Title: Kiss of the Spider People
Series: Star Trek: Voyager
Author: Singing Violin
Rating: T
Summary: Janeway gets into some hot water with some hostile aliens. Set shortly after "Coda."
Disclaimer: They're not mine (except the aliens), so don't send me money for my story. This one might count as parody, though it's not funny.
Feedback: Yes please.
Archiving: Anywhere.
Author's note: This chapter is dedicated to my immune system, which has been fighting really hard for the last two weeks, and I think, has finally declared victory over the nasty virus (though it may be somewhat of a Bush victory, as Singing Violin won't be singing anytime soon). Now, to get back to that paper which is due tomorrow …
Chapter 9: Complications
When he entered her chamber and knelt before her, she knew: it was time for her to take command.
"What news?" she asked, feeling a mixture of ecstasy at the prospect of finally ascending to the role into which she was hatched, and dread at the revelation of the circumstances that brought forth her inauguration.
"The mother ship was destroyed," he answered solemnly. "From the last transmissions, we believe the cause was enemy fire."
So … her command would begin with a challenge.
"Indeed," she answered. "And is there reason to believe the enemy is still present, and still a threat?"
He appeared to tremble as his eyes remained cast upon the floor. "We do not know. However, your ship is waiting. Do you need anything before your departure?"
Her antennae twittered as she processed the news. "I believe I am equipped," she answered. "Take me to the ship."
It occurred to her as she followed him out, flanked by her usual guards along with an additional compliment, that she might need to reinforce the respect and love to which someone in her position was accustomed. She cast a fond glance at the nervous young servant and spoke reassuringly. "We will prevail," she told him confidently. "They have won a battle, but we will win the war."
At that, his mien appeared to ease slightly, and she allowed her antennae to gyrate with pleasure as the realization of the power she possessed filled her with unimaginable joy.
She would be loved. More than that, she intended to earn her adoration.
Tuvok's communicator beeped as he sat on the bridge, awaiting the commander's orders.
"This is the Doctor," he heard. "I've relieved Commander Chakotay of duty."
The news was not entirely surprising. He had observed the commander's worsening condition as he worried about the captain, and now that she was gone, he could imagine the grief would provide the proverbial straw to cause his imminent collapse.
However, he now had no orders to await, and would have to make the difficult decision himself: to escape the aliens' space as quickly as possible, and determine what to do with their guest, or to proceed through it, hoping that its prediction of victory in a possible battle was accurate, and allowing them to keep their promise to deliver it to its home world.
"Acknowledged," he answered, then meditated for a moment upon the problem.
He needed more information.
"Mister Ayala," he ordered. "You have the bridge. I shall return shortly."
With that, he made his way toward the brig. He could only hope that their guest would provide the necessary information truthfully. If it refused, or if he were unsure of its honesty, he had one other course of action – but of course, that too was fraught with danger. He recalled the captain's orders never to engage in that tactic again without consulting her first.
Of course, since she was no longer available to consult …
A cool breeze blew across their shoulders, barely disturbing the calm of the lake's surface, causing the subtle ripples to glint in the moonlight. Kathryn shivered slightly, and, noticing, Chakotay slipped an arm around her shoulder and drew her near.
"Wouldn't want to catch a chill," spoke a deep, authoritative voice.
"Father, what are you doing here?" Chakotay asked, glancing up to see his father sitting on the opposite side of the boat.
"Look, my son, at the insects upon the water," the older man instructed.
Obediently, Chakotay turned his eyes towards the water, just as he had so many years ago, and witnessed the dance that had been so awe-inspiring to his younger self.
"What magic keeps them afloat?" he found himself asking once again. "They are not putting any effort into swimming."
His father smiled. "Surface tension," he replied, not providing any further explanation, with the intention that the boy would continue to ask and learn. The mosquitos, however, had other intentions, and thwarted the father's efforts by biting the son.
Chakotay frowned. "I don't like them," he complained. "I wish they would sink and not bite me." At that, he began to scratch his arm, which had started to itch.
As he scratched, the percussive noises of the insects grew louder, competing with the soft sound of nails on skin.
It was then that he realized he'd completely forgotten his companion, and when he looked over to see where she was, he found her missing.
"Kathryn?" he called as he leaned over the side of the boat, looking for the source of the noises.
She was under the water, completely still ... hiding from the insects so that they could not bite her too?
But she wasn't breathing … she couldn't hold her breath forever …
"No!" he cried, poising to dive in after her.
"Be careful," his father spoke again. "They are formidable enemies."
He hesitated, looked up. "Who?"
His father looked knowingly at him. "They speak to you," he advised. "Listen."
Indeed, the chirps and clicks seemed to have a pattern to them.
"Ch-k-t. Ch-k-t."
It was almost as if they were trying to say his name …
And then they were climbing up, into the boat, and as he peered at them, he realized that they weren't mosquitos after all, but spiders. Feeling them begin to crawl over his skin, he desperately contemplated diving into the water, but as he looked over, he was sickened by the sight of Kathryn, still underwater, but covered with welts, her blood reddening the water …
The clicking noise grew louder. "Ch-k-t." He gagged …
Chakotay's eyes flew open, and he found himself in Sickbay. He closed his eyes again for a moment, attempting to slow his racing heart lest he throw up.
"Ch-k-t."
As the now-familiar sound reached his ears again, he wondered briefly whether he was still asleep. Opening his eyes again, he attempted to assess the situation, and realized the sound was emanating from the adjacent biobed.
Kathryn was not only alive, but awake, and she was calling his name as best she could ...
Instantly, he hopped down off the bed, briefly grabbing hold of the side to ward off a sudden bout of vertigo. Steadied slightly, he moved to her side, placing a hand upon her cheek.
"Don't speak," he told her. "I'll get you some water."
For a moment, he peered into her eyes and relished in the simple touch of his skin to hers, reveling once again in the realization that she was, in fact, alive. Reluctantly, he drew his hand away from her face and proceeded to the replicator to do as he'd promised.
He returned with the glass of water, and with one hand, reached underneath her and helped her to sit up slightly, while with the other, he carefully tipped the water into her mouth.
She sipped greedily, but soon began to cough and gag. He held the cup under her mouth as she spat back into it, her eyes watering with the effort of expelling the liquid she had just consumed.
Quickly, he placed the glass down beside her and gathered her into his arms. "That's all right," he cooed, rubbing her back as she gasped and continued to cough. "It's okay."
Suddenly, the Doctor appeared, looking irate.
"What are you doing to my patient?" he questioned accusingly.
Still holding her closely as she made no move to pull away – though whether it was because she didn't have the strength to do so, or whether she was actually drawing comfort from his embrace, he did not know – he looked up guiltily. "She woke up," he explained, "and she seemed parched. I was just trying to help her drink a little water."
The EMH sighed loudly. "I appreciate your trying to help, Commander, but as you may have noticed, drinking is a bit difficult for her right now. If you'd asked me first, I would have prescribed some ice chips."
"Sorry," Chakotay replied, not knowing what else to say.
Kathryn stirred in his arms, mumbling something into his shoulder. He held her away slightly so that he could hear her words.
"She's here," Kathryn whispered. "And wants … report," she managed to get out before coughing again.
Chakotay resisted the urge to laugh, but it brought up an interesting point. If they were both in Sickbay …
He looked over at the hologram. "Who's on the bridge?" he asked.
The Doctor shrugged. "Tuvok, I assume. I relieved you of duty when you fainted. I don't take passing out in my Sickbay lightly. He agreed it would be unwise to leave you in charge if you couldn't even stay upright. You really ought to learn to take better care of yourself."
As if he sensed Kathryn's amusement at witnessing Chakotay's chewing-out, he added, "That goes for both of you."
Chakotay sighed, still rubbing Kathryn's back gently as she struggled to breathe without coughing. After she was able to take a few deep breaths, he lowered her back onto the biobed, then tapped his communicator.
"Chakotay to Tuvok," he called.
There was no reply.
He frowned. "Computer," he ordered. "Location of Lieutenant Commander Tuvok?"
"Lieutenant Commander Tuvok is in the brig," replied the computer.
For a moment, Chakotay panicked, surmising that, in his absence, there had been some sort of mutiny, and somehow the Vulcan had been subdued and incarcerated. However, he quickly realized that the security chief must be there to talk to their prisoner.
Sighing in relief, he looked down at the captain. "I have to go," he explained. "I'll be back soon."
"Wait!" she croaked as he turned to leave. He turned back to her and placed a hand on her arm.
"What is it?" he asked.
"How … am I alive?" she asked. "And why is Tuvok in the brig?"
Impulsively, he bent down and kissed her forehead. "Don't worry about that," he instructed. "Just focus on getting better. I'll take care of everything."
"But …" she objected.
"Trust me," he implored. "The only thing you need to do right now is to get stronger."
Admittedly lacking the strength to fight him, she nodded reluctantly, and he smiled weakly. Again, he lingered for a moment at her side, squeezing her arm and silently thanking the gods that he still could as he looked into her uneasy eyes.
Then he turned and exited Sickbay.
Lieutenant Torres's patience was wearing thin. She hadn't had much to begin with, but now that she was alone on this project, she was finding it more and more frustrating.
In short, she had no idea why it wouldn't work. The small-scale version had been functional – at least, it had fooled Voyager's sensors, and, if she were to believe the alien, it had fooled its ship as well.
She just couldn't seem to figure out how to calibrate the device to Voyager's shield frequency. She could get the masking to work when the shields weren't up, but no Starfleet officer would take that risk. If, for some reason, any little glitch made the ship visible, it would be completely vulnerable to attack …
She slapped the console angrily. She needed advice. Much as she regretted to admit it, that creature was useful. And she wasn't at all sure that throwing it in the brig for saving their lives was the wisest of decisions … now it might not be willing to help anymore.
She sighed. If only the captain were here, she'd probably have something encouraging to say, and maybe – just maybe – she'd see something obvious that B'Elanna was missing. The captain was – had been – a brilliant engineer, as well as a brilliant leader. Honestly, B'Elanna was slightly jealous: if their roles were suddenly reversed, the lieutenant had no doubt Captain Janeway would exceed her, while she'd be hopeless as a captain. But once she'd learned to internalize her envy, she'd appreciated that the captain knew her job well enough to help her. She had to admit it was useful to have a captain capable of taking over various functions aboard the ship if need be.
But now the captain was gone, and she was truly on her own.
She didn't know whether she could do it.
Before she could control it, a tear trickled down the side of her face. Hastily, she wiped it away, and immediately made a decision.
She was going to go talk to that thing, and hope that, despite its harsh treatment, it would still be willing to deal.
As she made her way towards the brig, her thoughts strayed to the commander, who was obviously taking the captain's death pretty hard. She hadn't seen him since he'd ordered the alien thrown in the brig, and she found herself worrying about his fate. It then occurred to her that, if Chakotay had just taken the ship back out of these creatures' space, she wouldn't be fussing over the stupid cloaking device any longer, for there would be no need to hide.
Suddenly, she was angry. Who did he think he was to wallow in grief when the rest of them were hurting too? Didn't he have a duty to take care of everyone else now?
Maybe she could function in command after all … the first thing she'd do would be to forget the alien and run … especially since the reason for remaining in the aliens' space no longer existed. Who cared if the trip took another few months? At least they'd all be alive … well, all except the most important one of all …
All at once, her movement was impaired by a collision with another body, and she realized she had, in her distraction, walked directly into someone. Without looking up, she mumbled an apology and moved to walk around him, but he grabbed her shoulder, preventing her from escaping. The touch startled her, and she barely suppressed a yelp.
Finally looking up, she recognized the subject of her musings. "B'Elanna, where are you going?" he asked. "And why aren't you working on the device?"
She swallowed harshly. "I can't get it to work. There's an incompatibility with our shields. I was going to the brig to talk to our … guest …"
Chakotay frowned, still not letting go of her shoulder. "I told you not to do that," he warned. "You know we can't trust it."
She looked back up at him, fire in her eyes. "No, Chakotay, I don't know that! As far as I can tell, all it's done is save our lives. You, on the other hand, have been so preoccupied with trying to save the captain that you have lost sight of the rest of us. So get off your high-and-mighty horse already and accept the fact that you've failed, forget about whatever business you're trying to conduct with these … things … and try for once to care about someone on this ship other than her!"
Taken aback, Chakotay was silent for a moment. Quietly, he asked, "Are you done?"
Now slightly embarrassed at her outburst, but not regretting what she'd said, she nodded, again struggling with tears.
Carefully, Chakotay looked into her eyes. "Listen to me, B'Elanna," he nearly whispered. "The captain is going to be fine."
Stunned, she stared for a moment before she found her voice. "She's alive?" she asked incredulously.
Smiling slightly, Chakotay nodded. "And as for taking care of the rest of the ship, that is what I am attempting to do. I was heading towards the brig myself. Why don't you come with me?"
Mutely, she nodded, and when he lowered his hand from her shoulder and began to walk, she followed along beside him.
Chakotay nodded at the guard outside, and the doors parted. The guard inside looked uneasy, but was standing at attention. As they turned the corner, they saw, just on the other side of the force field, Tuvok unmoving beside the alien, his hands on the alien's head.
Alarmed, the commander looked over at the guard. "How long have they been like this?" he asked.
The guard shrugged. "A few hours, sir."
"Hours?!" Chakotay repeated. "Why didn't you inform anyone?"
"He said it would take a while, Sir. I didn't know how long was reasonable."
Chakotay frowned. "Hours is too long," he replied. "Well, I'm here now. Lower the force field and let us check it out."
"Aye, Sir," the obviously-frightened crewman replied, and did as he was bade. Chakotay took out his tricorder and began scanning even before he entered the cell. The readings were odd, to say the least, and he immediately realized he did not have the required expertise to deal with the situation.
He was about to call the Doctor when Tuvok's communicator chirped. "Bridge to Commander Tuvok," he heard. The Vulcan made no motion to answer it, so Chakotay grabbed it off his chest.
He tapped the badge. "Chakotay here," he answered. "What's the problem?"
"This is Ayala, Sir. I didn't realize you were back on duty. Tuvok left a while ago and …"
"Yes," Chakotay interrupted. "I'm back. Now what's going on up there?"
"Sir," he heard, "sensors have just detected another alien ship, and it's approaching quickly."