Back on Jiopia, Captain Janeway had finished giving Governor Tiliod his tour and he had returned to the surface of the planet. Kathryn herself had decided to spend a little time on the planet's surface as well. She was walking through a street in the planet's capital when she ran into Commander Chakotay.
"Headed anywhere, Captain?" he asked her.
"Not specifically, no." she replied. "What about you, Commander?"
"Ryson, Ayala, Thompson, and I are off to a very interesting presentation." he told her.
"What sort of presentation?" she asked.
"It's a type of group duel." he explained. "Two groups of people who fight each other in a vigorous duel."
She looked at Chakotay, surprised by his interest in the subject.
"Seems rather barbaric, Chakotay." she told him.
"It's actually quite popular, Captain." he told her. "According to some statistics I've seen, it is the most popular recreational activity on this planet; being five times more popular than the next most popular pastime."
"Still, it sounds somewhat savage." she told him.
"The competitors are given the full ability to decide whether or not they would like to participate." he told her. "And it is not that violent. The victors achieve a free shipment of resources for their peoples, and the losers are given an equally large load at a quarter the usual price."
Janeway shrugged and said "As long as it's not too bloody, I suppose I'll give it a chance."
The two of them walked to a large stadium. There were almost a million seats, and all of them watched a colossal three-dimensional cube that had a screen on four of its sides.
Janeway and Chakotay found Ayala, Thompson, and Ryson and sat with them. They watched the side of the cube closest to them. Two groups of aliens were fighting with each other in what appeared to be a large abandoned fortress.
As they watched, Chakotay explained to her "Every day, they usually have two new races. They only occasionally reuse the species of the losers, but they frequently reuse the species of the winners. Today it's the Wrilohans versus the Fikalo."
"Why pick an abandoned fortress for a fighting scenario?" asked Janeway.
"The scenario changes every day as well." Chakotay told her. "It can be anything from a swamp to a space station. Usually it's someplace without a lot of advanced technology."
As they watched the fighting take place, Janeway noticed that there was some serious tension in the eyes of both of the competing species.
"They do seem to be taking this combat very seriously." Janeway noted.
"Some of the species have had issues with their competitors in the past." Chakotay explained. "Based on what I've heard, they like to vent their frustration out on their adversaries. But the fight promoters tell us that they don't let their past grudges go to their heads."
Kathryn watched closely as one Fikalo stabbed a Wrilohan full in the chest with his sword on the screen. She covered her mouth with her hands and said "Oh my God! He just killed that man!"
"Actually, he didn't really." said Chakotay. "Some reports about this game indicate that they have a lot of safety protocols on in the arena. You can do something capable of killing a person in real life, but in there, when people are 'killed,' the rules require them to be 'dead' until the match is over."
"They must have medicinal technology superior to ours in order to keep people alive without treatment after being butchered." Janeway theorized. "The Doctor would certainly be interested in that."
Chakotay nodded and not another word was said between them. They just matched the rest of the match. In the end, the Wrilohans were victorious over the Fikalo.
"I'm really looking forward to the next show." said Chakotay. "I don't know much about it, but there are going to be two mystery competitors. Mystery duels are always very riveting based on popular vote."
A few light-years away, the Delta Flyer sat in the hanger bay of the alien vessel. Tom, B'Elanna, and Harry were waiting in the cockpit. It had been over an hour since the Flyer had been brought onboard, but no one else had come aboard the small ship.
The three crewmen inside the small ship were holding phaser rifles close to themselves. They also had a phaser pistol attached to their belts as a backup weapon.
B'Elanna was the first one to get impatient. She just groaned edgily and said "What the hell are they waiting for? It's been over an hour since they brought us onboard."
"Maybe they're taking the time to study the Flyer bit by bit." Harry speculated.
"That could certainly be the reason." Tom agreed. "But I'm starting to get bored in here. Maybe one of us should go out there and investigate."
"I nominate Harry." said B'Elanna.
"Me too." said Tom.
Harry sighed and muttered "Why is it I'm always the one that has to risk his life?"
"Because you're an Ensign, Harry." Tom answered. "One of the advantages to being a Lieutenant is that you rarely ever have to do the suicidal tasks."
"That may be," Harry agreed, "but at least when you're an Ensign, you don't have to do as much work as the higher ranking officers."
"He does have a point there." said B'Elanna. "The engineering staff couldn't last a week without me. Makes me wonder why the Captain wanted me to go on this mission in the first place."
"Umm…" Tom began, "I frankly have no idea why she did, but we don't have time to focus on that right now. Perhaps we should all go out there together."
"Alright." Harry and B'Elanna agreed. Tom told them "Make sure your weapons are set on 'heavy stun.'"
The three officers slowly crept into the back of the Delta Flyer. Then they walked quietly over to the door. Harry stood at the door with his phaser rifle in his right hand and put his left hand over the controls. Then he turned to Tom and B'Elanna. They each had both their hands on their rifles. Their right hands were on the handles while their left hands were on the forestocks. They were pointing their weapons directly at the door. Harry waited for the signal. He got the signal when Tom nodded his head once in Harry's general direction.
Harry pressed a few buttons on the panel and the door opened up. Then he firmly grasped his rifle with both his hands like Tom and B'Elanna. Harry stood against the wall while Tom and B'Elanna got down on one knee and aimed their rifles at the now opened door. They expected someone to come through, but there was no one there.
"I guess I'll go out first." said Harry. He slowly moved around the wall and stepped out the Flyer's entrance. He looked around in all directions and walked out into the open. He called back to them "It's so dark out here."
"Activate phaser flashlights." said Tom as he and B'Elanna followed Harry out. The three young officers activated the headlights on their rifles and pointed them in all directions. They found nothing but stacks of crates all over to the room.
"I don't see anybody." B'Elanna whispered.
"Nor do I." said Tom. "It's almost as if they just brought us aboard and left us in their hanger bay."
All of a sudden, there came a loud banging sound across the room. Harry, B'Elanna, and Tom spun around and pointed their rifles at the direction of the noise. The noise stopped almost as quickly as it began.
"I'm going to see what that was." said Tom. He slowly walked through the room and headed for the source of the noise. He was becoming a little nervous as he thought about what he might encounter. He didn't even notice two figures crawling up a short pile of three crates just behind him to the left. However, at the last moment, B'Elanna shined her headlight down there and caught a glimpse of the figures. She aimed her rifle and fired at one of them. She hit him in the neck, causing him to fall off the crates and land flat on the ground. She then shouted "Tom, get down!"
Tom quickly dropped to the ground as the other figure lunged at him. The figure went flying by and landed on the ground in front of him. Tom got up and pointed his rifle at the figure. "Don't move!" he shouted.
The mysterious figure, ignoring his warning, charged right at Tom, but Tom shot him directly in the chest cavity. The figure groaned and dropped to the ground.
Harry and B'Elanna walked slowly up behind the figure. Tom still had his rifle targeted on the figure he had just disabled.
B'Elanna kneeled next to the second figure and turned him over. The person had a large amount of messy hair on his head. He looked a lot like a Human, but there were two large wing-like protuberances attached to his cheeks, his nose was more prominent, and there was one large ridge across his forehead that ran from the bottom of one ear to the bottom of the other. B'Elanna recoiled in alarm at the unsightliness of the unconscious figure.
"Do you recognize their species?" Harry asked his friends. "I certainly don't."
"No, I don't believe we've encountered this type before." said B'Elanna.
"Nor do I." said Tom. Without warning, many more figures were crawling over the piles of boxes and charging at the three Voyager crewmen. Most of them were unarmed, but a few were in possession of disruptors.
"Get back to the Delta Flyer!" yelled Tom. He fired at two figures that were coming up behind them. One of them was hit and dropped to the ground. Another figure in front of Tom ran into him and forced him onto the ground.
"Tom!" shouted B'Elanna. Tom was on the ground, wrestling with the alien for his weapon. B'Elanna ran up behind the alien, raised her rifle in the air, and struck him on the back of the head with it.
The figure collapsed next to Tom, who picked up his rifle and got back on his feet.
"I could use some help here!" said Harry, who was barely having enough time to aim as he fired at several aliens that were approaching him fast.
Tom and B'Elanna came to Harry's aid. The three of them were standing back to back to back, firing at the aliens as they approached. But soon, the aliens were among them. One of them grabbed the front of Harry's rifle and tried to seize it from him. Harry punched the alien full in the face and drew his phaser pistol. He shot the man in the head.
B'Elanna was forced to resort to beating the aliens with her rifle. Tom was only able to get in a few shots before the aliens were too close for the rifle to be of use any further.
Pretty soon, the aliens had disarmed Harry and seized him. "Tom, B'Elanna! Help me!" he called out to them.
"Harry!" shouted Tom. He tried to fight his way to his best friend, but pretty soon, he was overpowered just the same way.
B'Elanna was left alone to fight. She put up such a fight that it took the amount of people required to restrain both Tom and Harry to restrain her.
The three of them had their arms forced behind their backs and electronic restraints were used to hold their wrists together. Once their restraints were secured, the three of them were stood up straight and put side by side by side.
While some of the aliens attended to their wounded crewmen, the rest focused their attention on their prisoners. In addition to their restraints, Tom, B'Elanna, and Harry were being held back by two men each- one holding on firmly to either of their arms.
One alien man stood in front of them in silence for a moment. Then he said to his men "Come with me. We'll take them to the First Commander."
Then Harry, B'Elanna, and Tom were brusquely escorted out of the room by the people restraining them.