Chapter 17.
Here we go season 2.
The 37s.
(Scott POV)
I woke up and went for a shower. Then went and got dressed and got something to eat. Then I grabbed my Data Padd and headed up to the bridge. Where I ran into Chakotay.
"Morning, Captain," Chakotay said.
"Morning, Commander," I said.
Where we got to the Turbo-lift and ordered it to the Bridge.
"So what did you do last night," Chakotay said.
"Worked on a few things then crashed going to bed, You," I said.
"Reading," Chakotay said.
"Anything good," I said.
"It was a Science Fiction," Chakotay said.
"Not bad," I said then the doors opened and we headed out.
"Morning, Captain," Harry said.
"Morning Harry, How's everything," I said.
"All good, nothing, No ships, or any planets along our course," Harry said.
"Good, Commander you have the bridge," I said going into my ready room.
Once there I started to work on some new Torpedoes which we could use. True but I took the idea from the Defiant. But it would take some time to get everything needed to get them ready.
But I also want to find a way to get the Phasers Cannons on too. But the only problem was where to put them. I'm going have to talk with Tuvok on that as well as B'Elanna.
Then my door bell rang.
"Come in," I said.
And Tuvok came in.
"Morning Captain," Tuvok said.
"Morning Tuvok," I said. "What's going on,"
"The Armory is full ready and we have started training Security personal in their uses. The Phase Cannons are online as well," Tuvok said.
"Good, Now I know that this could be impossible. But I want to expanded our options of Torpedoes," I said.
"Captain, you know that we only have 32 Proton Torpedoes, We have no way to replace them," Tuvok said.
"I know, Which is why we need a way to make more," I said.
"We could however we don't have the materials for it," Tuvok said.
"Can we not replicate the materials," I said.
"It is possible but at the moment we do have enough power to do so," Tuvok said.
"Then we have to settle for planet we come across for ores to make it," I said.
"I'm afraid so," Tuvok said.
"Unless we can for ores to boast our power output to make it," I said.
"That will be difficult," Tuvok said.
"For that we will need another Refinery for those ores," I said.
"But we don't have the materials to make one," Tuvok said.
"Then we keep an eye of for those then, As for making Torpedoes, we work on the Blueprints for them, so when we have the material and means to make them we have a head start," I said.
"Agreed," Tuvok said.
"Anything on sensors," I said.
"Nothing at the current time," Tuvok said.
"Anything like whatever it was on how we found Cornwell," I said.
"Nothing, No sign of that energy field," Tuvok said.
"Anything else," I said.
"No," Tuvok said.
"Dismissed," I said.
Then Tuvok left.
After another hour I had the Blueprint's for Proton and Quantum Torpedoes. Then just started to get the Blueprint's for the Phaser Cannons.
"Captain to the Bridge," Chakotay's voice came through the com said.
I got up and headed out to the bridge.
"Report," I said.
"We found something interesting," Chakotay said.
"What is it Harry?" I said.
"Rust," Harry said.
"Rust?" I said.
"That's right, Captain, High level of Ferric oxide corroded iron particles," Harry said.
"Would you mind telling me how Iron could rust in space without oxygen?" I said.
"I wish I could," Harry said.
"Paris, alter our course to follow that trail of rust. One quarter Impulse," I said.
"Aye, Captain," Paris said.
"Captain, Look at this," Harry said. "I'm picking up traces of complex hydrocarbons in the rust. Benzene, Ethylene, Acetylene,"
"That sounds like Gasoline," Paris said.
"Gasoline?" Chakotay said.
"That what 20th Century Vehicles used for fuel on Earth," I said.
"He's right, They burned it to drive internal combustion engines," Tom said.
"How the hell did it get out here?" I said.
"I'm detecting a small object. It appears to be the source of the rust and hydrocarbons," Tuvok said.
"On screen," I said. "Magnify, That's a truck,"
"Late 20th century," Tom said.
"Not really they still used them on Farms in the 21st," I said. "Bring it on board. Let's find out how it got out here,"
"Aye Captain," Tom said.
"It's in Cargo bay 3," Harry said.
"Bridge to Engineering," I said.
"Go ahead," Torres said.
"Meet me in Cargo bay 3," I said.
"Aye Captain," Torres said.
"Tuvok, Tom, Harry, You're with me. Commander the bridge is yours," I said.
Then we went down there.
"Apparently it is a ground vehicles from mid 20th century, Earth," Tuvok said.
"Ford, actually," I said.
"1936, Captain," Tom said.
"Ford was a car company that built it. I remember history right, It was still going in the 21st century," I said.
"Antique vehicles are a hobby of mine," Tom said.
"Mine too, But I would love to get a Nissan Skyline GTR R34," I said.
"Internal combustion engine, a reciprocating piston cylinder design, Fuel source was a refined Petroleum, Gasoline," Tom said.
"So is this an early hover car," Harry said.
"Too earl for it Harry," I said.
"Traces of potassium nitrate, ammonium and methane back here," Torres said.
"I think you'll find that's manure, Horse manure if I'm not mistaken, This was a farm pickup truck," I said. "But here is the big question. How did it get here?"
"There are no signs of any wormholes or temporal anomalies in this region of space," Tuvok said.
"Let's run a metallurgical analysis of the truck," I said.
Next thing I knew was an engine turned on. But it started back firing.
"Hold you fire, Its the truck," I said.
"Sorry," Tom said.
"Next thing, Give people some warning Tom," I said.
"Aye Captain," Tom said.
"I suggest we increase the ventilation in the cargo bay before we are asphyxiated," Tuvok said.
"Turn the engine off, Tom," I said.
"Aye, Captain," Tom said then it turned off.
"Whats that?" Harry said.
"AM radio," I said.
"I'm not sure we'll pick up much out here," Tom said. But there was beeping.
"What was that?" Tom said.
"Bring it back slowly Tom," I said.
"What is that?" Torres said. As short and long beeps.
"It's too regular to be random interference," Harry said.
"That's Morse Code," I said.
"Ancient Earth distress call known as an SOS," Torres said.
"Let's try tracing it," I said.
Then we went back to the bridge.
"I've located the source of the SOS signal It's coming from a planet in a star System bearing 310 mark 215," Harry said.
"Tom set a course," I said.
"Aye captain," Tom said.
"Why didn't we pick up this signal earlier," I said.
"This isn't one of the standard frequencies we monitor, Messages on this channel only travel at the speed of light too slow for interstellar communications," Harry said.
"Course laid in, Captain," Tom said.
"Warp 6, Engage," I said.
XXX
"Bring us out of warp. Full scan, Harry," I said.
"The SOS signal is coming from the 3rd planet, It's Class L. Oxygen-argon atmosphere," Harry said.
"Life signs?" I said.
"There's a great deal of trinimbic interference in the upper atmosphere, I can't get a clear reading of the surface," Harry said.
"Can you pinpoint the coordinates of the distress call?" Chakotay said.
"Yes, Here it is, It's coming from the continent in the northern hemisphere," Harry said.
"We won't be able to transport through this kind of interference," Chakotay said. "I might be able to take an away team in a shuttlecraft,"
"That would not be wise, Commander, as the atmosphere is charged with trinimbic turbulence, A shuttlecraft could not safely navigate the currents," Tuvok said.
"Then what," Kat said.
"We can land Voyager," I said.
"Are you sure that's necessary?" Chakotay said.
"Someone on this planet is sending out a distress call," I said.
"If that someone is as old as the truck in the cargo bay, they're long dead by now," Chakotay said. "This might be a automated distress call,"
"Possibly, but something brought that truck halfway across the galaxy, and that something might be down on that planet," I said.
"And if it brought the truck here, it might be able to take us home too," Kat said.
"Worth a look to me," I said. "Tom, prepare Voyager for landing,"
"Captain, I think I should tell you I've never actually landed a starship before," Tom said.
"That's all right, Tom. Neither have I," I said. "Bridge to Engineering, B'Elanna we're going to Land Voyager. Take the Warp core offline, Vent all plasma from the nacelles and stand by to engage atmosphere thrusters,"
"Aye, Captain," Torres said.
"Blue Alert," I said.
"This is Lt. Tuvok to all deck. We are preparing to land the ship, go to Blue Alert and report to code Blue stations," Tuvok said.
"I've plotted a descent course, How close do you want to land tot he distress coordinates?" Tom said as the Klaxon was flashing Blue.
"No closer than 2 kilometers," I said.
"Okay, Atmospheric controls at standby, Landing mechanisms on line. Inertial dampers at maximum," Tom said.
"All deck report Condition Blue, Captain," Tuvok said.
"Then let's go," I said. "Put her down, Tom. Nice and easy,"
"Aye captain," Tom said.
"Status," I said.
"We're on the glide trajectory, Altitude 100 Kilometers, Speed, 10,000 KPH, Encountering some trinimbic turbulence, Compensating," Tom said.
Then Something hit.
"We have an EM discharge in the lateral relays, I'm rerouting the ODN Conduit," Harry said. "Another EM discharge. I think we're all right, Though,"
"20 Kilometers to the landing site, we should be able to see it now," Tom said.
"Extend landing struts, Prepare to release inertia dampers and adjust them to match the planet's gravity," I said.
"Landing struts, Down and locked," Tom said.
"Standing by environmental controls," Harry said.
"Here we go," Tom said.
Then we landed nice and smooth.
"Disengaging engines, securing thruster exhaust, We're down," Tom said.
"Not bad for a beginner," I said. "Stand down Blue alert, Tell B'Elanna if she wants to do any maintenance to go ahead. I want Voyager fully back to 100% before we go off again,"
XXX
When we got the away team ready to go. We headed out and onto the planet surface.
"Nice Day," I said.
"I've locked onto the distress signal. It's 1.5 Kilometers on a bearing of 246," Harry said.
"Wait a second, I've got something else, there's a high concentration of trianium particles, Bearing 225 a little over a kilometer away," Chakotay said. "Looks like some kind of power source,"
"2 team, Chakotay, yours investigates the power source, Tuvok, Kim Kat you're with me," I said.
We head over a hill and found Plane.
"My god," I said. "That's a plane, Early 20th century,"
"The metal is an Aluminium alloy It appears to be an ancient Earth aircraft," Tuvok said.
"The SOS call is coming from inside," Kim said.
"There should be a door," I said.
"Here," Kim said.
"Open it up," I said.
Then Kim opened it and Harry went in.
"I found the AM transmitter. From what I can tell, it's sending out an automated SOS," Harry said.
"What about the power source? The battery on this craft Can't still be going after 400 years," I said.
"I don't recognize the power signature, Hold on, Captain, I found what appears to be an alien fusion based generator, It's hooked up to the AM transmitter," Harry said.
"Chakotay to McCall," My combadge went.
"Go ahead, Commander," I said.
"We've located the source of the Trianium reading, It appears to be some sort of mine shaft, I'd like to bring out anther security detachment before we go inside," Chakotay said.
"Do it, I'll join you, McCall out," I said.
"Tuvok, Harry, I want you 2 to analyse the alien generator, then see what you can find out about this SOS Call," I said. "Kat you with me,"
Then we headed to the others.
When we meet up with the others we headed in.
"I'm picking up something directly ahead," Torres said. "Some kind of power signature, Fusion based,"
"Cryo tubes," I said.
"A chamber," Torres said.
"How many bodies are there?" I said.
"8, and the equipment is still functioning," Torres said.
"He's human, Same era as the truck we found," I said.
"His lifesign reading are minimal, but he's alive," Torres said.
"Captain, According to these readings, there are 5 other cryostasis chambers nearby, No lifesigns in any of them, This appears to be the only one with people inside," Chakotay said.
"There's another male over here," Torres said.
"This one's a female," Kat said. "With a pair of gold wings,"
"Pilot maybe," I said.
"Wait, There's a nametag here," Kat said. "I think it's A. Earhart,"
"Amelia Earhart," I said.
Then we went back to Voyager and went to the Conference room.
"Who's Amelia Earhart?" Harry said.
"She was one of the first female pilots in Earth History, In the Mid 20th Century she became quite famous for flying across the Atlantic Ocean, In 1937, She attempted to fly around the world, According to the record of the time, on July 2, 1937, Earhart and her Navigator. Fred Noonan, Took off from New Guinea, and they were headed east around the equator, But somewhere in the South Seas, they vanished, and their disappearance became one of the most celebrated mysteries of the 20th Century," I said.
"Why didn't they think she'd just crashed?" Tom said.
"That was the most commonly held theory, However, Numerous searches of the area failed to product the wreckage of an aircraft, so people began to speculate, Some thought she'd been shot down and captured by the Japanese Navy, Others thought that she and Noonan had flown off together, on some sort of romantic adventure, Of course the most ridiculed notion was that she had been abducted by Aliens," I said.
"Well, it certainly looks like that's what happened," Chakotay said. "From what we can tell, all eight of the people in that stasis chamber were taken from Earth in the 1930s and brought here,"
"The question is why?" Harry said. "And where are the aliens who did this?"
"Scans of the region show no Alien life signs," Tuvok said.
"Continue the scans, they may not be here now, but once they detect our presence they might return, In the meantime we'll have to get some answers on our own, Have you had any luck tapping into the computer system in the Cryo-chamber?" I said.
"Not as of yet," Tuvok said. "We are having difficulty decoding the operating system,"
"There's one way we could find out what happened, We could wake those people up and ask them," Tom said.
"I've had the same thought myself," I said.
"Is that wise?" Torres said. "We don't know how these people are going to react when they wake up in an alien world in the 24th century,"
"True, But I'm not willing to just leave them in stasis for another 400 years, And if we can find out how they were brought here, we might be able to use that method to get home. We'll just have to be very careful how we handle this," I said.
"I suggest that only human crew members be present when we revive them," Chakotay said.
"Agreed, Harry I want a complete analysis of those cryostasis tubes. Find a way to deactivate them safely," I said.
"Aye, Captain," Harry said.
"Commander, Apprise the Doctor of our situation. Tell him to instruct Kes in the proper procedure for reviving someone from cryostasis, She could be made to look human easily enough. In the meantime, I suggest we all brush up on ancient Earth. We're about to meet a bit of our history. Kat the bridge is yours," I said. Then left.
XXX
I was in my room when my door bell rang.
"Come in," I said.
Then the door opened and Kes came in.
"Do you have a minute," Kes said.
"Sure, Did the Doc teach you everything," I said.
"Completely everything for reviving people from Cryostasis," Kes said.
"Good, We are going down in 2 hours, to revive them," I said. "So what's on your mind?"
"Do you think that they could adapt to this time from where they used to be from," Kes said.
"No idea," I said as Kes sat down. "But we still have to try. It's better if they are moving about that stuck in those cryostasis tubes,"
"Where are the those who brought them here," Kes said.
"No idea, but if they are still nearby we will see them coming," I said.
"You thinking that they will come back here to fight," Kes said.
"I'm thinking that there is a lot more to this than we have seen so far," I said.
"But we have no idea what it is yet," Kes said.
"That's the problem," I said. "But what is really going on?"
"How'd," Kes said.
"I know what it is like," I said. "So come on,"
"It's Neelix, He is still the same way since Jetrel died. It's not working for us anymore," Kes said.
"Sometimes that can have an effect on someone," I said.
"It not just an effect. It's like he can't think of anything else apart from that if he isn't cooking something," Kes said.
"And it is driving you nuts," I said.
"Is it that obvious," Kes said.
"Sometimes," I said. "Just give it time, Everything will sort itself out," I said as I put my hand on her shoulder.
"Me too, Thanks," Kes said.
"See you down there," I said.
Then Kes smiled and headed out.
XXX
Then We were down there finishing setting up everything to wake them up.
"We're ready, Captain," Tom said.
"All the Cryo tubes are linked by a common power source so we've decided to revive everyone simultaneously," Harry said.
"Do it," I said.
"The power's offline. Deactivate locking mechanisms," Harry said as the tubes opened up.
"Captain, this one's armed with some kind of weapon," Tom said.
"Disarm him, Just to be on the safe side," I said.
Then we fully get them woke up.
"I know this must be very strange for you," I said.
"No, Who are you," What is going on here?" One said.
"I demand you release me immediately," The Soldier said.
"Please, If you'll just listen for a moment I'll try to explain," I said.
"You are all speaking Japanese," The Soldier said.
"Sounds to me like you're speaking English," The Farmer said.
"It's because of a device we have. A universal translator, It allows us to talk to each other, even through our languages aren't the same," I said.
"Who are you people?" Earhart said.
"Look, just let us go home, we won't tell anybody," The Farmer said.
"The hell we won't, I'm going to let the world know what you people have done, Do you know who you've kidnapped here, Amelia Earhart. I'm her navigator This is going to be headline news. You people are in trouble," He said.
"Fred. let him talk," Earhart said.
"What I have to tell you is going to sound hard to believe, Even preposterous, We think you were abducted from Earth in the 1930's and Brought millions of miles through space to a planet on the other side of the galaxy. You were put into a kind of deep sleep for a very long time. It's not the 1930s anymore. The year is 2371. Over 400 years from the time you were abducted," I said.
"You must think we are awfully gullible," Earhart said.
"Tell me, what's the last thing you remember before waking up here?" I said.
"We were over the Pacific, running low on gas, We were looking for an atoll to set down. We tried to send out an SOS and Suddenly there was this huge light in back of us, And the plane stopped dead and then it started moving backward toward the light, I must've blacked out and I woke up here, just now," Earhart said.
"That just the way to was with me. I was in my truck heading into town I was just about to get onto the blacktop when this big light come down from the sky, Just about blinded me, Next thing I know, the whole truck was lifted up off the ground," The Farmer said.
"I believe what happened was that you were abducted by aliens, and if we can find out how they got you here, we might all be able to get back to Earth," I said.
"I want some real answers now," Fred said.
"Really, pointing a gun at me, really, Not the first time and so not the last. I assure you, I'm telling the Truth," I said.
"You come down here and get those funny looking guns of theirs," Fred said. "You get over there with the others,"
Then Kes moved back to us.
"Now how do we get out of here," Fred said.
"Chakotay to McCall," Chakotay voice come over the com.
"Go ahead," I said.
"Captain, I'm picking up some energy displacements on the surface, I think it may be alien humanoids," Chakotay said. "It looks like they're using some kind of deflection system to trick our sensors,"
"Just like the Kazon," I said.
"Yes, I think you'd better get up here," Chakotay said.
"Who's that talking?" Fred said.
"That's Commander Chakotay on our ship," I said.
"Commander, Huh, Okay, Now hear this commander, There's a gun pointed at the man's head right now, So you call Washington and you tell them we're holding your people prisoner and they're not going anywhere until I personally talk to J. Edgar Hoover, You've got 1 hour," Fred said.
"Captain?" Chakotay said.
"It seems we're being held hostage, Commander, I suggest you pay attention to what the gentleman says," I said.
"I understand, Chakotay out," Chakotay said cutting the channel.
XXX
"The compass isn't working," Earhart said.
"I know what we've told you sounds hard to believe, But there was a time when no one believed that a woman could fly across the Atlantic, Now, People are able to travel between the stars, The galaxy is full of many different species, for intense, This young woman isn't human, She's an Ocampa," I said as Kes revealed her Ears.
"I've been on expeditions all over the world, and I''ve seen people do all kinds of strange things to their bodies, That doesn't mean that Martians have invaded Earth," Earhart said.
"Actually it was the other way around, Mars was colonized by people from Earth in 2103," Harry said.
"That's Enough, All of you just go over there and sit down and keep quiet!" Fred said.
"Now is probably not the best time for that Fred," Earhart said.
"Just a little pick me up," Fred said.
"He's had a dew nips from that flask, Captain," Tom said. "We could probably rush him, get the gun,"
"It's whiskey in it," I said. "Let me try to talk to Earhart first, She seems reasonable, Maybe I can get through to her,"
Then got up.
"Miss Earhart?" I said. "I want you to know. I know what it's like, Being out of your own time, Between you and Me. I'm not from this time. I was born in 1996. Then I found myself here with no where back home to my time. To my friends, family,"
"What's your name?" Earhart said.
"Scott McCall," I said.
"I heard the commander call you Captain, What exactly do you captain?" Earhart said.
"The Federation Starship Voyager," I said.
"Starship?" Earhart said. "That supposed to mean it flies through space?"
"That's Right," I said.
"That isn't possible," Earhart said. "Only in books, H.G. Wells, Jules Verne,"
"Maybe if you saw her, You'd think otherwise," I said.
"Saw her?" Earhart said. "Where is it?"
"On the surface, We're actually about 100 meters underground now, Voyager is the first ship of her class which can land on a planet. If you'd come with me to see Voyager, You'd realize that what we're telling you is true," I said.
"And risk a trap," Earhart said. "No you could have hundreds of reinforcements up there,"
"I assure you, We have no interest in harming you, we took you out of stasis to help you," I said.
"Put yourself in my shoes, Captain, If you were me would you believe your story?" Earhart said.
"Maybe not. But after everything I seen before that happened to me, Maybe I would," I said. "Let me tell you some of what happened after you disappeared over the Pacific. No trace of you or your plane was ever found, in spite of a massive search over the years there was a lot of speculation about your flight, including the rumor that it was financed by the government, and may have been part of an operation to gather information about the Japanese,"
"Where did you hear that?" Earhart said.
"It's some what common knowledge, You see, Japan attacked Pearl Harbour in 1941, Drawing the US into a massive World war. In retrospect, your journey was seen in a different light perhaps as part of an intelligence mission devised by government deeply concerned about Japanese war plans," I said.
"No one was supposed to know about that," Earhart said.
"Maybe not in 1937, Now, it's part of history," I said.
"What else?" Earhart said.
"Hey, I got an idea, why don't we stick them in these things, put them to sleep like we were? no fuss, no trouble," Fred said.
"Mr. Noonan, that will accomplish nothing. Please let us take you to our ship, You'll see that everything we've tod you is true," I said.
Then He tried grabbing me.
"Show me how," Fred said before I grabbed him and slammed him into the wall and got the gun out of his hand. then let him go and took all of the ammo out.
"Next time, never point a gun at me. Cause I hate people who do that," I said throwing the ammo at Tom who catched it.
"Hey, Last time, I looked you were working for me, and I think we should listen to these people," Earhart said. "They just may be telling the truth, What's the harm in seeing if maybe they do have this Starship? It beats being cooped up in here trying to figure out what happened, How about it? Anyone want to come along?"
"Hey, I wouldn't mind taking a look," The Farmer said.
"Anyone else?" I said.
"You're not leaving me behind," Fred said.
"Kes and I will stay with the Others, Captain," Tom said.
"It'll take about 10 minutes to get to the surface, Stay close to us," I said. "Mr. Kim, You with me,"
Then we heading up.
XXX
Once we got out I heard weapons.
"This way," Is aid.
"What's all that racket?" Farmer said.
Then a shot almost hit me.
"Take cover," I said.
I saw 2 on a hill then I saw Tuvok and Chakotay.
"McCall to Chakotay," I said.
"I'm here Captain," Chakotay said. "We're pinned down,"
"I can you see on your 6, Lay down Phaser fire, I try and get behind them," I said.
"Acknowledged," Chakotay said.
"Stay here," I said to the Farmer.
"I don't plan on going anywhere," He said.
"Harry stay here with them," I said.
"Aye, Captain," Harry said.
Then saw them hitting Phasers.
Then I moved to near them. Till I saw 3 of them. Stunned the one of the left.
"Hold your fire, Put your weapons down," I said. Which they did. "Turn around slowly,"
"You're not Briori," He said.
"No, I'm human," I said.
"Human?" He said then they took off they hats. "We're human, You're working for the Briori, They have ships like yours,"
"I'll answer any questions you have, but first we must take care of our wounded, can we agree to end this?" I said.
"Yes," He said.
"I'm Scott McCall of the Federations Starship Voyager," I said.
"John Evansville, This is my colleague, Karyn Berlin,," John said.
"McCall to Chakotay," I said.
"Go ahead," Chakotay said.
"The fighting over, Get all the wounded to Voyager's sickbay," I said.
"Aye Captain. Chakotay out," Chakotay said.
XXX
Then we were back on Voyager.
Then we were in the Conference room.
"You've taken the 37's," John said. "Why?"
"I'm afraid, I don't understand," I said.
"You went into the shrine, you stole the 37's from the sacred alters and you disturbed the radio signal that we have been so careful to preserve," John said.
"Captain, I think he is talking about Earhart and the others," Chakotay said.
"Tell me more about the 37's," I said. "Are you one of them,"
"I'm one of their descendants, The 37's were brought here over 15 generations ago by the Briori," John said.
"Who are the Briori?" Chakotay said.
"They're an alien race, They abducted over 300 people from Earth in the year 1937, Brought them over here turned them into slaves, But those slaves revolted, killed the Briori took their weapons and their technology and survived, and Now there are over 100,000 of us," John said. "The Briori never came back. Now you answer me, Why did you steal the remaining 37's from the shrine?"
"We didn't steal them, we simply revived them," I said.
"Revived them, They're dead," John said.
"No, They were simply in a state of what we call Cryostasis, That's a form of sleep that appeared very much like death," I said.
"Do you mean they're alive?" John said.
"Yes," I said.
"My people have come to regard the 37's a monuments to our ancestors, Nobody has even entered their shrine for generations," John said.
"Mr. Evansville we were hoping to find the ship that brought your ancestors here possibly use it to get back to Earth a little faster," I said.
"I'm sorry, The Briori ship was destroyed in the slave revolt, There's nothing left," John said.
Great no way back that way.
"Captain, I'm sorry to hear about your long journey home, But you should know that life on this planet is good, We live in 3 beautiful cities only 50 miles from here," John said.
"Oh, I'd like to see your cities," I said.
"And I'd like to show them to you," John said.
"We both know that this ship wouldn't be able to take anyone who want go back to Earth, But I didn't see any reason why we shouldn't keep this planet you live on going. Maybe we can xchange materials, Technology, Information," I said."Nether do I captain, We can keep this Planet going until more of us come here," John said.
"That will take a lot of time, Since we have at least 75 years till we reached Earth again," I said.
"I understand that Captain, which is why we should exchange all information that we can together. I even am going to exchange an invitation should your journey become to dangerous to continue you will be more than welcome to stay on this planet with us," John said.
XXX
Then we came out of the conference room.
"Mr. Evansville has offered to take us on a tour of the settlements. He's extended the invitation to the entire crew, And the 37's, of course," I said.
"You, you're a 37?" John said.
"I guess you could call me that," Earhart said.
"It would be an honor to show you our cities," John said.
XXX
We just got back from the cities. I couldn't believe how beautiful they were.
"Compute, begin log," I said. Then the Computer beeped. "Captain's log, Stardate 48975.1. Evansville wasn't exaggerating when he said they have a lot to be proud of here It was an amazing experience, But it's left me a little disturbed. How will the crew take this. End log,"
Then the door went.
"Come in," I said.
"Here's the damage report you asked for," Chakotay said.
"Thank you," I said.
"Is something wrong, Captain?" Chakotay said. "You've seemed a little distracted ever since we came back from the cities, Weren't you impressed?"
"A little too impressed," I said.
"What do you mean?" Chakotay said.
"There's a thriving sophisticated culture on this planet, of human beings in some ways walking around those cities was almost like being back on Earth," I said.
"It was a little eerie," Chakotay said. "It reminded me of home, too,"
"Evansville has offered to let any of out crew stay," I said.
"What will you do about that?" Chakotay said.
"Maybe this is one of those decisions that the captain has to make for the entire ship," I said.
"You may have a problem if a lot of people want to stay," Chakotay said.
"I know that, But at the same time, I can't take a vote every time there's a major decision to be made and yet, we're a long way from Starfleet, Home. And a lot of the rules and regulations I've learned to uphold seem distant, as well," I said.
"But you did say that they will be times went we will have to forget about them for the ship and crew," Chakotay said.
"And I meant it," I said. "But. Am I the only one who is so intent on getting home? Is it just me? Am I leading the crew on a forlorn mission, with no real hope of success?"
"You're not alone, I want to get home, too, And there's not a day that goes by when I don't hear someone mention Earth," Chakotay said.
"The people here have built a new Earth. We could stay, help them build a human civilization, Another Federation in the Delta Quadrant. Isn't that an exciting prospect?" I said. "Shouldn't we be grateful for the opportunity they're giving us?"
"It is a tempting prospect, But when I hold it up against the prospect of seeing the sunrise over the Arizona desert or swimming in the Gulf of Mexico on a summer's day, there's just no comparison," Chakotay said. "I want to go home,"
"We have 152 men and women on this ship, What happened if half of them decide to stay on the planet? Could we operate Voyager with 75 crew members?" I said.
"I doubt it. In fact I don't think we could operate the ship with fewer than 100, If too many of the crew choose to stay behind, We could all be stranded here," Chakotay said.
"Tell all hands to prepare for an announcement from the Captain at 1400 hours," I said. "They deserve to make the choice for them selves,"
"Aye, Captain," Chakotay said.
Then he left.
XXX
I was outside not long after I gave the crew the announcement. I'm just worried what they are going to do.
"Captain," Earhart said. "I was told I wound find you here. Am I intruding?"
"Not at all, Please Join me," I said.
"I wanted you to know that the group you brought out of stasis we've all decided to stay here on the planet," Earhart said.
"I understand," I said.
"I must admit, the thought of traveling through space maybe even learning to fly this ship was very appealing to me," Earhart said.
"And I'd looked forward to getting to know you better, We could have a lot in common," I said.
"At first, I didn't know what to do, We talked about it for quite some time, Finally, I realized the people here on this planet are part of us," Earhart said. "We're their ancestors, in a way, Well, It made us feel close to them,"
"The Remarkable thing about the humans on this planet is that they evolved very much like the people on Earth, 10 of thousands of lightyears apart, Both civilizations managed to create a world they could be proud of one where war and poverty simply don't exist, I certainly can't blame you for wanting to be part of it, Anymore than I can blame members of my crew if they make the same decision," I said.
"When will you find out?" Earhart said.
"In half an hour," I said. "Anyone who wants to stay behind is to report to the cargo bay at 1500 hours,"
"Well, I heard that your first officer has been trading with the 3 cities we been too," Earhart said.
"I won't doubt it. For as for as I know, Him and myself are the only ones who want to go home," I said.
XXX
I was back on Voyager and met up with Chakotay headed to the Cargo bay.
"I expect Jarvin will stay on the planet, In fact, I'd bet on it," Chakotay said.
"Why Jarvin," I said.
"He's been more uncomfortable about being on a Starfleet ship than most of the Maquis, and he's gotten involved with a young woman in Quantum mechanics, I think they'd like to settle down, raise a family," Chakotay said.
"The person I expect to see is Baxter," I said.
"Baxter? Walter Baxter?" Chakotay said.
"He's adventurous a risk taker, I can see him wanting to take on the challenge of building a new life on this planet," I said.
"I hate to lose Baxter," Chakotay said. "He's a good man,"
"I'd hate to lose Jarvin, I don't want to lose anyone," I said. "We've all been through so much together, it just wouldn't seem right, But I couldn't blame anyone, Anyone for staying behind, I'm not sure I want to go in,"
"No matter what happens, we'll make it," Chakotay said. "Remember that,"
Then we walked into the cargo bay where no one was there.
Thank god. So we headed to the Turbolift and went up to the bridge.
Once we got out.
"Captain on the Bridge," Tuvok said.
"All stations' prepare for departure," I said. "Blue Alert, Tuvok, Torres Antigrav thrusters online," As the Klaxon went Blue.
"Thrusters enabled," Torres said.
"Paris, inertial dampers to fight configuration, Impulse drive to standby," I said.
"Yes, Sir," Tom said.
"All Stations report ready, Captain," Harry said.
"Then let's go, Take us up," I said.
That's all for this chapter.
More to follow.
Stay tuned and safe.
Love Y'all
PEACE!