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PROVIDENCE

CHAPTER 7

2369

At the helm of her shuttle, curled up in the seat, Kathryn slept as she waited for rescue. It was all she could do. There was no power, no lights, and as life support was on minimum, the oxygen levels in the cabin were low, making her sleepy. For a while she had tried to get communications working, so she'd have a link to the universe outside, but her efforts had been in vain. The system was too badly damaged. Most of the ship's systems were. Even replicators were not working. Fortunately, however, the shuttle had several survival kits, compulsory in all vessels, and they had provided her with emergency clothing. As she had been beamed back naked she was grateful for the supplied overall, even though it was long and baggy. The kits also contained blankets, special silver ones designed to protect in the freezing condition of space, and Kathryn had wrapped one around herself as she huddled up at the helm.

Huddled and slept.

Slept until a noise woke her.

A noise and a jolt.

Looking up and around, Kathryn quickly realized that the shuttle was under attack.

In the line of fire.

But under attack from whom? Looking out of the window, Kathryn tried to determine if her assailant was Maquis or Cardassian, but all she could see was lights. Blinding lights.

And then...

And then she was somewhere else.

A transporter room.

A transporter room on a ship.

It was square, and dark, and before her a woman was working a console. A human woman with brown hair and green eyes.

The Maquis.

Another crew had found her and beamed her aboard.

This time it had to be as a captive.

And it was.

A man emerged out of the shadows, a tall and broad man with black hair and cruel eyes, and he grabbed her roughly before seizing her arms and twisting them behind her back.

"Starfleet scum," he spat. "We'll make you pay for what you've put us through!"

"I haven't put you through anything," Kathryn argued, struggling to breathe in the tightness of his grasp. "I'm just a scientist!"

"Like hell you are! All Feds are the same! Liars, traitors, and murderers! You killed my people! Blew them up by betrayal! So don't play the innocent with me! You're dripping with blood!"

A door suddenly opened and a woman, in a black catsuit, came in. She was middle aged, blonde, and Kathryn recognized her immediately. Tanya Lockwood. They had served together on The Al-Batani, many years before, but had hit it off on the wrong note and never gotten into key. In fact, Tanya had made no secret of her dislike for the young ensign who had been promoted at her expense.

"Well, well," the woman smiled when she saw who her captive was, "if it isn't my old friend, Kathryn Janeway!"

"Hello, Tanya," Kathryn replied.

The woman stepped closer. "A very kind greeting, considering the circumstances."

"I'm not your enemy," Kathryn said, holding her gaze. "I have nothing to do with your quarrel."

"Nothing to do with it? You, and every Fed, have everything to do with it! Who palmed off our colonies? Who abandoned our people?"

"Not me. I was always against the treaty."

The woman circled, like a vulture. "Easy to say now. I bet you championed it!"

"No," Kathryn protested, "I..."

"Yes," the woman cried. "You championed it! I say you championed it!"

Kathryn swallowed. Tanya had never been kind, but now she looked cold and ruthless. There was no humanity in her eyes. Nothing but hate.

"And now you're going to pay for that. Pay for it in every way a woman can!" She clicked her fingers. "Lareth, take her away and do what you want with her!"

The man didn't have to be told twice and Kathryn, still weak and sleepy, found herself being dragged down a long corridor and into a prison cell. The door slammed shut behind them and then...

And then Lareth threw her against the wall and began to beat her. Kathryn cried out in pain, her body bleeding and breaking, and relived a hell she had only just escaped.

A hell worse than the one she had escaped, for this man had more rage in him than a dozen Cardassians...

And then...

And then other hands were holding her.

Kinder hands.

Chakotay's.

"It's alright now," she heard him say as he lifted her into his arms. "You're coming with me."

Kathryn lay against his shoulder, her broken and battered body could do nothing else, and he carried her out of the room.

Into another room.

No.

They were somewhere else.

On his ship.

Something soft beneath her.

A bed.

"Damn that woman!" she heard Chakotay say to someone. "How could she do this? I sometimes wonder what the hell we're fighting for!"

And then something cold pierced her neck...

Drifting...

Asleep...

Awake...

"Welcome back."

The voice was unfamiliar. The face too. A woman's face.

A woman who looked like a Klingon and yet like a human too.

"I'm B'Elanna," she said, "and you're safe now. Safe and healed."

Kathryn, groggy and dazed, questioned. "Where am I? What happened?"

"You're on a ship. A Maquis ship. Chakotay's. We rescued you from another Maquis ship. You were hurt there."

"I...I remember," Kathryn said, everything returning to her. "Before that...before they got me...you saved my life."

"That's right. We found you, and two of your colleagues, unconscious and battered in your shuttle. The Cardassians had dumped you there."

"Where...where is he now? Jeff...the man you put in a stasis chamber?"

Evret, she remembered, was dead.

"He's safe. We have him. But we can't get you to a Starfleet ship right now. In fact, it might be a while before we can. Lockwood...the woman Maquis who captured you...has vowed to be revenged on us and is hot on our trail with backup. We know this space, so she has no chance in hell of catching us, but the chase might last a while. She doesn't give up easily."

"That I can believe," Kathryn replied.

"You know her?"

"Our paths have crossed."

"Hers and mine too. Actually, she taught me at the Academy. Hard to believe that now, eh? But I never liked her. She failed my paper just because it was five words under five thousand. And it wasn't. She'd hyphenated words just to make me fall short."

"Sounds like her."

"Well, she'll get what's coming to her some day. People like her always do."

Kathryn sat up, looking around as she did, and saw that she was in the same sickbay as earlier. The place was empty now, though. Empty except for her and this B'Elanna.

"Why did you rescue me?" Kathryn asked. "I mean, how did you know I was on that ship and why did you care?"

"Because we have a heart," B'Elanna answered. "When we met Lockwood's crew on leaving this space, and Wensona told her about you in revenge for being kicked off this ship, Chakotay had us return here and monitor you from a distance. He didn't trust her to leave you alone and neither did I. So, when she got you, he and a few others went to your rescue."

"I see. I'll have to thank him."

"Well, I think you're going to have plenty of time for that. But, for now, you need to eat. So, what do you fancy? Soup? Pasta? Cheese on toast?"

"I...I'm not hungry."

"My medical tricorder says otherwise. So, what will you have?"

"Nothing...please...I'm truly not hungry."

Tenderly, B'Elanna put her hand on Kathryn's thin shoulder. "I know you've been through hell, lady...twice...and that eating is probably the last thing you want to do, but you're safe with us. Chakotay's a good man. The best I know. He won't let anything happen to you. So try to eat...even if you only manage a little bit."

Tears filled Kathryn's eyes at this woman's kindness, hers and Chakotay's being the only kindness she'd received in days. "Ok," she said. "I'll try some soup."

B'Elanna squeezed her shoulder. "That's the spirit. But you'd better give me a variety or I just might bring you a Klingon pig feet stew."

At that, Kathryn had to laugh. Then she gave her choice. "Lentil," she said. "With tomato."

B'Elanna smiled. "Then lentil with tomato it is."

END OF CHAPTER 7