Chapter 17 "A Headache"
Janeway
The Ka'zon diverted my immediate attention from retrieving Tuvok from the grasp of Malakye when they attacked us, unprovoked. In our conversation, he had just revealed that our chief tactical officer had been sent back in time to find one of the older man's ancestors in the twenty-first century. Tuvok's landing party was unknowingly forced back to earth at various times. Malakye hinted that my Vulcan friend might be reluctant to depart from the twenty-first century, but I couldn't figure out why. However, I didn't have time to speculate on the fact. My head began to ache accordingly.
"Shields up," I ordered.
"Captain, they are hailing us," Ensign Kim announced from behind me.
"On screen," I replied.
"This is Kazon-Pommar," an infuriated man snarled, and I introduced myself before hotly demanding the reason for the ambush.
" You are in the way, Janeway. My beef is with Malakye, the leader of the Qhirgoll, on the planet Vicolla," Pommar roared in a boisterous voice.
"Why?"
"You do not need to be involved, Janeway; withdraw from the planet's orbit so I can destroy it," the Kazon leader impatiently remarked with a dismissive wave of his hand.
"Quite the contrary, one of my officers, is down there," I vehemently countered, feeling my blood pressure rise with his argumentative nature.
"Then remove him rapidly," Pommar snapped, " You have one hour before I persist in my attack on you then the planet."
The screen went blank instantaneously, and my heart and head seemed to pound in tandem.
"I will be in my ready room. Chakotay, join me in seven minutes," I stated, as everyone's eyes turned to me immediately for instructions.
Once there, I made a cup of Earl Grey tea and ordered a hypospray from the "Doctor" of the Emergency Hologram Program. I sipped my tea and sank into my mahogany desk chair. Closing my eyes, I allowed my mind to wander to other things.
"Yes, Commander," I responded, snapping back into reality. After a long beat, the pain finally receded a bit, but neither of us said. Meanwhile, I gathered my thoughts.
"We have quite the situation on our hands," my right-hand man stated with the hint of his charming smile on his lips. Chakotay's under-eye area held bags, indicating that he was weary. Gently I scolded him that he needed to gain some more rest, and he told me to take my advice.
"We have to find a way to extract Lieutenant Tuvok before this brawl occurs. As usual, there is more than meets the eye in this situation. Neither the Ka'zon nor Malakye mentioned the reason for this disagreement, " I surmised, noting that my head ached a little less now.
"Agreed. Should we attempt communicating with Malakye again? It sounded like lots of fun," Chakotay teased.
"Oh, it was a barrel full of laughs," I dryly responded, putting my cup of tea down on my desk.
"It doesn't sound like Malakye will return Tuvok until he gets the DNA he wants," my first officer said, and I nodded, taking a sip of the comforting liquid from my cup.
"Poor Tuvok, I am sure none of this seems logical to him," he wrily proposed with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
"Highly likely," I smirked, fondly mimicking my Vulcan friend in jest, and my first officer chuckled.
"Let's contact Malakye," I ordered after a long sigh.
"Aye, sir," Chakotay responded.
Uncover more of the mystery in next week's chapter.