Chapter 8
2376 - Voyager - Deck 3 - Corridor
Naomi, Rachel, Rhanda, Meredith, Taylor, and Charlie hurried down the corridor, heading by quickest route to Captain Janeway's quarters. Naomi was in the lead.
"We've got to hurry," Rachel huffed, half-running, half-walking, "This could blow up in our faces at any time!"
Suddenly, they heard a voice from behind them. The girls stopped short.
"You mean like now?" Taylor muttered, as the girls turned to face the newcomer. Seven of Nine was walking briskly toward them. She stopped in front of them, glanced at the other girls, and then focused her attentions on Naomi.
"Naomi Wildman," she stated, "The Voyager crew is worried about you. Neelix is presently comforting your mother in the mess hall."
"I'm sorry," Naomi said promptly, "but I had to help my friends. They're innocent!"
Seven looked guiltily away from Naomi's gaze. "I know."
"What do you mean Seven? How can you know?" Naomi asked wide-eyed.
"I do not believe the girls are responsible," Seven responded sharply, "Now, I must leave."
"Where are you going?" Naomi asked innocently.
"I must see Captain Janeway. The matter is urgent. I am on my way to her quarters. I would advise against the six of you roaming the corridors while the crew is walking the same corridors trying to catch you." Seven then turned on her heel and continued past them without waiting for an answer.
The girls turned to each other with horror filled expressions.
"It is Seven," Meredith said sadly.
"No!" Naomi was still adamant, "I don't think it was Seven."
"How can you not!" Taylor asked incredulously, "Look at the evidence! She doesn't think it's us, she looks guilty, and she's heading to Captain Janeway's quarters!"
"That doesn't mean she's been attacking crew members!" Naomi defended.
"But is does mean," Rachel said, interrupting before Taylor could answer, "that our prime suspect is heading toward Captain Janeway, and we have a duty to this ship and this crew to protect her."
The other girls nodded, and Naomi suddenly got a determined look on her face.
"We can't let Seven get there before us. We have to warn Captain Janeway!" Rhanda said worriedly.
"Right," Rachel agreed. She turned to Naomi, "Is there a quicker route?"
Naomi shook her head, "No, Seven took the 'most efficient' way, of course. But there is another route only slightly longer and we'll arrive at almost the same time as Seven."
Rachel nodded her head, "Lead on."
The girls started their run again.
"When we get there, we can't let Seven see, us," Rachel explained.
"How much farther is it?" Meredith huffed.
"Just around that corner," Naomi replied, pointing a few feet in front of them.
Rachel rounded the corner first, but then she stopped short and quickly backtracked. Taylor bumped into Rachel. Naomi tripped into Taylor. Rhanda stumbled into Naomi. Meredith collided with Rhanda, and Charlie finished the train wreck by crashing into Meredith.
"Ooof!"
"Ouch!"
"Ugh!"
"Watch it!"
"Naomi, get your foot out of my face!"
"Guys, be quiet!" Rachel hissed.
She stuck her head back around the corner while her friends crowded around behind her.
"What's going on?" Rhanda whispered.
"Seven is standing in front of Captain Janeway's door," Rachel whispered back.
"Doing what?" Charlie asked quietly.
"Just standing," Rachel replied, "She's close to the door, doing nothing but standing!"
"Nothing else?!" Naomi said, looking disbelieving.
"Well, she's frowning," Rachel answered, "But it doesn't look like she's going in. We have to find a way to get into Captain Janeway's quarters without her seeing us."
"There are always transporters," Rhanda suggested.
"No," Rachel said, immediately dismissing the idea, "They can detect an unauthorized transport into Captain Janeway's quarters. Then we'd really get it."
"Why don't we just take the Jefferies Tubes?" Charlie asked softly.
"There are Jefferies Tubes leading into Captain Janeway's quarters?!" Meredith asked in disbelief.
"Meredith, there are Jeffries Tubes leading everywhere," Rachel told her. She looked at Naomi for confirmation. Naomi nodded.
"It's settled then," Rachel continued, "Okay, Jefferies Tubes it is. Look out Captain Janeway, here we come."
x
Kathryn Janeway's eyes flew open as she was suddenly awoken from a deep sleep, an ominous feeling creeping over her. She didn't move, not even to call for lights. All of her instincts were telling her that something was terribly wrong, and after six years in the Delta Quadrant, she had learned to listen to her instincts. But it took her a few minutes to realize what they were telling her. And when she figured it out, she didn't like it. She didn't like it at all.
Someone was in her quarters.
Keeping her breathing calm and even, as though she was still asleep, Janeway slowly opened her eyes into thin slits. It took them a few seconds to adjust to the dark room. Then she caught sight of a shadowed figure, barely distinguishable from the small amount of light produced by the stationary stars outside her window.
She believed now more than ever that the girls had been completely innocent of any wrongdoing. She wanted to put more thought into the subject, but somewhere in her head something was telling her to concentrate on the immediate problem.
Her hand slowly snaked out from under the covers, reaching for her combadge and phaser, both which she kept on her bedside table. Her fingers closed on the curved surface of the phaser just as the figure moved forward.
In one swift movement, she pushed back the covers and swung her legs over the side of the bed, pointing the phaser in the direction of the figure. It froze. Janeway gently squeezed the combadge that was trapped between the fingers of her other hand, bringing it close to her mouth. She held the phaser steady.
"Janeway to security," she said softly, as if speaking loudly would make the figure move, "Intruder alert."
Silence. The com system was still down.
She watched silently as the figure obviously realized this. It was still, then slowly moved out of the shadows.
Janeway gasped as she recognized the familiar face and form - of her first officer.
"Chakotay!" She lowered the phaser, putting it back down on the bedside table. "What's going on?" she asked trustingly. Then on second thought, she added, "And what are you doing in my quarters?"
Chakotay smiled at her. "The com system in down," he pointed out unnecessarily.
"So I've noticed," Janeway slowly, confused as to why her friend was acting so strangely.
"Convenient, isn't it?" he chuckled softly, "I'll have to remember to thank those girls for that. And your security - following them all over the place. It makes things much easier for me."
"What?!" Janeway gasped, sure she had misunderstood somehow, "You? No - Chakotay, tell me what's going on!"
Suddenly, Chakotay moved forward, and the next second, Janeway's hands were being crushed between her back and the wall, Chakotay holding a hypospray to her neck, his eyes burning into hers.
And that was when she realized.
Chakotay was glaring at her, not with brown, but through green eyes, dark green, with a thin silver strip outlining the pupil. It was at that moment when she knew that the man standing in front of her was not Commander Chakotay.
"You want to know what's going on?" he hissed, "I'll tell you what's going on. In less then a minute, you, Captain Kathryn Janeway, will be joining your friends in sickbay and I will be in command of Voyager. I planted a dream in Seven of Nine's head, and successfully convinced her that she was the one attacking her friends. After she turns herself in, Tuvok will place her in the brig, and no one will have any reason to stop me as I bring Voyager around to explore a 'seemingly harmless nebula'."
Janeway gaped at him. She didn't have to hear it to realize what could happen to her ship and crew if he succeeded. He decided to tell her anyway.
"Your ship will be quite a sight when my fleet is through with it. Too bad you won't be around to watch." His green eyes seemed to cut right through her, probing and waiting for a reaction.
Her own eyes narrowed as her protective instincts kicked in. "If you think I'm going to stand by and watch as you destroy my ship and . . ."
He cut her off. "Who said anything about destroying your ship? I intend to make good use of it - and your crew."
Janeway said a line she had said to multiple aliens - she just never thought she'd have to say it to her first officer. "Threats will get you no where."
Chakotay looked thoughtful, "You're right. They won't - but this will." He raised the hypospray.
"Wait!" Janeway knew that the only way out of this was to talk her way out. She knew how to fight her way out of crisis situation, of course, but Chakotay was much stronger, and she couldn't do anything while there was a hypospray two centimeters from her neck. She would just have to stall and wait for the right opportunity.
x
Bang!
"OUCH!" The exclaimation echoed down the Jeffries tube. We all stopped crawling.
"Who was that?"
"Are you okay?"
"Ugh, that hurt," came Meredith's voice, "I banged my head on the ceiling."
"Typical Meredith," Taylor muttered under her breath, as we started moving again.
"Hey!" Meredith said, turning toward the sound of Taylor's voice, squinting to see her outline in the dark Jeffries Tube, "What's that supposed to mean?"
Taylor's temper flared. "It means we'd already be there by now if you weren't so slow!"
"I wouldn't be going so slowly if you weren't acting like Seven of Nine all the time!" Meredith said hotly, "I'll go at my own pace! And stop telling me what to do."
"Well, someone's got to do it!" Taylor snapped back, "The slower you go, the longer it takes us to get there. And it's not bad to act like Seven of Nine. At least she's efficient. Much better than Neelix, anyway," she finished in a mumble.
"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" Meredith sputtered, "Neelix is better than Seven of Nine. Especially at cooking."
"Trust me," Taylor said in a sharp tone, "If Seven of Nine cooked, she'd be much better than Neelix."
"I don't think so!" Meredith said loudly, completely offended, "I didn't see you complaining when you were stuffing your face with food in the mess hall!"
"Oooh," Rhanda jumped in.
"That's gotta hurt," Charlie added, as Taylor and Meredith continued exchanging insults.
"Guys," Rachel sighed, "Don't start commentating this."
"Yeah, we don't need commentary!" Meredith said hotly, "Because we already know that Neelix is better than Seven anyday!"
Everybody decided to respond to this outburst at once.
"That's not true!"
"The Doctor's the best!"
"Yeah!"
"No, no, B'Elanna is - she's Klingon!"
"Nope, it's Janeway!"
"No way, it's Harry Kim!"
"No, he's just hot."
"I still think the Doctor's the best."
"We know you do, Charlie, but he sings too loud."
"Hey!"
"What?"
"I sing loud!"
"He sings louder."
"Actually. . ."
"Stop it!"
The erratic and loud conversation jolted to a halt as Naomi spoke up for the first time in a long while.
"Stop talking about the people on this ship like they're characters on a television show! They're people. No one is better than anyone else - we are all equal!"
There was a silence in the Jeffries tube for ten long seconds as everyone digested the truth of this statement. Then Rachel spoke up, softly. "You're right, Naomi, of course. I don't know why we just did that. It shouldn't have happened. Especially at a time like this. People are in danger. We need to get going."
The girls nodded automatically, and even though Rachel couldn't see them in the dark she felt their approval.
Naomi was still slightly in front of the other girls and Rachel nodded to her, "Naomi, lead the way."
It took them only a few more minutes to reach their destination, and Rachel found herself fervently hoping that the sound of their voices hadn't carried through the wall.
The girls sat down in front of the Jeffries Tube hatch that led out into Captain Janeway's quarters. Rachel pressed her ear to the cool bulkhead.
"Rachel?" Rhanda whispered, "Um, what are you doing?"
"Shh!" she whispered, "I'm listening."
Quickly, the other girls followed her example and pressed their ears to the wall, listening intently. The sound of voices filtered through the bulkhead. Two people were obviously having an argument.
"If you don't comply to my demands. . ."
"I don't respond well to threats."
"That's Captain Janeway!" Naomi whispered.
"And - Commander Chakotay? What's he doing in there?" Rachel said, thinking out loud.
Rhanda was still listening intently to their conversation. "He wants something."
"No duh," Taylor whispered, "But why is he in Captain Janeway's quarters?" "This sounds like a conversation they would have in the ready room."
"Guys!" Rachel whispered loudly, "I just realized something. Remember how I said that Seven of Nine was standing by the door not doing anything? Well, maybe she was doing something. Maybe she was listening!"
Charlie spoke up, "Yeah! She wouldn't need to put her ear to the door because of her Borg hearing."
"So, she's listening to the Captain and Commander's conversation," Meredith said suspiciously.
"Yeah, kinda like we are," Taylor pointed out.
Rhanda gasped suddenly, and everyone looked in her direction. Her ear was still pressed against the wall.
"What?" Taylor asked.
"The Commander just did something very strange," Rhanda stuttered, unable to finish her sentence. The other girls gathered around Rhanda and pressed their ears to the wall again.
"What?" Rachel asked.
"He said, 'or I won't release your first officer."
"What?" Rachel repeated.
"But he is the first officer," Charlie said, confused, "that doesn't make any sense!"
Rachel listened to the bits of conversation filtering through the wall. "Something strange is going on here," she said softly.
"Yeah," Meredith agreed, "What's the Captain talking about?"
"She's stalling," Naomi piped up.
"What's stalling?" Charlie asked curiously.
"Stalling for time," Rachel answered, "It's saying things you don't really need to waste time, usually when you're waiting for help to arrive."
"How do you know?" Meredith said, frowning.
"Nancy Drew," Rachel answered nonchalantly.
"Who?" Naomi asked, again befundled by another favorite 20th century detective.
"Never mind," Rachel said quickly, "Rhanda, what's going on?"
"Well," said Rhanda, who was the only one who hadn't taken her ear from the wall, "the Captain is pretty good at stalling, if you ask me. She's keeping Commander Chakotay busy - for now."
Naomi sounded upset, "But Commander Chakotay would never hurt the Captain - never!"
"I don't think that's Commander Chakotay," Rachel said, igniting startled gasps from her friends. "I mean think about it. Is that guy acting like Commander Chakotay?"
"Well we can't just sit here!" Rhanda said, "We have to do something!"
"But what if we're wrong? What if it is Commander Chakotay? What if there is no emergency?" Naomi said worriedly.
"What if there is?" Rachel shot back.
Rhanda spoke up, "He could hurt Captain Janeway!"
"Or worse," Meredith added, "he could relieve her of command!"
"What?" Naomi said, confused.
"Meredith!" Taylor groaned, "That doesn't make any sense!"
"Well, sorry!" Meredith said, "Next time I'll just team up with Seven of Nine instead of you!"
"Guys!" Rachel snapped, before they could start arguing again,"Forget about Seven of Nine! We have to help Captain Janeway! I agree with Rhanda - we can't just sit here. I, for one, am going in there! Who's with me?"
"I am!" Rhanda said immediately.
"Me too!" Naomi agreed.
"Me three!" Meredith and Charlie said together.
Everyone looked at Taylor.
"Count me in," she sighed.
"All right!" Rachel said sounding determined, "Let's do it!"
So, with hopes high and hearts pounding, Naomi, Rachel, Rhanda, Meredith, Taylor, and Charlie plunged through the hatch and into Captain Janeway's quarters, ready and willing to face the unknown.
x
Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Star Trek or Star Trek. I don't even own any rights to this story because it was written by my friend, pen name Rachel Pierce. It was written about our little Trekkie group, The Sisterhood of Teenage Trekkies. Though there have been changes to respect rights of my friends and myself. I have been given permission to post this story. Thank you and enjoy.