MIA:
"Shields up!" I heard the triumph in Commander Chakotay's voice and almost smiled.
He sounded just like one of the young warriors of the tribe when he, or she, achieved something the elders would be proud of. Then his tone changed to one of frustration and annoyance. "All security teams, there are ten more Borg drones onboard. The beamed in just before we got the shields up!"
I turned to Daniel. "It seems you were right, Daniel." I said. "It was too easy."
Daniel shook his head wryly. "You know, it wasn't a complaint. I wish things would be 'too easy' for once!"
Lieutenant Michaels chuckled, even as he watched and guarded the corridor. "I know what you mean." He said.
"Dr. Jackson." Chakotay said over the comm. "Could you and Mia deal with the remaining drones?"
Daniel looked at me, and I nodded. Whether we could or not was not the question – even though I knew Chakotay would not let us fight them unless we could – we had to help get their crew back, and our team mates back. It was the least we could do.
"Yes Commander." Daniel said.
I bent and picked up my zat gun and holstered it. "Where are the drones?" I asked.
"Follow the corridor to the next junction. They're in the corridor to the right." Chakotay told us.
I drew my sword again and started down the corridor, Daniel a step in front of me, his zat charged and ready. On an impulse I unholstered my zat and held it out to Daniel. "Take it." I said.
He looked at me with a raised eyebrow, but took the zat. "You go first," I continued. "That way I'll clean up when they adapt."
Daniel nodded. "Okay."
We reached the junction without a problem, and quickly veered off to the right. It didn't take long to find the drones. They were busy turning this section of Voyager into something else entirely. As soon as Daniel saw them, he began firing, and before long five of them were dead. But then they adapted, and the blasts from the zat didn't even seem to slow them down.
When I saw that, I leapt forward and neatly decapitated the nearest drone. I let my body take over and my movements flowed into each other like I had been taught and trained to do. I sliced the belly of one, and stabbed another. I had to yank my sword out of the drone, and whirled, just to see the drone that was about to attack me collapse, Daniel's knife sticking out of his throat.
I glanced gratefully at him before returning my attention to the remaining two drones. One of them attacked with two tubes shooting out of its right hand, and I dodged quickly, cutting its hand off at the wrist, before whirling around so we were back to back, and stabbing backwards. The drone crumpled and fell, sliding off my blade as I kicked the drone in front of me, and swung my sword in an arc, cutting it down where it stood.
"All clear." Daniel said into his comm.
"Good. Head back to the command post." Chakotay ordered.
Daniel and I quickly jogged back to the access shaft and slipped through it to the command post, only to find it almost deserted. Ensign Harry Kim came up to us when he saw us, and noticed us looking around. "We did a detailed sweep of the ship while you were, ah, busy and we didn't find anymore drones. So the commander ordered everyone to help repair the rest of the ship." He explained.
I nodded. "What can we do?"
"Well, you both look exhausted, so Commander Chakotay has assigned you both quarters." Harry said. ""Mia will be bunking with Lieutenant Peters and Dr. Jackson with me."
Daniel looked grateful. "Thank you." He said to Harry.
"I'll show you to your quarters." Harry said, but I shook my head.
"No need. I wish to return to the bridge." I held up my hand to halt Harry before he spoke. "I'll be fine. And I can find my own way."
Daniel nodded at me, and I turned and walked in the direction of the bridge. It didn't take me long to find my way. The bridge was just like it had been before I had left – except for maybe the wires that now ran across everything as systems were repaired as quickly as possible. But the organised chaos was still all over the place.
I walked over to the Commander, who was standing at one of the stations with Tuvok. "Anything I can do to help?" I asked.
Chakotay looked up in surprise, as if not expecting me to be here. But then I suppose he wasn't. Tuvok, on the other hand, didn't look surprised at all, but I could have sworn there was a twitching at the side of his mouth as if he wanted to smile. "I don't suppose you know how to fix the navigation systems, do you?" Chakotay asked hopefully.
He looked completely exhausted, frustrated and scared. I knew he wanted to fix Voyager as fast as possible so that he could save his missing crew, as well as protect the others. "No." I said. "But I'm sure I should be able to do some fetching and carrying or rudimentary fixing, while someone else helped you with the navigation systems."
Chakotay smiled gratefully at me. "Thank you." Then he raised his voice. "Peters! Get Mia fixing the basic circuits, then help Jones!"
So for the next two hours, I learnt how to repair basic circuits and simple systems onboard Voyager. I was grateful for my quick fingers after a while, since most of the systems I repaired were very damaged, and stuck in out of the way places. I had just gotten up from underneath a consol when I noticed that many of the personnel on the bridge had disappeared.
Chakotay broke away from where he had been talking to Tuvok and Harry Kim, and wandered over. "You look like you need a rest." He said when he was standing next to me.
"So do you." I told him, smiling slightly.
He smiled back. "I do." He agreed. "But I won't get any rest for a while yet – although you can. The remaining systems are being fixed by the crew, and most of them are sleeping anyway. We'll be fine."
"And the Borg Cube is still sitting there?" I asked.
"Yes." Chakotay frowned. "They have to know that we have our shields back up, but they haven't moved."
"Perhaps it is because their attention is elsewhere." Tuvok suggested as he walked up. "Captain Janeway could be making this difficult for the Borg."
"If she isn't." I said. "The Colonel would be. He is a man of action, and does not like sitting around."
"All the same, you should get your rest while you still can." Chakotay said to me. "You can use the Captain's ready room, if you like, so you'll be able to hear if anything happens."
"Thank you, Commander." I said.
I walked into the 'ready room' that Chakotay had pointed out, and gratefully spotted the couch along the side of the room underneath a window that showed black space covered with stars. Barely stopping to take off my weapons and jacket, I pulled the blanket I had been given over me and fell promptly to sleep. And fortunately, it was also dreamless.
* * *
CHAKOTAY:
I blinked my eyes tiredly as the doors to the bridge slid open, and I knew I had to keep going. They felt gritty and sore from lack of sleep and I was struggling to keep them open. I looked up gratefully when Harry entered the bridge, having finally finished all the repair duties I had given him. Voyager was now almost entirely up and running. It wasn't the best repair job we had ever done, but it would do.
Harry stopped to talk to Tuvok and me for a minute, and was surprised to see Mia climb out from underneath a consol. I smiled slightly at his expression. Mia looked even worse than I felt did, and he felt *tired*. I nodded to Harry, before walking over to her. "You should get some sleep." I said. Surprisingly, she didn't argue. "I think I will." She said, and headed towards the ready room with the blanket I had given her in her hands.
I walked over to where Harry and Tuvok were standing. Both of them had expressions of worry on their faces. "Sir, you should get some sleep." Harry said. "I can take over here, and let you know if anything happens." He smiled faintly. "Technically, it's the nightshift anyway."
I nodded. The Captain often left Harry in command of the nightshift, and I was grateful for that because I knew he could handle it now. "I might just do that." One or two hours sleep sounded like heaven.
"Unfortunately, Commander, I must disagree with this." Tuvok said in his level tone.
I looked at him sharply. I was sure that between the two of them, he and Harry would be able to mind the ship for a few hours. And Tuvok himself had mentioned I should get some sleep about an hour ago too. But Tuvok continued, ignoring me. "The Borg Cube has begun to move, and is setting a trajectory to leave the system."
Damn! I almost muttered the word out loud, and then smiled at the irony of it. Humans had long since stopped using swear words, but out of all the words I knew, this one seemed the most appropriate. It was slightly funny, or would have been if I wasn't so worried about the news that had caused it.
I strode quickly over to the command chair and pressed a button on its arm. "Ensign Morelli, what is the condition of the engines?" I snapped, tense and worried.
"They're working well enough, sir, but we won't be able to push them very hard." Morelli replied.
"Do you best to keep them running." I told him.
I looked up and saw Ensign Madison at the helm. "Set a course to follow that ship!" I ordered. "I don't want it to leave sensor range."
"Aye, sir." Madison replied.
Voyager began to power up her engines and soon we lurched forward to follow the Borg Cube which was rapidly disappearing. I winced slightly, and wished for Tom's smooth hands at the controls. "Lock phasers and prepare to fire." I ordered as we got closer to the Cube. "Tuvok, I want that ship dead in space."
"Aye, Commander." Tuvok replied.
The battle was short and easy. Voyager was able to disable the Cube after a few passes, or at least seemed to. I frowned. That was too easy. Then, to my absolute surprise, a large section of the Cube exploded, causing the Cube to shudder to a complete stop.
"The engines are no longer functioning." Tuvok said. "The Borg Cube is disabled."
"Hold fire." I said.
Then I allowed myself a smile. It seems as if the Captain was not just sitting around! And neither would anyone else, if Chakotay knew them. Even their new guests wouldn't have just sat there. "It there any way to get a transporter through those shields?" I asked.
"Not as yet, sir." Harry said. "Borg shields are still holding tight."
"Target their shield generators, Tuvok." I said.
"Aye, Commander."
Tuvok continued to fire phasers at the Borg Cube. We had to get those shields down! Once we had, then we could find the Captain and the rest of the missing crew. Almost unconsciously, I tensed my shoulders and sat on the edge of the chair.
"Commander..." Tuvok began.
But he didn't get to finish, because as I stared at the screen in front of me, the Borg Cube was blown up in a series of violent explosions. The already wounded Voyager was buffeted by the resulting waves and a bright light filled the bridge. I was slammed back into the chair and through a hand up to cover my eyes.
When I could finally see again, I looked at the screen again. All that was left of the Borg Cube was a group of drifting debris. "What happened?" I snapped.
"It appears the Borg Cube has been destroyed." Tuvok said. "I believe the explosions started within the transwarp coil and spread outwards, destroying the ship."
"And what's our status?" I asked, still stunned by the destruction of the cube, and not wanting to think about what that would mean.
"Shields at 63%, no hull damage, phasers still online." Harry answered from his station.
Then I heard the door to the Captain's ready room open. "Commander." Said Mia. "What just happened?"
I turned to face her, and was surprised by her appearance. While the pants and singlet she was wearing might not have surprised me, the curling, bold and intricate tattoos on her shoulders and arms did. I blinked at her for a second, before her question sunk in.
"The Borg Cube just exploded."
"The Colonel? Your Captain?" she asked.
I shook my head. "They are presumed dead." I said and felt my eyes begin to sting. And as the meaning of those words hit me, a single tear rolled down my face.
"Shields up!" I heard the triumph in Commander Chakotay's voice and almost smiled.
He sounded just like one of the young warriors of the tribe when he, or she, achieved something the elders would be proud of. Then his tone changed to one of frustration and annoyance. "All security teams, there are ten more Borg drones onboard. The beamed in just before we got the shields up!"
I turned to Daniel. "It seems you were right, Daniel." I said. "It was too easy."
Daniel shook his head wryly. "You know, it wasn't a complaint. I wish things would be 'too easy' for once!"
Lieutenant Michaels chuckled, even as he watched and guarded the corridor. "I know what you mean." He said.
"Dr. Jackson." Chakotay said over the comm. "Could you and Mia deal with the remaining drones?"
Daniel looked at me, and I nodded. Whether we could or not was not the question – even though I knew Chakotay would not let us fight them unless we could – we had to help get their crew back, and our team mates back. It was the least we could do.
"Yes Commander." Daniel said.
I bent and picked up my zat gun and holstered it. "Where are the drones?" I asked.
"Follow the corridor to the next junction. They're in the corridor to the right." Chakotay told us.
I drew my sword again and started down the corridor, Daniel a step in front of me, his zat charged and ready. On an impulse I unholstered my zat and held it out to Daniel. "Take it." I said.
He looked at me with a raised eyebrow, but took the zat. "You go first," I continued. "That way I'll clean up when they adapt."
Daniel nodded. "Okay."
We reached the junction without a problem, and quickly veered off to the right. It didn't take long to find the drones. They were busy turning this section of Voyager into something else entirely. As soon as Daniel saw them, he began firing, and before long five of them were dead. But then they adapted, and the blasts from the zat didn't even seem to slow them down.
When I saw that, I leapt forward and neatly decapitated the nearest drone. I let my body take over and my movements flowed into each other like I had been taught and trained to do. I sliced the belly of one, and stabbed another. I had to yank my sword out of the drone, and whirled, just to see the drone that was about to attack me collapse, Daniel's knife sticking out of his throat.
I glanced gratefully at him before returning my attention to the remaining two drones. One of them attacked with two tubes shooting out of its right hand, and I dodged quickly, cutting its hand off at the wrist, before whirling around so we were back to back, and stabbing backwards. The drone crumpled and fell, sliding off my blade as I kicked the drone in front of me, and swung my sword in an arc, cutting it down where it stood.
"All clear." Daniel said into his comm.
"Good. Head back to the command post." Chakotay ordered.
Daniel and I quickly jogged back to the access shaft and slipped through it to the command post, only to find it almost deserted. Ensign Harry Kim came up to us when he saw us, and noticed us looking around. "We did a detailed sweep of the ship while you were, ah, busy and we didn't find anymore drones. So the commander ordered everyone to help repair the rest of the ship." He explained.
I nodded. "What can we do?"
"Well, you both look exhausted, so Commander Chakotay has assigned you both quarters." Harry said. ""Mia will be bunking with Lieutenant Peters and Dr. Jackson with me."
Daniel looked grateful. "Thank you." He said to Harry.
"I'll show you to your quarters." Harry said, but I shook my head.
"No need. I wish to return to the bridge." I held up my hand to halt Harry before he spoke. "I'll be fine. And I can find my own way."
Daniel nodded at me, and I turned and walked in the direction of the bridge. It didn't take me long to find my way. The bridge was just like it had been before I had left – except for maybe the wires that now ran across everything as systems were repaired as quickly as possible. But the organised chaos was still all over the place.
I walked over to the Commander, who was standing at one of the stations with Tuvok. "Anything I can do to help?" I asked.
Chakotay looked up in surprise, as if not expecting me to be here. But then I suppose he wasn't. Tuvok, on the other hand, didn't look surprised at all, but I could have sworn there was a twitching at the side of his mouth as if he wanted to smile. "I don't suppose you know how to fix the navigation systems, do you?" Chakotay asked hopefully.
He looked completely exhausted, frustrated and scared. I knew he wanted to fix Voyager as fast as possible so that he could save his missing crew, as well as protect the others. "No." I said. "But I'm sure I should be able to do some fetching and carrying or rudimentary fixing, while someone else helped you with the navigation systems."
Chakotay smiled gratefully at me. "Thank you." Then he raised his voice. "Peters! Get Mia fixing the basic circuits, then help Jones!"
So for the next two hours, I learnt how to repair basic circuits and simple systems onboard Voyager. I was grateful for my quick fingers after a while, since most of the systems I repaired were very damaged, and stuck in out of the way places. I had just gotten up from underneath a consol when I noticed that many of the personnel on the bridge had disappeared.
Chakotay broke away from where he had been talking to Tuvok and Harry Kim, and wandered over. "You look like you need a rest." He said when he was standing next to me.
"So do you." I told him, smiling slightly.
He smiled back. "I do." He agreed. "But I won't get any rest for a while yet – although you can. The remaining systems are being fixed by the crew, and most of them are sleeping anyway. We'll be fine."
"And the Borg Cube is still sitting there?" I asked.
"Yes." Chakotay frowned. "They have to know that we have our shields back up, but they haven't moved."
"Perhaps it is because their attention is elsewhere." Tuvok suggested as he walked up. "Captain Janeway could be making this difficult for the Borg."
"If she isn't." I said. "The Colonel would be. He is a man of action, and does not like sitting around."
"All the same, you should get your rest while you still can." Chakotay said to me. "You can use the Captain's ready room, if you like, so you'll be able to hear if anything happens."
"Thank you, Commander." I said.
I walked into the 'ready room' that Chakotay had pointed out, and gratefully spotted the couch along the side of the room underneath a window that showed black space covered with stars. Barely stopping to take off my weapons and jacket, I pulled the blanket I had been given over me and fell promptly to sleep. And fortunately, it was also dreamless.
* * *
CHAKOTAY:
I blinked my eyes tiredly as the doors to the bridge slid open, and I knew I had to keep going. They felt gritty and sore from lack of sleep and I was struggling to keep them open. I looked up gratefully when Harry entered the bridge, having finally finished all the repair duties I had given him. Voyager was now almost entirely up and running. It wasn't the best repair job we had ever done, but it would do.
Harry stopped to talk to Tuvok and me for a minute, and was surprised to see Mia climb out from underneath a consol. I smiled slightly at his expression. Mia looked even worse than I felt did, and he felt *tired*. I nodded to Harry, before walking over to her. "You should get some sleep." I said. Surprisingly, she didn't argue. "I think I will." She said, and headed towards the ready room with the blanket I had given her in her hands.
I walked over to where Harry and Tuvok were standing. Both of them had expressions of worry on their faces. "Sir, you should get some sleep." Harry said. "I can take over here, and let you know if anything happens." He smiled faintly. "Technically, it's the nightshift anyway."
I nodded. The Captain often left Harry in command of the nightshift, and I was grateful for that because I knew he could handle it now. "I might just do that." One or two hours sleep sounded like heaven.
"Unfortunately, Commander, I must disagree with this." Tuvok said in his level tone.
I looked at him sharply. I was sure that between the two of them, he and Harry would be able to mind the ship for a few hours. And Tuvok himself had mentioned I should get some sleep about an hour ago too. But Tuvok continued, ignoring me. "The Borg Cube has begun to move, and is setting a trajectory to leave the system."
Damn! I almost muttered the word out loud, and then smiled at the irony of it. Humans had long since stopped using swear words, but out of all the words I knew, this one seemed the most appropriate. It was slightly funny, or would have been if I wasn't so worried about the news that had caused it.
I strode quickly over to the command chair and pressed a button on its arm. "Ensign Morelli, what is the condition of the engines?" I snapped, tense and worried.
"They're working well enough, sir, but we won't be able to push them very hard." Morelli replied.
"Do you best to keep them running." I told him.
I looked up and saw Ensign Madison at the helm. "Set a course to follow that ship!" I ordered. "I don't want it to leave sensor range."
"Aye, sir." Madison replied.
Voyager began to power up her engines and soon we lurched forward to follow the Borg Cube which was rapidly disappearing. I winced slightly, and wished for Tom's smooth hands at the controls. "Lock phasers and prepare to fire." I ordered as we got closer to the Cube. "Tuvok, I want that ship dead in space."
"Aye, Commander." Tuvok replied.
The battle was short and easy. Voyager was able to disable the Cube after a few passes, or at least seemed to. I frowned. That was too easy. Then, to my absolute surprise, a large section of the Cube exploded, causing the Cube to shudder to a complete stop.
"The engines are no longer functioning." Tuvok said. "The Borg Cube is disabled."
"Hold fire." I said.
Then I allowed myself a smile. It seems as if the Captain was not just sitting around! And neither would anyone else, if Chakotay knew them. Even their new guests wouldn't have just sat there. "It there any way to get a transporter through those shields?" I asked.
"Not as yet, sir." Harry said. "Borg shields are still holding tight."
"Target their shield generators, Tuvok." I said.
"Aye, Commander."
Tuvok continued to fire phasers at the Borg Cube. We had to get those shields down! Once we had, then we could find the Captain and the rest of the missing crew. Almost unconsciously, I tensed my shoulders and sat on the edge of the chair.
"Commander..." Tuvok began.
But he didn't get to finish, because as I stared at the screen in front of me, the Borg Cube was blown up in a series of violent explosions. The already wounded Voyager was buffeted by the resulting waves and a bright light filled the bridge. I was slammed back into the chair and through a hand up to cover my eyes.
When I could finally see again, I looked at the screen again. All that was left of the Borg Cube was a group of drifting debris. "What happened?" I snapped.
"It appears the Borg Cube has been destroyed." Tuvok said. "I believe the explosions started within the transwarp coil and spread outwards, destroying the ship."
"And what's our status?" I asked, still stunned by the destruction of the cube, and not wanting to think about what that would mean.
"Shields at 63%, no hull damage, phasers still online." Harry answered from his station.
Then I heard the door to the Captain's ready room open. "Commander." Said Mia. "What just happened?"
I turned to face her, and was surprised by her appearance. While the pants and singlet she was wearing might not have surprised me, the curling, bold and intricate tattoos on her shoulders and arms did. I blinked at her for a second, before her question sunk in.
"The Borg Cube just exploded."
"The Colonel? Your Captain?" she asked.
I shook my head. "They are presumed dead." I said and felt my eyes begin to sting. And as the meaning of those words hit me, a single tear rolled down my face.