"Now, really concentrate Kes." looking intently at the mirror, Kes frowned as her reflection stared back at her accusingly.
Harry and Quora shared a look at this, turning back as they sensed a change. The mirror's surface, which once showed the a glaring Kes and the interior of the lab instead showed the inside of engineering, complete with active warp core and people milling around.
Quora clapped, as Harry said "Well done! I honestly didn't expect you to get it so quickly. Enchanting an item to view one of the alternate realities you are connected to is an impressive feat."
He smiled, mirroring Kes and Quora. "Now, you've been studying the federation's historical database, correct?" Kes nodded, smiling widely.
"Remember the Iconians? Well we should be able to use roughly the same principals of travel they did, either through magic or technology, or possibly a mixture of both to be able to cross over to the other dimensions without having you carry us with you."
Quora squealed. "To see this is quite... Exciting Kes. Thank you." She said as she walked up to the mirror to take a closer look.
The engineering bay beyond the mirror was the same yet slightly different than theirs. Same room but slightly different configuration and personnel. The bustle of the officers was the same, seems Starfleet professionalism was the same in all dimensions.
"Fascinating. Are you able to tell us anything about this dimension Kes?" Quora asked, still staring in the mirror.
"Yes, this is the dimension I travel to the most. It's the closest one in causation and frequency to ours, and depending on something, I'm not sure what, is either ahead or behind us in time." She looked into the mirror, seeing Lieutenant Carey working at a console as B'elanna stood next to him, both discussing something intently.
"Their insignia is different." Quora pointed. "Look - B'elanna's is one for a field commision rather than her Starfleet ones from here. Why's that?" She frowned, looking at Kes.
"This dimension doesn't have wizards, and without certain wizarding events happening in the background the Federation gave up colonies to the Cardassians. This lead to a group called the Maquis, which people like B'elanna and Chakotay hail from in that dimension. In our dimension it's essentially the same crew who served on Chakotay's ship, but in Starfleet. I think the alternate Voyager's similarity is why this dimension is the easiest to penetrate into."
Harry nodded. "It's why certain things in their engineering look different from ours too - without the wizarding influence certain technologies ended up larger than ours, or totally different."
Quora stared back into the mirror thoughtfully. "You know, I thought this was going to be a boring assignment being with you two. I think you've just showed me how wrong I was."
"OK, so that's enough of that for now," Harry smiled, conjuring three comfortable leather chairs facing each other. He gestured towards them and they all took a seat. "I think it's high time we went over exactly why the continuum wants you here with Kes and I.
o~o~o
Kes and Harry both looked at Quora expectantly. "You need to start, love," Harry said gently.
"Damn. I was hoping I wouldn't have to say anything, that we would just let things happen but if I have to, then I have to."
She sighed, looking slowly at both of them.
"Well, the short of it is the continuum wants there to be a relationship between you, me and Kes." Kes's head whipped around to stare at Harry as Quora continued. "Obviously we need permission from you both, this is quite an unusual situation for us, the Q rarely have relationships outside our species."
Harry sighed, looking at Kes. "I heard this before the Q left Quora with me and dumped us back on board Voyager. I said to them that at a minimum that you would need to be asked." With that, he sat back in the chair.
Kes looked between Quora and Harry, a shocked look on her face before it morphed into a smile. "Well, I'm keen."
"What?" Quora spluttered, "Just like that?" She looked at Harry who also looked surprised.
"I know it might be hard for you to fathom Quora, but my species barely lives to the ripe old age of 10. It's only a few years until I undergo my elogium where I need to mate, but a lot of my species mate and form relationships earlier than that. I would have had something like that with Neelix, except for him being an irrationally jealous person. I also think it's a great honour to have the Q consider me worthy of being in a relationship with."
She smiled shyly, looking at Harry. "In my time here you have been nothing but patient and caring towards me Harry. I'd love to be with you too."
Harry nodded at this, looking thoughtfully at Kes. Quora smiled at Kes before looking at Harry expectantly.
Harry sighed as he looked Quora and Kes in their eyes. "Look, I don't know what the Q are expecting from this,but we will need some time to get to know you and each other before this can blossom into something great. Between Kes and I it's slightly different, we at least have a base of friendship to build off but there's still not much there really with you."
"What I am concerned about though is do the Q consider this arrangement permanent or temporary? What's the timeframe? Are we expected to birth offspring? Given what I and the other Q discussed there's some sort of danger coming, and this relationship will help save the galaxy?"
"No Harry, this will help save this entire reality."
o~o~o
"Concentrate Harry, just remember you need to force your way through."
"I'm bloody trying" he snapped, sweat on his brow. "It's too tight!"
"Just ram it in, here I'll help you," Quora said as she joined hands with Harry, the swirling portal stabilizing with her touch, its roiling white jagged outlines turning calm at her touch.
"Now," She said, waving her hand at the portal, causing it to disappear, "Again."
"You're a harsh taskmaster, Q." Harry said. "I seriously haven't had to work this hard in centuries for anything magical."
Kes, watching on the sidelines interjected "It's different from your or my normal magic Harry."
Harry sighed, "Yeah you're right of course." A determined look came over his face, and this time he waved his hand causing a white portal to tear a hole in the room's space.
"Good." Quora clapped, smiling. You've cracked the cornerstone of our powers. Everything from here on out should come easier now."
"Oh shit," Harry turned to Quora, "Is this the white flash that signals your travel?"
On Quora's nod he looked at the white portal, then back to her. A grin split his face as he snapped his fingers, disappearing in a diamond of white light and appearing behind Quora, grinning evilly.
Before anything could happen however a call came over the intercom. "Agent Potter, please report to Sick Bay."
Harry sighed, Quora having looked around at him as the call happened, giving him no chance to do anything to the Q.
He tapped on the comm badge, "On my way, Commander," and turned to leave. The door opened and he looked back, seeing Quora trying to get Kes to replicate his earlier feat. Smiling, he left the room.
o~o~o
In Sick Bay, The Doctor, Chakotay and Tuvok surrounded Ensign Seska's bed, who lay unconscious. A Kazon man lay in the main biobed.
Harry arrived, walking up to them, "You called, Commander?" he asked.
"That's right." Chakotay nodded, frowning. "We need to report to you that Ensign Seska is a Cardassian."
At Harry's raised eyebrows he elaborated. "She was assigned to my previous crew before I got assigned here, leading defensive operations in the Cardassian border zone. After we got rotated out and posted here instead she came as well."
"We looked through her academy transcripts as well as her previous medical records and found no indicators she was anything other than an exemplary Bajoran who decided to join Starfleet rather than the Bajoran Militia." Tuvok stated, looking at Harry.
"How did we find out then?" Harry asked, looking at the Doctor. "Joe, how did you find out about her being Cardassian?"
"Ensign Seska was injured in a firefight with the Kazon down on the planet, in the mouth of a cave. She took a blast meant for Chakotay. Thankfully the Kazon's weapons aren't as deadly as some of the other energy weapons we've come across, but she needed a lot of dermal regeneration, part of which is we need some level of blood transfusions, due to a reasonable amount of hers becoming for lack of a better word, cooked."
Harry, looking grim, said, "Go on, Doctor."
"Well, the standard medical scans are good in a pinch, but since we had time on our side I decided to run a full microcellular analysis of her blood in order to find a more perfect match, we have a number of Bajoran crew members who were possible matches based on the basic scans, but her medical records indicated a childhood illness called Orkett's disease, which she had received an extensive bone marrow transfusion from a Cardassian donor."
"Running these deeper scans showed that this was a lie. A few specific genetic markers showed she's Cardassian. She's had extensive blood work done in the past, however whatever work she had done that masked her race in her first series of medicals has become less of a defense for our current scanning procedures."
"Hmm." Harry sighed. "Well, that and all of your medical scanners are currently beyond most federation medical technology."
"True." Joe said, to raised eyebrows from Tuvok and Chakotay. To that he said, "Being in Section 31, and the newer, more cooperative collaboration has made this possible gentlemen. This ship has all sorts of new cutting edge technology."
Harry nodded, looking at Chakotay. "Thanks for bringing this to my attention Chakotay. As you know, I will need some privacy to begin interrogation in order to decide what to do here."
Tuvok frowned, "Agent, as ship's chief of security, I believe I should be here when you question her, ship's security has been violated here. I realize that according to the regulations you do not have to comply, but as was mentioned, Section 31 is increasingly cooperative in more areas than before. Logic dictates two interrogators are better than one, I may have questions for her which you may not think of." Having said his piece, Tuvok, face impassive as ever, waited.
Harry nodded. "You're right. OK. Tuvok will stay here, the rest of you need to leave, please." He looked at Chakotay. "Sorry Commander, but I will inform you of anything I can after the fact."
Chakotay nodded, putting a hand on Joe's back, both of them walking away to the Doctor's office.
"Commander." Harry called after him as he walked away. "You will forget about this portion of sick bay for a time, it's the privacy spell I'm using, so please don't be alarmed."
Chakotay nodded, a little smile showing before his face turned stony and he continued towards the Doc's office with the Doctor.
Harry looked at Tuvok, waving his hand. To the outside observer a portion of sick bay vanished, the room slightly shrinking as the space inside reduced by the area around Seska's bed.
From Tuvok's point of view everything went white and a ringing began in his ears as his body felt encased in pea soup.
"The interrogation chamber is by Seska's bed." Harry's words cut through the interference like a hot knife through the soup he was in as the world returned to normal.
Looking out, everything looked normal to Tuvok. He looked at Harry, who was calmly standing there looking at him.
"That was uncomfortable, Agent. What was that?" Tuvok frowned.
"That spell is a modified fidelius charm, short lasting and having the caster as the secret keeper rather than another, but really that's not important." He said, shaking his head. "The important thing is we are now in a pocket dimension, the edge of which is tethered to the normal world, but not part of it. It takes a section of space and shunts it into subspace where nothing but what the caster allows can pass through."
"We modified this spell a long time ago for scenarios like this. Nobody but you and I and Seska can hear or see anything in this area. I directed the secret towards just your and her minds so that if there are any electronic listening devices all they hear will be the buzzing you just heard."
"Anyway, enough explaining, I have a truth serum here we will be using." Pulling out a clear vial from a pocket, Seska's head raised by itself, her mouth opening and her tongue popping out for him to drip three drops onto it.
On the third drop, he put the flask away and waved his hand at her.
Nothing happened.
Tuvok raised one eyebrow at Harry, who shrugged, poking her in the side. Hard.
"GAAAH!" she screamed as she moved away from the probe, eyes opening in rage.
"Seska, hello." Harry said, looking intently at her. "Do you know why Tuvok and I are here?"
"Is it because of me making deals with the Kazon?" She said, her eyes widening dramatically after, hands going over her mouth.
Tuvok's second eyebrow joined his first.
"Why yes Ensign, that's one of the things we are going to talk about," A predatory grin appeared on his face as he started asking more questions.
o~o~o
"What do you mean, Cardassian spy? We screen for that for fuck's sake." The words came from the white-haired fair skinned woman on the viewscreen, lips pursed, her expression thunderous. A large, bald, dark skinned man behind her stood impassively, in a black uniform.
Harry's lab had, at present Harry himself, Chakotay, Tuvok, The Doctor, and the Captain, all standing around the large viewscreen embedded in the only side of the laboratory without any equipment.
"Yes admiral," The Doctor piped up, "Unfortunately it seems Cardassian biotech is a bit ahead of our old scanning methods. It was only the improved scanning technology on this ship that caught it, and even then only when running a microcellular scan."
"Nachev," The man's voice rumbled out, "We'll talk later about steps to prevent other incidents like this."
At this, she nodded, taking a deep breath, "Doctor, thank you for your expedient filing of your report, we've looked over it and it's proving beneficial to our plans to counter this new technique, and others like it."
A small smile appeared on the Doctor's face as he nodded at her and the man.
"Captain," Admiral Nachev said, "I don't need to impress on you the importance of your mission. From the get-go you and your crew have made great strides with expanding Federation interests, especially with the displacement technology coming from the meeting with the caretaker."
"Due to this recent development, you are ordered to come back to Federation space to take on additional operatives who will screen your crew and ensure your security. With what's happened with the Q and -"
The ship shuddered and klaxons and red emergency lighting cut off the Admiral.
Chakotay slammed his hand into his communicator, "Bridge, Report."
"Kim here sir, something penetrated our shields, an unknown energy source. It's travelling towards Sick bay. Wait, hold that it's reached sick bay and turned back again."
The ship shuddered again, and Kim said, "It's out of our shield perimeter ma'am, and it's disappeared from sensors."
Harry and Janeway looked at each other. "Computer, locate Ensign Seska." Janeway said.
"Ensign Seska is not on board the ship." The calm female computer voice stated.
"New orders," Nachev's voice rang out. "Investigate this new phenomena as much as you can then come back to Federation space after you've resolved the Kazon situation with the stolen technology."
At the Captain's nod the screen went black.
"Right, Harry you investigate the kidnapping of Seska, are you able to get Quora's help into this?" She asked.
Harry scratched his beard. "I'm not sure. At this stage I still have no idea what sort of help the Q have actually agreed to give us. Considering their pretty dire warning I'd say we should get at least some help, I'll ask."
She nodded. "Commander, you coordinate the efforts to retrieve the technology and wipe the data banks of the Kazon ship. We need to minimise the impact of the Cardassians' interference in the delta quadrant."
"Tuvok," She looked at the Lieutenant Commander, his face impassive as always. "Go over all of the communication logs to see where the messages from Seska were sent to. Also start preparing for the incoming security personnel."
The four of them broke up, Harry walking towards the sensor console in the lab, while the other three walked out.
o~o~o
Dull green and white lighting reflected off the interior of the Kazon ship, as Carey and B'Elanna beamed on board the kazon ship. Three bodies were partially embedded in the walls and floor of the ship, covered in grey slag.
"OK, let's do this," B'Elanna said, both her and Carey tapping the buttons on the arm bracelets they wore. A small shield showed for a split second around each of them, and they walked forward, shields showing again as they hit a containment field in the center of the small bridge.
Approaching two separate consoles they started to work.
After a few moments, B'Elanna looked up from her work removing the replicator technology from the ship and looked at Carey. As if he sensed her gaze he looked up, hands still moving across the console.
"Lieutenant?" he raised an eyebrow.
"Did you ever see anything about Seska that made you suspicious?"
Carey looked at her for a moment, as if searching for something in her expression.
"No. She pulled the wool over all of our eyes."
"Hmm." B'Elanna frowned. "Something in me thinks I should have spotted it. I served with her and Chakotay on the Val Jean out on the Cardassian border. Our crew got folded in with others to make this one. I served out there for three years, and never noticed anything that made me question who Seska was."
She looked intently at Carey. "She hated the Cardassians. I knew it, everyone knew it. She wore the occupation and her hatred of it on her sleeve." Her fist slammed down on the replicator, shield flaring as it impacted the device. "Urwl petaQ, how didn't I see it?" she growled.
"I read the preliminary report B'Elanna. She was an operative for a lot longer than she was in Starfleet. Trained from a young age to infiltrate. Extensive genetic modifications. Dropped in locally to get real world experience before being snuck out to attend the academy. This wasn't an amateur operation." Carey said earnestly.
B'Elanna sighed. "Thanks for that, I guess it's really bothering me."
A few minutes passed as they worked in more comfortable silence than before, when the silence was cut by the sound of the replicator detaching as B'Elanna lifted it out of the housing it was placed in.
Placing it on the floor she turned to Carey.
"All finished here," He said as she turned to him, his hands hitting the final sequence on the console. The lighting in the cabin dropped, emergency lighting taking the place of the main lighting that was on before. The shield they both walked through flickered and deactivated and the temperature noticeably dropped as the computers regulating environmental controls deactivated.
B'Elanna's hand tapped her comm badge as with her other hand she hefted the replicator under one arm. "Voyager, two to beam up."
A blue glow lit the inside of the ship, fading as they beamed out.
o~o~o
On the bridge, the Captain was looking at reports, while around her the officers were doing their duties. She was reading a report about the interrogation of Seska, and the secrets she revealed. She tapped to go to the next page, when she jumped, just catching the padd before it fell as the klaxons of the red alert sounded.
As the bridge was drowned in red light, she stood up and shouted, "Report!"
"Captain, a massive ship has dropped out of warp on the starboard bow." Kim said.
"Shields up. On Screen."
The viewscreen changed view from the small Kazon ship, showing a massive Kazon ship. On the viewport, measurements showed the size, it easily dwarfing Voyager many times.
"Tuvok, what's the status of their weapons?"
"Online and charged, Captain, but they haven't fired upon us."
"Ma'am," Kim interrupted, "We're being hailed."
"On Screen."
The viewscreen lit up, rust colored insides of the ship behind a Kazon man with a stern, angular face.
"I am Maje Culluh from the Kazon-Nistrim sect. State your reasons for boarding our shuttle."
"I am Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager. We assisted your people who sent out a distress call. All but one of them died, the cause of which was a stolen piece of technology. Your member who survived is in our Sick Bay."
"You're in charge? A woman?" Culluh looked off screen and laughed, the sound of others joining him. "You," he said, pointing at Chakotay, "You should put your woman in her place. Our scout ship was given this technology freely, it was not stolen."
"I'm the leader here, Mage, you will address me." She said firmly, stepping forward. "The technology was stolen, by one of our crew members against our will. We have removed it from your ship."
"You dare!" Culluh screamed out.
The screen went black, and the massive ship opened fire. Voyager shook as she took the initial hits.
"Report." Janeway ordered, looking at Tuvok.
"Shields holding, Captain. No loss in shield integrity."
As the ship shook lightly, the Captain turned to Chakotay. "Recommendations, Commander?" She asked. "I'm not sure if we want to perform a show of force here, these Kazon seem unstable enough to want to pursue us if we defeat them easily."
Chakotay paused for a moment. "I think we have little choice. I recommend we destroy their weapon systems, drop shields, and beam their crewman to their shuttle. Then we can re-raise shields and retreat at our own leisure."
Janeway looked at Chakotay, who raised an eyebrow. "A most logical course of action, I would agree with it, Captain."
"Make it so, Gentlemen."
The next minute passed as they did that. Voyager lashed out at the Kazon ship, hitting a precise pattern on the front and sides of the ship, as she moved around. Minute explosions rang out as they disabled the weapons on the enemy ship.
After this, the shields were dropped, and the Kazon crew member was beamed over to the shuttle.
Once this happened, Voyager reraised its shields and hailed the Kazon ship.
On screen once more, Culluh looked even more angry, gritting his teeth in impotent rage.
"Mage," Janeway got out, smiling softly. "Your crew member has been returned to your shuttle. I suggest you leave this area with it. You've seen what we are capable of."
"You will pay for this, woman." Culluh bit out. He then grinned madly, and the viewscreen went blank.
At this, all around Voyager Kazon warships dropped out of warp, immediately opening fire.
"Report!" Janeway yelled as the ship roiled around from the hits.
"Shields holding Captain. We should be down to less than that, but something's reinforcing them from inside the ship."
"Evasive maneuvers, Mr Paris, Tuvok - start returning fire. Kim, investigate the cause of the shield reinforcement."
The ship started ducking and weaving around the Kazon ships. Phaser shots took out precise points on their ships.
"Captain, when the Kazon dropped out of warp, something increased the efficiency of the shield and power systems. We're operating at many times effective power." Kim said.
The comm system crackled to life. "Harry to the Bridge. I've bought online some Section 31 surprises. I hope you like them."
"Thanks for the early Christmas present Agent." Janeway said, settling into her chair.
After a short amount of minutes all Kazon ships were disabled, their weapon systems destroyed. A few ships had scattered, escaping, and one ship exploded, one of their reactors being too close to their weapon systems.
Voyager settled into space a distance away from the Kazon ships, the bridge crew marvelling at how many ships they'd managed to take out.
"Janeway to Potter. Have you finished your scans on the area, about how Seska was taken?"
"Affirmative Captain. We can leave now if you'd like. I'll need to go over the sensor data with you and some people from Section 31 once we get back to the alpha quadrant."
"Roger that, Janeway out. Tom, take us to the nearest displacement station, maximum warp. Once there, take us to the rendezvous point in the alpha quadrant."
"We're going home."