~ Vorik ~
The three of them worked all throughout the next two hours, carefully routing and rerouting power. It took quite a bit of effort to hoist the large array onto the roof, but it eventually was all on.
Now to see if it worked.
It was 0401, and Icheb looked tired. On the other end of the spectrum, Ensign Kim was simply ecstatic. In the middle of it all was the ever stoic Vorik. All three of them were standing around the communications console inside, grimy and sweaty. It was still off. All they had to do was flip a switch.
"Well?" Icheb said
"Well what?" Harry replied.
Icheb wiped his arm across his brow. "Are we going to start up the communications array to see if it is functional?" Harry looked at Vorik.
"Do you think we should wait for the Captain's permission?"
"I am not the one in charge of this project, Ensign. I believe this is your decision."
Actually, Vorik felt that they should wait for the Captain. Turning on this array would certainly alert passing ships of their presence. By turning this on, they may be quite literally giving up Haven. Harry turned back to him.
"Vorik, I know it's your job as a Vulcan to be supportive, but I've seen Tuvok counter the Captain on the bridge enough times to know you're hiding something. What are your objections?"
Vorik drew a breath to steady his thoughts. They were a tranquil pool, a pool that could very easily be disturbed with the dropping of one stone, with the flick of one switch, to the point where it could reverberate through everything, upsetting their natural balance. How had his ancestors made that decision so long ago to land on Earth, to give or withhold information from this new specie? How did they know that what they were doing wouldn't have catastrophic affects?
Ensign Kim was still waiting for an answer when Vorik pulled himself out of his thoughts.
"I believe that we should wait for the Captain's permission to turn on the entire array, as it is something she should be aware of. However, I find it illogical to have done all of this work without knowing if the machine will function or not before we present it to her. Perhaps we should power it up for a brief moment, to ensure that everything is, or at least appears to be, functioning properly." Harry nodded his agreement.
"Sounds like a plan to me."
The three men all gathered around the main console, which held a small display screen which could be used to view who they were communicating with, and several buttons that would allow whoever was on this end to cut the communication, start it, and so on. With Harry sitting in the single chair and Vorik and Icheb on either side, Harry flipped the single switch that would start up the entire array.
For a few seconds, there was nothing but the whirring of the haphazard system and the held breaths of the Vorik, Harry and Icheb. They waited.
"Maybe we need to reconnect the – " Harry muttered under his breath, but loud enough that Vorik's sensitive hearing could pick it up.
"Wait!"
Icheb was looking at the display monitor on his side. From what Vorik could recall, it showed any ships that were in the system. They were still working on getting it to expand further, but it seemed unlikely without building satellites and launching them, a costly process for a stranded crew.
Vorik went around to see what Icheb had found, while Harry simply swiveled in the chair. But before Vorik could see what was captivating, Harry started issuing commands.
"We need to get this off! Now!" Harry barked.
Without question, Vorik waited as Ensign Kim punched the command sequence in that would shut down the entire device.
Except that it wasn't working.
The ensign tried again and again. Vorik checked over Icheb's shoulder to see what had caused this.
Two ships were on sensors as being near the planet.
And they were Plak'han.
Vorik was about to turn around and sever a piece if wire, any wire, as long as it would stop the machine, but something on the main view screen caught his attention.
A Plak'han was talking in its rapid language, a combination of clicks and whistles. Their beady eyes glared into the view screen, a direct death threat to the. Brief flashes of their last attack went through Vorik's mind. He wasn't sure what was being said, and didn't particularly care to know. Harry was still captivated by the alien when Icheb pulled out a wire and the screen went blank.
Harry turned to face Vorik, an expression of dread on his face.
"They're going to come get us…wipe us out…what did we ever do to them?" Harry said blankly.
The truth of the matter was, Vorik did not know what had enraged the Plak'han so much as to kill off nearly a third of the ship. The only thing that had saved the rest of the Voyagers was the final blow Tuvok had sent in their direction, effectively blowing up their ship. But it wasn't enough to save Voyager. The crew had to resort to settling on this planet with their lack of supplies, simply because the Plak'han were out for them.
"I am afraid I do not know the answer to that Ensign." He turned to Icheb. "You may go ahead and reconnect the wire so that we may present the system to the Captain in the morning."
Icheb nodded his understanding, fixing the wire with the available supplies. Afterward, all three men went to bed without anyone being the wiser about the events that had transpired that night.