AN: Thanks to all those reviewing.
Shakayla: you are really just confused. She is unconscious for maybe 10, 15 minutes, just long
enough that those aliens can take over the ship.
Kathryn crawled trough the Jefferies tubes, taking a turn now and then and climbing some ladders. Her way to cargo bay two seemed to take hours, she was so anxious to find out what happened to her crew.
Finally, she reached one tube, that was just above were her people were held captive. Her heart raced, she was out of breath. She was slightly dizzy, but she banished any thought about her discomfort.
She quickly found a vent, so that she was able to observe the things that happened beneath her without being seen herself. Right underneath her sat Chakotay, B'Elanna and Tom at his side.
B'Elanna looked furious, both hands were clenched in tight fists, Tom held a handkerchief to his nose, that was covered with blood, the nose obviously broken. Other crewmen spotted slight injuries. The worst off were Tuvok, who was laying unconsciously in the corner with the doctor (so they summoned him already, she thought) fussing over him , and some of the security team. Her crew never submitted to invasion threats without a fight.
Kathryn sat back and released the breath she didn't know she had been holding.
Oh, she was angry! How dare aliens even think about hijacking her ship, not to mention actually doing it and injure her crew! How could she have been so stupid as to give in to her weakness. The captain's place was on the bridge, especially during an emergency. If she had been there, she may have prevented all of this.
"Oh, stop it!", she told herself. She hadn't been feeling well and probably wouldn't have been a help at all. Furthermore, there hadn't been any evidence of approaching enemies when she left for sickbay. Besides, she knew that Tuvok, Chakotay and the others had tried very hard to keep her ship safe.
Maybe now she was the only chance they got to reclaim Voyager. She had to calm down. She couldn't allow herself to muddle over "What if"s and worry for her friends. She owed them to be a straight thinking captain, nothing else mattered, was supposed to matter right now.
Again she peered through the vent, this time to take a good look at the aliens. She gasped. They were not only members of one species, as she had thought, but of many! One looked to be Kazon, another Hirogen, another one looked like a species she had definitely encountered before, she doubted that the encounter had been a peaceful kind.
The rest of the six aliens guarding her crew she couldn't place anywhere. She might have seen them before, or might have not. One looked almost like a dragon, he even had some small wings that didn't look strong enough to support him in the air. He was the ugly kind, though, with lots of scars, not the the mighty dragon she dreamed about when she was young.
So, who were they? Some group of intergalactical terrorists, sent or kicked out by their governments? Or an anti-Voyager-getting-home-group? Well, that maybe would be the first and last question she would asked them, before kicking them ... ahem, before she politely asked them to leave her ship.
Oh, no! She had melted her combadge and with it the universal translator! "Next time think, before you shoot!", she thought angrily.
Suddenly, one of the aliens raced his voice. It sounded ... English? Oh, because of their diversity, they needed something like the universal translator on their own, didn't they?
It was the dragon that spoke: "Computer locate every member of this crew."
His lips twisted to an evil smile on his lizard face.
"Every crew member is in cargo bay two" the computer replied in an emotionless voice.
Good, at least concealing her had worked.
But first things first. She had to let Chakotay know, that she was still alive. In order to do so, she plucked one of her pips off her turtleneck and cast it through the vent right into her first officer's lap. She was lucky. He caught it in his hand, looked at it inconspicuously, smiled and never once looked up, as another (maybe except Tuvok) would have and give her hide-out away.
What next? She knew that she alone couldn't fight openly against their captors, but she could weeken them. But how? Mhhh, lack of sleep, of food...
Ah, the replicators! It was certainly not fair, if these aliens found out how to work them and used up all their prized replicator rations. It especially wasn't fair on those, who won last month's betting pool. She had been among the lucky ones.
She raced back to the doctor's office. She could easily be trapped in the small room, if she didn't reach the Jefferies tube in time, but she hoped, that no one would be looking in there at all. Surely they would keep the EMH in the cargo bay as well, they wouldn't wont him to sabotage the ship.
Another program, like the last. It would shut down all replicators and leave no trace what so ever. Most important, the computer wouldn't comment about it. Things like "a code level 9 clearance is required" would only get Chakotay in trouble. Everything would just stay black until you knew the right password.
Just at this moment, one of the Hirogens was standing in front of the replicator in the Captain's ready room. He looked through the list with favorites. This coffee seemed to be delicious as often as it had been ordered. He might try one of those.
He placed the order and watched with awe as a cup with brown liquid appeared. He reached out to crab it, but his fingers closed on thin air. Another order, no confirming be-eep. He hit the replicator in rage. Still, nothing.
"Done," she smiled. Let these hijackers eat Leola root, like the rest of her crew. Wait, they might be the ones who actually like it. Well, if they ate all their supplies of this horrible stuff, she might have to thank them after all.
"Now lets take care of some of our visitors."
She used the tubes again, to get around the enemy safely, and stood in front of the holodecks in no time.
Kathryn went into the first and asked the computer to open a nasty program, one B'Elanna liked to let off some steam. Then she quickly asked the computer to simulate some problems, fire and smoke, on this holodeck and alert the bridge about it. Surely, some "visitors" would have to check it out.
She hid in a dark corner, as she heard footsteps approaching. Three aliens had been sent to find out what happened. At first they were reluctant to take a step on the holodeck, but as nothing seemed wrong they all went in there.
Kathryn jumped up and raced to the door. She had it locked, before the aliens could figure out what happened. Again, the computer would resist every order to open that door and would stay blank until someone typed in the right password.
She repeated the same procedure on the other holodeck. This time only two were sent to investigate.
When she tried to lock the door this time, she didn't realize that one of them was standing right next to it. He grabbed her wrist and smiled wickedly. "My, my, my, what have we here?"
She looked at him, horror displaying in her eyes.