Chapter 10
Everyone in the brig was suddenly wide-awake. Forgotten were the cold, the various aches and discomforts. The captain was somewhere in the base, probably trying to find them. Everyone had been immensely relieved to hear that she was alive and well. Despite Tuvok's logical conclusions and reassurances they had feared the worst.
"Thank god, she's alive!"
Stadi was close to tears with relief from the knowledge that her captain was well.
"It would seem that my earlier conclusions were correct. They do not wish to kill her." Tuvok stated.
"They don't even want to harm her, according to that announcement. It doesn't sound like they're going to use torture."
Carey added hopefully. If they were not going to harm the captain, than it was likely that no one else would get hurt either. Maybe their situation here was not quite as bleak as it had seemed.
"Sounds to me like Janeway has been able to charm the bastard! They've probably had a pleasant evening in front of the fire with champagne and chocolates." Cavit added sarcastically.
He was both furious and relieved that the captain had not been harmed. He wanted her to suffer because he was suffering -- he was cold, uncertain of his future and utterly miserable -- but he was relieved now that he would probably not be killed either. These Maquis did not seem quite so bad.
"What do you think Captain Janeway is going to do now? Do you think she'll come here and try to get us out of here?"
Kim threw a hopeful glance at Cavit.
"I haven't got a clue, Ensign! I'm the last person who can figure her out!" the first officer answered resentfully.
Kim blushed at the verbal assault from his commanding officer. Tuvok seemed to have a little more insight.
"I have know Captain Janeway for many years, and I believe that right now her priority is to remain undiscovered. It would be illogical for her to come here to attempt a rescue. Her presence here would be detected in no time. I believe she will hide somewhere until the situation has calmed down. Then she will either attempt to free us, or she will endeavor to alert Starfleet to our predicament. As before, all we can do now is wait and observe."
0345 hours
Seska left her quarters and made her way down one of the smaller tunnels that would lead her to the main power generator. All she had to do was cut a few wires, and even B'Elanna would take hours to fix the problem. She just had to make sure that the environmental controls would remain online. Emergency power would be sufficient to control the atmosphere within the base, but that would be all. There was no way that small emergency generator could reestablish the shields.
Ideally she would just have to cut through the cable that connected the generator to the shields, phaser banks and torpedo launchers. It was just as well that the lights in the base consisted of old Cardassian fuel torches, which were not connected to the generator... This way no one would notice the problem until it was too late...
"Hello Seska! Trying to find the captain? Don't you think this is a little out of the way? I don't think she could have made it this far already!"
Seska stopped dead in her tracks. She had almost collided with Bendera. She would have to be more careful if she was going to succeed...
"Hi, Kurt! I just thought that everyone else is already searching in the obvious places, so I might as well look here. You never know, she might have gotten lost here..."
Okay, she had saved that one. Now she just had to get rid of Bendera, so she would have time to disable the forcefield before Camet and his troops arrived. There was not much time left.
"Want me to come with you? You never know! Those Starfleet captains are pretty well versed in combat!"
"Don't you worry about me! I've dealt with a lot worse than that.", she reassured Bendera, giving him a friendly smile.
"Okay, I was trying to find Chakotay anyway. But look out, alright?"
"Right. I'll see you later!" She waited until Bendera had disappeared into another tunnel, before continuing her way to the main power generator.
0355 hours, and the bloody door was locked. Damn Chakotay and his efficiency! She had to get in there now! Otherwise Camet would have her hide.
There! She had cracked the door lock. Seska removed the control panel from the generator, exposing a myriad of cables. Which ones should she cut? There was no time left.
Seska drew a small Cardassian combat knife out of her boot and cut through as many cables as she could manage. Three minutes left to get as far away from the scene of the crime as possible.
DON'T PANIC!, she repeated over and over again in her mind until it had become a mantra. She needed to think clearly if she wanted to get out of this mess in one piece. Where to go? She consulted the tricorder. There were countless tunnels to choose from, and she had no idea where either of them would take her. The tricorder did not help her much, either. She had found Voyager, but the vessel was too far away for her to reach it, and combadge signals were closing in on her from all sides... Exasperatedly she sighed and put the instrument into her pocket. She would not be able to use it for a while, since the beeps that were emanating from it, and the flashing lights of its control panel would surely lead the Maquis to her in no time.
The base was now buzzing with life. She could hear running footsteps and shouting voices everywhere. How long could she possibly hope to last like this?
Whether she got caught or not, it was clear that her mission had failed. It would be impossible to locate her crew now. Even if she were to stumble over them accidentally, she would immediately be captured -- surely the brig was well guarded now. Chakotay had probably ordered reinforcement guards to the brig as soon as he had discovered that she was missing. She had had no idea that this Maquis cell had so many members -- there must be at least a hundred! They were everywhere now, like drones in a disturbed hive. Taking a deep calming breath she stole along the walls of the tunnel in which she had changed into her dress only minutes ago. It had been so quiet and secluded then. She came to a point were two more tunnels branched off to either side. Which way now? She could hear voices in the tunnel straight ahead and the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps from the left. Maybe she should risk consulting her tricorder again...
She had just taken it into her hand when she was discovered.
All she heard was a voice shouting from somewhere behind her,
"There she is! I've got her! Come on, everyone!"
All hell broke loose as the thunder of multiple footsteps approached from behind, ahead and to the left of her. Kathryn dropped her tricorder. There was only one way to go. She broke into a frenzied run, taking the pitch-black tunnel to the right. Unlike most of the tunnels, this one did not have any torches at all, which slowed her down considerably. She could not hope to hide in the darkness either, because the Maquis were carrying wrist beacons, giving them a distinct advantage.
Kathryn ran blindly, several times bumping painfully into the hard, rocky walls. Her feet were on fire as the flinty ground cut into her soles, but she was beyond caring. She had to get out of here. She cried out as she yet again ran into something solid. But this time it was not a wall.
A split-second later she found herself crushed against the rock face of the tunnel by strong arms, and groaned as her back roughly made contact with the unyielding stone. Her heart was beating wildly, due to the wild chase and the panic, which had overtaken her.
Horrified Kathryn felt someone's ragged breath against her neck and face. She was shaking, and her legs were threatening to give in, but the powerful arms kept her none to gently upright.
She barely noticed the sounds of the fast approaching search party, when the man holding her shouted in their direction, "It's alright! I've got her. Thank you for your help. I can handle it from here. You can go back to whatever you were doing before!" Chakotay! It was his voice! He was the one pinning her against the wall. What was he going to do now? Take her to the brig? Or straight to an interrogation chamber? She could tell, by the way he was holding her, that he was furious. One hand was painfully squeezing her right arm and the other was holding on to her waist, almost crushing her rips with his strength. It was becoming difficult to breathe. He had not said a word to her yet. When rage made him tighten his hold on her even further, she gasped as he crushed her almost impossibly further into the hard rock. It had not gone unnoticed. Chakotay loosened his grip on her slightly.
"That wasn't very wise, Captain! Where did you think you were going? There's no way out of here!"
She stared at him -- at least she thought she did, but since it was pitch-black she had no way of telling -- attempting to comprehend what he was saying. What did he mean? There was no way out?
Suddenly she felt too drained to stand up any longer, now that her plan had failed, and leaned against the wall for support. But since she did not have Chakotay's arms to steady her any longer, she found herself sagging to the ground like a puppet without strings, as her limbs finally succumbed to physical and mental exhaustion. He crouched down in front of her and spoke softly,
"Kathryn, you're completely exhausted. You haven't even entirely recovered from the side effects of the neural toxin. You need to rest. We should get you back to bed."
She could not believe what she was hearing. Was he not going to punish her for what she had done? Why did he have to be so damn kind to her, on top of the fact that he was one of the most handsome men she had ever met? She needed to hate him, but it was becoming damn hard to do so. If he were only to yell at her, hit her, torture her... She had to hate him. He was the enemy!
Aside from that she had no intention to go back to his quarters, now that she had made it this far. She had to find a way to get away from him. What she needed was a distraction.
Chakotay was in the process of sweeping her up into his arms, when the floor unexpectedly shook violently, accompanied by the deafening sounds of explosions -- chunks of rock falling from the unsupported ceiling of the tunnel, threatening to entomb them. Instinctively he threw himself on top of her, sheltering her body with his. Then it stopped and everything was quiet again, except for the sound of occasionally dropping debris.
"What the hell...?"
He was interrupted as Seska's voice emanating from his combadge,
"Seska to Chakotay, please respond!"
"I'm here, Seska! What the hell's going on?"
"Oh, it's terrible, Chakotay! We are under attack by three Cardassian warships. All our defense systems are down, including the shields! They are coming in, Chakotay! What do you want us to do?"
It was the Maquis leader's turn to feel his knees buckle.
"How the hell did they find us?" he yelled incredulously at no one in particular.
Kathryn Janeway recognized an opportunity when there was one, and this was perfect. Her aches, pains and fatigue forgotten, she rose to stand. There was nothing but a little adrenaline to reenergize one's systems.
"Kathryn, what do you think you're doing?" Chakotay shouted at her as he bolted upright.
"It's over, Chakotay. The Cardassians have come to rescue us. I suggest you surrender!"
"Kathryn, you can't be serious! Don't go to them! They're going to kill you! Don't think they care whether you're Starfleet or Maquis! They don't give a damn!" he shouted.
"I seem to recall a certain treaty that makes myself and them allies!" she countered equally hot-tempered.
"Kathryn, please don't give yourself to them! I've seen what they do to our women! Please come with me! I'll find us a way out of here!" he pleaded. Kathryn humphed.
"You must be joking, Chakotay! If you had the choice between an ally and a terrorist who's keeping you hostage, what would you do? I'm going! Are you giving yourself up, or are you going to get yourself killed?"
"Kathryn, please listen to me! The Cardassians don't have allies! I won't let you go!"
His distress struck her deeply, and for the briefest of moments she questioned the wisdom of her decision. But then she tore herself loose.
"Fine, I'll go alone. Good luck, Chakotay!"
He was not going to let her go. Chakotay charged towards her. But just before he could grab hold of her the ground shook again, causing another rain of rocks and dust. When it was over Kathryn was nowhere to be seen...