Chapter 7
Neelix's Secret Log, Present Date-
The last few days have been much calmer than the one before, but there's been no shortage of fear, at least on my part. Still, it appears I've remain undetected, at least as far as I know, up until the present second.
The bridge crew is split on what they think happened. Belanna still thinks that an intruder remains on board, regardless of how they got here. She's actually right on that point.
Quite a rare event!
Tom keeps talking about how they need to figure out how the intruder first got on-board in order to determine whether they're still here or not. Janeway thinks that however they got on board, they must be gone now, since they got what they were coming for. She fears scaring the crew if we do full security checks of all crew like what Belanna wants.
I'm certainly all in favor of that line of reasoning.
Neelix paused while ranting into his Vidiian device. He had grown accustomed to using it since he'd been here. He hadn't given an enormous amount of thought to how safe it was to use. However, what did it matter? If he was found out, then the game was already up and he'd be arrested any minute.
His privacy device should cloak the existence of any of this stuff anyway.
It would just go a lot better if the would hurry up and make it to the stinking planet already!
He resisted the urge to slam the bulkhead with his fist.
It had been nearly two days since the events in the shuttle bay. Since then, it had been non-stop security teams and searches. Janeway had asked for permission from the crew to do the searches, which had been nearly unanimous.
Neelix had insisted that his quarters be searched first, with his privacy device hiding the hidden compartments with the elicit devices and other data in them. The security guards who performed the check had looked thoroughly board while they were doing it, except when Neelix bantered with them and made them laugh.
He had also offered an over the top and full-throated defense of Janeway's ask for searches, shaming anyone who would listen for even making her ask.
That didn't mean that the two times he had to worry about a search, once with his privacy device and compartments in his room, and once with his cart at the mess hall, hadn't put his heart in his throat both times.
He had fretted over every piece of fruit the guards had searched in the mess hall in order to explain his nervousness and elevated vital signs.
Now, he had to wait more. Hope that no one found him out in the mean time for some trick of fate that had nothing to do with his own fault, and everything to do with the Vidiians abandoning him.
Janeway had announced a while back that they were about to visit some planet full of refugees from Vidiian-destroyed worlds to find intel on where Seven of Nine might be. They were probably wasting their time. The Vidiians held that information close to the chest.
But-it did offer him at a chance of salvation. He'd had Fake Neelix enthusiastically tell Janeway that he would go down to the surface to trade for some more fresh food as soon as they arrived and she'd given him permission and waved him off.
They were getting closer. It could be any minute now. He'd just need his luck to hold a little longer. He brought up his Vidiian information device again. He laid on his bunk again, with his eyes closed, trying to calm down. After all, he was about to be made, most likely, one of the worst things that could happen to any spy. He needed his wits about him.
He had the horrible thing translate from Vidiian and tell him about the planet they were headed towards. He needed to be able to move quickly and get off this nowhere worthless planet back towards Vidiian space with speed once they arrived.
We didn't want Mr. Vulcan or anyone else tracking down Yours Truly before he could get his well-earned reward, now did we?
This was the last conflict they were likely to have on Voyager.
He would win it.
He formed a plan over an hour or two, and finally the captain announced that they had reached the planet.
Kes cleared her head as Tuvok had taught her. As she had taught herself. Her breathing slowed, and she was able to focus on her abilities once again.
She immediately felt Seven attempting to contact her, but given that she didn't understand why she had a connection to Seven, and what this other connection was. Plus, Seven felt worried, but not desperate yet. Kes didn't want to blow anyone up from lack of understanding!
The Doctor had encouraged her to ask herself the 'whys' of the connections she had. To ask her inner self if there was something she was doing subconsciously, or whether it was truly for some external reason.
She'd been doing that for days, but hadn't received a reply yet, you know, from herself.
I've been seeking someone out, She realized suddenly. She didn't know how or why, but some part of herself had been looking for someone, after noticing they were here. Not in her conscious mind though. Some other part of her.
And the weirdest thing was it felt like a solid part of her. Like some piece of herself had come off and was looking on its own, and was just now telling her about it. In a previous session, she had told Tuvok that she had heard someone or maybe, some thing, like a computer maybe? -Had been speaking Vidiian. He had asked her if she was certain, and if she knew where it was coming from, but she hadn't.
Suddenly, she heard it again. Vidiian. Instead of getting excited again, she made herself calm down, focus on the image she was seeing. It was in a million pieces, like she was piecing something together from some ridiculous puzzle.
Bit by bit it became more clear, and she held her breath, because she almost had it-
Why was she getting emotional? She felt her cheeks and they were getting wet. She wiped them and refocused on that image again. So familiar.
Bit by bit it came into clarity-
Tuvok went through exercises to force his mind to calm down again. Feeling frustrated would not aid him in understanding what had happened. Nor would it have been wise for him to have taken a different course of action in the shuttle bay. His presence during the disaster allowed him to save many lives.
Had he arrived later, those crewmen may have died. Additionally, his understanding of the situation was certainly incomplete. Had he successfully engaged the Vidiian, when the individual clearly was desperate and waiting for him, he may not have survived.
I never saw them. They may not be Vidiian, He corrected himself. Although, it was the most logical conclusion. How the individual continued to elude him and his security teams was most vexing.
He had somehow penetrated the Voyager computer, and thoroughly erased all of their tracks, despite the efforts of himself and the rest of the crew.
I must be patient, he thought. Our invader is now in a most precarious position. He may make a mistake at any time. I must be vigilant to capitalize on it.
"OK," Janeway said. "Hail the planet, let's get our people down for trading and for gathering intel. I will not give up on Seven.
"Captain, I'm getting something, hold on. It's being routed through the planet's communication systems I think!"
There was a pause and then-
"Incoming transmission from an unknown source Captain," Harry said on the bridge.
"It's…. Vidiian."
"It's gotta be from Seven," Mr. Paris said.
"Let's hear it," said the Captain.
"It's not audio. It looks like, a series of numbers-
Q C2 (2) ++"
"But what could that mean? It's just gibberish! Could it be in code?" Neelix said, speaking up.
"I believe you to be correct, Mr. Neelix. In a manner of speaking," Tuvok said.
"Mr. Tuvok, are you saying you know what this is? That you can decipher' s Seven's code? If it even is Seven?" Janeway asked.,
"It is a code in only the loosest sense. While it does not correspond to any alphanumeric words in Federation Standard, it does indicate a particular individual, in a particular place in time."
"I don't understand Mr. Tuvok," Janeway said, looking irritated.
"Seven is in a situation where she can communicate, but not on a secure channel, so the enemy will also receive her transmission. Conventional codes could be cracked by such a technologically advanced race as the Vidiians. Therefore, she chose to use something they didn't know."
Janeway shook her head, stumped.
"Like what?"
"Three-dimensional chess," Tuvok said.
"I thought that looked familiar," Harry said.
"But why would she send you a chess move?" He asked.
"It is a winning move. Queen to C2, level three, Checkmate."
"I'm still lost," Harry admitted.
"The move describes my own winning move. From over 80 years ago. In the Vulcan Junior Champion Three-dimensional Chess finals. I was curious about human customs, even back then," Tuvok said, arching an eyebrow.
"But what does it mean Tuvok?" Belanna asked.
"And how did Seven even know about it? Are you sure you aren't reading into this? Maybe it means something else." Belanna suggested.
"I am quite certain, Captain," Tuvok said, turning to her when she looked at Tuvok askance.
"Seven is indicating a move in which I was victorious. In other words, I believe Seven is indicating I was right about something. She is telling me to look into matters I have researched recently because some supposition I had is a winning move."
"How could you possibly remember something from so long ago?" Paris asked, incredulous. "Or know that it means all that?"
"I was quite proud of my victory. I made note of this in some of my personal logs, which Seven had access to, with my permission- Not all entries, merely those that I had marked as acceptable for consumption by trusted companions. She wished to better understand her crew members. Her choice of this code is quite ingenious, since the Vidiians are not privy to human customs such as chess notation. The series of numbers and symbols could mean anything to them. Only we have the key to unlock its meaning, a critical part of any successful cryptological transmission, a field Seven is well-versed in."
"Well, do you know what she thinks you are right about?" Janeway asked.
He paused for a strangely long time, even closing his eyes. His eyes seemed to shift to the left involuntarily under his eyelids.
Crew members on the left side of the room, like Neelix and Paris, leaned forward, sensing his attention.
Finally, he opened his eyes.
"She must be telling me that some of my research into the Vidiians was accurate, including the location of some of their hidden bases. I will look into it presently."
Tuvok entered his quarters and locked them. He pulled up a permanent lock on Mr. Neelix's position on his console so that he could know where the Tlaxian was at all times. The screen flickered before settling on his position on the bridge, and Tuvok was reminded of the computer errors they had experienced lately.
Instead of sitting down on his quarters chair properly, he fell into it.
Quite unbecoming of a Vulcan.
Realizing that you were beaten is essential to future victory, he thought. A human would say that he should have "gone with his gut," when it came to Mr. Neelix.
However, he was Vulcan. Instead, all that mattered is what he did now. His performance on the bridge was acceptable, in his opinion, but not exceptional. Involuntary mannerisms may have given him away.
He needed to inform Janeway immediately. Had Neelix compromised that communication avenue? Had they truly fixed all computer back channels?
What would he do if he were Mr. Neelix right now?
Presupposing he is a very different person than I once had imagined, he thought.
If he defeated me for this long, keeping me from realizing his true alliances and motivations, his true skills lie in espionage, such as technological subversion, avoidance of technological detection and-
Reading others' intentions and expressions.
Even a Vulcan's.
He has likely perceived mine already, Tuvok realized.
That left, most likely, just the one recourse.
He moved with purpose, but without running, back towards the Shuttlebay, where this had all started. He couldn't contact anyone out of fear they were somehow still being monitored. It could be either visual or audio or both.
Neelix stayed on the bridge until Tuvok left. He was clearly made. Everything would be ruined if he didn't get out now.
Darling monster had- What was that horrid human expression?
Ah yes- "spilled the beans." He didn't know what any of that nonsense code had meant, but he knew when he was being eyeballed.
Neelix said something to the captain about going back to cook some more, then caught the next turbo left back to the level of his quarters. He grabbed his Go bag, which was already prepared. The Vidiians couldn't fault him for leaving now. He was useless to them imprisoned, giving away their secrets. And anyway- they had already abandoned him. They needed a reckoning.
Plus, for all he knew, they had given him something to kill him if he was captured. If they tried to doublecross him now,again, he at least had a trump card. But he had to get away first. He needed to get to the shuttle bay or transporter room as quickly as possible.
The Shuttlebay turned out to be closer, as he remembered from last time. No alerts were being raised yet, so he saw no one on the way.
He went straight towards a Shuttlecraft. He would simply tell Janeway that he wanted to be able to use the Shuttle's storage to bring more organics back, if he could just get past these doors, unlike last time, before anyone-
He smelled that ozone scent of burning air directly behind him. Neelix turned.
Kes was entering the room, and her hair was beginning to charge with static electricity.
"Kes, honey-" Neelix began in surprise, searching around for any weapon he could possibly use in his bag.
Purple light began radiating from her eyes and her hands, and a wind kicked up, raising Kes off the ground. There were little lights around her, a hundred, a thousand, more. They kept increasing and increasing until Neelix thought there could be trillions. Idly he wondered what the source for that was, as his hand landed on and gripped a weapon.
"It looks like I'm going to kill you now," Kes said wide-eyed. "Judging by what my body is doing anyway." She spoke this perfectly calmly as if she was asking for a hypospray in Sick Bay.