. Nevertheless, he felt it had to be done. The anger in him needed all of this in order to be banished once and for all, and Kathryn Janeway was a convenient target for that anger. She deserved to pay for what she had done to him. Besides, he'd come much too far to quit now, just a little longer and this would be over, one way or another. Shrugging off his fatigue, he steeled himself for his next to last witness.
B'Elanna wasn't sure what Lessing was waiting for, but she didn't care. Upon entering the ready room, she had made brief eye contact with Janeway and what she saw there surprised her. There was a mix of emotions she wasn't sure she could completely interpret, but she also knew it was a mix she had never before seen there. She fought down the urge to attack Lessing and pound him into the carpeting. "If it's alright with you I'll see to the Captain now."
It wasn't a question and Lessing knew it so he simply nodded and watched closely as B'Elanna went about her business.
B'Elanna moved to the Captain and knelt before her, angling her view and taking careful inventory of the outward indications of her commanding officer's condition. "Captain?"
Janeway smiled weakly at her. "Lieutenant." She said quietly. "I gather I've looked better."
B'Elanna smiled in spite of herself. "No offense, but yes, you have."
"None taken." She insisted as she closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and once again pressed the soles of her shoes into the carpeting, the strain on her shoulders too much to bear any longer.
B'Elanna caught her movement. "Captain Janeway, are you alright?" she asked, immediately realizing how utterly absurd it sounded.
Janeway opened her eyes and locked them with B'Elanna's, "As well as can be expected Lieutenant."
B'Elanna did not miss the tone in the Captain's voice that spoke much more than her actual words. They were being watched, not only by Lessing but by the entire crew. No matter how difficult this was for her, the Captain was not about to allow it to become obvious. "Understood." B'Elanna replied, trying to convey her understanding in her tone as well. With that she stood and addressed Lessing. "If it's alright with you, I'd like to get the Captain something to eat."
Lessing said nothing but waved is arm to indicate his acceptance of the request.
B'Elanna went to the replicator, returning quickly with a container of water, a peeled and segmented orange, and a cloth napkin. "Captain?" she inquired in order to get Janeway's attention. The Captain had again closed her eyes, but this time with her head back and her feet still pressed against the floor.
Taking a long, deep breath, Janeway opened her eyes and let her body slump slowly forward. B'Elanna instantly held the water bottle to her lips and she drank slowly, savoring the simple pleasure of it after so long without anything at all. It wasn't a substitute for coffee, but it would do for now. B'Elanna then held a segment of orange to her and she let it slip into her mouth, crushing it with her teeth and letting the juice swirl around her tongue before swallowing it. She nodded approvingly to her junior officer when another piece was presented to her. Over the next few minutes, Janeway ate and drank what B'Elanna offered. She knew full well that another opportunity might not present itself for some time, if ever, and found it difficult to shake the feeling that this could be her last meal.
When Janeway had finished eating the orange, B'Elanna took a last lingering look at her. Her face was terribly discolored and swollen. The blood staining the front of her uniform tunic and shirt from the barely closed wound on her neck made B'Elanna just a little queasy. A little deeper and Lessing would have severed an artery. The usually faint lines near the corners of on Janeway's eyes and mouth appeared more pronounced than normal, and spoke of a profound weariness and discomfort. Janeway's dark and intense blue eyes followed her through the examination until it became necessary for her to shift her position again.
Knowing the Captain would probably not approve, but finding it difficult to pass up an obvious opportunity, B'Elanna decided to try and make her more comfortable. Taking the napkin she had replicated, B'Elanna poured some of the remaining water from the container onto it and gently pressed it to Janeway's forehead and then the rest of her face and neck. Consequently, she managed to wipe away the beads of sweat that had formed there, as well as some remaining blood at the corner of her mouth and on her neck. Janeway was somewhat startled by the gesture at first, but then resigned herself to it, even relishing the feel of the cool cloth against her warm skin.
The feeling ended when Lessing, obviously becoming impatient, demanded their full attention. "Enough. This has lasted long enough. Sit down Lieutenant."
Janeway and Torres looked at each other one last time with the Captain nodding at her almost imperceptibly, silently acknowledging the reality of what was to come. B'Elanna was instantly reminded of what Chakotay had said about being honest. She now knew beyond a shadow a doubt that he was right.
Lessing's body language again spoke of his restlessness as he paced the floor in font of the Captain's desk while he waited for B'Elanna to take the chair most recently occupied by Tuvok. He wasted no time once she was in her place. "Lieutenant Torres, when Voyager again made contact with the Equinox after our initial escape, can you relay to us some of your experiences in Engineering during the battle that ensued?"
"I'm not sure what you mean." She stalled.
"Oh come on Lieutenant, you know exactly what I mean. But, if you insist." Lessing left the sentence hanging in mid-air as he played a recording of the bridge logs that proved that B'Elanna had contacted the bridge more than once during that encounter. Her intent to identify how compromised the systems were and that they were in serious jeopardy should they continue with their current course of action.
"Fine, we were in trouble. But we've been in trouble before." B'Elanna insisted. "It's not my place to second guess the situation, just pass on engineering reports and make recommendations. I follow orders like everyone else on this ship, particularly in a crisis. I'm not in a position to know all the circumstances. I'd be passing judgement without all the facts."
Lessing smiled. "Well said, but still, this wasn't a life and death situation now was it? At least it shouldn't have been. You weren't being attacked, you were chasing down the Equinox. I'm asking for your opinion. Did you really feel the risk to the ship was worth the prize?"
"If you're asking my opinion, I'm not sure I would have compromised Voyager's systems to that extent. But I'm not the Captain, I don't carry her responsibility, either for the ship, or for the Federation and Starfleet. Furthermore, as a former Maquis, Ransom's betrayal doesn't mean the same thing to me as it would to her, although I think I can understand her position. And besides, we eventually broke off our pursuit." She stated emphatically.
"Were you aware of the reason for that?"
"No."
"Really!" I have some information that would lead me to believe otherwise, would you care to rethink your answer?" he badgered.
Now she was certain. He must have managed to gain access to at least her personal logs as well as Tuvok's. "I have no direct evidence of why. I was later told of the incident by Commander Chakotay."
"And what did he tell you?" Lessing pressed.
B'Elanna hesitated and looked toward the Captain. Janeway simply returned her eye contact with a neutral expression on her face. Resigned to her fate, B'Elanna finally answered the question. "I spoke with Chakotay after he had been relieved of duty. He relayed his version of the incident to me and told me that he had openly objected to Voyager continuing pursuit. He believed his forcefulness had been the deciding factor in the Captain finally giving the order to abandon the chase."
"So it really wasn't her idea was it? The Commander was really the one responsible for preventing a possible disastrous outcome."
"That's one point of view." She said simply.
"And what else did the Commander tell you about the Captain and her behavior during this conversation?"
She leaned forward in her chair, "Why don't you ask him? He was the one on the bridge with her, not me!" She practically shouted it.
"I intend to. But I think it's important to know that you and he spoke and that he asked you to do something for him didn't he?"
"What are you driving at?" She said, trying to stall this line of questioning.
With that Lessing pressed his finger to the control pad on the Captain's desk and the ready room was filled with the sound of B'Elanna's own voice from her personal logs. "Chakotay has been relieved of duty. Something I feared might happen early in our journey on Voyager, but certainly not something I would ever have expected after all this time together. The few times I have seen the Captain since the Equinox made her escape, I have noticed a change in her. She seems determined to bring them in, to the exclusion of almost everything else. I guess I can't fault her for being furious, but Chakotay is worried. He's asked me to keep an eye on her for him. He wants to know if she goes over the edge, places the ship and crew in serious danger without real provocation. I told him if my reluctance, stating my respect and admiration for the Captain, but he was insistent. I've promised to inform him of anything out of the ordinary as I have been summoned to duty on the bridge with the absence of both Seven and Chakotay. It will give me the opportunity to judge her behavior for myself first hand. I sincerely hope he's wrong."
B'Elanna was incensed, "Why are you doing this Lessing? Why bring me in here and ask me questions if you have all the recorded evidence against the Captain you need?"
"Because that would simply be repeating recordings without context. Thank you for providing the context Lieutenant."
"Why you." B'Elanna's emotions got the best of her and she flew from her seat, taking several rapid steps toward Lessing before she heard an unmistakable and commanding voice beside her.
"Sit down Lieutenant, that's an order!" cried Janeway.
Torres stopped dead in her tracks, much to the relief of Lessing who hadn't been exactly sure just what to do with a charging Klingon on his hands.
Spinning on her heels, B'Elanna looked at the Captain. There was fire in her superior's eyes. There was no mistaking the order. Reluctantly she complied.
"I'm sorry Captain, it's just."
"I understand. But this is not the time or the place." She looked at B'Elanna until she was sure that she had conveyed all she needed to and then shifted her attention back toward Lessing.
For the briefest of moments, Lessing actually felt fear. Not from the possibility of B'Elanna's attack, but from the another fleeting thought that this was all wrong. That perhaps his anger wasn't entirely at the battered woman before him. As fast as the thought had entered his mind, he managed to shake it off, letting his anger take control again. "Very good Captain, keep your people in line. I must admit they are well trained and nothing if not loyal to you. Why else would they have followed your unreasonable orders as long as they did?"
Before she even had a chance to respond, B'Elanna broke in, "Lessing, you haven't the faintest clue what you're talking about. You seem obsessed with our personal logs. Well why don't you play all of them? Why don't you play mine from the night the Equinox exploded? I witnessed the final exchange between Ransom and Captain Janeway. She gave him every opportunity to save himself and he flatly turned her down. In the end, he begged her to promise to get her crew home. I saw her reaction when the Equinox blew up before our very eyes. She was deeply effected by it all, his words to her as well as his death. I think it's unfair not to present both sides of the story."
Lessing was now able to shift his emotional energy from fear to anger, "Both sides of the story Lieutenant? You haven't even begun to hear the evidence. The most telling evidence of all. I think now is as good a time as any. You're dismissed Torres, tell Commander Chakotay I saved the best for last." He stood stock still and motioned toward the door, indicating that she was dismissed.
B'Elanna looked from one face to the other not knowing exactly how to respond, but in essence, he hadn't given her much of a choice. Silently, and with a look a utter frustration on her face, she left the ready room. What she had said had made a point with the greater audience on Voyager though. Something that Lessing couldn't possibly be aware of. The questioning had so far revealed nothing incriminating enough that it would convince them to completely turn on their captain. While it hadn't exactly placed her in a good light, it was simply not enough to overwhelm over six years of dedicated service to her ship and crew. Sure she'd made some mistakes, had a few lapses in judgement, but there was a great deal more evidence in her favor. Lessing still had a lot of work to do if he were going to change their minds.
Janeway took the brief intermission to try to rest. She let her head drop to her chest again even before B'Elanna had managed to leave the room. A million thoughts swam in her head. She had not known that Chakotay had spoken to B'Elanna after she had relieved him of duty, but she wasn't surprise her. He would undoubtedly have needed to confide his thoughts and feelings to someone, and being the exceptional officer he was, he would also have wanted someone to be his eyes and ears in order to protect the crew. She had no doubt that had the situation gotten serious enough to warrant it, Chakotay would have taken matters into his own hands. She thanked the powers that be that she had been blessed with a first officer the caliber of Chakotay and not a one the likes of Maxwell Burke who, in the end, had even betrayed his own captain.
Given what had happened so far, she knew this last interview would be the worst yet. Lessing had been in possession of too much personal information already to think he wasn't saving some of the best for last. She had no doubt that he had information from both Chakotay and herself that would be difficult to deal with. And there was still the most incriminating evidence of all, Lessing's own personal experience at her hands.
=/\=
When B'Elanna passed through the doorway and back onto the bridge, she immediately noticed Chakotay and Tuvok in conference at the Tactical station. She had no idea what they were up to, but it looked like they were hatching some sort of plan as they were speaking quietly to each other and poring over a display on Tuvok's security console. Chakotay noticed her as she emerged and quickly broke off his conversation with Tuvok to approach her.
"Are you okay?" He asked her.
"I don't know Chakotay. I really don't know." She lowered her head in disgust with herself. "I hated what I said in there, what he made me say."
"I know." He replied softly as he pulled her into his arms. "The best thing you can do now is help us get her out of there and secure the ship. Harry and Seven need your help. Go on." He said as he released her and patted her on the back.
She pulled herself away and nodded at him, then squared her shoulders and walked across the bridge to join Harry at Ops.
Chakotay climbed back up the short staircase to stand beside Tuvok. B'Elanna had been right, they were hatching a plan. More of a signal system of sorts to provide status information to Chakotay while he was otherwise involved in the ready room. It consisted of an old style Morse Code system through a series of low frequency buzzes to his comm badge. Something he could feel but no one would hear. The other part of the plan was a small set of code words. Each specifically chosen, they would only be used to communicate something of paramount importance.
They all worked quietly for several minutes taking advantage of this small window of opportunity that Lessing was providing all of them to work together. B'Elanna hardest of all. They knew they were close to a solution. By a process of elimination they had narrowed the possibilities considerably and were running a series of complex diagnostics on the remaining systems. Once the algorithm had run it's course, they should know where the explosive device was, if there was indeed a device at all.
Chakotay and Tuvok finished their conversation just in time to hear B'Elanna shatter the silence in the room. "I've got it! The device is connected to the plasma injector system. It's in an almost inaccessible part of the superstructure." She performed a quick calculation through her console and then she continued. "Harry, modulate the flow to the port nacelle conduit to a variance of exactly 3% of normal. That will maintain the flow through the system, but reduce the risk of the thing going off until we can get at it."
Harry Kim moved his hands over his console at lighting speed and was rewarded a few seconds later when the conduit monitoring system showed the desired result. "We're there!" he exclaimed.
"Harry, keep that variance exactly where it is, no matter what. Seven, You're with me." B'Elanna said as she and Seven quickly began to head toward the briefing room where from there they could enter an open corridor and the series of turbolifts and Jefferies tubes that would take them to their destination. On her way out she turned toward Voyager's First Office, "We'll contact you as soon as we have located the device."
Chakotay looked at the two women and nodded. "Good luck."
With that final word, Seven and B'Elanna headed off to try to reverse fortunes on the crewman in the ready room and his deadly game.
Within seconds of the departure of the two women, Lessing hailed Chakotay and summoned him to the ready room. He looked at Tuvok. "You're in charge out here. Remember, your first priority is the safety of the ship, whatever happens in there." He tilted his head toward the ready room in emphasis.
"Understood Commander." Replied Tuvok. They exchanged knowing glances and then each went about their respective duty.
=/\=
TBC
Written - 8/20/02
Summary - It's the anniversary of the encounter with the Equinox and Noah Lessing has something special in mind to mark the occasion.
Rating - PG
Chapter 5
As the doors slid open with the characteristic swishing sound, B'Elanna did not hesitate as she stepped through them, now determined to show that she wasn't any more intimidated by Lessing's actions than the Captain.
Lessing had moved back to his earlier position at the Captain's desk and sat scrutinizing the Lieutenant as she entered, but said nothing. He was beginning to tire more and was losing his ability to focus on the task at hand as time went on. No matter what, he had to complete this. The irony of the whole thing was that this wasn't easy for him either. He was not by nature an aggressive or vindictive person. This business of badgering superior officers went against everything he had learned and respected about Starfleet. Nevertheless, he felt it had to be done. The anger in him needed all of this in order to be banished once and for all, and Kathryn Janeway was a convenient target for that anger. She deserved to pay for what she had done to him. Besides, he'd come much too far to quit now, just a little longer and this would be over, one way or another. Shrugging off his fatigue, he steeled himself for his next to last witness.
B'Elanna wasn't sure what Lessing was waiting for, but she didn't care. Upon entering the ready room, she had made brief eye contact with Janeway and what she saw there surprised her. There was a mix of emotions she wasn't sure she could completely interpret, but she also knew it was a mix she had never before seen there. She fought down the urge to attack Lessing and pound him into the carpeting. "If it's alright with you I'll see to the Captain now."
It wasn't a question and Lessing knew it so he simply nodded and watched closely as B'Elanna went about her business.
B'Elanna moved to the Captain and knelt before her, angling her view and taking careful inventory of the outward indications of her commanding officer's condition. "Captain?"
Janeway smiled weakly at her. "Lieutenant." She said quietly. "I gather I've looked better."
B'Elanna smiled in spite of herself. "No offense, but yes, you have."
"None taken." She insisted as she closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and once again pressed the soles of her shoes into the carpeting, the strain on her shoulders too much to bear any longer.
B'Elanna caught her movement. "Captain Janeway, are you alright?" she asked, immediately realizing how utterly absurd it sounded.
Janeway opened her eyes and locked them with B'Elanna's, "As well as can be expected Lieutenant."
B'Elanna did not miss the tone in the Captain's voice that spoke much more than her actual words. They were being watched, not only by Lessing but by the entire crew. No matter how difficult this was for her, the Captain was not about to allow it to become obvious. "Understood." B'Elanna replied, trying to convey her understanding in her tone as well. With that she stood and addressed Lessing. "If it's alright with you, I'd like to get the Captain something to eat."
Lessing said nothing but waved is arm to indicate his acceptance of the request.
B'Elanna went to the replicator, returning quickly with a container of water, a peeled and segmented orange, and a cloth napkin. "Captain?" she inquired in order to get Janeway's attention. The Captain had again closed her eyes, but this time with her head back and her feet still pressed against the floor.
Taking a long, deep breath, Janeway opened her eyes and let her body slump slowly forward. B'Elanna instantly held the water bottle to her lips and she drank slowly, savoring the simple pleasure of it after so long without anything at all. It wasn't a substitute for coffee, but it would do for now. B'Elanna then held a segment of orange to her and she let it slip into her mouth, crushing it with her teeth and letting the juice swirl around her tongue before swallowing it. She nodded approvingly to her junior officer when another piece was presented to her. Over the next few minutes, Janeway ate and drank what B'Elanna offered. She knew full well that another opportunity might not present itself for some time, if ever, and found it difficult to shake the feeling that this could be her last meal.
When Janeway had finished eating the orange, B'Elanna took a last lingering look at her. Her face was terribly discolored and swollen. The blood staining the front of her uniform tunic and shirt from the barely closed wound on her neck made B'Elanna just a little queasy. A little deeper and Lessing would have severed an artery. The usually faint lines near the corners of on Janeway's eyes and mouth appeared more pronounced than normal, and spoke of a profound weariness and discomfort. Janeway's dark and intense blue eyes followed her through the examination until it became necessary for her to shift her position again.
Knowing the Captain would probably not approve, but finding it difficult to pass up an obvious opportunity, B'Elanna decided to try and make her more comfortable. Taking the napkin she had replicated, B'Elanna poured some of the remaining water from the container onto it and gently pressed it to Janeway's forehead and then the rest of her face and neck. Consequently, she managed to wipe away the beads of sweat that had formed there, as well as some remaining blood at the corner of her mouth and on her neck. Janeway was somewhat startled by the gesture at first, but then resigned herself to it, even relishing the feel of the cool cloth against her warm skin.
The feeling ended when Lessing, obviously becoming impatient, demanded their full attention. "Enough. This has lasted long enough. Sit down Lieutenant."
Janeway and Torres looked at each other one last time with the Captain nodding at her almost imperceptibly, silently acknowledging the reality of what was to come. B'Elanna was instantly reminded of what Chakotay had said about being honest. She now knew beyond a shadow a doubt that he was right.
Lessing's body language again spoke of his restlessness as he paced the floor in font of the Captain's desk while he waited for B'Elanna to take the chair most recently occupied by Tuvok. He wasted no time once she was in her place. "Lieutenant Torres, when Voyager again made contact with the Equinox after our initial escape, can you relay to us some of your experiences in Engineering during the battle that ensued?"
"I'm not sure what you mean." She stalled.
"Oh come on Lieutenant, you know exactly what I mean. But, if you insist." Lessing left the sentence hanging in mid-air as he played a recording of the bridge logs that proved that B'Elanna had contacted the bridge more than once during that encounter. Her intent to identify how compromised the systems were and that they were in serious jeopardy should they continue with their current course of action.
"Fine, we were in trouble. But we've been in trouble before." B'Elanna insisted. "It's not my place to second guess the situation, just pass on engineering reports and make recommendations. I follow orders like everyone else on this ship, particularly in a crisis. I'm not in a position to know all the circumstances. I'd be passing judgement without all the facts."
Lessing smiled. "Well said, but still, this wasn't a life and death situation now was it? At least it shouldn't have been. You weren't being attacked, you were chasing down the Equinox. I'm asking for your opinion. Did you really feel the risk to the ship was worth the prize?"
"If you're asking my opinion, I'm not sure I would have compromised Voyager's systems to that extent. But I'm not the Captain, I don't carry her responsibility, either for the ship, or for the Federation and Starfleet. Furthermore, as a former Maquis, Ransom's betrayal doesn't mean the same thing to me as it would to her, although I think I can understand her position. And besides, we eventually broke off our pursuit." She stated emphatically.
"Were you aware of the reason for that?"
"No."
"Really!" I have some information that would lead me to believe otherwise, would you care to rethink your answer?" he badgered.
Now she was certain. He must have managed to gain access to at least her personal logs as well as Tuvok's. "I have no direct evidence of why. I was later told of the incident by Commander Chakotay."
"And what did he tell you?" Lessing pressed.
B'Elanna hesitated and looked toward the Captain. Janeway simply returned her eye contact with a neutral expression on her face. Resigned to her fate, B'Elanna finally answered the question. "I spoke with Chakotay after he had been relieved of duty. He relayed his version of the incident to me and told me that he had openly objected to Voyager continuing pursuit. He believed his forcefulness had been the deciding factor in the Captain finally giving the order to abandon the chase."
"So it really wasn't her idea was it? The Commander was really the one responsible for preventing a possible disastrous outcome."
"That's one point of view." She said simply.
"And what else did the Commander tell you about the Captain and her behavior during this conversation?"
She leaned forward in her chair, "Why don't you ask him? He was the one on the bridge with her, not me!" She practically shouted it.
"I intend to. But I think it's important to know that you and he spoke and that he asked you to do something for him didn't he?"
"What are you driving at?" She said, trying to stall this line of questioning.
With that Lessing pressed his finger to the control pad on the Captain's desk and the ready room was filled with the sound of B'Elanna's own voice from her personal logs. "Chakotay has been relieved of duty. Something I feared might happen early in our journey on Voyager, but certainly not something I would ever have expected after all this time together. The few times I have seen the Captain since the Equinox made her escape, I have noticed a change in her. She seems determined to bring them in, to the exclusion of almost everything else. I guess I can't fault her for being furious, but Chakotay is worried. He's asked me to keep an eye on her for him. He wants to know if she goes over the edge, places the ship and crew in serious danger without real provocation. I told him if my reluctance, stating my respect and admiration for the Captain, but he was insistent. I've promised to inform him of anything out of the ordinary as I have been summoned to duty on the bridge with the absence of both Seven and Chakotay. It will give me the opportunity to judge her behavior for myself first hand. I sincerely hope he's wrong."
B'Elanna was incensed, "Why are you doing this Lessing? Why bring me in here and ask me questions if you have all the recorded evidence against the Captain you need?"
"Because that would simply be repeating recordings without context. Thank you for providing the context Lieutenant."
"Why you." B'Elanna's emotions got the best of her and she flew from her seat, taking several rapid steps toward Lessing before she heard an unmistakable and commanding voice beside her.
"Sit down Lieutenant, that's an order!" cried Janeway.
Torres stopped dead in her tracks, much to the relief of Lessing who hadn't been exactly sure just what to do with a charging Klingon on his hands.
Spinning on her heels, B'Elanna looked at the Captain. There was fire in her superior's eyes. There was no mistaking the order. Reluctantly she complied.
"I'm sorry Captain, it's just."
"I understand. But this is not the time or the place." She looked at B'Elanna until she was sure that she had conveyed all she needed to and then shifted her attention back toward Lessing.
For the briefest of moments, Lessing actually felt fear. Not from the possibility of B'Elanna's attack, but from the another fleeting thought that this was all wrong. That perhaps his anger wasn't entirely at the battered woman before him. As fast as the thought had entered his mind, he managed to shake it off, letting his anger take control again. "Very good Captain, keep your people in line. I must admit they are well trained and nothing if not loyal to you. Why else would they have followed your unreasonable orders as long as they did?"
Before she even had a chance to respond, B'Elanna broke in, "Lessing, you haven't the faintest clue what you're talking about. You seem obsessed with our personal logs. Well why don't you play all of them? Why don't you play mine from the night the Equinox exploded? I witnessed the final exchange between Ransom and Captain Janeway. She gave him every opportunity to save himself and he flatly turned her down. In the end, he begged her to promise to get her crew home. I saw her reaction when the Equinox blew up before our very eyes. She was deeply effected by it all, his words to her as well as his death. I think it's unfair not to present both sides of the story."
Lessing was now able to shift his emotional energy from fear to anger, "Both sides of the story Lieutenant? You haven't even begun to hear the evidence. The most telling evidence of all. I think now is as good a time as any. You're dismissed Torres, tell Commander Chakotay I saved the best for last." He stood stock still and motioned toward the door, indicating that she was dismissed.
B'Elanna looked from one face to the other not knowing exactly how to respond, but in essence, he hadn't given her much of a choice. Silently, and with a look a utter frustration on her face, she left the ready room. What she had said had made a point with the greater audience on Voyager though. Something that Lessing couldn't possibly be aware of. The questioning had so far revealed nothing incriminating enough that it would convince them to completely turn on their captain. While it hadn't exactly placed her in a good light, it was simply not enough to overwhelm over six years of dedicated service to her ship and crew. Sure she'd made some mistakes, had a few lapses in judgement, but there was a great deal more evidence in her favor. Lessing still had a lot of work to do if he were going to change their minds.
Janeway took the brief intermission to try to rest. She let her head drop to her chest again even before B'Elanna had managed to leave the room. A million thoughts swam in her head. She had not known that Chakotay had spoken to B'Elanna after she had relieved him of duty, but she wasn't surprise her. He would undoubtedly have needed to confide his thoughts and feelings to someone, and being the exceptional officer he was, he would also have wanted someone to be his eyes and ears in order to protect the crew. She had no doubt that had the situation gotten serious enough to warrant it, Chakotay would have taken matters into his own hands. She thanked the powers that be that she had been blessed with a first officer the caliber of Chakotay and not a one the likes of Maxwell Burke who, in the end, had even betrayed his own captain.
Given what had happened so far, she knew this last interview would be the worst yet. Lessing had been in possession of too much personal information already to think he wasn't saving some of the best for last. She had no doubt that he had information from both Chakotay and herself that would be difficult to deal with. And there was still the most incriminating evidence of all, Lessing's own personal experience at her hands.
=/\=
When B'Elanna passed through the doorway and back onto the bridge, she immediately noticed Chakotay and Tuvok in conference at the Tactical station. She had no idea what they were up to, but it looked like they were hatching some sort of plan as they were speaking quietly to each other and poring over a display on Tuvok's security console. Chakotay noticed her as she emerged and quickly broke off his conversation with Tuvok to approach her.
"Are you okay?" He asked her.
"I don't know Chakotay. I really don't know." She lowered her head in disgust with herself. "I hated what I said in there, what he made me say."
"I know." He replied softly as he pulled her into his arms. "The best thing you can do now is help us get her out of there and secure the ship. Harry and Seven need your help. Go on." He said as he released her and patted her on the back.
She pulled herself away and nodded at him, then squared her shoulders and walked across the bridge to join Harry at Ops.
Chakotay climbed back up the short staircase to stand beside Tuvok. B'Elanna had been right, they were hatching a plan. More of a signal system of sorts to provide status information to Chakotay while he was otherwise involved in the ready room. It consisted of an old style Morse Code system through a series of low frequency buzzes to his comm badge. Something he could feel but no one would hear. The other part of the plan was a small set of code words. Each specifically chosen, they would only be used to communicate something of paramount importance.
They all worked quietly for several minutes taking advantage of this small window of opportunity that Lessing was providing all of them to work together. B'Elanna hardest of all. They knew they were close to a solution. By a process of elimination they had narrowed the possibilities considerably and were running a series of complex diagnostics on the remaining systems. Once the algorithm had run it's course, they should know where the explosive device was, if there was indeed a device at all.
Chakotay and Tuvok finished their conversation just in time to hear B'Elanna shatter the silence in the room. "I've got it! The device is connected to the plasma injector system. It's in an almost inaccessible part of the superstructure." She performed a quick calculation through her console and then she continued. "Harry, modulate the flow to the port nacelle conduit to a variance of exactly 3% of normal. That will maintain the flow through the system, but reduce the risk of the thing going off until we can get at it."
Harry Kim moved his hands over his console at lighting speed and was rewarded a few seconds later when the conduit monitoring system showed the desired result. "We're there!" he exclaimed.
"Harry, keep that variance exactly where it is, no matter what. Seven, You're with me." B'Elanna said as she and Seven quickly began to head toward the briefing room where from there they could enter an open corridor and the series of turbolifts and Jefferies tubes that would take them to their destination. On her way out she turned toward Voyager's First Office, "We'll contact you as soon as we have located the device."
Chakotay looked at the two women and nodded. "Good luck."
With that final word, Seven and B'Elanna headed off to try to reverse fortunes on the crewman in the ready room and his deadly game.
Within seconds of the departure of the two women, Lessing hailed Chakotay and summoned him to the ready room. He looked at Tuvok. "You're in charge out here. Remember, your first priority is the safety of the ship, whatever happens in there." He tilted his head toward the ready room in emphasis.
"Understood Commander." Replied Tuvok. They exchanged knowing glances and then each went about their respective duty.
=/\=
TBC