Owen took in the sight of Voyager's damaged haul where the kidnappers had taken Kathryn through. There was a gaping burnt hole where the ship had blasted through to get to her. It had been a brazen attack on a federation ship in federation territory. The kidnapping of one their own, during a celebration being broadcast to the Federation, had sent shock ways through the Federation. Owen slapped his palm of the console "Dammit" he hissed it could not be this easy to get to one of the own right under their noses he thought angrily.
Voyager had been a hot topic since they had discover that the crew was lost in the Delta Quadrant and since they had blasted back into the Alpha Quadrant the media had gone into a feeding frenzy. The crew of Voyager, especially their Captain, had become the talk of the town. Everyone was fascinated by the tales of the intrepid crew fighting for their lives in the Delta Quadrant. The taking of Kathryn, so close to earth, was a blow to the already delicate morale of the members of the Federation who had desperately needed to celebrate some good news since the Dominion War.
Owen knew that the Federation would do everything in their power to get Katie back but he was not naive, and as a lifelong member of the Federation aristocracy, Owen knew politics were important in a situation such as this. They would play an important part in how this incident was handle. He wasn't naive enough to think that the Federation's only concerned was getting Katie back. He knew she was considered a liability because of her knowledge of the Delta Quadrant and all the technology she had acquired in her seven years out there. He knew that the order that would be given would be to get her out swiftly, using deadly force if necessary her safety secondary.
Starfleet would go after her but they wouldn't care if she came out of the situation alive or dead as long as she didn't give up their secrets. They would send a strike team without considering how Kathryn would be put in danger. He knew that Starfleet tended to consider the whole instead of the one. He had seen it many times himself as he had made his way up the ranks of Starfleet. He had even given a few of those orders himself, and if he were honest with himself he would not hesitate to do it now but for the fact that it was Katie.
Owen had known Katie since she was a child. Her father, Edward Janeway, his best friend had always been so proud of his little girl. She had followed his footsteps into Starfleet soaking up everything he taught her like a sponge. He had always been amazed by her tenacity and attention span. When Katie had join the academy Owen had taken a special interest in her career and had been please when she had asked him to be her advisor. He had pushed her to her limits and she had never crumbled as others had done before her. Owen had grown to love Katie as his own and his own children would say even more than his own. She had been there when he had been taken by the Cardassian and listened as he screamed in pain as they tortured him. His respect for her had grown there in that hell hold as she had tried to comfort him even as she feared she was next. Luckily they had been rescued before they had started torturing her.
He had been by Gretchen's side as she grieved for her dead daughter only to be elated four years later when they had discovered she was alive. And now in front her mother, crew and the Federation she had been taken once again. The devastation on Gretchen's face had broken him. The women had suffered so much already between the death of her husband, daughter and now said daughter had been kidnapped again and no one knew exactly where or why she had been taken. He knew he had no choice but to do whatever possible to exact the safe return of Katie.
He remembered how even in the mist of the chaos and rubble of the aftermath of the attack he had admired how easily her crew had internalize their fear and anger and immediately started putting Voyager together, analyzing the clues and tracking the kidnappers trail. Being out in the Delta Quadrant had prepared them to always be ready for an attack. Being under the command of Kathryn Janeway had made them one of the best.
He looked around at the now nearly empty shuttle bay and made his way over to the control console and entered his access code. He knew that after this there would be no turning back , what he was about to do would get him court-martialed, but he couldn't let Katie die because of Starfleet's arrogance and refusal to accept responsibility for the consequences of the treaty they had made with the Cardassians.
The was enough blame to go around and he knew that Chakotay, like him, was going to have to live with the guilt but he could do something now. When the attack had first happened Owen had immediately looked for Chakotay, the man Katie had chosen as her first officer.
Owen had been shocked by the man's transformation which had happened before his eyes. He went from being Katie's number one to the Maquis Captain that Starfleet had sent her to capture. The anger that Owen saw blaze from his eyes as he stalked the room giving orders to his crew, in the absence of their Captain, made him know that what he was about to do was the only thing that would get Katie back to them safely.
"Commander a word" he chased after Chakotay as the man continued to move from one station to another before he made to move to the bridge.
"Not now Admiral" he said through gritted teeth..
"Yes, now Commander" Owen grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into the corridor needing privacy as what he was about to do was commit treason.
Chakotay jerked his arm away from Owen and turned to face him making the older man take a step back. .
"Commander, you need to listen to me." Chakotay started to walk away "I know the name of the man who has been making the threats" he shouted as Chakotay stopped and turned back to him "I am so sorry. We thought we could locate him on our own but now we are out of time. Katie is out of time."
Owen didn't expect the arm on his neck pushing him back against the wall "Tell me now." he growled. Owen gripped at his arm trying to push the big man away. His vision started going dark as his ability to breath was obstructed. All of a sudden, as Owen could feel himself loose consciousness, four arms were suddenly grabbing at Chakotay prying him away. "Let him go" Owen ordered the security guards that had come to his rescue as he rubbed at his sore neck..
"Admiral" the lead security guard questioned unsure they should let Chakotay go as he was positively exuding anger "Maybe"
"Now" he yelled. He understood that they were just doing their job and that since they had already failed to protect Katie they didn't want to lose another high standing member of Starfleet. But he didn't need to be coddled or protected. After a few beats the security guards turned and reluctantly left them.
"Listen to me Chakotay" he paused until finally the dark man looked at him. "You need to find Katie before Starfleet does." Chakotay's gaze turned murderous but said nothing. "Starfleet has many things that are good about it but it has suffered heavily since the Dominion war and the needs of the many outweigh the loss of one" he paused to gather the courage for what he was about to do. "I need four hours to get everything together. I need you to get a group that you trust so that you can leave immediately. I will get you the Blackbird, it is a new shuttle that can go at warp 8. The shuttle fits 6, you have room for five people. After you leave do not contact me. I will be charged with treason and my movements will be watched." The younger man nodded, his gaze softening at what Owen was willing to do for Kathryn. Nothing more was said as they nodded to each other. They separated, moving in separate directions as each set out to put their plans into motion.
"Computer access code Owen/pi 0089" the screen immediately lit up and he started entered the codes he needed.
"Admiral Owen Paris" the computer spoke to him "please enter the code to release the locks on the Blackbird" he typed the sequence quickly.
"Computer disengage tracking and cloak the Blackbird."
"A level 10 security is needed" came back the cold reply.
"Alpha-numeric-dead-23768" he said the code he never imagined using.
"Blackbird's imminent arrival in 10 minutes"
"Owen to Chakotay" he took a deep breath
"Chakotay here" came the instant reply
"10 minutes Commander. This will be our last contact until you get back. Good luck and bring our Katie back"