The dreams had started out intense. An unconscious reliving of the conflicts that had left a young lieutenant from tactical the only ranking officer with any kind of command experience on board a half destroyed, under attack, ship with only a quarter of it's original crew still alive. She and the remaining crew had managed to fend off the enemy, causing enough damage that the enemy was easily defeated when reinforcements arrived. The ship then crawled back to Deep Space Nine with nothing more then thrusters and life support. A field promotion to Commander and a reassignment as first officer to a ship with a familiar face in command had followed only a week of recuperation.
The dreams began to become slightly more pleasant as she relived meeting him on her new ship, but the conflict was still all around them and she seemed to thrash the bed harder as she saw bits and pieces of battles that had long since be buried in her mind. Only when she dreamt of him and how they had grown close, did she seem to ease enough in her sleep that her movements calmed, which in turn allowed her sweat drenched body to relax into the comforting Starfleet issued mattress.
After the conflicts had been won and the enemy defeated, her ship had returned to Earth. She was war worn and had been granted an extra long shore leave to recover. She had retreated, alone, to a cabin near a lake in the middle of waves of Earth grown, sun bright, stocks of gold. Her parents had worried about her. They had come to her at the cabin time and time again and each time the need to be alone and the need to be with them wrestled inside her.
Three months had gone by before she had been recalled to duty, but she was not returning the same woman, the same officer she had been. Many had been lost in the battles but many more had come home safely. The fleet had been thinned but the best of the best had remained. She was young, one of the youngest to be given the rank of Captain and her own command, since the end of the Dominion War. It was her job to look over the rebuilding of one of the fleet's strongest ships. An Intrepid class no less. When they were ready to launch, it had thrilled her to no end to see him standing on the bridge talking to her first officer as her security chief. They had grown even closer during their time together on her ship, and despite the many warnings she got about a captain's place among her officers and crossing certain lines, she let him get even closer.
Those memories of him made her relax. She no longer thrashed around on the bed, tearing at the sheets, and pounding her fists into the mattress. The moments alone in the mess hall, in her quarters, his bed, even the fights she'd had with her mother about a Captain's place among the crew had eased the fight in her. Then everything had changed. He was not who he had been before she'd went to the cabin. He'd become dark and hatful. Fighting the new ideas of peace, making him self heard over everyone at the councils that reviewed the conflicts.
Word came to her that someone was after the new technology being developed at the Cochran research colony, and that it was her job to find out who. It had taken six months and it had nearly killed her to find out that it had been him. He wanted the technology because he wanted to destroy the object that he blamed the conflicts for. He wanted to destroy Voyager.
Her dreams became dark again and everything she saw was shrouded in an eerie red light while the beat of an alert klaxon rang in her ears and through her bones. Llennodo sat straight up in bed and gasped for air. It took her a moment to realize she was awake since everything in her quarters appeared bathed in the darkness and flashing red of her dream. The red alert was real. She quickly reached over to the nightstand, her hand nearly coming down on the comm control so she could order a report from the bridge, but then she suddenly remembered she wasn't on her ship. She wasn't the captain here.
"Computer what's going on?" She called out.
The computer's voice never changed. It was still that very female, in some ways very sarcastic, clipped voice. It actually kind of reminded her of an ambassador she'd met once or twice. "The ship has been placed on red alert. All non essential personal are to stay in their quarters until the ship returns to green."
Llennodo sighed as she rubbed her face. Not being able to do anything was an awful feeling. She felt helpless and it was hard to fight the urge to get up, get dressed, and head for the bridge. The red alert lasted a good half hour but it took nearly two for Llennodo to relax. Something didn't seem right. There was a knot in her gut that was telling her that something big was going on, and that it had something to do with him. Bypassing breakfast, Llennodo headed right for the shuttle bay. She wanted to find out for herself what had happened that morning and knew no one would tell her so she had to find out for herself. "Computer, security confirmation."
The computer identified her quickly and Llennodo went right to work. She was able to access the ship's log though the link she'd created and went wide eyed at what she saw. There had been a breach in the dilithum containment field at the same time as a rupture in the bio gel packs surrounding the breached area. Someone had tried to blow up the ship and make it appear a freak mistake.
"He must be an engineer." She said aloud. Then tapped a few buttons. "Computer, access the communications relay in the conference room and play audio here."
Llennodo picked up a small ear piece that would allow her to over hear the morning meeting of Voyager's senior staff without worrying that anyone working out in the shuttle bay would over hear. She listened as B'Elanna explained that it appeared that both problems were simply caused from the extreme wear and tear the ship had been under lately, but there was something in her tone of voice that told Llennodo that she wasn't convinced of this. B'Elanna knew every square centimeter of this ship the way no one else ever could, and now she'd be on her toes.
The rest of the meeting was pretty much the same old thing with repairs taking priority. Once the meeting was over Llennodo shut down the comm. link and went right to accessing not only the ship's log, but crew logs as well. She needed to pin down a point in time in which Bruening would have had the opportunity to get on board. This morning's events clearly showed Llennodo that she had no time to waste. "Computer monitor all the ship's systems. I want to know the moment anything or anyone affects the way this ship runs. I don't just want you to flag it either I want to be notified."
"Open communication could risk detection." The computer warned her.
Llennodo signed. "Mask it someone how. Voyager's computer shouldn't be able to detect my comm. signal, it's a lot less sophisticated and nowhere near as advanced as you are."
The computer chirped as Llennodo opened a secure compartment and removed her comm. badge from her stashed uniform. She pinned it to the inside of her shirt and then resecured the compartment. Then she settled into a chair to start reviewing some of what the computer had gathered and while she did so she had the computer run a medical scan to make sure she didn't need to take another dose of the enzymes masking her bio-signature and other telling things.
"You don't think that the breaches this morning were merely an accident, do you?" Chakotay asked as he turned in his chair to face Janeway.
Captain Janeway's gaze was glued to the engineering report that B'Elanna had turned in. "Something just doesn't feel right." She finally said in response to her first officer's question.
Chakotay nodded. "B'Elanna feels the same way. I could see it in her eyes."
"She knows this ship better then anyone." Janeway offered. Then suddenly she stood up. "I'll be in Astrometrics. Perhaps there's something in the scans we're missing. You have the bridge, Commander."
Seven of Nine stood at her station looking over her recent scans. She had both internal scans and special scans displayed in front of her. B'Elanna had asked her to run her own ship scans, and she had her own work to complete. Seven started out looking for something that could explain the sudden malfunctions, but was diverted by readings of two strange spaceal anomalies. Small, unknown, two separate locations, and at two different times, but they appeared to leave behind identical readings. They would have been missed on normal scans and most likely would have been missed by anyone not looking for something odd.
"Seven, report." Janeway said as soon as she walked into the Astrometrics lab.
Seven didn't turn from her consoles as she looked up at the image she'd just placed on the screen. "I have found two anomalies that I have never seen before."
Janeway walked over and stood next to Seven as she looked up at the scans. "That first one was near the moon that B'Elanna and her team were on."
"Yes, and it appears to be older then the second. I am still analyzing the data." Seven said coolly.
The spark of intrigue in Seven's eyes made Janeway smile as she nodded. "Keep me informed."
There was a soft knock on the shuttle's hatch and Llennodo quickly stopped what she was doing and started acting as if she were pulling out burnt out warp coils. She reached up and released the hatch and then sat up slowly as she heard footsteps walking up the ramp.
"I didn't see you at breakfast this morning and I thought I'd bring you something." Neelix said as he walked over towards the young woman. He wasn't quiet sure what it was about her, but after their conversation over dinner the night before he had a strong sense of wanting to take care of her.
Llennodo smiled as she stood, wiping her hands on a rag she pulled from her pocket, but then she froze at the sight of the double stroller and the infants who were snuggled inside. If seeing Janeway in sickbay had felt unreal to her then she couldn't even explain how she felt now.
Neelix looked at Llennodo and then down at Gretchen and Miral. "Oh that's right you haven't meet yet. Llennodo may I introduce Gretchen Janeway and Miral Paris."
She tried hard to recover and to smile despite the headache she felt coming on. "They're beautiful."
The Talaxian beamed and then handed Llennodo a small basket of warm bread, cheese, and coffee. "There may not be anyone available to help you today, but I'm sure if you give me a list of things you need I can see to getting them."
Llennodo was quick to pull out the small thermos of coffee and tried not to look as if she were dying for a cup. Once she had a steaming cup full and had taken a long sip, she reached over and picked up a padd. "It's only a few things for now. I'm not sure how much damage there is yet."
She handed the padd to Neelix and then took another long sip. "I've also added a list of the things I have to offer in trade." She'd done just enough research before she left to know that everything on that list was something Voyager needed. "Pick what you'd like and I'll see to having it ready for you."
There was something vaguely familiar about the expression on the young woman's face as she drank her coffee. It was the kind of face the Captain made after a long night, the look she got with that very first sip of the day. Tom called the expression a coffeegasm. Neelix smirked at the thought and chalked it up to something coffee people did. "Burousin boiling beans?"
Llennodo smiled, put her cup down, and then went over to an overhead compartment. She reached inside and bit her lip until she found what she was looking for. She then handed the small tan bag to Neelix. "They make an unbelievable coffee that I think your Captain will enjoy immensely."
Neelix smiled as he accepted the bag. "I'll have to make some for dinner."
"I'll look forward to it." Llennodo replied.
Once Neelix had left Llennodo just stood near the hatch looking at the shuttle bay doors. 'Ok that little encounter had to do something not good to the time line.' She thought as she sighed. Shaking off her odd thoughts she went back to work. She needed to find Bruening before he attempted another take down. Going back to her workstation she tried to think of what he might be trying. She'd worked with him long enough to know how he operated, but that was before he went batshit crazy and totally off the rails. Finally she asked, "Computer, have any of these components been replicated or are there any on board?" The computer took in what she'd typed and ran a search. Voyager had two of the things she'd listed, everything else would have to be replicated but there was no sign of that happening. "Computer, if any of those components are replicated notice me ASAP." Llennodo pressed her thumb and forefinger of her left hand to the corners of her eyes as the right hand settled on her hip. "Please don't let him build a freaking bomb."