Chapter 109.
The Voyager Conspiracy.
(Leah POV)
As I was going over to get the Plate. Just as a touch it.
"Warning, Plate is hot," Computer said.
"Now you tell me, Asshole," I said. "You go for authenticity and what do you get. Second degree burns, I've been slaving over that replicator program for hours. Hey, What was this bizarre rumour I heard about half the crew on Deck 5 getting pregnant,"
"Oh, that, The Doctor was running generational projections on the Sickbay computer. Tom happened to glance at the monitor and jumped to conclusions, Wasn't that long before Neelix was asking me if he could turn Cargo Bay 1 into the nursery," Chakotay said.
"Bloody hell, Word travels fast on this ship," I said.
"Warp 10," Chakotay said. "Oh by the way, I meant to tell you, there's a Class K nebula 25 lightyears off starboard, We should take a look,"
"A major detour for a minor nebula," I said.
"We are explorers, remember," Chakotay said.
"Fine, set a course," I said. As the Replicator beeps. "Main course, A recipe I've never tried, But we are explorers remember,"
XXX
"I'm picking up some interesting graviton fluctuations about 10 light years away," I said.
"Can you be more specific" Tuvok said.
"Not at this distance, Tom, Alter course I want to take a closer look," I said.
"Chakotay had his heart set on that nebula we're headed for," Tom said.
"He'll have to wait," I said.
"Captain, I need permission to shut down the sensor grid," B'Elanna said. "7 thinks a couple of insects are disrupting the power flow,"
"A mating pair of photonic fleas, to be more accurate, And possibly their offspring," 7 said.
"And how did you arrive at this theory?" I said.
"Last night, I downloaded 6 months of ship status reports into my new cortical subunit while I was regenerating," 7 said.
"Learn while you sleep. I tired that once, Gave me a headache," Tom said.
"Go on," I said.
"8 weeks age, an away team encountered a Kartelan freighter carrying supplies from sector 492, A territory that included a former Talaxian colony, Neelix used the opportunity to acquire 12 kilograms of amber spice A delicacy among his people," 7 said.
"What does that have to do with the sensor grid?" B'Elanna said.
On the same day, Ensign Kim was repairing a replicator in the mess Hall," 7 said.
"I remember that, Neelix told me to stick around to try something he was cooking," Harry said.
"No doubt made with the amber spice, Which contained the larvae of the Photonic fleas," 7 said.
"How could you possibly know that," B'Elanna said.
"Because I also download data regarding their life cycles, the Larvae flew out of the spice jar in search for their primary source of nourishment, Plasma particles, The conduits within the nearby sensor grid contain an unlimited supply of these particles, Ensign Kim unwittingly given the creatures access by exposing the grid, the Now mature creatures periodically tap into the conduit for nourishment, When they do, the sensor emitters momentarily lose their resolution," 7 said.
"A logical, though highly speculative, analysis," Tuvok said.
"This I got to see," I said.
As we finally got to the junction. As B'Elanna opened it. There were the flies.
"Let's find a more suitable home for them," I said.
XXX
I was back on the bridge.
"I'm picking up graviton fluctuations," Harry said.
"Take us out of warp, On screen," I said.
"Anybody want to hazard a guess," Tom said.
"They are hailing us," Tuvok said.
"On screen," I said.
"I recommend maximum shielding. There are a few technical issues I haven't worked out yet," Tash said.
"There's a massive graviton surge coming from that thing," "Harry said.
"Shields to full," Tuvok said.
As we got rumbled.
"Your apparatus appears to be destabilizing," I said.
"If I don't find a way to repair this power core, They'll be able to see the explosion all the way to, uh, Where did you say you were from," Tash said.
"I didn't. But we're from a planet called Earth," I said.
"All the way to Earth," Tash said.
"Can we ask you what it's supposed to do," Chakotay said.
"Catapult a vessel across space in the time it takes to say, Catapult a vessel across space, It'll make Warp drive look like a wooden sled," Tash said.
"Maybe we can help you with that power core," I said.
XXX
"The core sends a graviton surge through the projectors which locks onto a ship and sends it hurtling into null space to emerge a few hours later, Hundreds if not thousands of light years away," Tash said.
"I'm curious why you built this catapult," Chakotay said.
"Simple, I've been looking of a way to get home," Tash said.
"We know the feeling," Harry said.
"I'd been exploring an unstable wormhole, before I knew it I was here and my planet was there, I was facing a journey of at least 10 years, Instead I decided to build a catapult," Tash said.
"Have you tested it yet?" B'Elanna said.
"2 weeks ago, I sent a probe nearly 600 lightyears, but it destabilized the core," Tash said. "I've been trying to fix it ever since,"
"We can send an engineering team over to help you," Chakotay said.
"No, No, It's too dangerous, I wouldn't send my own crew in there," Tash said.
"Then we could find a way to adjust the core reaction from here," Harry said.
"A few well timed graviton pulses from our deflector dish might do it," B'Elanna said.
"That's generous, but I have nothing to give in return," Tash said.
"We're not asking for anything in return," I said.
"You could use the catapult after I've made my jump, It should still be functional, A thousand lightyears won't exactly get you back to Earth," Tash said.
"But it would cut a few years off our trip," Harry said.
"If you're successful, and if I'm satisfied a jump would be safe for Voyager, Then we'll take you up on that offer, thank you," I said. "Let's get started,"
XXX
I was finally in my quarters as Chloe and Clara were asleep. As my door bell rang.
"Come in," I said. "Morning,"
"Perhaps not, The Alien Mr. Tash is trying to deceive us. His catapult is the same type of technology that was used to trap Voyager in the Delta Quadrant 5 years ago," 7 said.
"I scanned that catapult myself, Sensors didn't pick up anything unusual, You spent the night in your new alcove," I said.
"Processing the same information and cross referencing it with Voyager's database," 7 said. "When the catapult destabilized yesterday, Astrometric sensors recorded a momentary burst of Epsilon Radiation,"
"Unusual but not unheard of," I said.
"Epsilon radiation is one the by-products of a tetryon reactor. According to your own entries in the database, Your only encounter with that kind of technology occurred 5 years ago in the Alpha quadrant. A Coherent Tetryon beam locked onto Voyager and you were hit by a massive displacement wave which pulled you across 70,000 light years in a matter of minutes, The source of that tetryon beam was the Caretaker's array. Mr. Tash claims that his catapult will be able to do something very similar," 7 said.
"He didn't want us to send over a repair team," I said.
"Out of concern for our safety," 7 said. "It's obvious he was trying to hide his tetryon reactor,"
"The First time, we met a caretaker, we were pulled halfway across the galaxy, The second time she almost killed us, I'm not eager for a 3rd round," I said.
XXX
"Is this any way to treat a colleague?" Tash said.
"Not so much as a molecule of Caretaker DNA," Doc said.
"Thank you, Doc," I said. "There's a tetryon reactor powering your catapult, You didn't want us to find it, Did you. Unless you answer my question's I'll resume course, and you can ask somebody else for help,"
"Look, I acquired the Tetryon reactor at great cost, This territory is full of species who would do anything for such advanced technology, Including steal it," Tash said. "I apologize for the deception, but you do understand,"
"We made an agreement to cooperate, I see no reason not to continue," I said.
"Thank you Captain," Tash said.
"Keep me informed on your progress," I said as 7 and I went. "That reactor had to come from somewhere, I can't just ignore the possibility of a caretaker nearby, Keep scanning, See what you can find,"
"There is another possibility, The reactor may have come from the same array that Brought Voyager to the Delta quadrant," 7 said.
"That's a long shot, 7, We destroyed that array," I said.
"Maybe not, Again according to your own reports, you believed the only way to keep the array from falling into the wrong hands was to destroy it, It's possible the destruction was incomplete," 7 said.
"And one of the reactors survived? We scanned for debris, there was nothing left but some fused pieces of metal alloy, No sign of a reactor surviving," I said.
"I wish to reexamine the sensor records from that event," 7 said.
"In case we were mistaken," I said.
"Yes," 7 said.
"Knock yourself out. But if I remember right, Our sensors were damaged due to the fighting with the Kazon for the first time," I said.
XXX
"Tetryon reactor is stable, Graviton field is set for a 100 light year jump," Harry said.
"The Catapult's locking onto him," Chakotay said.
"We're being hailed," Tuvok said.
"On screen," I said.
"I'll contact you the moment I reenter normal space, Thank you Captain," Tash said.
"My pleasure," I said.
"Catapult is at full power," Harry said.
"Goodbye to you all," Tash said.
"Final launch sequence has been initiated," Tuvok said.
As we saw Tash's ship disappear.
"He's gone," Harry said.
"How long before we can expect to hear from him?" I said.
"If his vessel survived one or 2 hours," Tuvok said.
"7 to Commander Chakotay," 7 said.
"Go ahead," Chakotay said.
"I require your assistance in the Astrometrics lab," 7 said.
"On my way," Chakotay said as he left.
"What was that about?" Tom said.
"Who knows," I said. "Let's run full system diagnostics. If that worked we try a few test runs with our probes,"
XXX
"I'm picking up a transmission heavily distorted," Tuvok said.
"He made it," Harry said.
"Can you clear it up," I said.
"Success captain, 5,000 light years," Tash said.
"Are you all right," I said.
"A few systems overloaded nothing serious, I had to readjust my shield during mid-flight, Almost lost my outer hull, I'm sending you the modifications, My Catapult is yours captain, Good luck," Tash said.
"Get that data down to B'Elanna, Tell her to enhance our shields. Get a series of probes ready to, Let's see how far we can get," I said.
"So we're going ahead with the jump," Chakotay said.
"I want to make a few tests with some probes, but if it all checks outs I see no reason not to, 5,000 light years. If we could get that we will be 5 years closer to home," I said.
"I've received the telemetry," Harry said.
"I'll take it to engineering," Chakotay said as he left.
"What was that?" Tom said.
"Maybe he was getting stuck," I said.
XXX
"7 to Captain McCall," 7 said.
"Go ahead," I said.
"I need to speak with you in the Astrometrics lab," 7 said.
"I'm meet you there," I said.
"What is that all about," Chakotay said.
"Who knows, You got the bridge, Time to find out," I said.
As I got inside Astrometrics.
"Computer, seal the door and deactivate internal sensors to this room," 7 said.
"Acknowledged," Computer said.
"7," I said.
"I believe Chakotay and other members of your crew are involved in a conspiracy to resurrect the Maquis Rebellion," 7 said.
"Did Chakotay put you up to this?" I said.
"Voyager and the Federation itself are in grave danger," 7 said.
"Go on," I said.
"I've concluded that Chakotay intends to use the catapult to launch attacks against Cardassian and Federation starships," 7 said.
"Chakotay gave up his allegiance to the Maquis a long time ago, What you're saying makes no sense," I said.
"Improbable as it may sound I found compelling evidence to support my theory," 7 said. "In the months before Voyager's arrival, Neelix recorded the sudden appearance of 52 vessels including this one,"
"A Cardassian Warship," I said.
"I've analyzed the hull geometry and warp signature, It's was one of the same ships That were pursuing Chakotay and his crew in the region known as the Badlands, It was pulled into the Delta Quadrant by the caretaker during that engagement, According to Federation records, that same Cardassian warship was found destroyed in the Badlands, The investigation revealed that it was attacked by the Maquis, I believe that for some unknown reason, the caretaker had sent this ship back to the Alpha Quadrant, And that Commander Chakotay attacked the vessel before it could reach its destination," 7 said. "He Downloaded its computer core and discovered the presence of the Caretaker's array, He realized that the Array could be used by the Maquis as a weapon to launch surprise attacks against Cardassian and Starfleet vessels,"
"Well I commend you for your imagination, But Tuvok was a spy on Chakotay's ship, If your theory were true, He would have known about it," I said.
"He does, Tuvok has been collaborating the Maquis resistance all along," 7 said.
"That's not possible 7," I said.
"With Tuvok's assistance Chakotay plotted a course towards the next likely appearance of the Caretaker's displacement wave, Offering his vessel as bait, His ploy almost succeeded, but the Caretaker was more powerful than he anticipated. His crew was taken captive, A few days later Voyager, arrived and facilitated their escape, Chakotay Seized that opportunity to make one last attempt to gain control of the array, but then you gave the order to destroy it," 7 said.
"Circumstantial evidence, Not proof," I said.
"Who carried out your order to destroy the Array?" 7 said.
"Tuvok," I said.
"Using what type of technology?" 7 said.
"Tricobalt devices," I said.
"He set the yield to 20,000 teracochrances, It was enough to tear an opening in subspace, A cloaked ship locked on to one of the reactors, protecting it from the blast and hiding it from Voyager's Sensors, the reactor was retrieved and carried by a series of vessels, until it was delivered to Mr. Tash, Who was well compensated by Chakotay to build the catapult, he was waiting here for Voyager, So Chakotay could complete the mission he was forced to abandon 5 years ago," 7 said.
"I'd be willing to consider this theory of yours If I didn't know Chakotay as well as I do," I said. "There is not one on this ship I trust more, What you've done here is build what we call a house of Cards,"
"Stardate 48658, Commander Seska was revealed to be a Cardassian spy, She defects to the Kazon and impregnates herself with Chakotay's DNA. Was he unaware of the procedure as he claims, or were they working together to create a new Kazon Sect to capture Voyager? Stardate 49522, Chakotay recommends establishing trade relations with the Kolhari. Their technology uses tetryon power cells, A simple diplomatic overture, or was he seeking a source of Energy for the Catapult? Stardate 49571," 7 said.
XXX
As I go to Cargo bay 3. I found Chakotay there.
"I picked up a power surge coming from the Cargo bay," Chakotay said.
"I detected the same thing," I said. "You think it's the enhanced alcove?"
"Could be," Chakotay said.
"Let's take a look," I said. "Are Phasers Standard equipment on board now?"
"Must be," Chakotay said.
"The Data buffer's been activated," I said.
"I wanted to make sure it wasn't malfunctioning," Chakotay said.
"Well you should be careful, Somebody might think you were trying to delete a few files," I said.
"Why would they think that?" Chakotay said.
"Some of those files could contain sensitive information," I said.
"If that's true, somebody might think you were trying to do the same thing," Chakotay said.
"That catapult out there. It's a powerful piece of technology, If the Maquis ever had access to something like it, They might have been successful," I said.
"And if we had your mission to the Delta Quadrant never would have gotten off the drawing board," Chakotay said.
"What are you talking about?" I said.
"The mission you've been on for the last 5 years," Chakotay said.
"My only mission is trying to get Voyager home," I said.
"7 showed me the sensor records, I saw the tractor beam," Chakotay said.
"I saw the same thing. But she implicated you in some sort of Maquis plot," I said.
"Same evidence, 2 different theories," Chakotay said.
"It all started with those damn photonic fleas," I said. "Oh No, McCall to Sickbay,"
"Go ahead," Doc said.
"Doc, Get yourself to Cargo bay 3, Run a full system check on 7's new alcove, Fast as you can," I said.
"On my way," Doc said.
"Bridge to Captain McCall," Harry said.
"Go ahead, Harry," I said.
"I just picked up an unauthorized launch of the Delta Flyer, 7 is at the helm," Harry said.
"Set a pursuit course," I said.
"Acknowledged," Harry said.
"I'm glad we got that settled," Chakotay said.
"Likewise, Chakotay, Let's keep this one out of our logs," I said.
"Gladly," Chakotay said.
As we got to the Bridge. As we were at Red Alert.
"She's altering course heading for the Catapult," Tuvok said.
"Maintain pursuit, Open a channel," I said.
"No response," Tuvok said.
"Try to beam her out," Chakotay said.
"She's down something to alter her biosignature, I can't get a lock," Harry said.
"Target her propulsion and weapons," I said. "Fire,"
"Our targeting scanners are out of alignment," Tuvok said.
"She must have done it before she took off," Chakotay said.
"She's charging weapons," Harry said.
"Keep trying," I said.
"Doctor to Captain McCall," Doc said.
"Report," I said.
"7 downloaded too much data into her cortical implant, She's trying to make sense of more information than she can process," Doc said.
"Understood, beam me onto the Delta Flyer," I said.
"I'm going with you," Chakotay said.
"No, I have a better chance of getting through to her alone," I said.
"This isn't part of your mission is it?" Chakotay said.
"Is it part of yours?" I said.
"Good luck," Chakotay said.
"Energize," I said. As I got onto the Flyer.
"Captain," 7 said as I walked into a forcefield. "You came here hoping to stop me, You'll fail,"
"Turn this ship around, that's an order," I said.
"Your orders are irrelevant, I'm no longer under your command," 7 said. "You deceived me,"
"There is no conspiracy, There is no Maquis rebellion, The Federation isn't planning to invade the Delta Quadrant," I said.
"I realize that, because I finally uncovered your true objective," 7 said.
"And what's that?" I said.
"Me, Stardate 32611, The Federation sends my parents to study the Borg Collective, They know my family will be assimilated, That was their intention. Stardate 48317, Voyager is sent to the Delta Quadrant with orders to retrieve me, When they reach Borg space, Captain McCall negotiates an alliance with the collective in exchange for information regarding Species 8472. They agree to give him 7, Stardate 51030, McCall extracts the implants from my body to remove any knowledge I have of his agreement with the Borg, Stardate 53329, Captain McCall finalizes plans to use the catapult to deliver 7 to the Alpha Quadrant, Where Starfleet will dissect and analyze the drone to gather tactical Data to fight the Borg. I won't allow you to complete your mission, If necessary I'll destroy the catapult and myself," 7 said.
"You're right, 7, there is a conspiracy here, But I believe it's a conspiracy of one, I've got a theory of my own, Your modified alcove threw your synaptic patterns into chaos, and your mind can't make sense of all the information, So you're generating theory after theory in an attempt to bring order to that chaos," I said.
"Your reasoning is flawed, My Alcove is functioning perfectly," 7 said.
"What about you? You're not a drone anymore, you can't always predict how Borg technology will affect you, You should be in Sickbay, Not behind that forcefield," I said. "Let me help you,"
"No, I don't believe you," 7 said.
"Of course you don't, Anything I say gets woven into your paranoid conspiracies, But you have to believe me, 7, Because I've never lied to you. And I'm now lying to you now, you have to put your doubts aside and trust me. Stardate 51030, 7 is severed from the hive mind, The Captain tells her not to resist, That she'll learn to accept her humanity, 7 complies and slowly begins to embrace her individuality. Does she regret that decision? Stardate 51652. The Captain encourages 7 to develop her social skills, 7 insists it's a waste of time, but after further requests she pursues it and begins to develop her first human friendships, Did McCall lead her astray? Stardate 52840. The Captain orders 7 to study her parent's journeys, 7 claims they're irrelevant, but eventually reads them and rediscovers part of her own past, Stardate 52841, For the first time, 7 tells the Captain Thank you," I said.
"It was Stardate 52842," 7 said. "0600 hours in the mess Hall, We had just finished breakfast,"
"My mistake, Stardate today, McCall beams aboard the Delta Flyer. She reminds 7 of the bond that's grown between them, 7 lowers the forcefield and she decides to come home," I said. "All I'm asking is that you trust me again," I said as 7 does that. As I get to her. "Delta Flyer to Voyager, 2 to beam out,"
XXX
"Captain's log Supplemental, After further testing we activated the catapult and were hurtled across 30 sectors of space, In less than an Hour we cut 3 years off our journey home. I'm happy to say the Doctor has repaired 7's cortical processor, And she's returned to duty, End log." I said.
"I heard the strangest rumour today. Apparently the Captain and first officer almost came to blows," I said.
"Mutiny?" Chakotay said.
"First officer walked the plank, So I heard," I said.
"I don't believe a word of it," Chakotay said.
"Me. Neither," I said.
"7 was malfunctioning we don't have that excuse," Chakotay said.
"You're right, We've been through too much to stop trusting each other," I said.
"You didn't poison the coffee did you," Chakotay said.
"What is this, Breaking Bad," I said. "Mot any more that I usually do,"
That's all for this chapter.
More to follow.
Stay tuned and safe.
Love Y'all
PEACE!