Uninspired Voyages
A Star Trek: Voyager fanfiction by Andrew J. Talon
DISCLAIMER: This is a non-profit fan based work of prose. Star Trek: Voyager, Deep Space Nine, The Next Generation et al are the property of CBS Television, Para creation of Gene Roddenberry. Please support the official release.
Welp. Foraging on a planet for foodstuffs wasn't the worst kind of assignment, Shepherd thought to himself. It did get them out of the house and on the ground. It was also a chance for the security teams to get some field exercise.
The bright light of the G-type star they were orbiting shone down on the semi arid coastline they'd beamed down to. The waves crashed against the rocks, as the search teams wandered out in every direction underneath the blue sky. Shepherd himself was keeping watch at their base camp, keeping an eye on the PADD linked to Voyager's sensors high above as Commander Chakotay coordinated with the teams over commbadge.
Accompanying him was Neelix, who had been doing his level best to be a good guide to the Voyager crew. Maybe his pep talk had helped?
"Yes, this used to be a wonderful trading outpost of the Ancient Talaxian Empire," Neelix was explaining to the commander, pointing out several ruins on the PADD their sensors had discovered. "Powers from lightyears around would stop by to trade for various wares!"
"A whole empire, you say?" Chakotay said, raising his tattooed eyebrow. "You used to be big players then?"
Neelix nodded eagerly, his face nearly split by his wistful grin.
"Oh absolutely Commander! Why, we traded out to the Mid-Rim! There are rumors our ships made it as far as the Reisstrano Pulsar! Er, I think you call it..." Neelix screwed his eyes up in concentration. "J1232-6501? An extremely boring name, if I do say so myself!"
"Our rules are that they get a number like that until a Federation ship visits them," Chakotay explained. He checked it on his tricorder, and whistled. "Thirty two thousand light years from Earth? Impressive."
"How did you keep your empire together, Neelix?" Shepherd asked, suddenly interested. "You didn't have transwarp or anything like that, did you?"
Neelix shook his head, the bristles on his head drooping a bit.
"Sadly no. We just had generation ships travelling at warp speed for long periods of time. Or we used suspension technologies."
Lieutenant Carey approached, the Irish man grinned as he held up a fruit that resembled an apple to the Talaxian trader.
"So, was this one of your prize trade goods?" He asked. Neelix took hold of it, and examined it closely. He then grinned.
"Ah! A kaylo! Kind of," Neelix explained. "They're actually poisonous. One bite and your widepipe will swell up, while the rest of you follows suit," he explained.
Carey grimaced. "Then how-?"
"Oh! The poison itself can be used for all sorts of medicines and chemical applications," Neelix said brightly. "There are also ways to remove the poison, but the taste is... Extremely bland." He made a face. "Yech!"
"Bland might be good, Neelix," Chakotay said. "Exciting and spicy isn't always needed."
"Yes, but unfortunately I don't remember how to remove the poison," Neelix admitted, casting an eye over at Shepherd. "But! They're widespread enough, we can probably ask around at a nearby trading outpost or agricultural colony."
"Well, there's that at least," Chakotay said. He looked over at Shepherd. "Shepherd, anything to report?"
Shepherd shook his head.
"So far," he began, "the ruins haven't shown any signs of traps or defenses or other terrible surprises."
"The orbital bombardment by the Haakonians took care of that centuries ago," Neelix said glumly. Shepherd gave him a small smile.
"We have mapped out gravesites so we'll avoid them, Neelix," he said gently. The Talaxian sighed and nodded.
"Thank you for that," he replied. "But all that's left is just bloodworms and kaylos..."
"Anything worth catching in the sea?" Carey suggested, pointing down at the coastline. Neelix hummed.
"Well, maybe, but do you have any means of catching it?"
"I think the personal forcefields can stand up to the pressure, Commander," Shepherd said with a smile at the first officer. "If we have to go deep."
Chakotay smiled back.
"I'll ask the captain about it," he said. He made to tap his commbadge, but it beeped first.
"Voyager to Away team: Get ready to beam back. We've got a Kazon raider under a cloak coming in," Janeway said.
Chakotay stiffened, and looked to Shepherd. Shepherd's relaxed posture vanished, replaced by a serious, determined soldier's. He hit his commbadge.
"Shepherd to security teams-Prepare for immediate extraction to transport point. Hostile incoming," he ordered.
The security teams and the searchers soon emerged from the trees, getting up to the basecamp. Beam outs began immediately, but Shepherd's keen eyes swept over the assembled and found someone missing. As did Chakotay's.
"Seska's missing," Chakotay said. He looked to Shepherd. "You get everyone else out of here, I'll go-"
"Alone? No sir, can't do that," Shepherd replied. He looked over at Munroe and Biessman. "Biessman, Munroe, we're going to find our missing crewmember. Fan out!"
The two immediately headed out, their tricorders out. Chakotay looked over in annoyance at Shepherd, who shrugged.
"Regulation 44, Section 2: No command officer is to be left unaccompanied on away missions, sir," he said.
Chakotay grimaced as he sprinted to catch up to the other officers, Shepherd trailing behind him.
"You know," he said, "I memorized that one just to annoy my own captain."
Shepherd grinned.
"Wasn't it great?"
"It was-Until I found myself on the other side of it," Chakotay admitted.
Shepherd hated caves. They were cramped, dark, had numerous things that could throw off sensors and offered an enemy hundreds of ways of getting the drop on you. It was little wonder that militaries across the quadrant had attempted to find ways of making it easier on their troops when it came to cave fighting.
It was also little wonder that unfortunately, in most cases, the only surefire way to clear a cave was the oldest: Send in enough men to scour the insides.
He, Munroe, Biessman, and Chakotay entered the mouth of the cave, he and Munroe on point ahead while Biessman was at the rear. The three of them swept the path ahead and behind with the flashlights on their rifles. They went in about twenty meters before Shepherd held up his hand. The security officers stopped, and knelt down. Chakotay copied them, and checked his tricorder.
"Looks like Seska is ahead," Chakotay murmured softly. "Two other lifesigns ahead, at least. They look Kazon, but the interference is making it hard to distinguish them... Or her."
Munroe tapped his exographic sensor piece over his eye, and frowned.
"Can't see further, Chief," he murmured. "Something dense is blocking the scans."
Shepherd looked over at his first officer.
"Storm and stun, sir?" He asked softly. Chakotay nodded.
"When you're ready, Chief," Chakotay murmured back. Shepherd looked over at his officers. Munroe tightened the grip on his phaser rifle, while Biessman just grinned.
Shepherd held up his hand, and three fingers. He folded them down, two, one-
He got up and threw a photon grenade into the cave ahead of him. Chakotay covered his eyes as the flashbang went off, and several cries of shock echoed off the walls ahead.
"GO GO GO!" Shepherd shouted. He rose up and charged in, phaser up and firing multiple stun blasts. Munroe was next, copying his security chief and sweeping to the left. Biessman charged in after, sweeping to the right.
"Hostiles down! CLEAR!" Shepherd shouted.
"CLEAR!" Munroe called back.
"CLEAR!" Biessman echoed.
Chakotay entered the grotto, his keen eyes immediately locking onto the scene: Two Kazon were stunned and down, and Seska was slowly poking her head out from behind a low rock formation.
"Don't shoot!" Seska cried, putting her hands up. "Don't shoot!"
"Seska? You all right?" Chakotay asked urgently. Seska nodded, slowly standing up fully. She winced at the flashlight beams that all converged on her. Her knapsack slapped gently against her thigh.
"I am," she said. She looked at the Kazon with an expression of disgust. "I was gathering mushrooms when these guys came in. I hid here."
"We need to get out of here," Chakotay stated. "More Kazon are on the way."
"Understood sir," Shepherd said. "Munroe! Cover us! Biessman, take the lead!"
"Aye sir!" The two men replied, almost in unison. They turned and headed out the cave back the way they came, daylight soon shining in their eyes. Biessman charged out... And immediately pulled back as the ground erupted from blue energy blasts!
"Shit! CONTACT LEFT!" Biessman cursed, pulling back and taking cover behind a boulder. Shepherd moved up to the other side of the cave mouth, using his own exographic sensor to scan ahead as more phaser fire rained down ahead of them.
"Three Kazon on the nearby ridge, sir!" Shepherd shouted over the loud blasts. "More of them are circling around! Biessman!"
"SIR!" Biessman shouted, opening fire on the position ahead. He fired multiple phaser blasts in quick succession. Chakotay hit his commbadge as more blue fire erupted back.
"Chakotay to Voyager! We're pinned down! Need beam out, now!" Chakotay shouted.
"Chakotay, we can't get a lock onto you! There's too much interference!" Janeway called back. "Can you get to higher ground?"
Chakotay pulled out his own phaser, and poked his head out long enough to squeeze off several shots. The Kazon above them ducked as the blasts flew over their heads or impacted the ground in front of them. He pulled back as more shots came from the side, and Biessman opened up on them too.
"Not at the moment!" Chakotay shouted. He looked over at Shepherd. "Shepherd? Suggestions?!"
Shepherd immediately turned to Munroe.
"Munroe! Cover Biessman and me! We're gonna storm the high position!" He shouted. Biessman whooped loudly, and grinned.
"YES SIR!" He shouted. Shepherd nodded, and pulled a grenade. He threw it out towards the flanking Kazon.
"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" He bellowed, just before the small antimatter explosive went off. The ground shook, and Shepherd immediately got up and charged out, keeping his head down as blue phaser shots rained through the dust cloud. Biessman followed, squeezing off a few shots before running off. Munroe pulled up to the cave entrance and opened fire, as Chakotay joined him with his phaser. They fired orange blasts in both directions, getting answered by blue shots that were scattered and random.
Shepherd and Biessman ran like hell through the sparse forest, blue blasts shooting past them. Somehow, they made it to the base of the nearby ridge, just underneath the entrenched Kazon. Shepherd pulled out another grenade, and looked to Biessman. The blonde human nodded back to his commanding officer, holding his rifle up. Shepherd threw the grenade up, tumbling it into the Kazon's gunner nest. They both ducked down, as the grenade went off like a thunderclap above them. Biessman immediately charged up the ridge, climbing as fast as he could up to the nest. He sprayed down what was left of the Kazon with his phaser rifle, nailing the one survivor in the chest! Shepherd clambered after, and yanked the blonde human down to cover as blue shots traced above them.
"Get down, you idiot!" Shepherd shouted. "Want to lose your head?!"
He got down on his belly and opened fire on the Kazon below, phaser shots immediately pinning down the red skinned aliens. He took down two, before the others got to cover and returned fire furiously. Biessman got down next to him and fired in pulse mode, the blasts kicking up debris and rocks.
Shepherd hit his commbadge.
"Chakotay, sir! Get out of the cave, we'll cover you!" He shouted.
Munroe came out of the cave, firing his phaser rifle to the right. Biessman and Shepherd joined his fire as the Kazon ducked down to avoid the barrage.
Chakotay and Seska ran out, the first officer leading the small Bajoran woman by the hand. He sprinted over to a ditch and pushed her down, covering his body with his. Munroe dove in after, firing several shots before he threw himself down.
One of the Kazon stood up and held a weapon of some kind over his shoulder. Biessman locked on and fired. The phaser shot struck the alien right in the chest, and he faltered-But not before he fired his artillery. The projectile went wild, but managed to arc right into the ridge below Shepherd and Biessman's position. It detonated, sending a plume of debris high into the air and blasting Shepherd and Biessman back. Shepherd rolled down the ridge's other side, his ears ringing. Biessman landed next to him, roaring in pain.
"VOYAGER! EMERGENCY BEAM OUT, NOW!" Chakotay bellowed over the communications channel. The smoke and dust clouds vanished in sparkling light, and soon the clean lights of the transporter scanner array came into view. Shepherd slowly stood up, already looking around the pad.
Munroe, Biessman, Chakotay and Seska were all there. He could see the transporter chief, Reilly, already making the call to the bridge. He saw Kes, with another Ocampan girl (Mira he thought?) coming over with medkits. Shepherd got to his feet, waving her off as she approached with a medical tricorder.
"I'm fine, I'm fine, check the others!" He ordered. The little Ocampans obeyed, as Shepherd's hearing slowly returned. He shook his head as Biessman was immediately being tended to by the pretty elf like aliens.
His eyes met Chakotay's. The big Indian was on his feet too, already in communication with the bridge. Yet he was able to give a triumphant smile to the security chief.
Shepherd returned it. He knew exactly how he felt.
The debriefing was straight to the point and focused, as Janeway was now rightly pissed off. She stormed into the conference room, looking furious. Shepherd stood at attention, as did Tuvok and Chakotay.
"What the hell happened?" Janeway demanded. "Why didn't any of our sensors pick up those Kazon? They couldn't have come out of nowhere!"
"More than likely, the cloaking barrier on the Kazon vessel we encountered in orbit was used by other Kazon vessels to land their people on the planet," Tuvok stated.
"Which means," Shepherd interjected, "they knew we were coming this way."
Janeway leaned over the table, her face set in a deep scowl.
"My conclusion as well, Mister Shepherd," Janeway growled. She looked at him. "How's Biessman?"
"He'll be all right, the forcefield took most of the punishment," Shepherd reported formally, but the relief was obvious in his body language.
Chakotay shook his head.
"What I don't understand is those two Kazon in the caves. Advanced scouts?" He suggested. Tuvok paused for a moment, before he spoke.
"They were there with Crewman Seska," he pointed out. Chakotay's gaze snapped up, his eyes narrowed on the Vulcan.
"She was hiding from them. She was looking for mushrooms," Chakotay insisted. He looked over at Shepherd. "You saw her, Shepherd! She was hiding!"
"She was, sir," Shepherd replied evenly. "But the fact all of those Kazon converged on our location when we found her... The timing is a bit suspicious."
"In what way?" Chakotay demanded. Shepherd took a breath, standing firm.
"I don't know sir," he said, "maybe they just wanted to capture a Voyager officer for ransom and they lucked out that Seska wandered off. Maybe they were holding her as bait. Those are possibilities."
"You don't sound convinced," Chakotay said, almost accusatory. Tuvok stepped up.
"We have no choice but to consider every possibility, Commander," Tuvok said in his usual, even Vulcan tone. "It is his duty as security chief."
"I know everyone who was aboard my ship," Chakotay stated angrily. "They were all loyal to me! They wouldn't betray us-Especially not to people like the Kazon!"
"Stop it!" Janeway snapped, and all three men looked to her. "We're not going to start tossing around accusations without proof," she said more gently. "For all we know, the Kazon just lucked out. Or maybe they know we're on our way to investigate those Vidiian sightings of other Federation ships. Either way, we're in their territory and we need to watch our step."
She looked over at Shepherd and the first officer.
"How many Kazon did you encounter?" She asked.
Chakotay looked thoughtful.
"Probably about thirty all together."
"We took out twenty, Captain," Shepherd added, "maybe more. If they were also the crews of the ships, they won't be following us any time soon."
"There's that, at least," Janeway sighed. "Keep us on yellow alert for the time being. Get some rest, Commander, and you too Lieutenant," she ordered.
"And Crewman Seska?" Shepherd asked. He felt Chakotay's heated glare, but stayed perfectly calm. Janeway shook her head.
"We don't have any proof of wrongdoing, Mister Shepherd," she said. "So let her get some rest too."
"Aye Captain," Shepherd replied with a nod. Janeway nodded back.
"Dismissed!"
The armory was buzzing with conversation as Shepherd walked in. He kept himself quiet as he slipped in, walking behind one of the weapons racks to listen in to what his officers were discussing.
They had arranged the chairs in a rough circle as they chatted away, in front of the planning table. Biessman sat in a chair, his usual boisterous self. His best friend, a Bajoran named Kenn Lathrop, sat next to him and chuckled at his wild gesticulation. On the other side, Telsia Murphy lounged in her chair listening intently. By her was Chell, another Maquis. The nervous Bolian had joined the security team as a engineering specialist, and was just as uncomfortable as he usually was. Mitch Csatlos, one of their scouts, was playing with a deck of cards, barely paying attention.
On the other side, Alexander Munro sat with Austin Chang, their demolitions expert. The Asian man was chatting more with his friend from the Academy, but still paying attention to Biessman's story. On his other side was Juliet Jurot, a Betazoid and field medic. She had studied medicine on Vulcan, so she tended to act a bit like them. Elizabeth Laird, another human Starfleeter, was on the edge of her seat, enthused about Biessman's recounting of the incident.
Lieutenant (jg) Les Foster was back in the security office, handling paperwork but keeping an ear out on the conversation.
Strangely, Kes and Mari, the two little Ocampans, were also sitting with them and hanging onto Biessman's every word.
"No, that blast knocked me like five meters into the air!" Biessman insisted. "Come on Munroe, you saw me!"
"I could barely see anything up there with all the phaser fire and dust," Munroe replied, "but I did spot some yellow and black-Might have been you."
"See? Even with the forcefield gone, bam!" Biessman cried, "not a scratch!"
"Mostly not a scratch," Munroe observed wryly. Biessman shot him a playful glare.
"Hey! I was out in the open man! You at least had the cave!"
"Until I had to run from it," Munroe chuckled. He shook his head. "Geez, that was a rush."
"Tell me about it," Biessman said. "Glad I remembered how to do a Har-Goff slap when I came down."
"You used a Naussican wrestling slap?" Laird asked, leaning forward eagerly. Biessman grinned and nodded.
"Hell yeah! Got me six wrestling championships in school, and twice at the academy!"
"Before you got kicked out," Chang observed. Biessman snorted.
"Some Admiral's son steals a shuttle and parks it in the dean's office, he gets off scot free! I do the same thing, and they expel me! Can you believe that asshole?"
Telsia laughed, resting an arm over her stomach as she lounged in two seats.
"Might have had something to do with your grades," Telsia snarked. Biessman huffed.
"My grades were fine! I just had more important things to do! I learn through doing, not through sitting in a classroom!" He protested.
"Oh, I know the feeling," Laird said, leaning forward in her chair. "My parents were always like 'study study study', but that was always a chore. Martial arts were my only real escape."
"Really? What'd you train in?" Biessman asked, interested. Laird leaned back, thinking hard and counting off martial arts on her fingers.
"Let's see... Aikido, Jujitsu, Tae Kwon Do, Mok'Bara-I studied that on Quo'nos for a year-Kareel-ilfa-"
"No way! Kareel-ilfa?!" Biessman asked, impressed. "I wanted to learn that from Professor Surrf! I tried out so hard for the Academy Olympics Team, but my damn grades didn't let me get in."
"Professor Surrf was my instructor too!" Laird said happily. "The best move he ever showed me? How to hide from my parents."
"Overbearing, huh?" Csatlos asked, flipping through his cards. Laird grimaced.
"Like you wouldn't believe," she said.
"Yeah, my dad wanted me to go into starship construction like him, and my grandpa, and my great-grandpa," Biessman said. Kenn chuckled.
"My parents wanted me to be a concert pianist. That didn't go great," he admitted. "Or Canadian, whichever."
Chell hesitated for a moment, before he spoke.
"M-Mine wanted me to go on to the Federation Council," Chell said. He shook his head. "Always thinking about their image, never anything else. They didn't even congratulate me when I got a article in Who's Who of Plasma Technology!"
"Woah! That was you?" Chang asked, now impressed. "You were that Chell? I loved that article!"
Chell's blue skin turned an even darker blue, as he looked down modestly. "Oh? I-I didn't know anyone had read it."
Shepherd let himself smile. His troops were getting along. Sure, they still sat in their own sides, but they were bonding. Munroe and Biessman had been wary of each other, but they were opening up and helping everyone else open up with them. He really hated to interrupt this scene, but...
He stepped up, and Les caught sight of him immediately. He stood up.
"Atten-Hut!" He called, and everyone rose to their feet. Biessman and the other Maquis stood a bit straighter when they saw it was him. Shepherd smiled back at them as he walked up in front of his people.
"At ease, everyone," he said, and everyone sunk back into their chairs. He looked over at Mari and Kes, deciding to handle them later. "I've come from the Captain. She says 'good work'. We didn't lose anyone, and we all got out. So mission success as far as I'm concerned."
"Almost, sir," Telsia called, "we're still stuck with Biessman."
Laughter erupted, and Shepherd gave the sarcastic crewman a smirk.
"Yeah well, nothing goes perfectly your first time out," he said. More laughter, as Biessman looked affronted.
"Fine! See if I save your butts next time around!" He joked back.
"Oh, you'll definitely want to, Biessman," Chang said, "otherwise you get a hell of a lot more paperwork than you already have to do."
"Geez," Biessman grumbled. "Fine! If it'll keep me from filling out forms, I'll just have to heroically rescue you all from certain death!"
"That's the right attitude to have, Biessman," Shepherd laughed, joined by the rest of the security forces. He shook his head, before looking over at Kes and Mari. "So, ladies, what brings you here?"
"Ah, well sir," Mari stuttered, the redheaded Ocampan already shrinking back. Kes stood up, staying close to her friend.
"We heard you only have Miss Jurot for a combat medic," Kes explained, "so Mari and I were hoping to get some training for that."
Jurot raised an eyebrow in a very elegant, Vulcan manner.
"Aren't you both still training as medics for the Doctor?" She asked. Kes nodded, as did Mari.
"We are," Kes said, "but given the nature of the assignments you'll be on, it wouldn't hurt to have more medical help would it?"
Shepherd nodded. "I'll have Jurot and the Doctor run you through the basic qualifications," he said, "and you can join us for the field training in the holodeck this week. Sound good?"
Kes nodded eagerly, as Mari added her own shy acceptance.
"Yes Lieutenant," she said happily. "Thank you!"
"Not a problem," Shepherd said. "I'm already talking to the Captain about getting more of the crew trained in basic emergency medical procedure. She approves, we just need to schedule it properly. Having more qualified medics can't hurt either." He looked to Jurot, who nodded back. "All right. We're still in Kazon space-These guys are call the Nistrim, and they're one of the biggest sects."
Shepherd sighed.
"And unfortunately, we have to go through their space to track down a few leads on a few other Alpha Quadrant ships," he added. "They don't have transporters, so any boarding actions will be via ship. I'm adding another counter boarding sim to the schedule. Report at 0900 tomorrow to the starboard secondary airlock."
"Real old school, huh sir?" Foster asked. Shepherd nodded to the lieutenant, who was a former Starfleet Marine.
"That's right Mister Foster. So, don't overdo it tonight," he said to the gathered personnel. Biessman smirked back.
"No promises, sir!" He called back. Shepherd chuckled, as did most of the others.
"All right. Go get some sack time and relax while you can. Dismissed!"
The officers all got up and began trickling out of the armory, Biessman and Laird already deep in discussion about various Vulcan techniques. Telsia shot a sarcastic remark at Munroe, to which he responded in confusion but Chang just laughed. Jurot talked with Kes and Mari, leading them out the door like a mother hen with her chicks. Foster headed out on his own, while Csatlos, Kenn and Chell walked out with their conversation hinting at their destination being the mess hall.
Shepherd walked into his office, and sat down. He sighed a bit as he saw the stack of PADDs and all the messages on his computer.
"Paperwork," he chuckled. He set into work, but the doors to the armory opened. He leaned back in his chair with a sigh.
"We're open!" He called out. He looked up at the slim form who walked up, and paused in the doorway. He cocked an eyebrow.
"Crewman Seska. Something I can do for you?" Shepherd asked. Seska stepped in and closed the hatch behind her. She fixed her intense eyes on Shepherd's.
"Shepherd... We need to talk."
On the backgrounds of the Star Trek: Elite Force Hazard Team characters. They literally put more thought into every single of these bios for these characters, than at least five seasons of Voyager. So I'm using it.