AN: Here we are, another chapter here.
I just want to say that my Klingonese/Klingon (depending on the show) is not very good, and I'm using online dictionaries, so if you're one of those who speaks it fluently, please forgive me my errors!
I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think!
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
Kathryn walked between Seska and Verri so that Verri could always be sure that Kathryn's back was to him in case she needed a reminder that she was Culluh's slave and shouldn't think that the pips she still wore on her collar meant anything anymore.
Seska had very little to say on the rest of their tour of Voyager. They'd walked the corridors with an uncomfortable amount of Kazon soldiers crammed into them, but Kathryn had no clear indication of how many of Culluh's people were on the ship. She was sure that they were going back and forth between their ships and Voyager—especially since they discovered that transporters were back online while they'd been doing their tour—and she, admittedly, had some difficulty telling one angry and filthy Kazon from the next. She might have seen the same Kazon a dozen times, in a different location and with a different companion, and failed to notice the repetition. She was only certain that she could identify Culluh, because she'd dealt with him so much, and Verri, because everything about the Kazon was burned—literally and figuratively—into her.
Kathryn was happy to keep her back turned to Verri and his electrical rod. She'd accepted, without protest, the few angry smacks she'd received, here and there, since leaving sickbay. All of them were given under Seska's orders, and all of them came from her very evident anger toward Kathryn and the rest of the universe.
For someone who claimed to be a dedicated mistress of Maje Culluh, Seska wasn't doing well to hide her fury over the fact that the infant she was carrying, somewhat roughly so that he fussed a great deal, was biologically her Maje's son. For someone who had used and betrayed Chakotay—and had attempted to steal his DNA to create a child—Seska seemed particularly upset to find that her plan had failed.
Kathryn considered herself to be reasonably intelligent, and she wasn't under the slightest impression that Seska wasn't angry with her for a great many things. She was angry at her for being a Starfleet captain, and for ruining her plans with Chakotay's Maquis crew, but she was mostly angry at Kathryn—if Kathryn's assumptions were correct—for being Chakotay's chosen partner and for, beyond a shadow of a doubt and with Chakotay's own blessing, carrying Chakotay's child.
Kathryn gladly kept her back turned to Verri because, when they figured out what they were going to do and made it out of this, the doctor could heal her back and shoulders with a dermal regenerator. She didn't want the rod landing hard against any other part of her body, though, if Seska might choose to try to rid her of the one thing that, it seemed, Seska was angry not to have for herself.
The doors closed behind them in the living room and all was quiet. Kathryn hoped that B'Elanna and Carol, wherever they were, were faring well. Kathryn looked around the living area. It was strange to think that, not that very long ago, this had been her home. These had been her quarters. She could still practically feel the presence of Chakotay and her former self in the same room—like they'd only just left. And, now, she was simply trying to figure out if she'd ever take ownership of that room again.
Her eyes caught on something, and she studied it without trying to draw attention to it. She realized what it was—an electrical rod. One of the slave-driving devices that the Kazons had brought on board for training. It was under the corner of the couch, mostly hidden, like it had rolled there. She had no idea who might have left it, or why there was a Kazon leading a slave around the ship without one. Finally, to satisfy her mind, she decided that Culluh may have left it. He hadn't favored the rod, and was likely to see that Carol wasn't going to buck his authority. She remembered the placement of the rod, though, in case she might somehow get her hands on it. It wouldn't help her against the phasers that Seska and Verri carried, but any weapon was better than no weapon at all, especially if she somehow had the element of surprise on her side.
Seska ranted about something—some displeasure with the way that the warriors were conducting themselves, and she told Verri about how she'd be reporting a certain group of them to Culluh to be dealt with. Kathryn didn't really listen to Seska's complaints, and she wondered if Verri even paid them any attention. As she paced with the infant in her arms—in long, angry, stomping steps—around the living room, Kathryn thought it was fairly evident that her real complaint wasn't with the warriors and, instead, was something she was working through, herself.
Kathryn certainly wasn't going to try to counsel the woman. After all, it was truly Seska that had gotten all of them—every last one of them, Kazon, Maquis, and Starfleet alike—into this situation.
1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
"OK," B'Elanna whispered, practically breathing into Carol's ear, "your phaser has a full charge. Mine almost does. Your aim is better than mine, so you're aiming for the Kazon warrior. He's standing guard at the door."
B'Elanna was no counselor. Like most students at Starfleet Academy, before she'd dropped out, she'd taken a number of classes on empathy and dealing with other species. She'd also taken a class that had dealt directly with the psychology of trauma and dealing with others who were experiencing the different effects of trauma. When you were heading into situations where you might encounter unfamiliar races and species, it was best to have some tools in your toolbelt that would help you get individuals through psychological episodes which could cause them to react in ways that were uncharacteristic of themselves and potentially dangerous.
In addition, it was important to remember that—no matter how much the Starfleet ideals wanted peace and prosperity for all species—the fact of the matter remained that war and fighting were a way of life. Having been raised by a Klingon mother, B'Elanna understood war and fighting better than she understood most things. One of her favorite storybooks, as a child, she remembered had been called something like "The PetaQ Without Batlh" and had surrounded the concept of a lowly PetaQ that attempted to restore their honor. She'd loved the book mostly for its colorful pictures where blooming flowers of illustrated blood had decorated the chests of many cartoonish warriors that had died with honor.
B'Elanna understood war. She understood honor, battles, killing and dying, and enemies. She understood that trauma and psychological suffering were very real things—and that they could be absolutely devastating—but she hadn't been raised with very much empathy and, therefore, she wasn't very good at providing it, not even when she wanted to be.
She told herself that, when they got out of this, she would work on that. She had improved, since becoming part of this crew, things about herself that she wanted to improve. She could continue to improve.
For now, she was doing her best.
She could easily see that Carol was dealing with a great deal of psychological discomfort. She might have called it repressed, but it was right there on the surface for the moment. She wanted to comfort her but, really, she needed her to keep that fire burning. It was, perhaps, the reason that Klingons had never been very good at empathy. To be a successful warrior was to live with the suffering you had caused and felt, and it was to continue to do so because that was what was required of you. Your past pain could help drive your further glory and success in battle.
B'Elanna only offered Carol the comfort that she'd acted as she should. She'd done what she needed to do, what must be done, and now she must continue that. Like a good warrior, she had to fight until the battle was through.
Carol seemed as inclined to agree with B'Elanna as if she'd grown up on Q'onoS.
B'Elanna had carefully and quietly slipped over to peer out the doorway and to figure out where everyone was located. They were one small step from gaining at least a little more freedom for themselves and, in the process, freeing Kathryn.
"He's not holding his phaser," B'Elanna said. "So that buys you some time. Seska's put the baby down now, but she's moving around. I'll try to keep her from firing on you or the captain."
"Is Kathryn OK?" Carol breathed out, her voice still maintaining the slightly shaky quality it had been holding since B'Elanna had first returned to the captain's quarters.
"She will be," B'Elanna assured her. "Especially once we're rid of that Kazon."
Carol nodded her head.
"Let's go," she said.
B'Elanna didn't belabor the point. She checked her phaser one more time and carefully and quietly stepped to the point where they could come through doorway to surprise those gathered in the living area. She allowed Carol to pass through first, and she heard Carol's phaser fire before she'd even fully stepped through the doorway. B'Elanna followed after her, meaning to at least get Seska's attention, not sure what they should really do with her, but Seska hit the ground only a second after the Kazon did.
Carol didn't seem to believe that Seska deserved any more mercy than the Kazons she's brought with her.
B'Elanna stepped forward, ready to offer an explanation to a clearly surprised Kathryn Janeway.
1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
Kathryn's stomach clenched almost painfully, and her chest responded in kind. Slowly she felt some of her muscles relaxing. She'd been surprised by the fact that they weren't alone. It had been silent in the quarters. The initial shock had come just from realizing that someone else was there. It had been followed, closely, by the almost immediate phaser-fire that had dropped Verri—his electrical rod rolling across the floor—and then had dropped Seska in the middle of a squeaked protest of surprise.
Kathryn didn't have to get anywhere near the bodies to know that both were dead, or very soon would be. Carol had been the one to fire the phaser. She still stood, holding the phaser, like she expected to have to fire on someone else any minute.
B'Elanna stepped forward and put her hand on Carol's shoulder. Carol returned her phaser to the holster on her hip.
"Carol's killed Maje Culluh," B'Elanna offered. "And—our guards are dead. Culluh had plans to make everyone slaves and to kill anyone who didn't obey. He intended to take the babies and sell them as slaves."
"I had to stop him," Carol said. "And we've got to get the Kazons off the ship. They'll try to follow his orders."
"We're not going to let anyone be sold or killed. We're doing what we need to do," B'Elanna said. "What we have to do. We've got to take Voyager back. This has gone too far for negotiations."
Kathryn realized a few things very quickly. Carol wasn't entirely herself—at least, she wasn't the giggling, happy-to-assist everyone Carol that they knew so well. B'Elanna, too, had a determination about her, and part of that determination seemed to be to protect Carol, even though there was nothing, as far as Kathryn could see, from which Carol needed protection at the moment.
"We're absolutely outside the window for negotiation," Kathryn said. "I believe, at this point, the best offer we can put on the table is to allow the Kazon warriors to leave the ship and retreat. That is, if we can get the upper hand."
"We don't exactly have a plan," Carol offered. She was collecting the weapons off of Seska and Verri. She passed Kathryn a phaser and Kathryn borrowed the holster from Seska's body so that she could keep her hands free when possible. "We need a plan."
"We need to figure out where they're holding everyone," Kathryn said. "I tried to figure that out while I was with Seska, but I was never sure which cargo bay they're using."
"Cargo bay two," B'Elanna offered. "I got warp drive and sensors back online. I put them behind a code wall so that it appears they're malfunctioning. I set internal sensors to read all-clear, so that they couldn't track us."
"You knew we'd get loose," Carol said.
"I had some hope," B'Elanna said. "I figured out how to keep the path we take undetected. Carol figured out how to clear the path. Now we just need to figure out what we're doing to keep from getting killed between here and the cargo bay."
Kathryn laughed to herself.
"It looks to me like we're off to a pretty good start," she said. "I can tell you this. The corridors are crawling with Kazon soldiers and guards. If we had to go straight to the cargo bay, we'd never make it. Sickbay is empty, though, and there are ventilation access points in sickbay."
"We can use them to get to the cargo bay," B'Elanna filled in.
Kathryn nodded.
"And then, we can use them to exit somewhere safe, find a Jefferies tube, and help clear the guards away from the cargo bay doors," Kathryn offered. "We're going to need a pillowcase or two."
"A pillowcase?" Carol asked.
"To gather up the weapons," Kathryn said. "We could use the replicators, but the Kazon warriors are likely to notice and question that use of power. We don't want them coming to see what's happening. On our way to sickbay, we're bound to run into a few Kazons. We need some weapons to pass to the crew when we reach the cargo bay. Otherwise, they're unarmed and this will never work. We'll be putting ourselves at some risk, but we've got to have some weapons."
"What about the armory?" Carol asked. "A ship like this—we've got to have an armory. They haven't had any reason to clear it out, since they haven't left the ship, and the entire crew is locked up. What are the chances we can clear the armory and take the weapons to our people?"
Kathryn looked at B'Elanna.
"You know the inner workings of this ship better than anyone," Kathryn said. "Can you get us to the armory from the ventilation access points in sickbay?"
B'Elanna smiled to herself.
"And back to the cargo bay without breaking a sweat," she confirmed.
"Excellent," Kathryn confirmed. "Grab some pillowcases. There's no need to pass up what we can gather on the way. There's no telling what might be useful."
B'Elanna rushed after the pillowcases and returned almost immediately. She put the pillowcases in Kathryn's hand. Both of them were splattered with blood that, in some places, was still a little damp. Kathryn furrowed her brow at B'Elanna.
"They were the cleanest ones in there," B'Elanna offered. She cut her eyes in Carol's direction and Kathryn understood. She put on a smile, reminding everyone that everything was going to be perfectly fine, and she accepted them.
"Thank you, B'Elanna," Kathryn said. "They'll work perfectly."
Carol deposited the weapons she was holding into one pillowcase with the ones that Kathryn had picked up, and Kathryn rearranged them all. Each of them was armed. They had three electrical rods and one extra phaser in the one pillowcase. It wasn't much, but it would do. They would gather more on the way.
"OK," Kathryn said. "Let's go. Everyone—have your phasers ready. We're doing this, so there's no hesitation. We don't give them the chance to get the upper hand."
"I'll walk in the middle. I can walk backwards, keeping watch that way, and whoever's behind me can direct me," B'Elanna said.
"I'll lead the way," Kathryn said.
"Wait," Carol said. "We can't just leave the baby."
She stepped close to the infant that Seska had left, half-swaddled and roughly tossed onto the couch.
"It's Chakotay's son," B'Elanna said, almost as if she were simply stating information rather than really agreeing or disagreeing with Carol.
"The doctor confirmed that it's Culluh's son," Kathryn said. "There's no trace of Chakotay's DNA. I believe that's one of the reasons that Seska's been particularly unhappy with the baby since then."
Carol leaned close to the baby and stroked the bony ridge on its forehead.
"I'm sorry," she offered to the infant. "I'm sorry—about your Mommy." She gathered the baby up and Kathryn felt her stomach churn. There was no great solution to this. "Even if it isn't Chakotay's baby, it's still a baby."
"We can't take it," Kathryn said. "We have to leave him here."
"We can't just leave him," Carol said.
"He's safer if we do," Kathryn said. "In here? He's safe. The Kazons won't kill him. Even if they didn't know the truth, Culluh claimed the baby. They won't harm it. Our people won't harm the infant. If we take it out there, it could accidentally get caught in the crossfire. And—it'll only slow us down or give us away. The best thing to do for it, is to leave it here."
Carol nuzzled the baby like she was thinking, and the baby seemed content for the first time in a while. Of course, given Seska's earlier treatment, it was probably welcoming some affection. Even though neither Cardassians nor Kazons were known for their kindness, their infants must have a point before they knew the behavior that was expected of them.
"We'll come back for him," B'Elanna offered. She walked over toward Carol. She put her hands out, touching Carol's arms long before she was beside her. "We'll leave him for now. Where he's safe. And we'll come back for him when the ship is cleared."
Carol seemed to accept that, and she let B'Elanna take the infant from her. B'Elanna put the baby down on the sofa, where Seska had left him, but Carol immediately reached for him again.
"You can't just leave a baby on a couch," Carol said. "He could roll off. He could get hurt." She looked around, apparently dissatisfied with the area around her, and put the baby on the floor. She dragged all manner of cushions and pillows off the sofa and made a border around the baby.
"He'll be safe like that," Kathryn assured her. "Come on—we've got to go. There's no telling when the warriors will be seeking advice or orders from Culluh. We need to make sure that we're not here when they come."
Carol nodded, and immediately she followed after B'Elanna, already assuming her position to protect the half-Klingon as she walked backward to keep watch over Carol's shoulder. Kathryn took a deep breath, accepted that whatever happened, at least they would know they'd tried their best to save the crew and the ship, and opened the door to lead the other two women into the corridor—her phaser already ready to stop the first Kazon she saw.
