In a Single Heartbeat
Disclaimer – See Chapter One.
Chapter Two – Distress Calls: One too many
"Shuttle Cochran, you are cleared for take off." Harry's voice came through the speakers. The away team had stowed their gear and settled in for the short flight to the planetary system that had shown up on their sensors two days ago.
"Aye, Captain." Tom smiled in response. "How does it feel to sit in the big chair, Harry? It's not even Gamma shift; you're moving up in the world, kid."
"See you in five days, Lieutenant." Harry signed off, and even Chakotay chuckled at the embarrassment they heard in his voice.
"Paris, you need to leave Harry alone. You know, that if we were back in the Alpha Quadrant, he'd be at least a lieutenant commander by now." Chakotay stated although he had trouble keeping the grin off his face. He stood and moved to one of the low benches at the rear of the shuttle, stretched out, and closed his eyes. "I trust this will be an uneventful flight. I intend to catch up on some sleep."
Tom glanced back at the commander and smiled. He knew that Chakotay was giving him and B'Elanna some privacy. He motioned for her to move into the co-pilot's seat and entered the coordinates for the first moon into the navigation system. "It's smooth sailing from here for the next three hours." He turned to her with a grin on his face. "Now, we can discuss that Bat'leth program I was working on."
Shaking her head, B'Elanna glared at her husband. "Chakotay's right, Tom. You really need to stop teasing Harry." Her eyes sparkled as she couldn't contain her own smile any longer. "You know he is all grown up now." She leaned in closer, after glancing back at Chakotay to be sure his eyes were shut, and gave Tom a small kiss on his cheek. "About that program, do you really want to go through ten levels? After all, you've only held a Bat'leth twice, and as I recall, you did have some difficulty with it." She grinned when he scowled at her.
"B'Elanna, we've been through this before. I told you that I wanted to learn as much as I could about your Klingon heritage, and I was serious. If you don't want to help me, I guess I'll have to program it myself." He turned back to the console and began scanning the area of space ahead of them. When he felt her warm hand on his, he spun his chair back toward her and was surprised at the emotion he saw in her face.
"Tom, I'm sorry. I'm doing it again, pushing you away." Her eyes glistened and she blinked hard. "I love you so much, but it's hard getting used to really trusting someone with my background," she whispered.
Tom reached out and gently took her face in his hands. "It's okay, B'Elanna. We just can't seem to stop scraping shields." He smoothed the hair away from her eyes and brushed the single tear off her cheek with his thumb. "We can talk about this when we get back, and you can set up the parameters in the program." He looked away momentarily. "You're right, I'm not very good with that thing, and even with the safeties on, I could do some real damage to myself." Tom thought back to when the Nyrians had invaded their ship and the crew had been taken prisoners on a colony of biospheres. He and B'Elanna had just finished a holoprogram using Bat'leths when Dammar, the first Nyrian, appeared on Voyager. e and He gave her a crooked smile but didn't let her go.
B'Elanna realized that it was difficult for Tom to let down his own masks and admit that he could actually hurt himself. She took his hands in hers, leaned forward, and gave him another quick kiss. "That's the first thing we'll do on our return."
"The first thing?" Tom whined.
Giving him a sly grin, B'Elanna answered. "Well, maybe the second thing."
* * * * *
Captain Janeway stepped out of the turbolift onto the bridge. She grinned when she noticed Harry leaning back in the command chair with one arm slung over the armrest. Walking down the steps, she smiled at the young ensign stationed at Ops who stiffened into attention when she saw the captain. This was a young bridge crew; most of whom had not had command backgrounds.
Harry looked up, and seeing the captain, jumped to his feet. "Ah, Captain. What brings you to the bridge? Is there a problem?"
"Why, Mr. Kim, does there need to be a problem for the captain to pay a visit to her own bridge? Janeway asked; her voice officious. She then touched his shoulder and smiled when he blushed.. "Relax, Harry, I was actually caught up with reports and felt a little restless. Carry on. I'll be in the mess hall." She turned and headed for the turbolift.
"Captain there's a ship on scanners. It's approaching our starboard nacelle at impulse speed." Ensign Ashmore announced from the tactical station.
Immediately, turning to the front of the bridge, the captain ordered. "On Screen."
A small elliptical ship moved slowly toward Voyager. It was greenish-gray in color with dark streaks across it looking very much like scorch marks.
Ensign Ashmore quietly stated. "Weapons systems appear to be offline, Captain. There are fifteen life signs registering on sensors."
"Captain, we're being hailed," the ensign at Ops reported.
"Open a channel," Janeway said.
The alien ship disappeared from the screen, replaced by an interior view of a rather crowded bridge. "Unknown vessel, your assistance we request." The speaker was humanoid in appearance with pale, almost translucent skin, light green hair reaching past their waist and large gray eyes. The voice was faint. Several others, similar in appearance stood behind the speaker.
"This is Captain, Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Star Ship Voyager. How may we assist you?" She glanced at Harry, who had moved to Ops, and motioned him to continue scanning the other ship.
"Captain, Lorish my name is, and in desperate need of food we are." One of the smaller aliens began crying and Lorish silenced them with a harsh command. "Sorry, for Tiran's outburst. Young one's have understanding of the code of behavior none."
"Harry, can the universal translator clear up their speech patterns?"
"I'm correcting for it now, Captain," Harry responded.
Janeway noticed that all of the aliens appeared to be young, and if similar to humans, female. Their clothes looked worn and hung on their bodies. "Are you far from your home world?" Her heart went out as several of them began to cry.
"Captain Janeway, our home world is before you. We have escaped from our captors. They still hold our men prisoners." Lorish stated calmly while she hugged one of the younger aliens to her side.
Janeway signaled Harry to cut audio transmissions. "Ensign Ashmore, please begin long-range scans of the planetary system. Harry, try to contact the shuttle." She nodded for audio to continue. "Why have we not picked up any life signs on the planets?"
Lorish sighed and gently turned the youngster beside her toward one of the other woman. "I'm sorry, Captain, but our planets are shielded from outworlders. If I may be permitted to speak with you privately, I could explain our situation."
"We have the capability to beam you from your ship to ours. You may bring one other representative of your crew with you but no weapons. When you have chosen someone, please move separately from the others." Janeway moved toward the turbolift.
"Agreed, Captain. My sister, Krey will join me." The two woman moved to the left of the main console.
"I will see you shortly." Janeway said and went up the steps to the upper landing. "Mr. Kim, you have the bridge." Entering the turbolift, Janeway hit her com badge. "Mr. Tuvok, please join me in transporter room one."
* * * * *
"Tom, I'm picking up a signal from the planet's surface." B'Elanna sounded confused. "I thought our long-range scans showed no signs of life?"
Chakotay stirred and opened his eyes when he heard B'Elanna's voice. He rose and moved to the front of the shuttle. "There were no life signs registered on any of the planets in the system. Could it be another ship?"
"I'll take us closer, but I haven't picked up signs of any other ship." Tom's hands moved across the controls and the shuttle veered to the left as they entered the upper level of the planet's atmosphere.
"There it is again," B'Elanna said.
"Can you put it on the speakers?" Chakotay asked.
B'Elanna pushed one of the controls and a loud squeal came through the speakers causing the three crewmembers to cover their ears. She reached forward and adjusted the control.
"This is Retrill, assistance we need. The Goroth many of the settlement have prisoners taken. I repeat, assistance we need. If there are in the area any ships, please help." A deep voice came through the translator.
"He sounds pretty distressed." Tom said and turned in his chair to look at Chakotay. "The speech patterns aren't quite clear." Tom reached to adjust their universal translator.
Chakotay was running another scan of the planet. "This doesn't make sense. There's still no life signs showing on the planet's surface. Let's contact the captain first and then take a closer look." He tapped the console before him. "Chakotay to Voyager, come in."
There was no response and the loud squeal suddenly filled the small cabin of the shuttle again. B'Elanna reached desperately for the communication console. Her fingers scrambled over the keys, but the sound kept increasing. Her face was pinched in pain as she slumped to the floor.
Chakotay tried to stop B'Elanna's fall but the sound penetrated deep into his skull, and he too sank to the floor. Tom's face paled and he keyed in an emergency signal to Voyager before he joined his companions and his vision slowly grew black.
tbc…