Disclaimer: Sadly we do not own any of the Voyager characters, ships, plots or universe. They belong to Paramount.

Summary: After a year of being home, Voyager's scattered crew gathers together for one last battle~ but it's not the jolly reunion one might expect… Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven, Celes…and some new characters. Enjoy!

Past Re-Visited

By Erin and Rebecca

Chapter 21:

Escape

The guard had not been gone long this time. He had left to frisk one of the lower classes out of credits and headed down the corridor for some dinner. He had plenty of time. Those two inferiors weren't going anywhere. He slugged the rest of the murky purple-black ale down his throat and returned to his post. KuChuck was taking rounds tonight…best not to get too lazy. He slugged on back to the cell and peered inside. All was normal. Two pathetic prisoners lying—The guard punched a security code into the wall and leapt inside, his pulse skyrocketing as he panicked. No no no! he thought. Where in the- but all thought ceased for P'Tal guard Pluth. Out of nowhere, a red rock slab flew across the room and struck him on the head.

            "Grab the weapons, communicator, any other supplies," Chakotay whispered, finding new strength in the face of a possible escape. Tuvok worked fast and retrieved two phaser rifles and a tricorder-like device. They crept quietly out of the cell and set out into the depths of the corridor.

            For Chakotay and Tuvok, it could only be explained as sheer luck that Pluth had been so paranoid of his supervisor making his rounds tonight. There had been no alarm. No alert that the prisoners had escaped. He'd foolishly, as Tuvok had anticipated, assumed he could take care of the breach himself. Careful in the past few days to take note of where he was being led and which corridors to follow, Tuvok led them right into the heart of the P'Tal command center. Manned by only three operatives at night, they took each one out effortlessly with their newly acquired weapons and the elements of surprise. There was a lot of work and research to be done at these stations. They would need to work fast and invisible if they were to find the main exit and make their way across the planet. Chakotay set his phaser down and began accessing data and maps, newfound determination pulsing through his veins. Tuvok saw it first though, several half eaten meals on a small break table along the far wall. "Commander," he said. Chakotay looked up and followed Tuvok's gaze across the room. To hell with escape…before anything else was down, Chakotay and Tuvok…dug in.

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            Annika watched in awe as the boy sat poised at the consol, his hands flying over the controls with the speed and accuracy of a Starfleet cadet. Kyle Tilden couldn't have been more than 12 years old. Yet a haunting wisdom lingered in his eyes as he piloted the tiny craft through the emptiness of space.

            It was impossible for Annika to ignore the similarities between them. Family wrenched away, left to bide alone, knowing that each day could be his last. Annika always had trouble remembering her brief childhood before the Borg abducted and assimilated her, but her few hours with Kyle left her swimming in sensations and memories she didn't know she had. In fact, desperate as their situation was, Annika…Seven of Nine…was beginning to feel quite fortunate to be stranded.

            "There," the boy pointed at his makeshift viewscreen, a tiny monitor tacked onto the front of his consol, a crude bypass of cables and wires connecting them. Annika rose from her seat and leaned over his shoulder to look. "That's where I hid."

            She nodded at the image, a red-orange nebula dispersed between a small planet and its moon. "Fascinating," she said more to herself than to Kyle. "The X class polar effect. I've heard of them, but I've never seen one." Kyle looked up questioningly and she explained, "On certain classes of stars, the poles between the planet and its moon connect in such a way that the combined force pulls in any outside debris and clutter. In a sense their orbits are fused and collect into a single mass. Throws off many of the most sophisticated sensors."

Kyle had long since stopped listening and shrugged, unimpressed with the history lesson, "They couldn't find me in the red stuff," he said simply. Annika started at him and became momentarily preoccupied with the fact that Kyle had basically summed up everything she had just explained and it was every bit as true.

"Kyle," she started slowly, "how long have you been here?"

Kyle's remained fixed on the screen in front of him as he piloted towards the…red stuff. "I don't know," he answered.

She looked down, amazed at how calm and distant he had become in the few short hours since she had found him cowering in the ducts of this tiny spacecraft. "Long time?" she asked. He nodded. From the sporadic conversation she had managed, she'd figured out that he was part of a deep space salvage team that was thrown off course. His father had been the commander of the mission, his mother the science officer. Kyle was, as Annika had been, the kid along for the ride. Inside, she grew suddenly angry. Why do they bring children on these missions?! She thought absently, as the faces of Naomi Wildman, Icheb and Miral Paris all flashed through her mind. Miral, she thought again…and dismissed it almost immediately. She was stranded on a tiny science vessel with a twelve year old boy hiding from the Borg in "red stuff." She didn't want to think of where the infant had been sent. 

She was back in Borg space, this much she knew from what little data Kyle was able to call up, so finding the Athena was secondary to avoiding the Borg at all costs. She also knew that considering their coordinates, help if any, was likely to be scarce. Still, as she looked at Kyle, his hands still furiously flying over the difficult keypad of the helm, she would be damned if after all this time she ended up right back where she'd started on the Raven…and damned if she'd let it happen to Kyle either. Summoning her Naomi-Wildman voice, she pushed herself off of her seat and stood before him as he flew their ship into the concealing void. "Well done Mr. Tilden," she said. "Let's find some food now ok?"

Kyle eyed her curiously, but then nodded, motioning for her to follow as they headed out of the tiny bridge and down a short corridor. And although he still warily kept his distance, Annika suspected that the boy was glad to finally have some company.

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This is an old song I know……but……SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE! J Won't be that long in the future with any luck. Working on the next chapter as we speak. Check back soon!