The light was the first thing that woke her, coupled by the stiffness in her neck and a sharp cramp in her foot. Janeway quickly rolled up into a sitting position and looked around, rubbing a hand against her rigid neck in the process. She had to blink a few times to ensure that her eyes were not deceiving her, squinting at each of the walls to make sure that they the same ones she had last seen.
She was still in her cell.
Or rather, she'd been put back after they'd performed whatever madness for which they originally brought her here. She quickly checked her hands for marks before running a daring finger along her collar and up against her hairline. Nothing. A brief glance at her uniform told her that that had also been untouched. She sighed, her exhale alerting her to the coiled tension in her shoulders. She rolled them a few times to try and work out the muscles, but it made little difference.
Kashyk had been returned as well, though he was sound asleep on his bunk and snoring lightly. Oddly, he looked like he'd undergone a change of clothing during his absence, as his originally black shirt appeared to be a moderate shade of blue now. It was also in better condition than his previous attire.
Janeway felt sick. Perhaps food wasn't the only thing they were feeding her cellmate.
Janeway leaned forward, hoping not to raise her voice. "Kashyk."
He stirred. "Hmmph?" He rolled over onto his side and blinked wearily, though his eyes widened considerably when he noticed Janeway. He sat up rapidly, shoulders scrunched against his chin.
"Who are you?"
She held up a hand to try and calm him. "My name's Kathryn, remember?" She figured that they must have drugged him, or done something to affect his memory.
His shoulders relaxed slightly, but his face remained a jigsaw puzzle of confusion. "No. I've never seen you before in my life."
She held her gaze with Kashyk, hoping that she might stir an inkling of familiarity, but there were none. His expression never wavered from the placid fog of confusion that had held him since he'd awoken.
There was a loud, thunderous pounding outside the cell which crescendoed into half a dozen guards appearing at their doorstep. Her heart raced, pounding against her ribs. There was nothing about the situation that portended a good outcome. Her muscles clamped tightly beneath her skin and her teeth clenched as she watched them. Why were they back so soon?
One stepped through the door after the field had been deactivated and motioned for her, though this time they did not blind her. When she didn't move two guards took one of her arms each, holding them tight against her body so she could not escape while the other four surrounded them. She looked at each of them, their faces cloaked. Not one gave her a second glance. They began a steady strut down the corridor and made a turn into a wider corridor. In the center of the corridor was another passageway, outlined in dark metal. Janeway glanced down the passage as they passed by, where a single man stood only feet from the opening. Janeway recognized him.
…Kashyk?
Before she could confirm the sight, they turned another corner, where a large, steely door faced them. One guard opened it and let the rest of them pass.
Inside the room were blank walls in some shade of taupe, with a single chair in the center of the room. The chair was heavily padded, restraints found at the wrists and feet. To one side of the chair stood a small table tray that held an array of tools. Janeway gulped. While most of them looked benign, she knew not to take ease in their deceptive simplicity; a few of the instruments had subtly sharp edges that could easily morph into malignancy at the slightest touch. The guards were hardly gentle with their touch, shoving her onto the chair and restraining her while nearly feeding her from the barrel of their weapons. When she looked up the guard closest to her had let their cloak come loose, revealing their face.
It was Kashyk.
How?
Several explanations charged at her at once, and trying to quiet them was useless. Logic had abandoned her to blindfolds and incarceration, where madness found easy purchase. Janeway sat stunned as they fastened the last of the restraints and Kashyk replaced his cloak.
Sweat beaded on her brow. What happened now?
The door, which Janeway had her back to, moaned a deep, creaking, yawn and opened. The half-dozen guards attending her all looked up, almost paralyzed by whoever had just entered the room.
"You may leave us," said Malock.
The guards dispersed like flies in a harsh fall wind, swept out of the room and quickly forgotten.
Malock's pale skin had an ominous gleam in the lighting of the room, her triad of amber eyes darkened by something more than just flesh and blood. Her lips were a flat line, the corners taut like a bowstring.
"Welcome to Extraction, Captain."
The way Malock's expression curled into a pleased smile when she said that made Janeway's stomach turn. Dread burrowed its way into her body. Her nails dug into the fabric of the chair as she tried to inhale. Whatever Extraction was, it could not bode well for her fate in this accursed facility.
"Welcome to what?" she snapped angrily. Her voice was breaking.
Malock sneered, circling Janeway. "This is where the true purpose of our enterprise takes place. You are about to become a part of a sacred practice that we call Kamuter. It is the life and breath of our society, and for the past twenty cycles I have been the Overseer of its operation. I ensure that the heart of Kamuter remains healthy, that its arteries and veins remain open for the passage of new products."
Janeway recoiled in shock. "Products?"
"The clones. You saw them, just before you came in here. And earlier, in your cell. Kashyk is one of our newest products. Quite charming, I must say." Malock paused, hovering near the table of instruments to Janeway's left. "We ensure that there are always replacements for our products, Kathryn. They are prepared and trained just as any of the others, taught about the lives they will lead once they are given their mission."
Janeway shook her head. "What mission?"
Malock folded her hands in front of her, her lilac brow creasing. "To be sent back where they came from. Their ship, their homeworld; it doesn't matter. They go there as part of the Kamuter, and they are replaced if trouble arises. When the mission is completed, we follow."
It dawned on Janeway like a supernova. This wasn't just some incarceration facility. It was an invasion base.
The Dolmans were using the clones to take over other worlds. And now they had her, and possibly others.
Janeway swallowed, her muscles taut with anger and fear. "Why tell me all of this if you plan to use me the same way? Won't I spoil your Kamuter?"
Malock let out something that Janeway could only place as a deluded chuckle. "You forget that it will not be you that returns to your ship, Kathryn, but a product. Your shuttle released a distress beacon just before destruction. Addressed to a U.S.S. Voyager, it would seem."
Janeway felt the hairs on her neck stand up. Her heart pounded in her chest. "And what if my ship isn't what you're looking for? Why waste the resources?"
Malock's expression hardened. "For your sake, I hope it's not. We don't like to waste time."
"Overseer Malock," chimed a voice, from everywhere and nowhere.
"What is it?"
"There is a shuttle approaching on low power. It has the same configuration as the one we attacked five days ago."
Five days? Janeway remarked wearily. Has it really only been five days?
There was a brief glimmer of surprise that washed over Malock's face, but a moment later it was replaced with vehement frustration.
"They aren't supposed to be here, yet!" she hissed before heading for the door. As it opened, the shuffle of footsteps greeted the creak of the hinges, and Malock ushered the guards back in. "Begin the Extraction."
A flurry of white flooded the room. Medical personnel, Janeway assumed. Everything felt too close, the climax of the previous events collapsing into a singularity that threatened to swallow her entire life. She had to escape; there had to be a way. They moved quickly, two on her left and one monitoring her from the foot of the chair. Janeway felt a drop of sweat curl over her brow. Her collar felt tight around her throat, the material starting to bind to her skin. Her heart raced like a drum at presto with no sign of stopping.
One of the doctors leaned in close to her. "Don't worry," he said calmly with a slight lilt in his voice. "Everything will be fine."
Janeway spat in his face only moments before the Phaser fire began in the corridor. Shouts rang out, echoing off the walls and into the chamber. The doctor who stood at her side one moment was gone in the next, swallowed by the madness that had erupted beyond. She pushed against the restraints, but they didn't give. She released a huff of frustration. If whoever was out there wasn't friendly she was about to have another set of problems on her hands.
"Captain," a voice interjected.
Janeway turned her head in time to see Tuvok enter the room with a phase-compression rifle in hand. Relief washed over her like energy from a newborn star. Her eyes watered and she quickly blinked to stifle the oncoming tears.
"Tuvok!"
He quickly went to work on her restraints, undoing them in moments. "Are you alright?"
She nodded quickly. "Yes. How did you escape the Dolmans' facility?"
Puzzlement crossed Tuvok's face as he loosened one of the bindings. "I was never captured by the Dolmans, nor were any other members of the away mission save for yourself. Mister Paris and I led the away mission to find you and extract you from this facility."
A spark of relief ignited inside her. Tom, she thought briefly.
Once Tuvok had finished with the last of the restraints she stood from the medical chair and made for the door. "Let's not delay our departure. Where are the others?"
Tuvok met her at the door, glancing around the perimeter as stray Phaser shots whizzed past. One narrowly missed Tuvok's face. "Mister Paris should be with the remaining personnel. I informed him to meet us at the rendezvous point." He fired a few shots down the corridor, extinguishing the last of the enemy fire before motioning to Janeway's left. "Our path is that way, Captain. There is an exit approximately sixty meters from here."
She almost ran the distance. Her mind urged her onward, quickly seeking escape. Get out, get out, she thought as her feet pounded against the ground. What had surely only been a few minutes felt much longer, stretched on an elastic temporal band that was pulled to the maximum. Rooms flew by like stars at warp speed, momentarily noticed but quickly forgotten. She spotted one brightly lit in neon blue like an ocean that was filled with stars. She paused, only for a moment, to look in. In the center of the room were six circular floor panels that were lit from below. The rest of the room was speckled with dots arrayed in myriad patterns that reached into every nook and cranny.
She squinted at one that was just beyond her fingertips, and then she knew.
"They're constellations," she whispered.
Tuvok had also stopped, hearing her words before offering an urgent protest. "Captain, we do not have time to delay."
Behind them, Phaser shots echoed off the corridors. They were onto them.
She turned away from the Phaser fire and ran. Tuvok was only steps behind her. The end of the corridor was a T-junction. Tuvok directed her to the left, coming alongside her to check for any guards.
A volley of Phaser fire came in answer.
Tuvok and Janeway ducked behind the edge of the adjoining corridor as Phaser fire rang past them. Tuvok quickly handed her a Hand Phaser before firing off a few shots around the corner. Three times as many shots countered his.
When those shots ended Kathryn turned around the corner and aimed her Phaser, searching for a target. She saw darkness. A shot blazed past her right shoulder, burning into a nearby wall panel. She adjusted her aim and fired. Her shot ignited a blast of sparks from behind their opponents, but there was no sign that she'd hit her target.
She retreated behind the edge again as Tuvok prepared to take another shot. This time she heard two distinct grunts, likely guards being impacted by Tuvok's shots. Tuvok quickly darted back around the corner as more Phaser fire screamed past them.
"There appear to have been six guards obstructing our path."
"And now?"
Tuvok raised an eyebrow. "Four."
She let out a sigh. Four was better than six, but still an ugly number to deal with. She shoved some loose tangles of hair away from her face and moved to fire again, this time with Tuvok.
The guards were there waiting for them as they rounded the corner.
Janeway was startled, and the guards took advantage. One moved for her shoulders while another tried to tackle her legs. She lost sight of Tuvok in her own struggle as one of the guards secured his arms around her neck. In the tangle of limbs the other one managed to upturn her legs, sending her tumbling to the ground. She elbowed one of them somewhere. She heard a yelp of surprise just before the arm around her neck loosened. She pried it off her before moving to her legs, where the other guard was trying to pin her to the ground. She swiftly kicked her knee upwards, catching him in the gut, but it wasn't enough to knock him out. He climbed over her, hands wrangling at her throat. She pushed him away. He was stronger. His hands clasped at her neck, fingers pressing down. Her lungs wailed in protest. She scrabbled at his hands and punched his chest before she pushed back against him, flipping them both. Without pause, she took both hands, joined them, and landed a firm blow across his face. He didn't move.
She stood up and looked for Tuvok, who she found standing above the other two guards. Both were unconscious.
"We should continue, Captain," he said without wavering.
She nodded, and they kept moving. They proceeded quickly, her heart hammering in her ears at every turn. When they finally reached the exit it was almost imperceptible against the backdrop of greys and taupes. The door was a dark slate, pressed firmly into the wall. The edges of the frame were kissed with burns. Tuvok went to work on the control panel while Janeway held his Phaser rifle and watched the perimeter.
The crunch of stone vaulted her to attention, raising the rifle at the corner that they had passed only moments before. She quickly tucked the Hand Phaser into her belt and raised the rifle. Her muscles were taut beneath her skin, every inch of her body was coiled like a system of springs. Janeway checked her aim and prepared to fire.
Tom Paris came rushing down the corridor. Janeway lowered the weapon with a huff. "A little warning next time, Mister Paris."
He nodded with a smirk as the other security officers came up behind him. "Yes, ma'am. Nice to see you too."
Tom peeked over her shoulder at Tuvok, who was manipulating a series of wires from the underside of the panel. "How does it look, Tuvok?"
Tuvok didn't look up from his work. "It looks like a Lieutenant that should be keeping quiet so I can complete my work."
Tom's face squirmed at the comment, but he appeared to shrug it off before retrieving a Tricorder out of his belt. He held up to Janeway and spoke more softly. "Just before we left their medical ward I downloaded a chunk of their database. Might help the Doc to make sense of whatever they were doing here."
"I can probably do that just as well," she whispered, trying not to picture the Extraction room.
A brief look of puzzlement passed over Tom's face before concern wrangled it away and made from for horror. She dared to place a gentle hand on his shoulder and shook her head, mouthing 'no' to try and ease his worry. She knew that he would immediately dash to the darker side of possibility, but she would stop him before he plunged too far into that line of thinking.
A brief chirp sounded from the panel, and Tuvok stood just as the door opened. The world outside was a wasteland of burgundy sand pocketed with obsidian rocks and rippled by the wind. Though there wasn't any particularly harsh wind at the moment, she suspected that could change very rapidly.
She took a step out the door before the Phaser fire began.
She quickly passed her weapon back to Tuvok as Tom urged her onward, covering her from incoming shots. Janeway stumbled out onto the sand with a female security officer on her heels. She helped Janeway up and got her moving out into the desert. The sand swallowed Janeway's feet with every step, which made walking difficult and running nearly impossible. Tom leaped out of the building with another security officer, a tall male, while Tuvok and the last two team members sealed the hatch. They rushed toward her and the officer, sand gobbling up their footsteps as they went. Janeway hoped that the door would hold.
"Now what?"
The security officer that had helped her up looked over, the dark sunlight catching in her red hair. "Lieutenant Tuvok will have a plan, Captain."
Janeway nodded, watching the rest of the away team approach. "He always seems to, Ensign…"
"Ensign Tighe, Captain," she replied.
A slight shudder ran through Janeway, but she shook it off as Tom and Tuvok reached them. "Tuvok, I think it would be best if we didn't remain here much longer!"
Tuvok shouldered his weapon and nodded, taking out his Tricorder. "I concur, Captain."
Before Tuvok could enter the commands into his tricorder, the hatch broke. Dozens of Dolman guards poured from it onto the red wasteland.
Then the Phaser fire began.
Janeway rolled over the top of the dune they were perched on, Tom on her heels.
Ensign Tighe raised her weapon to fire. She was met by a direct blast to her chest.
She fell to the sand and rolled down the dune, past her and Tom. Kathryn knew she was dead before her body reached the bottom.
"Tuvok!" Tom yelled. "We need to get out of here!"
Tuvok and the other two security guards ambled over the top of the dune, but one of them took a hit to the head and never made it to the bottom. Their smouldering body emitted a small trail of smoke.
Kathryn swallowed to try and keep what little was in her stomach in check.
Tuvok reached them both and entered the keys on his Tricorder and the desert vanished in a stream of transporter energy, rendering them again on board a shuttlecraft. Tom and Tuvok immediately took the helm while Janeway moved behind them.
An impact rocked the shuttle before she could settle herself and sent them all flying, turning the interior of the shuttle into a spinning mess that was broken by the flashing lights of the Red Alert signs. Janeway reached for a console, chair, something to help her regain her bearings, but she found none. After a moment the shuttle righted itself and the lights came back on, and Janeway looked up to see Tom madly inputting commands into the helm while Tuvok took over the tactical. She clambered up behind Tuvok's chair as Tom opened a hailing channel.
"Tom to Chakotay! NOW!"
From her vantage point she watched as Voyager jumped into the system, Phasers blazing through space like fiery ribbons. Voyager flew over the shuttle, allowing Tom to bring them around as the ship engaged the Dolmans. They may have been outnumbered three to one, but there was no doubt in Janeway's mind that the Dolmans were outmatched in terms of firepower. Voyager fired its Phasers again, igniting parts of the hull on one of the Dolmans' ships. Another lost half a flank in a bright inferno that tore the ship apart. As Tom guided the shuttle into the shuttle bay, Janeway watched the Dolmans' remaining ships fall into retreat.
It was over.