After Voyager left the Tellorian system, a course was set to an asteroid cluster where the ship's cook, Neelix, had said there was dilithium. The crew was going there to set up a dilithium refinery in order to assist with the manufacture of warp capable probes which could be used to establish a sensor network.
"Lieutenant Paris, how far away are we from the system?"
"Two minutes away Captain," Tom said as he tapped commands on his console.
"I want active scans of this system Ensign Kim," Janeway said as she sat back down in her chair "We don't want any surprises."
"Yes ma'am," Kim said as he entered in an active scan pattern to the computer.
"Captain, I will scan for any computer systems that may be active in the system when we drop out of warp," Agent Potter said as he entered the parameters for those commands into his console. "If the ship's primary sensor array can't get anything, then mine should be able to."
"I'm curious Agent," Tuvok stated, "Are the intelligence sensors more advanced because of your people's power, or is there just technology that Starfleet isn't allowed access to?"
"Both I'm afraid Tuvok," Harry said as he looked at the security officer. "Access to this technology requires a magical core at the moment, however I've been told that people are working on integrating the systems better so that they can be used by non-magical people."
"That would be wise," Tuvok said, "What if you were incapacitated, how would your relief access those systems?"
"Everyone who's set to relieve me is magical." Harry said, "Part of manning arrays like this on starships comes the requirement of being in the know about both worlds. Everyone assigned here who relieve me on the bridge meet that requirement."
"Yes, you did say there was more than just you who were magical when you told us about all of this" Chakotay said, his eyebrows furrowing. "Would there be any benefit to preferentially selecting those crewmembers for away missions or particularly difficult tasks then?"
"No" Harry said as he swivelled to face Chakotay, "Part of our agreement with Starfleet command is that we don't want preferential treatment, especially with things like away missions. If we did that then every time there was an incident that would be one magical lost. For all our numbers are great at the moment, after a few years of this we may end up losing a large proportion of our population. No, we need to keep everything based on merit, not magical ability."
"Captain, we have arrived in the unnamed system," Ensign kim said, as the viewscreen showed a shimmering of the starlight as the ship dropped out of warp back into normal space.
"My scans show the asteroids Neelix suggested contained dilithium, and… yes my readings show dilithium on them, in large quantities."
"Good work Ensign," The Captain said, standing up. "What about your scans Mr Potter? Do they show anything out of the ordinary?"
"Yes Captain, I'm afraid there's a large computer system somewhere on that asteroid. I am working to break into it without alerting them, however it may take some time. From this we can assume someone else has a base here."
"Open hailing frequencies Mr Kim," Katherine said.
"Hailing frequencies open."
"This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the starship Voyager. We would like to get in contact with the owners to negotiate access to the dilithium on your asteroid."
A few moments of silence went by.
"No response Captain," Kim said. "There doesn't seem to be anything down there that I can detect."
"Perhaps it's part of an old relic," Tuvok mused "There may be nobody down there any more, it could just be their computer system that's left."
"I'm still unable to hack into the computer system. Whoever made it didn't want anybody getting in Captain," Harry said, turning to face Janeway. "My suggestion is that we should proceed with caution. Given that their computer system either doesn't respond in the same way as ours, or their security is simply better, there's definitely something down there."
"I have triangulated their computer system through the resonance frequencies their data transfers are giving off in subspace, I can localise it down to a 1km area of the asteroid. Ensign Kim, I've sent that to your console."
"Received," the Ensign said as he looked over the data. "I've run an analysis of the data, cross referencing it with the readings of the surface of the asteroid. It appears that the location where we're getting the signal and the area where we picked up the dilithium is one and the same."
"Thank you, Gentlemen," The Captain said. "Chakotay, take an away team and investigate the source of the transmission and the dilithium."
Chakotay stood up and gestured to Harry. "Potter, Kim, Tuvok, you're with me." The other three men got out behind their respective stations and followed the commander to the turbolift.
o~o~o
In a cavern on the asteroid the brown craggy walls were illuminated by the radiant blue beam of the transporter materializing the four members of the away team. The four of them appeared facing outwards, phasers and tricorders drawn.
"HK, you're with me," Chakotay said. He pointed at an entryway, "HP, Tuvok, take that direction. We meet back here in five minutes. Open comm system. Move out." he barked as he and HK moved towards the opposite entrance.
As they entered the next cave system Tuvok and Harry were actively scanning for the source of dilithium and the computer system they encountered.
"Tuvok, does this area feel off to you?" Harry asked, face squinted. "Hang on, I'm going to try something."
He appeared to do nothing, however a few moments later he said "This area is not what it appears. I've reached out and checked the area around us with my senses, and we're in a facility of some sort. These walls are made of matter, however behind them is some sort of bulkhead, and I can detect people behind that."
As he said this, they heard a yell, and phaser fire start. Both of them started running towards the sound. As they entered the cave system the firefight was coming from it was all over, an alien with what looked like lesions on his face was lying unconscious with a weapon next to him, HK was there kicking the weapon away from the being, phaser trained on him.
"What happened Commander," Tuvok asked, looking at Chakota who was calmly covering the area behind Tuvok and Harry with his phaser.
"He came out of nowhere, but we were prepared. HK started firing immediately, and I helped box him in. We heard more weapon fire just before you came in, but it stopped as soon as you came. There are still more of them out there."
Harry seemed to blindly fire his phaser at one of the cave walls. It shimmered out of existence as soon as he fired revealing the cold walls of a facility. A second shot drilled into the surprised being who was revealed.
Harry smiled slightly, and holstered his phaser.
"Commander, I can't detect any more life signs. My senses show me there are only six souls aboard this asteroid. Apologies for not detecting them beforehand, it seems like their technology has somewhat effective dimensional shielding which is why our subspace scans couldn't penetrate the barriers they had up. It's also why we couldn't detect the structure here."
"OK. HK, Tuvok, take the two of them back to the ship, put them in isolation fields in the main sickbay - given their appearance and my scans they have multiple species' worth of skin on their face. I'd say their organs are probably no different."
"Commander, we should consider the possibility of an infectious disease," Tuvok stated. "It would be prudent to bring the Doctor here rather than risk contaminating the ship if they do indeed have some sort of contagion."
"Acknowledged. Chakotay to the Doctor."
"Doctor here"
"Joe, we engaged hostiles on the surface, and suspect they may pose a biohazard. We need you down here to ascertain risk. Bring as much equipment as you need. Chakotay out."
"Tuvok, you and I will remain here to guard the hostiles. HK, Harry, see if you can find the computer system here. We aren't going to risk possible further infection, so make do with what you have."
"Acknowledged, Commander" Harry said smoothly as him and HK walked into the facility corridor.
o~o~o
"So who first started calling you HK?" Harry asked as the two Harry's walked through the cold grey corridor.
"Well, Ensign Kreshner in stellar cartography is also a Harry. Him, Tom and I were joking about how we have enough Harry's on the ship to run the place. Tom decided then that we were getting new nicknames - I got HK and Kreshner got EK."
"Apparently seniority has its perks," Harry said. "HK is a cool nickname, did Tom tell you why he chose that for you?"
"No, he just said I'd find out someday." HK laughed, "What does it mean?"
"It's a reference to Star Wars," Harry said as they came to a control room. The stark blues of the room stood out compared to the greys of the corridors before. They each moved to a separate workstation and started interfacing their tricorders.
"I've started a data transfer. It looks like local access trumps whatever security they had via subspace access, Agent."
"Yes, I've got full access as well. You set your tricorder to download historical and medical data if any. I'll handle the security related data."
"So, you were saying?" HK asked as he looked at Harry poring over his tricorder and the alien computer systems.
"It's from part of the Star Wars expanded universe, before Lucasfilm got brought. HK was a flesh-hating android. Imagine if Data hated non-artificial life."
HK laughed, "You amuse me, meatbag. Tom told me you'd get a kick out of the name."
Harry looked at him with a nostalgic smile on his face "You know, one thing that always makes me wonder about you non-magicals is why huge entertainment like that was never turned into holonovels. You think about it, and it's ripe for the taking - imagine taking part in the story!"
"Yeah, the problem though is how much time it would take to produce, and most people aren't as interested in entertainment as much as they used to be. I'd wager that most people on earth prefer being able to contribute to society as a whole through the galactanet and being able to influence the future in that way or by going into Starfleet or the federation is far more interesting than the curiosity of the holodeck."
"A lot has changed since I was born Harry," Agent Potter said, looking into the distance. "When I was a child and through into my first hundred years human society revolved around entertainment, not the so-called utopian society we have now. We had money and greed, and although the federation has something similar with energy credit nobody gets rich off it any more, anything over a certain amount earned is redistributed."
"In some ways humanity has lost a lot of what it was. In other ways it's so much more. I think the violent swing into a more idealistic, serious and less fun society is something I still have to wrap my head around."
"Sure, I like duty and helping others as much as the next 500-odd year old being, but I take time to read novels, to play in holosuites, to have fun. If I hadn't I'd have slit my wrists ages ago."
"That's a very different point of view Harry" HK said, looking directly at him, "If you don't work towards helping others with all your being then why do it? Aren't you not doing enough if you don't help all the time?"
"Not at all, in fact I ascribe to the teachings of a number of schools Harry. I strive for balance in my life. It's just as important to have fun as it is to help others. In fact, I find it's more fun doing leisure activities and I have to force myself to help others. I do it though because of duty."
Harry walked towards HK. "A piece of advice Ensign. You have risen up quickly. You have an extremely distinguished service record so far. I've heard of few ensigns getting assigned to be the bridge crew on a starship such as this, especially with us not knowing if we'd have to come back to the alpha quadrant the hard way, which would have taken many many years."
"Try to slow down a little. Enjoy your spare time, instead of pushing every minute. Before you know it you'll be retired and looking back. You'll have a few hobbies, sure but nothing that ever compares to your time on a starship. Most of your retirement will be filled with regret that you can't serve more."
He laid his hand on HK's shoulder. "I say this because I've seen this before. There were captains like Kirk who knew how to have a good time, but never felt at home outside of Starfleet because he had nothing to do, and knew nothing about this new life he had. I've worked with some of the best and brightest and the ones who were happiest through their whole life knew how to relax."
"I'll keep that in mind, Sir," HK said.
He was saved from the moment by his tricorder beeping. "Agent, the search has completed."
o~o~o
"Captain, these people are known as the Vidiians." The away team was back on Voyager, having been cleared by the Doctor.
"They prey on other races, harvesting their organs, including their skin. They use this to fight back a disease they call The Phage." HK said. "The Doctor has done more intensive research into this, Joe?"
"Thanks HK," Joe said, standing up and moving to the screen in the conference room. The senior staff looked on with curiosity as images of the Vidiians came up on the screen.
"The Phage is an autoimmune disease, targeting the cells in the body, and changing their genetic signature. The Vidiians have a much more active immune system than most races, meaning they would fight off most diseases rapidly compared to known species."
"The disadvantage here is that their bodies fight themselves once they start manifesting symptoms. The disease is genetic, they have it since birth, so it's extremely unlikely to jump the species boundary."
"Doctor, what is your assessment on their medical technology?" Commander Chakotay asked.
"They are ahead of us in many areas. Their transplanting techniques are decades ahead of ours, however we are more genetically advanced than they are. It looks like most of their medical fraternity decided to treat the symptoms rather than getting to the root cause of the issue. Their genetic detection and manipulation technology is sufficient to get rid of the disease within one generation, however they haven't thought to apply it in the right way."
"Captain," Joe said, looking concerned, "We are essentially dealing with a race here that doesn't care about sentient life. They prey on others and harvest their organs like cattle. Anyone who is a match for them gets harvested."
"One of the core parts of my programming as a clinician is to do no harm. These butchers offend me right to my core. We need to do something about this, and if it means shackling their entire race, so be it."
"Thank you Doctor, that will be all." The Captain nodded at him, and he took his seat, looking out of the conference window into space.
Kathryn looked around at the members of the Senior staff. Tuvok sat impassively, Chakotay looked pensive. The Doctor looked angry, as did B'Elanna. HK and Paris both looked at the other people's reactions, but Harry…
The Captain looked at Harry and felt the sadness coming off him in waves. Unlike the others his face was resigned, his shoulders dropped. "Agent, are you ok?" She asked looking at him.
"No Captain. We're about to have to go to war, I can feel it. I had a look at the database along with the Doctor, and the zeitgeist of the Vidiians means their people all support their 'medical'," here Harry air quoted, "practitioners. Whatever Starfleet decides, I will need to leave Voyager for a while, I can't not act in this situation."
"What do you mean Agent?" Chakotay asked, leaning forward.
Harry sighed, "You know how I said I'm the best magical practitioner? Well it's not just because of my 500 years of life, or my practice in magic for those 500 years. It's also because I have a larger soul than normal."
"Philosophers and religion have theorized about the existence of a soul for a long time. The wizarding world has known about its existence for millennia but it's only recently that medical science has been able to detect it. Upon creation of the brain of a being they start tapping into higher dimensions. The energy transfers back and forward, leaving an imprint in higher dimensions. For a magical user, the soul is literally larger than the soul of a non-magical because there's more transference of energy between the normal realm and the higher dimensions."
He saw he had their full attention. "When I was a baby my soul and that of the greatest dark lord at the time, Voldemort mingled due to a dark ritual he performed to split his soul. The reason for this is as long as that transfer of energy existed then his soul couldn't be drawn back to the higher dimension, and he would remain anchored to this world."
"When I was a teen, he killed me, sending my soul along with his into the higher dimension. I saw my headmaster there." He smiled, reminiscing fondly about the memory.
"Upon my return I killed that dark lord. After I came back I started noticing spells were easier, that I had a greater connection to magic than before. My friend, Hermione researched this with me along with some of our greatest minds, and we found that due to his soul connection anchoring mine it ripped open my connection with the higher dimension. I had the greatest connection to the higher dimensions than anyone before."
"The killing of another being fractures the soul, which is how Voldemort was able to make his soul anchors. The research into this after we found his methods and the results were banned and highly classified. In all the time since, nobody has managed to replicate his work, and the unique accident regarding my greater powers has never happened again."
"I'm the only living being in wizarding history with a connection to magic this great. I have a responsibility to act here. I could go in alone and kill everyone in charge and put people in charge who had a more moderate mindset."
"How many would you kill Harry?" HK asked. "In order to stop the Vidiians. Would you kill them all?"
There was silence and Harry looked pained at the question. "If necessary, that would be my burden to bear."
"Not anymore Agent. Harry," Kathryn said, "You are a part of a federation of planets. You spoke when you revealed yourself to us that you may not always be here and it wouldn't be fair on others if you solved all of their problems."
Harry looked at her in surprise. "Well Agent, we will take this to Starfleet and convince them to send ships to negotiate the Vidiian's surrender. I'm sure with the Wizarding world's participation this will go quicker."
"But there may be large loss of life on the Federation's side." Harry said, looking confused, "I could go in and wipe them out with no loss to our side."
"That's true, but how would we be bringing the Vidiians to justice if we killed them all? Remember the Bajoran situation Harry? You didn't go in there because you trusted Starfleet to act once they found out the truth. Trust us, again. We can possibly solve this peacefully, and if not I will implore Starfleet to act if not."
"Agent, would you like to sit in on the interrogation of the Vidiian prisoners? I am conducting this straight after this meeting." Tuvok stated, looking at him.
"Yes, that would be agreeable Tuvok." Harry said. "Captain, thanks. I thought I would have to go to war again, sometimes I forget that I have a support network in those around me. It's tough, you'd think I'd get used to delegating responsibilities but it's hard when it's something this charged, you know?"
"Thanks Harry," The Captain smiled. "I will contact Starfleet command right away and let you know their decision. Dismissed."
The room broke out, and Harry headed with Tuvok to the brig.
o~o~o
They arrived and nodded at the security member manning the console. The brig was a small room, Due to her size, there was only a single cell, both Vidiians whispering inside.
As they saw the two new Starfleet officers they stopped, and looked at them intently.
"Well? What do you want?" One of them spat, "Are you going to kill us? Get on with it then, or we'll die waiting." The other Vidiian started to laugh, and the other spit towards the two, the forcefield flaring to life briefly as it dealt with the intrusion.
"You know," Harry said as he stared grimly at the two prisoners, "The Captain has attempted to persuade me not to kill your entire species." The room started to grow dark around the edges, tendrils of shadow reaching in towards the now cowering beings. "But she didn't say I could spare the two of you. I want to know what you were doing in your base."
"Experiments!" One screamed out as the tendrils almost touched him. Slowly they receded, staying at the edge of the room, but remaining in the Vidiian's peripheral vision.
"We were doing experiments splicing our DNA with that of samples taken from other species."
"And do you know how those samples were obtained, butcher?" Harry asked coldly.
"Yes, but we had no choice, if we don't cure this our species will die out!"
"We will no longer let you prey on other races, insect." Harry's voice grew icy. "Before I leave I will know all you do, and use that to take down your species."
With that announcement the two Vidiians wordlessly collapsed onto the hard ground. Tuvok started forward, but a hand from Harry stopped him. "It's ok Tuvok, they will wake in a few hours, no worse for wear."
"What knowledge did you just gain, Agent?" Tuvok asked, looking at Harry with his eyebrows furrowed. Surely that wasn't long enough to read their minds?"
"Yes," Harry sighed, "Unfortunately it was long enough. I have access to every detail of their lives. I'll be passing these memories onto one of the intelligence members of section 31, to help them pursue a peace with these savages."
"If they decline the peace then the memories should help Starfleet win the war faster. While these two didn't know much they do have access to the wider Vidiian medical intelligence network, which will be useful for one thing that could make peace - a cure."
"Do you think the Federation will give them a cure considering their past?" Tuvok asked.
"Not right away, however it could be a viable means of ensuring their surrender and them turning over everyone who's performed a war crime. If nothing else the Federation needs to find some way of helping the victims of these barbarians, and anyone innocent of the butchering of other races." Harry's eyes shone bright green as he spoke passionately.
"Letting the wholesale butchering of species go unopposed would be illogical," Tuvok stated. "When I heard about the change in the prime directive I must admit it did not sit well with me."
Tuvok frowned. "I have been in Starfleet for a long time, Agent. In all that time I never questioned the logic of the prime directive. I am wondering now if I should have."
"Many people should have Tuvok, but the past is the past, and we need to focus on what we can do right now."
"I can't fault your logic, Harry." Tuvok said. "Shall we inform the Captain of the results of the interrogation?"
"Yes, and I need to contact my people to get them started on these memories."
The two of them stepped into the turbolift heading to the bridge.
o~o~o
"Thank you all for coming," Janeway said as she stood in front of the screen in the conference room, the senior staff in the chairs around the table in the center.
"I have received orders from Starfleet, we are to continue exploring the delta quadrant. They are mobilizing an infiltration team to ascertain the extent of the Vidiian's crimes, and are currently debating what sort of force to use in the federation council."
"Harry," Katherine looked at him sympathetically, "Starfleet command has said you will not be joining the fight. We will be turning the prisoners over to Starfleet intelligence. They, along with Section 31 will lead the infiltration efforts."
"Thank you, Captain." Harry sighed, "But I've calmed down now. I got my orders - they're to stay with this ship. I'm glad they took this out of my hands, I may have done something rash. There are some really strong people in the wizarding world who won't let me go on a rampage again. I'm glad Voyager has people to do the same."
There was silence after Harry's reply. Captain Janeway cleared her throat, "Starfleet plans to get more information from the Vidiians and inform and question other species neighbouring them here in the delta quadrant to see the extent of their crimes."
"We will continue on, exploring the area. We know that from our foray into the Vidiian's computer systems that their people are sparsely patrolling a large area away from here, so we will most likely run into them again. We've been given full discretion to do whatever is necessary if we encounter them again."
"Harry will take it from here"
"Aye, Captain." Harry stated. "Starfleet has started building new ships, focused more on automated running, so they can be manned by a minimal crew. There has been success in using the doctor's holographic matrix to create more of him."
"Are they considered a new life form, like the Doctor?" Ensign Kim asked. "I thought the Doctor was thought unique, a one-of-a-kind anomaly, with his sentience as an emergence of his programming and experience."
"May I continue from here?" The Doctor asked. Harry nodded.
"With my permission, Starfleet was able to clone my program, and with Section 31's help they used the same holo-emitter technology that is inside of me to create new copies. Each of them has my memories and programming, but they will be their own unique beings, having their own experiences and depending on what they end up doing, potentially their own wants and needs."
Harry took over explaining. "The emitter the Doctor has is a fusion of Wizard and Starfleet technology, the technology is a lot larger than it appears, and it's housed in a pocket dimension with only the emitters visible, housed in a casing. The technology can withstand some phaser fire, more than a normal sentient being, but not on a starship level."
"The holograms were, recruited, let's say, because of the logistics concern with manning the hundreds of new starships Starfleet is commissioning. They are also using an automation system designed for a deep space war ship called the Prometheus. This allows the crew count to be much less. With that and the new holographic race offering to help, the federation will be able to create enough ships to deal with the Vidiian threat."
"Because of the caretaker's array, and the new ship transportation technology," Captain Janeway took over, "We are able to get reinforcements to remote areas of the federation much quicker. We have been dropping sensor probes at each star system in order to maintain a scanning array for the federation. We can use this to work out where to place ships to counter the Vidiian threat, and to stop them from preying on other races."
"Our journey so far has been a beneficial one." Janeway smiled, looking around the room. "And it would not have been possible without each and every one of you. The scientific discoveries we could make, and the races we could meet will be beneficial for decades to come for the federation."
"Dismissed."
A/N: Man, that felt like a long chapter to write. I'd like to give a massive shoutout to stargatesg1fan1, especially for calling Harry Kim HK. I've found when writing this that having two Harry's is actually a pain when you're trying to distinguish their dialog.