Author's Note: Enjoy!
Summary: Voyager was forced to 'wing it' at all times in the delta quadrant even though that's not usually Starfleet style. Is that still how they know to play it when they run into additional problems, or have they been back in the alpha quadrant too long?
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Chapter Eight:
Snags and Problems
**Bridge**
"Slow to one quarter impulse," Admiral Janeway ordered.
"Aye, Captain." Tom pressed a few buttons and Voyager's speed decreased.
There in front of them hovered the same eerie, ghost like ship that Harry and Tuvok had seen before. They all froze and stood there, starring at the ship that none of them had forgot.
Janeway hesitated before she said into her communicator, "Janeway to Torres. Prepare to beam out."
"We're ready whenever, Captain." B'Elanna replied.
"Energize." Janeway starred at the ship as she gave the order for them to beam aboard the mystery ship.
**Kotec Ship**
"What are they doing? They're just sitting there?" Tineach Kitmere said, out raged. "Sir, we can't detect any kind of action from them. What are your orders?"
"Don't fire upon them, but bring the weapons systems online," Talic Mento ordered.
"Aye, sir." Tineach Kitmere walked away and went about his duties.
"Sir, there are two intruders aboard the ship. Level five, section three. They're heading for the reactor," a Glit (Ensign) said.
"Head them off. We can't have them tampering with our ship," Talic Mento said. Then he smiled and murmured, "I know what you're doing, Captain. Very smart, but it wont work."
**Kotec Ship, Level Five, Section Three**
They walked along the halls being quiet and stealthy. It had been a while but the specs to the ship did not seem to have changed at all. Which made what they were doing much easier. Hopefully this would be in and out, but B'Elanna doubted it with her luck.
They reached the reactor and B'Elanna and Harry immediately began to pull off the panel that blocked them from the wiring in they needed to work with. Slowly and carefully, B'Elanna let herself absorb the lock of it; deciding what everything did and where it went.
A minute later she pulled out a small tool and started to reconfigure some of it. She and Harry carefully and precisely performed the same procedure they had three years ago. A satisfying clicking noise told them they were almost done with their work.
B'Elanna took out a bomb. It was designed pacifically to absorb and amplify all the deferent energies the reactor on the Kotec's ship made. When it blew, it would use all the power it collects from the time it was activated until it then, to power itself.
B'Elanna got the explosive set up and attacked to the reactor. Then she set it to go off in thirty minutes. She stood and put the panel back in place as Harry picked up their tools.
That's when they heard, "Stop...there!"
**Voyager**
"Come on, B'Elanna," Janeway muttered to herself. She was getting nervous and afraid that this might not work or that they were caught.
Suddenly, they saw three Starships approaching their positions. "Captain, three ships approaching our position. Two are galaxy-class, one's Intrepid-class. They're approaching our position with their shields up and weapons armed."
"Captain, should we go to red alert?"
Janeway quickly weighed her options. If they went to red alert they would be putting their shield up and then the away team could not get back. She wouldn't let that happen. So she was counting on the fact that she believed the ships wouldn't fire on them.
They wouldn't in a normal situation. She had to remind herself that wasn't what they were in. If these captains and crews were under the affected of their mind control, then they just might if told to do so. But she had to protect the greater good, but she would just give up on the away team. "Go to red alert."
"What about the away team?" Tom protested. Harry had always been his best friend, his only true friend he had ever had. And B'Elanna, well, she was his wife, mother of his daughter, and only true love. He didn't want to lose either of them.
"I'm not abandoning them, Tom. I'm hoping to god that they wont actually fire on us."
**Kotec Ship, Level Five, Section Three**
Luckily, they could only see B'Elanna from their angle and Harry was able to hide from them.
"What...are...you...doing...here?" The same guard asked. He and another had what looked like weapons pointed at her and she assumed they were the patrols sent to 'capture' them.
"I...took a wrong turn. Do you think you could point me to the nearest...starship," she stalled horribly. She was trying to buy Harry a little time to scoot around the reactor so he could knock the guards out from behind.
When he finally did, he got one knocked out and the other turned to him. B'Elanna tried to use his distraction to her advantage by attacking him then, but it backfired, literally. The guard had his weapon trained on Harry and when B'Elanna jumped him, he slipped and fired: hitting Harry in the arm.
Harry screamed as he felt the shot hit his shoulder and he slid to the floor. B'Elanna managed to take out the guard and ran over to Harry.
"Harry, oh god." She looked at the wound and it was bad. It was poring blood and he was in an awful lot of pain.
She ripped some of his sleeve off in order to get a better look at the wound. Then, she ripped her own sleeve off the use as a makeshift band-aid. She tied it tightly around the wound, blocking the bleeding and hoping to stop it.
"Transporter Room Two, we need emergency transport to Sickbay."
"I'm sorry, B'Elanna. Our shields are up; there's been a crisis. We can't beam you out."
"What!?" B'Elanna ran over to the reactor and said, "We only have twenty-six minutes to get out of here. Can you find a way to get the shields down?"
"We're trying to, B'Elanna."
B'Elanna looked at Harry and winced as she saw the pain over his face. She thought back to the schematics of the last ship they had been on of Kotec origin. She visualized it and remembered that there was a shuttle bay only two decks down.
She smiled and asked, "Can you walk?"
"I think so." She helped him to his feet. Harry groaned in pain as started to walk and almost fell. "Just go without me. I'll just slow you down."
B'Elanna grabbed him again and supported him more as she began to walk. "You wish, Starfleet. I'm not leaving you behind." Then, together, they walked down the hall.
**Voyager, Bridge**
"Admiral Janeway, by order of Starfleet, I order you to power down your weapons and surrender your ship and its crew to us." The image of Captain Porter was many times its real size on the view screen. The Philadelphia was unfortunately one of the three ships with their weapons locked on Voyager.
Janeway swore to herself that she would not harm any of the other ship and avoid a firefight at all costs. But, if necessary to save her crew, she would disable them.
"I will not do that, Captain. You are under a type of mind control, you can't see the threat."
"I can see the threat just fine. It's sitting right in front of me, saying nonsense. I will give you one last chance to surrender your vessel or we will be forced to open fire," Captain Porter warned.
Janeway glared back at him, he would not intimidate her. She looked around and the people looking at her. They would do anything for her, for their crewmates, for their family. That included dying for them. In this instance, they would gladly give their lives to stop this madness.
"I'm afraid I can not do that, Captain."
"Then you leave us with no choice." The screen went black and all three ships targeted Voyager. The entire ship rocked as the phasers impacted the shields.
"Tuvok, target their weapons. Knock them out," Janeway gave the order reluctantly.
"Aye, sir." Red beams of light shot from Voyager and hit their shields. "Their shields are holding."
**Kotec Ship, Reactor Room**
They traveled slowly down the halls but it was the only pace Harry could maintain in his predicament. Unfortunately, they had to use the ladders to get down the two decks for they didn't want to be discovered using the turbolift, even if they could figure out how to use them.
Harry suffered through forcing himself down the ladders. He tried to use only his one arm, but he constantly hit his shoulder or arm against the wall.
"We're almost there," B'Elanna assured Harry. She felt his pain. In a way, it was her fault, but she couldn't dwell on that. She needed to get them out of there before the place blew, which would be in about twelve more minutes.
They got out of the catwalks and carefully walked down the hall to get to the Shuttle Bay. Luckily, they hadn't seen anyone so they had not been in a firefight. Which was a good thing because that would take up valuable time. Which they now had only eight minutes of.
When the doors opened, they saw that there was only one person who was watching the Shuttles. B'Elanna snuck up behind him and hit him hard in the back of the neck. It worked on every other species, so she figured it might work on them.
And she was right. He collapsed on the ground and B'Elanna walked over him. She pressed a few buttons as Harry walked up to her. She could kind of read the writing, but it was a little complex.
She thought that she had programmed it to decompress the Bay and open the door in a minute. They ran to the first Shuttle they came to and got in. The door closed and the Bay started to decompresurize.
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Please, please, please R/R. I really, really want to know what you think about the story and how it's going. The next chapter will be the last.
Summary: Voyager was forced to 'wing it' at all times in the delta quadrant even though that's not usually Starfleet style. Is that still how they know to play it when they run into additional problems, or have they been back in the alpha quadrant too long?
{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}
Chapter Eight:
Snags and Problems
**Bridge**
"Slow to one quarter impulse," Admiral Janeway ordered.
"Aye, Captain." Tom pressed a few buttons and Voyager's speed decreased.
There in front of them hovered the same eerie, ghost like ship that Harry and Tuvok had seen before. They all froze and stood there, starring at the ship that none of them had forgot.
Janeway hesitated before she said into her communicator, "Janeway to Torres. Prepare to beam out."
"We're ready whenever, Captain." B'Elanna replied.
"Energize." Janeway starred at the ship as she gave the order for them to beam aboard the mystery ship.
**Kotec Ship**
"What are they doing? They're just sitting there?" Tineach Kitmere said, out raged. "Sir, we can't detect any kind of action from them. What are your orders?"
"Don't fire upon them, but bring the weapons systems online," Talic Mento ordered.
"Aye, sir." Tineach Kitmere walked away and went about his duties.
"Sir, there are two intruders aboard the ship. Level five, section three. They're heading for the reactor," a Glit (Ensign) said.
"Head them off. We can't have them tampering with our ship," Talic Mento said. Then he smiled and murmured, "I know what you're doing, Captain. Very smart, but it wont work."
**Kotec Ship, Level Five, Section Three**
They walked along the halls being quiet and stealthy. It had been a while but the specs to the ship did not seem to have changed at all. Which made what they were doing much easier. Hopefully this would be in and out, but B'Elanna doubted it with her luck.
They reached the reactor and B'Elanna and Harry immediately began to pull off the panel that blocked them from the wiring in they needed to work with. Slowly and carefully, B'Elanna let herself absorb the lock of it; deciding what everything did and where it went.
A minute later she pulled out a small tool and started to reconfigure some of it. She and Harry carefully and precisely performed the same procedure they had three years ago. A satisfying clicking noise told them they were almost done with their work.
B'Elanna took out a bomb. It was designed pacifically to absorb and amplify all the deferent energies the reactor on the Kotec's ship made. When it blew, it would use all the power it collects from the time it was activated until it then, to power itself.
B'Elanna got the explosive set up and attacked to the reactor. Then she set it to go off in thirty minutes. She stood and put the panel back in place as Harry picked up their tools.
That's when they heard, "Stop...there!"
**Voyager**
"Come on, B'Elanna," Janeway muttered to herself. She was getting nervous and afraid that this might not work or that they were caught.
Suddenly, they saw three Starships approaching their positions. "Captain, three ships approaching our position. Two are galaxy-class, one's Intrepid-class. They're approaching our position with their shields up and weapons armed."
"Captain, should we go to red alert?"
Janeway quickly weighed her options. If they went to red alert they would be putting their shield up and then the away team could not get back. She wouldn't let that happen. So she was counting on the fact that she believed the ships wouldn't fire on them.
They wouldn't in a normal situation. She had to remind herself that wasn't what they were in. If these captains and crews were under the affected of their mind control, then they just might if told to do so. But she had to protect the greater good, but she would just give up on the away team. "Go to red alert."
"What about the away team?" Tom protested. Harry had always been his best friend, his only true friend he had ever had. And B'Elanna, well, she was his wife, mother of his daughter, and only true love. He didn't want to lose either of them.
"I'm not abandoning them, Tom. I'm hoping to god that they wont actually fire on us."
**Kotec Ship, Level Five, Section Three**
Luckily, they could only see B'Elanna from their angle and Harry was able to hide from them.
"What...are...you...doing...here?" The same guard asked. He and another had what looked like weapons pointed at her and she assumed they were the patrols sent to 'capture' them.
"I...took a wrong turn. Do you think you could point me to the nearest...starship," she stalled horribly. She was trying to buy Harry a little time to scoot around the reactor so he could knock the guards out from behind.
When he finally did, he got one knocked out and the other turned to him. B'Elanna tried to use his distraction to her advantage by attacking him then, but it backfired, literally. The guard had his weapon trained on Harry and when B'Elanna jumped him, he slipped and fired: hitting Harry in the arm.
Harry screamed as he felt the shot hit his shoulder and he slid to the floor. B'Elanna managed to take out the guard and ran over to Harry.
"Harry, oh god." She looked at the wound and it was bad. It was poring blood and he was in an awful lot of pain.
She ripped some of his sleeve off in order to get a better look at the wound. Then, she ripped her own sleeve off the use as a makeshift band-aid. She tied it tightly around the wound, blocking the bleeding and hoping to stop it.
"Transporter Room Two, we need emergency transport to Sickbay."
"I'm sorry, B'Elanna. Our shields are up; there's been a crisis. We can't beam you out."
"What!?" B'Elanna ran over to the reactor and said, "We only have twenty-six minutes to get out of here. Can you find a way to get the shields down?"
"We're trying to, B'Elanna."
B'Elanna looked at Harry and winced as she saw the pain over his face. She thought back to the schematics of the last ship they had been on of Kotec origin. She visualized it and remembered that there was a shuttle bay only two decks down.
She smiled and asked, "Can you walk?"
"I think so." She helped him to his feet. Harry groaned in pain as started to walk and almost fell. "Just go without me. I'll just slow you down."
B'Elanna grabbed him again and supported him more as she began to walk. "You wish, Starfleet. I'm not leaving you behind." Then, together, they walked down the hall.
**Voyager, Bridge**
"Admiral Janeway, by order of Starfleet, I order you to power down your weapons and surrender your ship and its crew to us." The image of Captain Porter was many times its real size on the view screen. The Philadelphia was unfortunately one of the three ships with their weapons locked on Voyager.
Janeway swore to herself that she would not harm any of the other ship and avoid a firefight at all costs. But, if necessary to save her crew, she would disable them.
"I will not do that, Captain. You are under a type of mind control, you can't see the threat."
"I can see the threat just fine. It's sitting right in front of me, saying nonsense. I will give you one last chance to surrender your vessel or we will be forced to open fire," Captain Porter warned.
Janeway glared back at him, he would not intimidate her. She looked around and the people looking at her. They would do anything for her, for their crewmates, for their family. That included dying for them. In this instance, they would gladly give their lives to stop this madness.
"I'm afraid I can not do that, Captain."
"Then you leave us with no choice." The screen went black and all three ships targeted Voyager. The entire ship rocked as the phasers impacted the shields.
"Tuvok, target their weapons. Knock them out," Janeway gave the order reluctantly.
"Aye, sir." Red beams of light shot from Voyager and hit their shields. "Their shields are holding."
**Kotec Ship, Reactor Room**
They traveled slowly down the halls but it was the only pace Harry could maintain in his predicament. Unfortunately, they had to use the ladders to get down the two decks for they didn't want to be discovered using the turbolift, even if they could figure out how to use them.
Harry suffered through forcing himself down the ladders. He tried to use only his one arm, but he constantly hit his shoulder or arm against the wall.
"We're almost there," B'Elanna assured Harry. She felt his pain. In a way, it was her fault, but she couldn't dwell on that. She needed to get them out of there before the place blew, which would be in about twelve more minutes.
They got out of the catwalks and carefully walked down the hall to get to the Shuttle Bay. Luckily, they hadn't seen anyone so they had not been in a firefight. Which was a good thing because that would take up valuable time. Which they now had only eight minutes of.
When the doors opened, they saw that there was only one person who was watching the Shuttles. B'Elanna snuck up behind him and hit him hard in the back of the neck. It worked on every other species, so she figured it might work on them.
And she was right. He collapsed on the ground and B'Elanna walked over him. She pressed a few buttons as Harry walked up to her. She could kind of read the writing, but it was a little complex.
She thought that she had programmed it to decompress the Bay and open the door in a minute. They ran to the first Shuttle they came to and got in. The door closed and the Bay started to decompresurize.
{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}
Please, please, please R/R. I really, really want to know what you think about the story and how it's going. The next chapter will be the last.