DISCLAIMER: See prologue.
Act 3
Day 8:
Nardonia, 0800 hours:
Two and a half days after Tuvok's discovery of the map information, Baxial left Voyager's shuttlebay for the half-hour flight to Nardonia. Astrometric scans from orbit, though unreliable, had confirmed map information that the M-class planetoid was a swamp world, slightly smaller than Earth's moon. Its surface consisted of one massive central continent solidly elevated above the marshland water level, two smaller continents, and several large island-sized land masses. Hummocks of all sizes were dotted randomly on the surface, with many trails through the marshland between them.
No large ocean expanses of water existed on the surface of Nardonia. Instead, each continent had several enormous inland freshwater lakes that were the source for rivers that flowed to the coast. There were also half dozen or so large inland salt water seas near the coast of each continent. They also emptied into the surrounding wetlands that made up the rest of the entire planet's surface. Numerous open channels of water, some man-made, wound through saline and brackish marshland to the larger hummocks and land masses.
"Here we are," said Neelix as he landed Baxial with a slight bump.
"Next time, Neelix, I'm driving," said Tom Paris with a disgusted snort as he walked back toward the hatch.
They disembarked. The Doctor had studied the cultural information in the encrypted file so that he could surgically alter the away team's appearance. Everyone now displayed a low, bifurcated ridge down the center of their face and spotted markings along their hairline, identical to those of a space-faring race of explorers some seventy-five light years distant from Nardonia. They wore nondescript loose shirts and trousers in neutral colors, which would allow them to easily fade into the crowd once they were in the marketplace. Each team member carried an equipment pack on a shoulder strap filled with trade goods to exchange for currency or technology for engineering. Tuvok and Chakotay also wore loose-fitting, hip-length open vests, which concealed modified tricorders clipped to their belts for short-range use, and only in a dire emergency. The entire away team had been issued type-1 hand phasers, which they carried in the pockets of their trousers.
Neelix took a few moments to secure his ship's hatch against intruders while the others surveyed their surroundings. They were in an open grassy field on the outskirts of Nardonia's largest city. The landing area was on a steep rise surrounded by woodland on three sides. The open side of the field overlooked a large stone-paved plaza about 1.4 kilometers away across the flat grassland at the base of the rise. In the distance, the away team could easily see the tented booths of Nardonia's sprawling outdoor market, as well as sunlight glistening on a nearby river. They started to walk in that direction.
Jerat, the pilot of the cloaked Tarkadan shuttle that had taken up the observation post near Voyager, had easily projected Baxial's course once it left the shuttlebay. The alien ship was clearly headed for the largest continental land mass. Once he was reasonably certain of where Baxial would be setting down, Jerat increased his shuttle's speed to arrive at the landing site slightly ahead of Voyager's away team. He hovered above the surface at some distance away until he determined exactly where the vessel would land.
The field was crowded with many other ships, all come to trade in Nardonia's central marketplace. Jerat quickly transported Flamm and the rest of the cloaked alliance team members off the shuttle to a site near Baxial,while he looked for an isolated spot to set his ship down. Once he landed, Jerat ran a quick external scan to determine if it was safe to deactivate the shuttle's stealth technology. With the shuttle parked behind several other larger ships and no one near enough to notice its sudden appearance, he decloaked the vessel. Jerat and Imot settled in for a long wait until the alliance team signaled them for their return transport.
Fflam and the others with him kept a slight distance from Baxial and watched as Voyager's team prepared to leave the landing area. Fflam pointed out the Map Finder, whom he easily recognized, despite the surgical alterations. With the alliance team's numbers being five to Voyager's four, Fflam decided that he and Dinsar of the Tarkada would shadow the Map Finder, while Dursat would follow the dark alien. The two Abuskat, Kerak and Adrick, were assigned to follow the short and yellow-haired aliens. Fflam instructed his cohorts to stay close enough to their target individual to be able to listen to their conversations with the various tradespeople. They were to signal Dinsar if they saw or heard anything significant so that he could screen and relay the information back to Fflam. Dinsar also had responsibility for relaying any instructions from Fflam, and was to coordinate the movements of the other alliance team members as needed. The Magol officer had made this arrangement so that he could keep his full attention on the Map Finder.
Once Voyager's landing party had secured their ship and started for the marketplace, the alliance team's members moved into place and followed closely behind.
The Nardonian central marketplace, 0923 hours
Voyager's away team finally reached the plaza outside the capital where the Nardonians ran their very profitable marketplace. The walk had taken longer than expected because of the near tropical temperature and humidity level. With Vulcan being a desert planet, Tuvok was accustomed to heat, although he didn't care for the heavy dampness that hung in the air. He deliberately insisted upon a slower pace to conserve everyone else's energy level.
"What is it with the Map Keeper and swamps, Chakotay?" goaded Paris. "He must really have it in for you -- this whole planet's a sponge." He took a long pull of water from a canteen hung on a strap across his chest.
"Just worry about yourself, Paris, and save some of that water for later," said Chakotay. "I'm not carrying you back to the ship when you collapse from dehydration."
"Oh yeah? We'll see who carries who," said Paris.
The bickering continued sporadically for the rest of the walk, finally tapering off once the away team entered the marketplace. Though very large, the site was laid out in an orderly grid pattern, with the vendors grouped together by type of merchandise for sale. The booths had peaked white canvas tops to shield the interior from the sun and to shed rain, with an arrangement of interlocking awnings that extended completely over the aisles. The temperature inside the shaded market was significantly cooler than in the grassland surrounding the tented booths. A slight breeze blew in off the nearby river and carried the faint aroma of different foods being sold at conveniently located stalls throughout the entire market. The current of air was strong enough to make the humidity almost bearable.
The away team stopped at a booth just inside the entrance, where guides were answering questions and distributing maps indicating the different vendors' locations and the specific goods they were selling. Each team member took one, and the group moved off to a quieter spot to study them and await Chakotay's final instructions.
"Everyone is to remain within sight of each other, with the exception of our cultural documentarian," said Chakotay. "Neelix, since your task is to circulate and gather information, you're free to set your own itinerary. The rest of us will be in the technology section. We'll meet back here no later than 1300 hours to compare notes and decide our next move if we have to stay longer."
"1300 hours it is, Commander," Neelix responded, as he slipped his map into his equipment pack. He raised his head, sniffed deeply a few times, and smiled. He said, "My nose has already picked out a few promising locations to investigate. See you later." Neelix waved his goodbye and set off further into the market, completely unaware of the Abuskat trailing him.
The rest of the team studied their maps to pick out vendors who might possibly have promising technology for B'Elanna to adapt. By prior arrangement made in their final briefing aboard Voyager, they did not discuss the true goal of their mission aloud. The plan was to work their way through the technology section and any other promising location with an eye open for any translucent plastic sheet resembling the map. Tuvok was to verify the authenticity of a suspected quadlet directly to Chakotay, who would negotiate a price for it. Once Chakotay had found as many quadlets of the map as his beacon locator led him to, either he or Tuvok would walk over to wherever Tom Paris happened to be and tell him it was time to resume their expedition. This was the pre-arranged signal that Chakotay had found as much of the map as they were likely to on this away mission. They would then return to the rendezvous point to await Neelix's return so they could leave the market.
Chakotay, Tuvok, and Paris started over toward the technology section, with their cloaked Magol alliance shadows following closely behind. The away team worked their way through the noisy and crowded aisles, acquiring some parts for Torres as they went along, quickly slipping them into their equipment packs to leave their hands free in case they needed to quickly get to their concealed hand phasers.
There were many alien races in the market, none of them familiar to the away team. They easily recognized the native Nardonians from the cultural information Tuvok had found in the map's encrypted file. The Nardonians were a reptilian species, very similar in appearance to the Voth, but with somewhat darker skin pigmentation and facial markings, and brown eyes rather than gold. Nardonian brow ridges and other facial textures and protuberances were less pronounced than those of Gegen's species, but they had the same distinctive three-digit clawed hands. Chakotay regretted that this wasn't a genuine anthropological mission. He would have enjoyed studying the Nardonians further to confirm what appeared to be an obvious genetic link to the Voth and their Hadrosaur ancestors from Earth's Cretaceous Period, over 125 million years ago.
Since finding the quadlets of the Second Portal map was the mission's unspoken top priority, Chakotay took point. He set the team's route through the technology section based on the intensity of the soundless vibrations he was feeling against the skin of his chest from the beacon locator under his shirt. When he reached an area where the sensations were especially strong, he told Tuvok and Paris to spread out and concentrate their attention there. Acknowledging his orders, the two men moved off in opposite directions to nearby booths within sight of Chakotay, and looked though various bins of ship parts and other devices while surreptitiously keeping an eye on the first officer's movements.
They had been working their way slowly through the designated area in this manner for about twenty minutes when Chakotay stopped at what appeared to be a curio dealer's booth. It seemed very out of place, since it had a great deal of unrelated merchandise in addition to the usual technological devices, but Chakotay couldn't deny the vibrations against his chest. They were intense nearly to the point of pain.
"I'm surprised to find your booth in the technology section," Chakotay said. "You seem to have a little of everything, Mister..."
"It's Marzan," said the merchant. "And yes, actually, I do. The used components I sell more than cover my expenses and support my family. There's enough profit left over for me to indulge my love of the unusual, so I offer curios and cultural artifacts as well. Have a look for yourself. You may find a thing or two to interest you."
"I think I will, Marzan," said Chakotay. "I'm leading a small cultural survey mission sponsored by my planet's Exploration Society. We've stopped off here just long enough to replace a few parts, but my crew's been finding them easily enough without my help. I'd enjoy being an anthropologist again for a few minutes. What do you have that might interest me?"
Marzan brought out a tray of carved stone ornaments and painted wooden artifacts from under the counter. He set it down in an empty spot next to a crate jammed to overflowing with assorted merchandise. Without thinking, Chakotay rested his left hand on top of the crate for a moment, and was a little startled when the locator device taped to his chest gave him a mild shock and then deactivated itself. Glancing at the crate, he saw an assortment of miscellaneous devices. His hand had come down upon a jumble of schematics for their installation and use, along with several drawings obviously done by a child. One of the drawings looked very familiar. It was done on a sheet of plastic material, as were all the others, but this particular drawing was almost entirely covered with a thick layer of grime. There was a cleaner portion along the side where his hand had rested that Chakotay recognized as identical to the original quadlets that Neelix had brought to Janeway's ready room when they were in orbit of Abras.
As casually as he could, Chakotay said, "Just a moment, Marzan. I'd like to call one of my crew over. This crate looks like it might hold exactly what he's been looking for."
Marzan nodded, and Chakotay turned to his left and signaled to Tuvok, who acknowledged the summons with a wave. The Vulcan finished up his transaction with a vendor two booths away, and turned to look for Tom Paris. Spotting Paris several booths distant in the opposite direction from Chakotay's position, Tuvok waited until he caught Paris' eye and signaled that they should meet up with the Commander. Paris acknowledged the signal, and continued to negotiate for some used phase buffers for Torres. He decided to take a few additional minutes so as not to draw too much attention by arriving at Chakotay's location at the same moment as Tuvok.
Chakotay turned his attention back to the tray of artifacts and began to examine them more closely while he waited for Tuvok's arrival. Marzan gave such detailed cultural information about each object and its purpose that Chakotay was reluctant to turn away to speak directly to Tuvok once he sensed the Vulcan's presence at his left elbow. Instead, he drew Tuvok's attention to the translucent plastic rectangle by drumming quietly on it with his fingers, and then giving the exposed edge a slight snap.
Tuvok quickly caught Chakotay's meaning, and began rummaging through the crate, comparing parts to various printed sheets as he worked his way through the schematics. When he reached the plastic sheet the Commander had indicated, he took hold of it between his thumb and index finger as if to move it aside to get at the schematic behind it. He was rewarded with a momentary telepathic flash of the interior of Horus' hut and its towering skywall.
Tuvok gently grasped Chakotay's left elbow, causing the Commander turn away from the tray of artifacts momentarily and glance over at him. The Vulcan gave a slight nod. Chakotay acknowledged with a nod of his own, and turned his attention back to Marzan. Tuvok continued to rummage through the crate of parts as though nothing unusual had just happened.
At that moment, Tom Paris approached Marzan's booth, carrying a crate of parts. "I hit the jackpot at that last place," said Paris. "There's plenty here B'Elanna can use if her people put in a little elbow grease."
"You may wish to look in this crate as well," said Tuvok. "There are schematics for an unusual assortment of devices. Perhaps there is also something here that our crew can use." Tuvok picked up and flipped through the schematics to show them to Paris, surreptitiously indicating the quadlet, which Tom recognized, but to which he did not want to call further attention.
He picked through the crate briefly and then said, "As a matter of fact, there's a few things in there I wouldn't mind having."
Chakotay had been listening to their conversation with one ear, and turned to ask, "Tom, have you found everything else you need yet? We'd better think about getting underway again, if we want to stick to our schedule."
"Yeah, pretty much, Chakotay, but we've got to stop somewhere to eat first. I'm starving," said Tom. "We passed a place on the way in that was selling something that looked and smelled like pizza."
A faint expression of annoyance passed across Tuvok's face at the flippant comment from Paris after what he considered to be a too casual inspection of the contents of Marzan's crate.
"You can fill your belly in a couple minutes, Paris," Chakotay said. "I want a few of these artifacts, and there's several things we can use from that crate Tuvok just picked through. Marzan and I are still negotiating for what's on this tray."
Meanwhile, the Magol alliance team that had been shadowing Voyager's away team had gotten very close to the Map Finder once he stopped at Marzan's booth. Carefully working their way through the crowd while cloaked had been very tedious, but when the Map Finder stopped at the curio vendor's location, the alliance team found themselves with an unexpected stroke of luck -- the booth next to Marzan's was unoccupied. Fflam and his group easily slipped into it and congratulated themselves at having found a prime observation spot.
Fflam immediately noticed the Map Finder's interest in the contents of the crate. He was close enough to Chakotay to see the surreptitious signal to the dark alien, the nods between the two men, and then the signal to the light haired alien pointing out a particular drawing from the crate. Fflam realized that the Voyager team had located a piece of the map.
They continued to observe as the Map Finder concluded negotiations for several of the artifacts on the vendor's tray. He was about to ask about the crate of parts when the last of the Voyager aliens appeared, carrying a bulging equipment pack, one large sack of produce over his shoulder, and lugging two slightly smaller sacks along with him. The alliance team stayed and watched until negotiations for the crate were being concluded. Dinsar then contacted the shuttle for a return transport for their entire group. After a few moments, the alliance team dematerialized.
Tuvok's eyebrow rose in surprise at Neelix's timely appearance.
"Oh don't be so shocked, Mr. Vulcan," said Neelix. "The Commander here can tell you I'm an excellent tracker. Besides, I finished up my business and followed my Talaxian instincts. They told me I'd find all three of you right here."
"Good timing, Neelix," said Chakotay. "We're almost ready to start back." Neelix was about to respond when the "drawing" caught his eye.
"What have we here? Anything interesting?" asked Neelix, as he began to dig through the crate of parts. He found a squat cylindrical object, and turned to Chakotay to say, "This looks like a heating coil. You know, the one we have now isn't going to last much longer."
Tom groaned inwardly when it appeared that Neelix was determined to get involved in negotiations for the crate, despite the Captain's orders. He was about to say something, when Tuvok beat him to it. "Mr. Neelix," the Vulcan began, but a quick gesture from Chakotay silenced him.
Chakotay had realized that the only way Neelix could have timed his appearance so precisely was that he had sensed what was happening through the tasnixia bond he shared with the Commander, and had used that link to track them to their location. Chakotay grudgingly admitted to himself what an obvious advantage that connection was on a mission like this one. It concerned him that Neelix appeared to be trying to ease his way into the negotiations somehow, but he decided to allow him some slack. Chakotay intended to convey his displeasure through the Tasnixia bond if Neelix overstepped the boundaries the Captain had laid down. He waited to see what the Talaxian would do.
Neelix continued to rummage through the crate, and said, "It looks like there's something here for everyone." He pulled out a few odd parts and said, "Tom, this looks like something you could use." Tom nodded.
"I'm selling the entire contents of the crate as one lot," said Marzan.
"A bargain, I'm sure," said Neelix. He turned to the Commander and said, "Mr. Chakotay? There's schematics for everything, and even a few drawings for Naomi's souvenir collection." Chakotay was about say something when Neelix turned to Marzan and said, "Naomi is my goddaughter. She wants to be an explorer like me when she grows up, so I bring her something from every place we stop. Naomi always wants to know the stories behind whatever I come back with."
"I hope your goddaughter isn't frightened by stories of ogres, Mr..."
"Neelix," said the Talaxian.
"Marzan," said the Nardonian.
"No, Marzan, she's not. She's old enough to know they're just stories, but she likes them anyway -- the scarier the better," said Neelix.
"My daughter Kasta is the same way," said Marzan. "The drawings are of Nardonian fairy tales and legends. If your Naomi likes scary stories, she might enjoy this drawing in particular," he said, pulling out the quadlet, and wiping off the dirt. "It's for a cautionary tale called "The Legend of the Deadly Welcome."
"Sounds pretty scary to me," said Neelix. "What's the 'deadly welcome'?"
"The tale warns of a seemingly friendly creature that invites unwary travelers seeking refuge from a sudden storm into its den. It seems like the perfect solution to their immediate dilemma, but once the travelers become comfortable enough to let down their guard, the creature traps them and devours them. We use it to teach our young to be wary of things that appear to be too good to be true. Nardonians are a friendly people, Neelix, but our marketplace draws many strangers into this system. There are some who would not hesitate to exploit a child for their own purposes."
"A wise precaution, Marzan," said Neelix. "Did Kasta make these drawings?"
"Yes," said Marzan. "She wants a tirka bird as a pet, but you know how children are. They need to learn responsibility as well as caution. I told her she could have her bird if she was able to earn its cost and then promise me she would take care of it. Kasta brought me some of her drawings and asked me to sell them for her, and here we are."
Neelix smiled broadly at Marzan's explanation, and turned to the first officer. He said, "How about it, Mr. Chakotay? There's a tirka bird looking for a home, and we certainly wouldn't want to disappoint a little girl with a home to offer."
Paris took this moment to speak up and say, "Yeah, c'mon, Chakotay. You don't want to let Kasta down, do you?"
Chakotay laughed and said, "All right, you two. Marzan, it looks like we have some more business to discuss."He and the Nardonian began to work out a price for the crate. Rather than involving himself in the negotiations, Neelix made a deliberate show of poking around in the crate Paris was still holding, asking questions about some of the parts that looked unfamiliar. The tray of artifacts caught Tuvok's eye, and he examined them more closely while he waited for Chakotay to conclude negotiations for Marzan's crate.
"Fair enough," Chakotay finally said.
While Chakotay was busy counting out currency for the Nardonian, Marzan took a business card out of his pocket. He made eye contact with Tuvok and handed the card directly to him instead of Chakotay, saying, "You may want to come back at another time to my regular shop in town."
The business card was printed on the same kind of translucent plastic material as the quadlet. The moment Tuvok's thumb and index finger made contact with it, he had another brief telepathic flash of Horus' hut and the skywall. He slipped the card into a vest pocket without examining it further. Tuvok caught Chakotay's eye briefly and then turned to Marzan and said, "Perhaps we will."
"You'll find much more there to interest you. It's where I keep my most valuable inventory, as well the most unusual items," said Marzan. "Perhaps there are others on your ship who might like a curio or two for their loved ones at home."
"I'll discuss it with the rest of my crew," said Chakotay. "We're eager to get underway as soon as possible, but our repairs could take us another day or two. You may see us again."
"I look forward to it," said Marzan.
With that, Chakotay and the rest of his team bid the friendly Nardonian dealer farewell and started the long walk back to the landing site and Baxial.
Meanwhile, back on the Tarkada shuttle, Fflam was berating Imot and threatening him with Gunlag's punishment device. When the alliance team rematerialized aboard the shuttle, Fflam had immediately noticed that Jerat was nowhere to be seen. When Imot told the Essential that he had transported Jerat off the shuttle, Fflam had ordered the hapless Expendable into the separate cargo area in the rear of the shuttle to interrogate him.
"And who is going to operate the controls of this vessel now that you've allowed our pilot to transport off on some ill-conceived mission?" asked Fflam.
"I am, of course," said Imot. "What better way to learn to fly it than to send the pilot on a surveillance mission, and have him teach me everything I need to know before he left? We took the ship up briefly, and he showed me how cloak it and get us off the planet and back to our observation post near Voyager."
Fflam grunted and then said, "You sent him on a mission without consulting me." He waved the punishment device close to Imot's face. The Expendable flinched.
"Just hear me out, Fflam -- you weren't here when I got the idea. We had no way of knowing when the Voyager aliens would be back, so the two of us needed to act quickly. Jerat and I were sitting here talking, and he was telling me about the surveillance missions he's been on using that personal cloak of his. Out of curiosity, we scanned the Map Finder's vessel and found that the interior is large enough for Jerat to move around in the open without detection. There are also places for him to easily conceal himself if he needs to. He'll be able to observe them and discover what they plan to do next, and this will also get him onboard Voyager. Since I was under orders to stay aboard the shuttle, I transported Jerat onto the alien ship instead of using a cloak to gather the information myself."
"Only the fact that you had the sense to stay put keeps me from using a punishment protocol on you. That, and the fact it was a good idea," said Fflam.
"It made perfect sense once we saw the results of the scan," said Imot. He continued, saying, "I instructed Jerat to signal us when he is ready to transport himself off their ship. This race has truly made a high art of stealth technology. There is no way Janeway's people will ever detect Jerat or any communication he may have with us. He will be completely free to gather the information that will bring the map into Magol hands."
"Now I see why Gunlag keeps an insolent Expendable who doesn't know his proper place aboard the Herat. If it had been up to me, you would have been shoved out an airlock long ago. It seems you do have some small value to us after all," said Fflam.
Imot managed to conceal a wince at the backhanded compliment. Instead, he said, "I should return to the pilot's seat before our allies think we are conspiring back here."
"And to be certain that they are not conspiring against us," said Fflam.
The two Magol returned to the flight deck of the shuttle and settled in to wait for Voyager's away team to return.
The return trip to Baxial was uneventful but tiring, given the combined weight of the away team's crates of technology, their bulging equipment packs, and the three bags of produce Neelix had acquired. The temperature had increased considerably as midday approached, and the blast of heat that hit the away team after the breezy, shaded aisles of the market was draining.
Tuvok had hoisted the heaviest bag of produce onto the shoulder not weighed down by his equipment pack, leaving Neelix to manage the two lighter bags along with his pack loaded with produce, while Paris and Chakotay each carried a crate of parts plus their equipment packs stuffed to near bursting with additional components for Torres. The team had walked nearly all of the distance back when Neelix remembered something he had been told on his rounds as 'cultural documentarian.'
"It was the oddest thing, Tom," he said. "I was telling a merchant I'd just met that we were on a cultural survey mission. When I started asking about interesting places we might want to visit, a passerby who'd stopped to listen made a point of warning me about something called the "False Passage."
Paris thought for a moment "Could be a navigation warning," he said. "Okay, Neelix, I'll bite. What's the 'False Passage'?"
"From I was told, it sounded like some kind of anomalous wormhole," said Neelix, "but it doesn't appear that way when you enter it. Supposedly, it's the most obvious route out of all the regional turbulence in an unstable sector of space, but once ships are too far inside the 'False Passage' to turn back, something destroys them. The man had no specific coordinates to give me, so I figured he was just having some kind of twisted fun at the expense of someone he'd never see again. To tell you the truth, Tom, it sounded a little like the 'Deadly Welcome' story."
"It may be just another legend, Neelix," said Chakotay. "The idea of caution seems pretty deeply ingrained in Nardonian cultural mythology, if Marzan's tale is any indication. They get a lot of strangers passing though their system, so it's understandable."
"You could be right, Commander," said Neelix, "but that warning coming when it did felt like more than just friendly advice." He hesitated, and then said, "I'm probably reading too much into it."
"Speaking of odd, Neelix, what was that business about Naomi and a souvenir collection?" asked Paris. "That came out of nowhere."
"Not exactly, Tom," said Neelix. "Mr. Vulcan over there on the other side of you made sure we all knew that someone might be watching our every move. I decided to give Commander Chakotay a good reason to buy the 'drawings', in case he needed one."
"I would've come up with something on my own, Paris," said Chakotay, "but Neelix saved me the trouble. He followed the Captain's orders and stayed out of the negotiations. Why don't you ease up on him?"
"Whatever you say, Commander," said Paris, too exhausted from the heat to come up with a sarcastic reply.
The team walked along in silence for the remaining short distance until they reached the landing area and Baxial. Neelix opened the hatch and climbed in, directing the others to storage bins in which to secure the crates, their equipment packs, and the produce. Once the hatch was sealed, the onboard life support system adjusted the temperature and filtered out the lingering humidity that reentering the ship had allowed inside. The four took several minutes to rest and drink enough water to rehydrate themselves after the debilitating walk back in the sweltering heat.
While they were still regaining their strength, Tuvok removed the business card from his vest pocket to examine it further. As he held it between his thumb and index finger, he once again experienced a momentary flashback to the interior of Horus' hut and its skywall. Tuvok continued to study the card after the image in his mind faded, and saw the address printed on its face morph into a set of coordinates for another location still on Nardonia, but quite distant from either the market or Marzan's shop in the city.
"Commander," Tuvok said, "you may wish to take a look at this." Chakotay came over from where he had been quietly resting, and took the card from Tuvok. "Pay close attention to the address," said the Vulcan, as he grasped the corner of the card between his thumb and index fingers. Chakotay watched as the address once again reformatted itself into a set of coordinates.
"Marzan gave this directly to me as you were concluding your purchase, Commander," said Tuvok. "The telepathic verification from this card is identical to that from the quadlet itself. Along with the signal, I also received a strong sense that Marzan was quite well aware of who we were, and was directly responsible for seeing to it that the quadlet came into our hands. I would surmise that either he has some connection with a Mapkeeper, or perhaps Marzan himself is a Mapkeeper in Second Portal space."
Before Chakotay could respond, Neelix asked, "What do those coordinates mean, Mr. Chakotay?" Out of curiosity, both he and Paris had come over to see what was on the card.
"Offhand, I'd say that's where we'll find more of the map," said Chakotay.
"Are you certain that's what they're for?" asked Neelix, remembering Chakotay's abduction by the Magol from Eyfrod's shop on Abras. "Maybe they're meant to lure you into some kind of trap."
"I don't think so, Neelix," said Chakotay. "They're real -- I felt my beacon locator reactivate itself when Tuvok touched the card as I held it." He tapped his communicator and said, "Away team to Janeway."
"Janeway here."
"Captain, we've found one quadlet, and Tuvok was given a card that appears to have coordinates on Nardonia for more. I'm certain the information is genuine, but Sevenshould probably run it through the Astrometrics scanners to see if it's a viable location. Have B'Elanna start adapting tricorders to scan for the beacon frequency on the surface. Looks like we'll be in orbit here for a while longer."
"We can use the extra time to work out the systems modifications, Commander," said Janeway.. "Speaking of which, any luck finding technology for B'Elanna to adapt?"
"Tom here, Captain," said Paris. "I've got a crate full of usable phase tech, and Chakotay bought another one full of miscellaneous parts. We picked up a lot of stuff before we even got to where we found the piece of the map, so our packs are jammed with components, too. It might be a good idea to have an engineering team ready to help sort it out."
"Will do, Mr. Paris. Anything else, Commander?"
"Neelix is bringing back quite a bit of fresh produce. He might need some help getting it squared away, but other than that, anything else can wait until we're back," said Chakotay. "The mission was almost routine."
"All right, then. Good work, everybody. Janeway out."
After a few minutes, Baxial lifted off for the return trip to Voyager.
Imot waited on the surface of Nardonia until the alien ship was airborne and well away before cloaking the Abuskat shuttle and pursuing. Aboard Baxial, Jerat remained vigilant but out of the way, having observed and recorded everything. He patiently waited for the windfall opportunity that would be his once the alien ship was back aboard Voyager.
Shuttlebay
1430 hours
Lieutenant Carey and Ensign Vorik were waiting for the away team in the shuttlebay when Baxial set down. As soon as Neelix cut power to the propulsion system, Paris popped the hatch so the rest of the team could begin to offload the cargo.
Chakotay and Paris were first off the ship, each carrying a crate of components for Engineering, followed by Tuvok with the large bag of produce on his shoulder. Chakotay's face showed mild surprise at seeing Carey and Vorik.
"The Captain sent us to meet you, sir," said Carey. "She's waiting for both you and Mr. Tuvok in her ready room. Vorik and I were ordered to take everything to cargo bay 2 with Mr. Paris' and Neelix's help, and then begin going through it for Lieut. Torres."
"All right, Mr. Carey," said Chakotay, setting his crate down. "Neelix can show you where we stowed the rest." He turned to his left and said, "Tuvok?"
Tuvok set the produce on the floor, and plucked the quadlet out of the sheaf of schematics and drawings in the crate they had purchased from Marzan. "No doubt the Captain will wish to see this," he said.
"No doubt," said Chakotay. "Tom, once you've helped Carey and Vorik sort everything out, report to Engineering and see what you can do to help B'Elanna adapt the components you found on Nardonia."
"Me?" asked Tom.
"The retrofit was your idea, Paris," Chakotay said. "We're still in orbit, so I'm assigning you to B'Elanna as an extra pair of hands for now. I think Mr. Baytart can manage the helm for you while we're parked."
"Aye, sir," responded Paris, with a smirk at Chakotay's last comment.
Chakotay and Tuvok turned and left the shuttlebay and headed for Deck 1.
Jerat waited until Chakotay, Tuvok, and Paris had left Baxial to move near the open hatch. Neelix was still occupied in the front of the ship, so Jerat stood in the open hatchway for a few moments to make a quick visual survey of the shuttlebay. He finally disembarked as the Map Finder and his team joined the two crewmen waiting for them. He walked over to listen closely as the Map Finder assigned everyone his duties. Jerat decided that he would follow the four going to the cargo bay so he could begin to learn the layout of the ship and determine what kind of access he might be able to get to other areas. There would be ample time to discover any further plans regarding the map once the captain had decided her crew's next move.
Paris, Carey, and Vorik reentered Baxial to unload the rest of the cargo. They came upon Neelix struggling with two bags of produce plus his overstuffed equipment pack.
"Do you require assistance, Neelix?" asked Vorik.
"I will in a moment, Mr. Vorik," said Neelix, "but let's get everything off the ship first. We'll have to make two trips to the cargo bay."
The others grabbed the remaining equipment packs and deposited them next to the crates and large bag of produce already sitting on the shuttlebay floor. Carey and Paris each picked up a crate of components, while Vorik grabbed the large bag of produce. Neelix kept his pack and said to the group, "I'll just drop this by the mess hall for tonight's dinner. If one of you could bring the rest of the produce to the cargo bay for me on your next trip, I'll join you there and put it away." Vorik nodded an acknowledgment, and the group left the shuttlebay. Jerat quickly slipped through the doors behind them.
The cloaked Tarkadan entered the turbolift with Neelix, Paris, Carey, and Vorik. The fact that the car was crowded did not concern Jerat. Since he had calibrated his personal cloak to keep himself slightly out of phase with the space-time continuum of Second Portal space, Jerat would easily be able to pass though solid objects without detection if need be. He was careful, however, to avoid physically intersecting any of the technology that was either in the crates or on the person of Voyager's crew. This was a matter of standard procedure with him on all intelligence-gathering missions of this type. Jerat preferred to run thorough scans on any alien mechanical devices first to determine if his passing through them while phased would leave a residual trace of his presence.
The turbolift reached Deck 8, and Paris, Carey, and Vorik got off, closely followed by Jerat. As Jerat entered cargo bay 2 behind Voyager's crew, his eye was immediately drawn to the control room and its master situation monitor on the upper level of the bay. He moved left toward the ladder leading to the upper level, and waited for Voyager's crew to deposit their cargo and leave to retrieve the rest from the shuttlebay.
Once the cargo bay door had hissed shut behind the departing crew, Jerat rapidly climbed the ladder to the control room. He scanned the touch panel on the console in front of him and removed a device from a pocket of his uniform. Jerat activated it and tapped several commands on its keypad before laying it down directly on the surface of the panel. The device easily bypassed Voyager's security lockouts without triggering any alarms and began to download the ship's tactical database.
The download had just finished when Jerat heard the cargo bay doors beginning to open. He quickly terminated the link and pocketed the device as the doors opened wide enough to admit the crew returning with the rest of their cargo. Jerat went to the ladder and quietly made his way down to the floor. He positioned himself close enough to monitor the group's conversation and progress, and to be able to easily leave with them once their work was completed. He watched as the spotted alien returned to sort out his vegetables. The men were joined a few minutes later by another crewmember with what appeared to be metallic implants on her face. She spoke to them briefly, took several components for her own use, and then left the cargo bay.
Finally, the sorting process was completed, and two of the men began to repack the crates and equipment packs. Jerat watched as the third picked up a squat cylindrical object and walked over to the man dividing up produce into cargo containers.
"Neelix, your heating coil," said Paris.
"Thanks, Tom," said Neelix. "This was certainly a lucky find. I can't wait to see how much it will improve cooking time."
"Just be sure to run it past B'Elanna before you go integrating it into the ship's systems, and if I were you, Neelix, I'd hold off for a little while. She's got her hands full right now with the systems modifications."
"Sure, Tom. Not a problem."
"Thanks." He tapped his communicator. "Paris to Janeway."
"Janeway here."
"Captain, we're finished in here," said Paris. "I'll be in engineering if you need me."
"Very well, Mr. Paris. Have B'Elanna keep me advised of her progress. Janeway out."
Paris returned to where Carey and Vorik were waiting with the repacked crates. He slung an equipment pack over each shoulder and picked up the third one to carry in his arms. "Ready?" he asked. The other two men nodded, and all three left cargo bay 2, trailed by Jerat.
Engineering, 15:57 hours:
"Where do you want all this, Lieutenant?" asked Carey as he walked into engineering with Vorik and Paris.
"Over there," Torres said, indicating the alcove to the left of her engineering station.She set down the tricorder she had been working on and walked over to inspect the technology the away team had acquired on Nardonia.She pulled out several components from one of the equipment bags and handed them to Vorik, saying, "Ensign, see if your team can integrate these into the warp core project. They look fairly easy to modify, but call me if you need any help." The Vulcan nodded and walked across Engineering to rejoin his team.
"B'Elanna, this crate has enough phase tech in it for Joe and I to get started on the expanded subspace forcefield project," said Paris.
"Fine," said Torres. She tapped a few commands into one of the consoles and used her clearance to pull up the specifications for the type of phase technology routinely used in Galaxy-class starship systems. "That's what's in the Engineering database for the retrofit you had in mind. Janeway has me recalibrating tricorders for your next away mission, so I need get back to that."
"Have fun," said Paris.
"Using Harren's calculations? Not likely," said Torres.
Paris smiled, but decided not to rub it in any further. At least his part of the retrofit project didn't involve more than minimal contact with Harren or his calculations. A grease monkey... that's what I am, he thought, a 24th century grease monkey, and glad of it.
Jerat, meanwhile, had noticed the two-tiered layout of engineering once he was inside the department, and made his way over to the ladder that led to the upper workstations. Running a quick scan, he determined that there was no one currently working on that level. He quickly scaled the ladder so he could study the upper engineering stations in relative privacy. When he was finished, Jerat leaned out over the railing surrounding the edge of the upper platform, and began to scan the warp core.
Jerat was dissatisfied with his readings, and decided he would need to get as close to the core as possible. He anchored himself firmly so he wouldn't lose his balance, and then leaned out as far as he could over the railing. He extended the arm holding the scanner until it was a mere 20 cm away from the core. Jerat froze when he felt a momentary disruption in his cloak's interphase stability. He quickly stepped back from the railing and backed up against the wall to check the settings of the device he wore on his forearm to generate the cloak. He doubted the momentary fluctuation was enough to render him visible, but he realized that the slight electromagnetic field surrounding the active warp core would make it difficult for him to get more detailed readings without risking detection.
Vorik looked up from the console at which he was working and said, "Lieutenant Torres."
"What is it, Vorik?"
"I'm detecting an anomalous reading near the warp core. It appears to be localized on the upper level."
"Who's up there?"
"No one at present, Lieutenant. My console indicated spatial fluctuations with a modulating phase variance. The reading was there momentarily, and then vanished."
Torres came over to check Vorik's console and then said, "You're right. There's some kind of residual trace." She tapped her combadge and said, "Torres to the bridge."
"Janeway here."
"Captain, Vorik detected a very strange reading near the core. We may have an intruder aboard."
Janeway turned to the Ops station and said, "Harry?"
Kim ran a full scan of engineering from his station and then spoke into the open channel. "B'Elanna, I'm not reading anything unusual up here. It's probably just Second Portal space affecting your instruments. Once Tom's subspace forcefield around Voyager is online, there shouldn't be any more sensor ghosts. Kim out."
Torres turned to Vorik and said, "Harry thinks it's a sensor ghost, but keep an eye open anyway, and let me know if you see it again."
"Acknowledged," said Vorik, as they both returned to their respective projects.
Day 9
On Voyager, in astrometrics, 0703 hours:
Seven of Nine looked up briefly from her console as Janeway, Chakotay and Tuvok entered astrometrics. She had been busy for several hours, analyzing the hidden coordinates on the business card, attempting to pinpoint an exact location for the beacon that held out the promise of more quadlets. Since the subspace forcefield surrounding Voyager had not yet been brought online, the external sensor readings continued to be unreliable. Seven was unable to get more than an approximate fix on the subspace beacon from orbit. She worked in silence for a few moments more, making final adjustments to the schematic already up on the dome, and then looked up again and spoke.
"I have isolated a search grid for the specified coordinates," said Seven. She tapped the console, and a section of the schematic zoomed up and magnified. It showed a highlighted area that overlapped the edge of one of the smaller continental masses. "The away team will be required to transport down and search an area which covers approximately 47.3 square kilometers. The beacon is located within this grid, but sensors cannot determine a more exact location at this distance. I regret that I cannot be more precise, Captain."
"B'Elanna is reconfiguring tricorders for the mission, Seven," said Janeway. "That should give the away team more accurate readings once they're on the surface."
"Why do we need to transport down? A shuttle would allow us to search an area that large much more easily," said Chakotay.
"The limited information I have been able to obtain regarding surface conditions in the target area suggests that it is almost entirely composed of wetlands," said Seven. "That topography would not support the weight of a shuttlecraft without some degree of sinking, Commander. The portion of the continent within the grid appears to be too densely wooded for a landing, and the forest stretches back from the continental boundary for a considerable distance beyond the parameters of the search grid. Furthermore, although there are several large hummocks elevated above the surface water level within the grid, they too are heavily overgrown, with insufficient open space to accommodate a vessel. Transport would be the most efficient means of reaching the search grid, given the time it would require to adjust a shuttle's navigation systems for this spatial reality."
Torres entered astrometrics in enough time to hear Chakotay's question and Seven's explanation. Jerat was close behind her.
"Seven's right," said Torres. "I'm pretty familiar with Harren's calculations by now, and can tell you that applying them to the targeting scanners and recalibrating the transporter system for Second Portal space makes a lot more sense than a retrofit on a ship you might not be able to land."
Janeway turned to Chakotay and Tuvok and said, "Looks like you'll be hiking in, gentlemen." She turned to Torres and asked, "B'Elanna, how are the modifications to the tricorders coming along?"
"All four should be ready within the hour, Captain," said Torres. "Between Harren's calculations, the data in the encrypted file, and some of the components Tom found in the market, I've found a way to adjust them to recognize the beacon frequency." Torres opened the tricorder she had brought to show the captain. Everyone crowded around her to watch as she explained her modifications. Jerat found a way to push in and maneuver himself into a position where he could make a full audiovisual recording of the demonstration with his scanner.
Torres continued, saying, "This will give you a directional reading of the signal from a further distance than Chakotay's locator device is capable of. Once the team has established a direction, the locator will narrow the focus of the search as it comes into range of a quadlet. You'll need to make a few minor calibrations once you're on the surface, but after that, it's a fairly simple matter," Torres said, showing them a few simple commands.
"This key is programmed with the beacon signal frequency," she said as held down a key. Everyone watched as the readout on the display screen of the tricorder showed a schematic rendering of the beacon frequency. "You'll need to hold it down while you press here to activate the gross scan for the signal," she said, pressing another key. "That should give you your general direction, and once you're in range of the map, Chakotay's locator can take it from there."
"Good work, B'Elanna," said Janeway. "I need you to get started on reconfiguring transporter room 2's systems for the beamdown."
Torres nodded and said, "I'll get right on it, Captain," as she left astrometrics. Jerat remained where he was to learn further details of the mission.
"Seven, I want you to join the away team in Neelix's place. Your familiarity with Harren's work will be an asset in taking and interpreting clear tricorder readings. Check with B'Elanna once she's finished with the transporter to see if there's anything in particular you need to be aware of."
"Understood, Captain. Request permission to continue refining sensor resolution until it is time to speak to Lieutenant Torres and join the mission. I may be able to derive more precise readings for the search area."
"Permission granted. I'll send Harren up to assist you. Keep Tuvok updated with any new information he might need for fine-tuning the equipment the away team will need," said Janeway. "Chakotay, let Tom know that he'll be joining you on this mission. You're all to reconvene in transporter room 2 at 0900 hours," said Janeway. "Dismissed."
Janeway, Chakotay, and Tuvok left astrometrics, followed by Jerat. On his several trips through the corridors of Voyager, the Tarkadan had noticed the regularly spaced alcoves that contained access hatches for the Jeffries tubes. He spotted one as the captain and her officers walked toward the turbolift, and he quickly fell back from the group to step into it.
Jerat scanned the corridor until he was certain it was empty. There was virtually no chance that his technology would be detected, but he wanted to work without distraction. He set his scanner to emit a repeating pulse designed to systematically probe Voyager's still compromised shields for a weak vector through which to broadcast a signal. After successfully sending his message into space, Jerat received a corresponding response signal, which told him that Imot had returned to the observation post near Janeway's ship, and was within transport range. Jerat entered a few more commands into his scanner and then dematerialized. It was as though he had never been there.