STILL NOT IN KANSAS
by Soledad
Author's notes: For disclaimer, rating, etc., see Part One.
Some of the dialogue, as before, is directly taken from the episode "Grey 17 Is Missing". According to the "Lower Decks" website, office space is on Deck 1. primary hull. As the site doesn't give the exact location of the security area, I placed Tuvok's office there.
Lillian Hobbs looked around in Voyager's sickbay in awe. The MedLabs of Babylon 5 were equipped with the most advanced medical technology know on Earth, but Voyager's technology was at least a century ahead of theirs. She saw the limp form of Lyta Alexander lying on one of those strange-looking beds, her face deathly pale. On two other beds lay two unconscious men in civilian clothes, both of them vaguely familiar. And on a fourth one sat a grim and apparently rather nauseous Michael Garibaldi, undergoing some treatment.
Lillian recognized the short, balding man in the blue uniform as the holographic doctor of Voyager. She had seen him on the vidscreen a few times and found that for a hologram, the EMH gad rather irritable – and irritating – manners. The technology that made a hologram act like a real person of flesh and blood was still beyond her understanding, but after having heard Marcus' enthusiastic reports about the holodeck she simply accepted that it was possible.
Noticing her arrival, the Holodoc pressed the instrument he was treating Garibaldi with in the hand of a blond young man.
"Continue the treatment, Mr. Paris. I assume you know how to do this by now?"
Tom Paris rolled his eyes. "Yeah, doc, after nearly four years as your sidekick one would think that I can use the simplest medical instruments,"
"One would think, indeed," the hologram replied acerbically, and then he turned to Lillian. "Have you brought me the medical file of Ms Alexander?"
Lillian handed him the data crystal. "Everything is here."
That earned her an irritated look. "And what, by the sandals of Hippocrates, am I supposed to do with this… thing? Our computers work with bioneural circuitry, not with crystals."
He spat the last word as an insult, and Lillian was truly at a loss what could be wrong with data crystals. Besides, they needed the information stored in that crystal, if they wanted to save Lyta.
"Perhaps I can be of assistance," an icy voice said, and a tall, curvaceous blonde woman in a form-hugging, silver jumpsuit stepped forth. "Let me assimilate the data first."
To Lillian's stunned disbelief, she extended an elastic metallic tube from the exoskeleton that covered her hand. The tube penetrated the data crystal, still held in the doctor's hand, without any visible effort. The blonde closed her huge, doll-like blue eyes for a moment, then nodded.
"It is all right, doctor. You can treat the wound safely. The patient has no vital implants in the damaged part of her body. I'll download the data into your diagnostic computer."
She pulled the access tube back from the crystal, made a half-turn and inserted it into the surface of the complicated electronic equipment next to the examination table. "Download complete," she announced, only seconds later. The tube withdrew into the exoskeleton again.
Lillian stared at her in utter fascination. "Are you a Vicor?" she asked.
The tall blonde raised an eyebrow – the other one was more or less covered by some cranial implant and looked back at her with cool, scientific interest.
"I am Borg," she said as an explanation and walked out on his high-heels with the impersonal elegance of a ballet dancer.
That statement said nothing to Lillian, of course. "What is a Borg?" she asked, more than a little confused.
"I'll tell you, if you explain me what a Vicor is," Chakotay offered. "Later, when the doctor is done." He paused, then added tentatively. "By dinner perhaps? Are we still on a date the day after tomorrow?"
"It depends," Lillian answered softly. "Do you still want to?"
After a moment of hesitation Chakotay shrugged. "To tell the truth… yeah, I still do. What about 2100? I'll have to finish some overdue reports first."
Lillian nodded. "Deal. I'll have much to ask. But right now, I need to assist your doctor."
"And so when it came out that I used my position on Minbar to smuggle Narn refugees off-planet and into safety, I was re-called immediately," Vir finished his long and extremely detailed story. "The Lady Drusella nullified the marriage contract and Lyndisty returned to Centauri Prime on the same day. What's even worse, Londo had to call in several favours to save me and to cover my trail. I... I was supposed to help him, to take care of him – he… he doesn't take care of himself properly, you know – and instead I cost him a lot…" he shook his head regretfully.
Sam smiled. "You like your boss, don't you?"
Vir tilted his head to one side thoughtfully. "Like is probably not the right word for it, Samantha. Londo can be – well, he usually is – irritating, selfish, manipulating, insulting, and sometimes downright rude. But, unlike other people at court, in the heart of his hearts he is not evil. Not really. All he cares for is Centauri Prime, not his own interests. E-even if his… his methods are, well, questionable at times."
"So, you do like him," Sam repeated, still smiling. Vir shrugged, a little embarrassed.
"In a way, perhaps," he admitted with a blush; he looked cute with purplish cheeks. "I… I wish I could help him somehow. He… he is about to fall from grace again, and that… that would be terrible for our people. He is one of the very few at court who still have a conscience. Even if they usually choose to ignore it,"
"But why is he losing influence again?" Sam asked.
"He… he sought out the false allies, I'm afraid," Vir sighed. "And he thought he could get rid of them when he no longer needed them. But they simply turned to his old enemies at court… very powerful enemies, who have a great influence over the new Emperor. They have been trying to push one of their lackeys into Londo's position for years. So far, Londo has been able to outsmart them, because the old Emperor actually liked him… to a certain extent. But now… And the fact that he still hasn't been able to arrange a private meeting with your captain isn't helping."
"I don't understand," Sam frowned. "We are just one ship, lost in a strange universe. What could a meeting with Captain Janeway possibly mean for your people?"
"You are an unknown factor," Vir replied seriously. "In case you haven't realized, every power represented on Babylon 5 has sought contact to you. The Minbari have succeeded: your captain is visiting Ambassador Delenn in this moment."
"How do you know…?"
"Sam, please. I'm a diplomatic attaché. I do have my sources. And I can use Londo's sources if necessary. It's my job to know such things. So, the Minbari have succeeded. The humans have succeeded – your first move was to establish contact with Captain Sheridan. The Vorlons don't count, as they have been behaving eccentrically, ever since Kosh first came to Babylon 5. The Narns, once the fourth major power in this sector, are no independent world any longer – we… we took care of that. So, we are the ones who still haven't set up a proper contact with your people. Can you imagine what it means for Londo? His adversaries at court use this to prove the Emperor that he doesn't represent our interests the way he should."
"Would they call him back, because such a minor failure?" Sam was surprised.
"On Centauri Prime, there are no minor failures," Vir sighed. "And if Londo can't show success, and soon, they will call him back. And that would be fatal, not for Londo alone but for Babylon 5 as well."
"Aren't you exaggerating a little?" Sam asked, doubtfully. "What possible consequences could a personnel change on the Centaury Embassy have for Babylon 5?"
Vir hesitated a little. He wasn't supposed to talk about such things, especially not to someone whom he barely knew, but if he managed to make this kind lady understand, maybe that would open for Londo an opportunity.
"Look," he said in a low, barely audible voice, "the… powers Londo used to be allied to, are, well, very strong. Captain Sheridan has been fighting them for some time, and still doesn't seem to have any idea how to beat them without the help of the Vorlons. Londo… he genuinely likes a lot of people on Babylon 5 and wouldn't betray the station to these… these enemies. Anyone else in his position would not hesitate to do so."
There was a long silence between them, while Sam tried to absorb the enormity of the information she had been given. This was way above her league. She was a junior science officer, not a politician or a member of the command staff. But it seemed that at the moment she was the only one who could at least try to do something in this matter.
"I seriously doubt that I could change the captain's mind about meeting Ambassador Mollari," she finally said. "But perhaps you can. You have helped our people recently, and your brave act helping the Narns would give your words credit."
"Believe me, I tried to get an audience by your captain repeatedly," Vir sighed. "That first officer of hers always sidestepped rather nicely."
"Meeting Captain Janeway is something I can help with," Sam offered. "We are allowed to invite people from the station to Voyager in a private fashion. I'll organize a visit for you for the day after tomorrow, and I'll see that you meet the captain… by 'accident'."
"You would do that?" Vir looked at her in awe. "Why would you care?"
Sam shrugged. "I don't want the station in danger; that would mean endangering our ship as well, and the safety of my daughter is very important for me. She's the only one I have. Besides, I might not know you well, but I have the impression that you are a good person. You deserve your chance."
"I… I don't know how to thank you, Samantha. This… this is…"
"Don't thank me yet. All I can do is to organize a chance meeting. It's up to you to persuade Captain Janeway."
"I know," Vir nodded, almost giddy with relief. "A chance is all I ask for."
The EMH called up the diagnostic arc above Lyta's biobed and started working on her injury, shutting off anyone else in sickbay. Being a hologram gave him the advantage to actually be able to do that.
"There are some… anomalies in Ms Alexander's biodata," he said to Dr. Hobbs in a very convincingly distracted manner. He couldn't really be distracted, of course, but the personality subroutines did a very good work to make the impression. "Isn't she supposed to be human? And her current status and her medical history seem to contradict each other."
"I know," Lillian answered with a sigh. "This is something we don't understand, either. Nobody really knows what happened to her on the Vorlon homeworld – she won't speak about it."
"What are these… implants Seven was talking about?" the doctor studied the readings of his diagnostic computer for a few moments. "I see… It seems that she has… gills, aside from perfectly normal, functioning lungs… and they don't look like implants, actually. They look as if they had grown naturally, making her a water-breather as well as an air-breather. And you are telling me this happened during the recent years?"
Lillian shrugged. "Fact is, she didn't have them when she came to Babylon 5 for the first time. Or for the second time, for that matter. She used to be the perfectly normal, average human being… well, aside from the fact that she is a sixth generation telepath. But when she returned from the Vorlons, she was already like this. We can't even start to understand what might have happened to her. This is all way beyond our medical knowledge and technology."
"None of the physicians with whose knowledge I am programmed have ever seen anything like this," the holodoctor agreed. "Fortunately, as Seven said, the shot seems to only have damaged… erm… original areas of her body. Nothing that we can't fix, although she'll be quite weak for some time."
Not wanting to stand in the doctors' way, Chakotay walked over to the other biobeds, looking down at the beaten-up, unconscious men.
"And just who are these people here?" he asked with a frown. Nozawa, left behind by Tuvok to keep an eye on the captives, could only offer a laconic shrug.
"They both used to serve in my security section," Garibaldi nodded his thanks to Paris and got off the biobed carefully. "This one," he pointed with his finger at the younger one, "was my aide for more than a year. Until he sold himself to EarthGov and shot me in the back. Literally. I lay in coma for weeks afterwards."
"And they guy still runs around freely?" Chakotay arched an inquisitive eyebrow. Garibaldi made a sour face.
"EarthGov jumped in before we could have spaced him. Got him 'taken into custody' and brought back to Earth. Back then, we were still part of EarthForce, and so we couldn't do a thing against it."
"Bout you can now, can't you?" Chakotay asked. "You aren't under Earth's jurisdiction anymore."
"Oh, trust me, I'm planning to do many things to this guy, none of which would be pleasant," Garibaldi replied grimly. "But first we'll have to hunt down his buddies on Grey… whatever Grey level that should be called. And for that, I'll need your help, Commander."
"My help?" Chakotay replied in surprise. "What could I possibly do to help you?"
"Well, for starters, you could keep these guys in your brig," Garibaldi nodded towards the still unconscious rebels. "After we've found a whole level in Grey sector of which we'd never known for years, I'm not sure how secure our brig actually is. If there are any hidden access tunnels, trap doors, whatever. We'll have to scan the whole security area, inch by inch."
"That makes sense," Chakotay agreed. "We can keep them, all right; when you as the head of station security make an official request."
"I do."
"Very well. I'll make an entry in the ship's logs, that'll make it official. What else?"
"I'd like to have a long talk with your Lieutenant Ayala. Preferable here, where we can't be monitored from Babylon 5."
"What for?"
"I was unconscious, most of the time, while captured. But Gregor was listening to those guys for hours. He's already told me a few things, but I need every little detail he can remember. I have reason to assume that Commander Ivanova might be in particular danger."
Chakotay thought about it for a moment.
"Why don't you go up to Tuvok's office?" he then offered. "Greg's already here, filing his report – the two of you can add the details together. I'm sure Tuvok would be interested in the background of all these events."
"Sounds good," Garibaldi nodded," save one little detail: how do I find Mr. Tuvok's office?"
"I'll see that you do," Chakotay grinned and touched his comm badge. "Chakotay to Ayala."
"Go on," Ayala's calm voice answered.
"Greg, I'm sending Mr. Garibaldi over to you. See that you file a full report about everything that happened while you were missing. A very detailed report, understood?"
"Sure I do. Just send him up to our deck; I'll meet him at the turbolift. And Chak…"
"Yes?"
"I think you should come up to the bridge, too. The captain has just come back... and she's not happy. Ayala out."
Chakotay, too, deactivated his comm badge and sighed. He knew the captain wouldn't be happy with their actions – his and Tuvok's. She took the non-intervention policy of Starfleet very seriously… too seriously, sometimes. Well, it was better to face her now and bring the confrontation behind him.
"Come with me, Mr. Garibaldi," he said in resignation. "We'll be heading the same deck, so we can as well go together. Paris, inform me when the Ms Alexander regains consciousness. The captain might want to talk to her as well."
When Chakotay entered the captain's ready room, he already found Tuvok there. Waiting. The Vulcan sat ramrod-straight, his face carefully neutral, but Chakotay had learned to read the many non-expressions Vulcans could display, while the changes were too subtle to read for anyone but those who knew them well.
The current non-expression on Tuvok's face clearly signaled to Chakotay that Ayala had been right. The captain was not happy. With either of them.
"Commander," she greeted her XO evenly, "how good of you to join us. I was just about to call you."
Chakotay winced inwardly. In recent times, the captain only addressed him by his rank when she was truly furious.
"I came as soon as I heard that you're back, Captain," was all he answered.
"How convenient," Janeway leaned back in her seat, her eyes cold with anger. "So, would you like to tell me why did half of my command staff go berserk, running around on Babylon 5, armed to the teeth, shooting and beating up people, while I was making a diplomatic visit by the most important alien ambassador?"
The two men exchanged uncomfortable looks. Why they had well been within the borders of their authority, according to regulations they should have informed the captain firs. That much was true. Janeway had every reason to be furious with them.
"The Commander had nothing to do with the security detail being sent to Babylon 5," Tuvok finally said. "In fact, he did not even know about it in advance. I acted within my own area of responsibility. Mr. Allen from station security asked for our help with the search for their missing chief of security. And as our Mr. Ayala had gone missing with Mr. Garibaldi, I was more than willing to grant Mr. Allen's request."
"And the thought to inform me first never occurred to you, right?"
"On the contrary, Captain. That was my very first instinct. But at the moment, it seemed to be a simple search-and-rescue mission, and I believed that it would be over before you returned from Ambassador Delenn."
"Well, where that part is considered, you were right," Janeway looked at Chakotay. "I am still surprised that you played along, Commander."
"I wasn't informed, either," Chakotay reminded her matter-of-factly. "But I have to admit, Captain, that I would have played along, had Mr. Tuvok asked me. Station security asked for our help. One of our people was missing. As I see it, we had every justification to act."
"Justification… or excuse?" Janeway asked softly. "Does this also justify the use of the transporter, several times, despite the fact that I have specifically forbidden it?"
"No, it does not," Chakotay admitted bluntly. "But frankly, Captain, should I have to choose again between keeping a piece of our technology confidential or saving a life, I'd chose the latter, every time. Ms Alexander was bleeding to her death, our people were in danger and had no other way out – I was not going to endanger them any more, if I could rescue them."
"So, this is how we are going to handle things in the future?" Janeway asked. "Ignoring the rules and regulations of Starfleet, whenever they are inconvenient? Do I have to remind you – both of you – that we are in a universe here that is not our own? That we have to be three times as careful as we usually are?"
Chakotay shook his head tiredly. "Kathryn, I do understand why you want to stick to regulations as much as possible, and believe me, I even agree with you – in most cases."
"Just not in this particular one," Janeway supplied, her voice slightly bitter. "How many more will come yet?"
"I don't know," Chakotay replied honestly. "But I do know that you made me your first officer to have someone to rely on. Had you wanted a mindless puppet, you'd have never chosen me."
"True enough," Janeway nodded. "The question is: can I still rely on you? On either of you? I won't lie to you; I'm not happy with what's just happened, and I'd be even less happy, should this happen again."
"I can understand that," Chakotay sighed. "But you see, this isn't that different from the Delta Quadrant here. It may not be our universe, but the fact that we are lost is the same on both places. I don't say that we should violate the Prime Directive at every whim of our hearts, that we should get involved in everything that's going on in this universe, on this particular place, but we won't be able to avoid every connection. We are here – that's something we can't change. We'll have to make the best of it."
"Oh, I agree with that," Janeway replied slowly. "I'm just not sure we mean the same thing when we decide what's best."
"No, we probably don't," Chakotay agreed. "But we can always try to find a middle way."
"Maybe," Janeway rose. "Which still doesn't change the fact that you – both of you – should have consulted me before you acted. This is a breach of protocol I don't take lightly, gentlemen. A reprimand will be noted in your files. Dismissed."
TBC