Return of the Fighter
Chakotay stood silently behind the pilot of the small ship heading up the attack from space. The pilot was a young Klingon with much the same fierce dedication B'Elanna had when he met her. He grasped the back of the chair and leaned down to the young man's ear. "Ease up, you'll pull something."
The Klingon growled an acknowledgement and visibly shook the straining muscles in his shoulders loose.
Chakotay tapped a closed fist on his shoulder and stepped back to where Erin was analyzing the relay beacon. "Any weakness?"
"I'm not an engineer, Dad." She muttered and rubbed her eyes.
He smirked. "No, you were on a fast track to science." He leaned over her shoulder and touched a corner of the display. "See this node? We have to hit it squarely here or they'll have reinforcements in there before we can get in ourselves."
"What do you want me to do?"
He swallowed. "Fire a steady stream at this point. Count five and get away from the console."
She looked at him with some confusion.
"Exactly five." He stood back and called up the internal comm. "Attention all hands, we're two minutes out from beam down. Final preparations for infiltration. You have your assignments." The computer toggled the comm off and silence filled the ship. He sat beside the pilot and nodded.
The Klingon keyed controls quickly, sending them into a spiral as they entered sensor range of the camp.
"Erin, lock onto that node and be ready on my order." A chilling moment passed and he turned to her. "Now."
Her fingers responded immediately to his word and a steady pulse shot out, hitting the relay node dead on.
Chakotay watched her lips move to five and he held his breath.
Erin leapt from the chair as her console exploded into flames at the feedback pulse designed to protect the relay. She scrambled to get behind his chair and away from the shower of sparks the exploding wires were pouring onto her as Chakotay issued beam down coordinates.
"Chakotay to Vajan." The other ship answered quickly. "We have no way to fire on the shields, get them down. You have two, maybe three shots."
"Got it!" The Betazoid woman snapped back.
They watched the second ship in the team dip around their own and head straight for the atmosphere, firing as their shields reached a maximum pressure point and than veering off.
"We've transported everyone here down, Chakotay."
"Stay in communication range as long as possible. We'll need both ships to get the prisoners out." Chakotay stood and raced to the aft section where one fighter still stood. "Stay here, beam up the prisoners as soon as I contact you. We won't have time to screw this one up."
The man nodded and stood rigidly next to the control.
Erin stepped onto the transporter pad next to him and the ship washed away in brilliant blue, replaced with the dull gray of solid metal walls. She stared in each direction down three corridors before looking at her father.
He was gasping slightly for the adrenaline and sighed when his breath finally caught. "This way. Stay very close."
She pulled her phaser rifle from the tight leather holster that ran down her leg. A clumsily large weapon, but certainly effective. "Daddy..."
He paused at the fright he thought he heard in her voice and looked down at her.
"If we don't... I just want you to know I'm glad you came after me. I'm sorry, but I'm glad I'm not alone." She felt hot tears drip and wiped them away angrily.
"I love you, Erin." He whispered and than motioned for her to move quickly as he started off again.
They made their way down several short corridors before the sound of phaser fire reached them. He got low and crept to the next bend. T.J. was just in view, holding his men back while some of Chakotay's took on the heavily armed guard advancing their way.
T.J. made eye contact with Chakotay and shook his head. "We're not getting through!" He shouted across.
Chakotay rested his rifle against the wall and glanced behind him at his suddenly very young daughter.
"Daddy! Daddy, you have to see this!"
He eased himself off the chair and rounded the corner to see four year old Erin playing happily with a stack of her mother's PADDs.
"Hi." She smiled up at him, her cookie crumb covered face revealing how badly he'd been at watching her.
"Mamma isn't going to like this."
"It's otay." Her slight misspoken words earning almost instant forgiveness. "I as-ted her if I can play here."
He got down and stacked the last of the PADDs for her. "Maybe it'll be our secret today, hmm?"
She smiled wide. "Love you, Daddy."
Chakotay braced his shoulder against the wall, swallowing the pain in his chest at the memory of his little girl. His girl. It didn't matter what her DNA said. He'd been there since she was born. He was there when she was born. He was the first to hold her as her tiny body shook at her newborn cries. She was his baby and always would be. He began firing at the line of Cardassians, expertly dropping ten of them before nodding to T.J.
T.J. instantly responded in total trust, running through the cover fire toward the cell block controls, his team rushing past him and down the corridors to begin the beam out procedures.
"Vajan to Chakotay. Man, we have a problem up here."
"Go ahead." He grunted, continuing the barrage against the Cardassians, now beginning to barricade themselves behind falling bulkheads.
"They've got a back up on that relay. It went off about... thirty seconds ago. We've got less than five minutes before they start coming in on us."
"Come in as close as you can. T.J. is dropping the energy barriers in the cell block now. Beam up anyone you can get a lock on." He cut the communication and turned his head slightly to shout back at Erin, who was frozen behind him. "Do exactly what I say. When I tell you to go, move straight past T.J. and down the left most corridor. Beam out with that group, they'll be on board first and you'll be safe."
"Daddy..." Erin started to protest.
"Go!" He didn't let her finish as he shoved her forward with a hand and started firing again.
She was in the open and had no choice but to move forward as he'd instructed.
"Janeway!" T.J. was behind her in a moment slapping a transport signal on her and moving her down the corridor. "Go home." He growled harshly.
Suddenly she was back on the ship. She lost her footing as the pilot maneuvered around several volleys of phaser fire and than they jumped to warp.
Chakotay shrank back from an advance of Cardassian fire. Breathing deeply he shot blindly around the corner and shook his head when he saw T.J.
T.J. took the chance anyway and raced toward him, shooting over his shoulder and leaping over bodies of both Cardassians and fallen Maquis. Five others followed behind and they made their way around multiple corridors before stopping to rest.
The small group was silent, listening for any following footfalls.
Chakotay finally spoke. "Tell me you got her out."
T.J. nodded and swallowed. "She's safe. Went out a full three groups before we lost the fourth. They cut our transporter. I have no idea if they materialized again or not."
Chakotay let his head fall back on the bulkhead behind him. "Did we get a detailed enough schematic to find any other escape?"
"Fool's errand." T.J. responded quietly. "Nothing else. It was a crude map."
Chakotay nodded and eased himself up. "Let's give 'em hell and try, ey?"
"Old times?" T.J. smiled back and took Chakotay's outstretched hand, pulling himself to equal height. "Damn, I've missed having you in my arsenal."
Communiqué
Kathryn's head buzzed at the sound of the console going off in the other room. She rolled over and checked the time. It was, as she suspected, the dead middle of the night. She eased out of bed and pulled on her old robe before heading for the office. The tiny indicator light was blinding in the dark room and her smallest toe found two chair legs before making it to the desk. "Computer, lights, 30%." She keyed the console on to see Erin's tear stained face on the screen.
"Mama... I don't know what I can say on here... we've got a two way communication, but it's not very secure."
Kathryn couldn't get a word out, but simply touched the screen where her daughter's face was.
"Daddy may have been captured by the Cardassians. He and... a friend. They beamed me out and the pilot of the ship we were in took off." She choked on a sob and dropped her head as her mother interrupted.
"Sssh. Slow down." She swallowed the fear inside and took a steadying breath. "Come home, Erin."
"Daddy came after me... I can't leave without him."
Tears spilled from Kathryn's eyes. "If the Cardassians have him he's-"
"No!" Erin whispered harshly. "He's not dead... he's stronger than that."
"They're vicious, Erin." Kathryn's voice cracked. "Baby, please come home before I lose you both."
Erin wiped at her face with her hand and shook her head firmly. "I can't, Mom."
Kathryn fell silent staring at her stubborn daughter.
"If there's a chance at all... I have to help. He's sacrificed everything to come get me."
Kathryn nodded. "You've always adored him..." More tears fell and she wiped her eyes with a finger "God, baby... please be safe."
Erin started crying again. "I miss you, Mama. So very much. And I'm sorry I left home." She turned off the console without another word.
Kathryn's head fell to the desk, resting on her arms. As she sobbed quietly a second flash of light indicated a message, originating from the same region was coming through. She looked up and keyed it hesitantly.
"Hello." Chakotay's face was tired looking, but he was working at a smile as he fixed his eyes on the screen... on her. "It's odd, recording a goodbye message before I've even come into any danger." His chuckle was almost real. "I've recorded this in case something happens. It's with my things, so anyone who clears my belongings out will find it... I've probably told Erin about it, so perhaps she's sent it... or better yet she brought it home to you. I hope we get out of this, but it's doubtful. She refuses to come home and I won't leave without her. She'll die out here, Kathryn. I can't let that happen. I can't tell you what we're doing, but you can find out what happened through DS9. They usually have all the dirt on us." He paused and studied his hands. "Us. I hadn't ever wanted to come back to the Maquis and it terrifies me how quickly it's felt like home again. I've seen some old friends... they've really looked out for Erin. Even tried to convince her to go home." He sighed and rubbed his neck before leaning closer in. "I want nothing more than to be home again, to be able to hold you at night, to sit down to dinner with my wife and my daughter. I have one last bottle off of Voyager. If it turns out I'm gone I want you to drink it. Like old times... maybe even on Voyager if they don't screen you at the museum. I love you more than anything and I'm sorry I couldn't bring her home to you. I only hope she's found her way. This will pass, you know... I've missed you these weeks, horribly, and you'll miss me for much longer, but you will be okay again. Take care of yourself, my sweet Kathryn."
The image faded and Kathryn let out a pained cry in the dark, lonely house.