Chapter Five.
Cat and Mouse.
"Relax Chakotay, the Captain will be fine, she can handle herself in any crisis situation, you know that." Reassured Tom, seeeing the worried frown that Chakotay was wearing ever since the start of their journey.
"She is with B'Elanna, who is no pushover either, if trouble starts." He added for emphasis, trying to quel his own worries for B'Elanna, knowing how her fiery Klingon temperament could be pretty explosive and lead her into as much trouble as it gets her out of.
"Tuvok is up to speed and on the ball, he will beam them out at the first sign of trouble."
Chakotay was well aware of Kathryn's abilities, strengths and weaknesses, but that did not make his concern and worry for her safety abate, not one iota. He cared about her way too much, she was more than a friend, and he hated being so far away from her. He wanted to get his side of the mission over with and get back to Voyager and be on hand if she needed him.
They were four hours into their journey and another fourteen to go before they reached hailing frequency of the Planet Denaris where the Trade Consortium had its headquarters. Their communication with Voyager was still being jammed so they had no way of knowing how the away team was doing at the mining plant.
Tom interupted his thoughts.
"I think we are being shadowed. A ship keeps appearing on sensors every so often and then dropping back, and has been doing that the last three hours. That's too long to be just a coincidence. My gut feeling tells me they are up to no good."
"Any idea what species?" Chakotay asked concerned.
"No they are not in sensor range long enough to do a scan."
"Ok lets speed up and slow down, see if they match our variations, just to be sure." Chakotay instructed.
Sure enough as suspected, the ship stayed just long enough to keep tabs on the Delta Flyer then dropped back out of range again.
"What are they waiting for ?" Chakotay pondered out aloud.
"Let's make a scan of the vicinity, see what and who else is around."
This was supposed to be a busy shipping trade route, connecting sixteen planets. They detected two freighters from the Turanzi Republic with two Fighter Escorts, an uninhabited L class planet and an unidentified Heavy cruiser orbiting the planet.
"Why do I get the feeling that we are heading towards a trap?" Tom said as he watched the Freighter and it's Escorts pick up speed.
"Hail the Freighter, see if they know who our mystery Cruiser is."
The Freighter pilot nervously responded.
"Hello friend" Chakotay said.
"No need for alarm, we mean no harm. Do you know who the Cruiser belongs to?"
"You must be new to these parts. It belongs to the Krühlen, a bunch of untrustworthy pirates who hire their guns out to the highest bidder. I'd get well away from here if I were you, where ever they show up trouble will follow, and they don't come alone."
"Thank you for the advice friend"
"Good luck to you stranger." The Freighter pilot ended the transmission.
"Great " Tom retorted"
"As if our journey was not long enough without taking a detour."
"Something tells me that even if we did, they would come after us." Chakotay replied.
His time spent with the Maquis, having to fly by the seat of his pants and be quick witted to outsmart the Cardassians and Starfleet added to his cool level headed temperament came coursing back through his old sea dog veins, his brain was already taking in every detail and formulating plans and counter plans, he won't be caught with his pants down.
The Delta Flyer had speed and agility, but they were no match for a heavy Cruiser's fire power and what ever else was just out of range and stalking them.