Ch. 23

"Looks like the ship runs on a skeleton crew. I'm only reading eighteen life signs," Harry reported as the small bridge crew of the Pendragon collectively looked at Milo's ship up close for the first time.

"Are any of those life signs human?" Chakotay asked.

"Two…I think," Harry hesitated, "I can't be sure. This scanner is picking up several different species. More species than life signs."

"Eighteen?" Chakotay looked over at B'Elanna seated at the engineering console. "We can handle eighteen. Have the teams meet me in the transporter room. Harry, you have the ship."

"Aye, Captain."

Chakotay, B'Elanna, Tuvok, and Tom all moved as one, making their way to the transporter room while Sam Wildman stayed on the bridge with Harry. Teams of five had already been decided, and the crew divided up. Most of the crew were former Voyagers, currently on leave, but Sveta had also joined them as well as a few other former Maquis members she had recruited. As they rounded the corner, Chakotay saw Ayala, Fitzpatrick, and a Maquis he didn't know already waiting for them. Within minutes the corridor was filled with everyone that was going over to the other ship, leaving a skeleton crew on the Pendragon.

Chakotay nodded. "We go over there and secure the ship. Stun anyone who resists and then restrain them. Our priority is to find Kathryn and Madelyn. If they're no longer on the ship, we need to find out where they were taken. Lethal measures are not authorized. Is everyone clear on that?" He received nods and grunts of acknowledgment. "We're also looking for Milo Cyronious. You find him, you page me and hold him until I get to your position. One last thing, this is not an officially sanctioned Starfleet mission. Any one of you can back out now, no questions asked."

No one moved. Sveta snorted. "Come on, Chakotay. Let's get this show on the road."

Chakotay, B'Elanna, and Tom materialized on the bridge of Milo's ship. The three crewmen manning it were surprised to see them. The automated warning Chakotay had decided to have broadcast to the ship about a problem in the surrounding space affecting warp drive had been enough to slow the ship down. Given Milo's contacts, the small crew had never expected the nearby Starfleet ship to initiate a guerilla type boarding, though. Milo's captain reached for a weapon, and Chakotay immediately stunned the man. Letting the crewmen pick up their stunned captain, Tom herded all four of them to a single corner of the bridge.

"B'Elanna?" Chakotay asked as his old friend slid in behind one of the many consoles, her fingers racing across the board.

"Accessing now…systems, logs, got it: manifests." She scrolled through data, shaking her head. "This lists eighteen people on the ship, Chakotay, but they're listed by position not name."

"Is Kathryn Janeway on this ship?" Tom asked the crewmen now huddled on the floor.

"Who?" one of them managed to ask.

"Kathryn. Janeway," Tom reiterated. "Human woman. Red hair. A glare that makes you wish you were dead. Had a child with her."

The captain shook his head slowly, the effects of the stun slowly wearing off. "We don't know any of the passengers. We just fly and maintain the ship."

"Yeah right, you're completely innocent," Tom quipped, looking back to B'Elanna. "Can you get a force field around these guys?"

"Done," she said as the shield of light shimmered into place around the four humanoids.

"Ayala to Chakotay." Tom and B'Elanna both looked to Chakotay as they all three heard weapons fire over the now open comm. line. "We've got resistance on the third deck, trying to pin them back towards the aft section."

"I'm on my way," Chakotay responded, turning for the small lift at the corner of the bridge. "Tom, stay with B'Elanna. Let me know when you find something."

Chakotay moved quickly down the corridor of the third deck. Only Ayala had called him, which meant the other teams weren't having any problems. He hoped. As he neared the middle of the ship, he could hear weapons fire being exchanged, and he began to move more cautiously. Peering around the corner, he could just make out McKenzie lying on the floor with a bleeding shoulder wound.

"Chakotay to Kim, lock onto McKenzie and beam him to sickbay."

After the man shimmered into blue light, Chakotay was able to move forward again finally reaching Ayala's side. "What've we got?"

Phaser fire sheared past their doorway, Mike fired back before answering. "One guy. Don't know what he is. I think there is a woman with him, too. She moved fast, couldn't tell much about her."

"Where's Fitzpatrick?" Chakotay asked, sneaking a quick look past Ayala.

"There were three to start with," Ayala explained, slightly out of breath, "We got the other one right off, but Fitzy got tagged, too. I had them both beamed back to our ship. I didn't want to lose track of these two."

Chakotay nodded. They had a small brig on the Pendragon, might as well make the best use of it. "I sent McKenzie back, too." Another blast hit the bulkhead next to them, showering them with sparks. "Let's do this. You go high; I'll go low. On three."

The two of them slipped out of their hiding spot in a maneuver they hadn't used in years. Weapon's fire seared past Chakotay's ear before he hit the deck. Ayala managed to hit their unknown assailant in the shoulder, staggering him backwards, giving Chakotay the space to fire his own blast, hitting the man in the chest. The large alien hit the bulkhead and slumped mercifully to the floor, his weapon slipping from his hand.

Ayala advanced slowly, keeping his weapon trained on the fallen man. Kicking the weapon away from the unconscious man, he remarked over his shoulder to Chakotay, "He looks like he could be part Klingon."

"Now we just need to find the woman," Chakotay said, reaching for his comm. badge. He needed to find out if anyone else was having this much trouble. A rush of movement caught his eye. "Mike, look-"

A fast moving whirl of blue moved in, striking Ayala in the chest, slamming him backwards into Chakotay. Falling against the wall, both men managed to catch themselves before falling all the way to the deck. Ayala immediately had his hands up, defending himself against the whirling dervish in front of him. Chakotay tried to put space between him and the combatants so he could stun who or whatever it was that was attacking them, but he felt a searing pain in his wrist and saw his phaser go flying down the hall. Another blow caught him in the ribs, and he was slammed against the opposite bulkhead. Staggering upwards, he watched Mike block another strike before being caught on the chin with what looked like a high kick. Ayala's head snapped back, and he slumped to the floor unconscious.

The attacker finally paused and turned towards Chakotay. He could see now that it was a woman. A very small woman with blue hair and skin that almost seemed to shimmer. She smiled a mouthful of teeth at him and advanced slowly towards him.

Chakotay backed up. "You must be Sheila."

Surprisingly, she stopped, and the smile disappeared. "How do you know my name?"

Her voice was raspy, and Chakotay straightened, preparing himself for her next assault. "Powell sends his regards."

A growl more menacing than he'd ever heard from B'Elanna issued from the woman's throat, and Chakotay hoped his ancestors would give him strength. She moved, and he braced himself for the inevitable. Then her growl turned into a mewl, and she slumped forwards to the floor. Chakotay stared, momentarily stunned.

"When are you going to learn, Chakotay?" Sveta asked, emerging from the opposite direction, a phaser in hand leveled at the collapsed woman. "Always carry more than one weapon."

Chakotay rubbed his sore wrist where he could now easily make out a distinct boot imprint forming. "Thanks Sveta." He stared down at the woman on the floor. She moaned, and he recoiled quickly as another phaser blast from Sveta hit her again.

"No point in taking chances." Sveta shrugged, her eyes dancing with mischief.

Reminded strongly of why Sveta had led her own cell, Chakotay crossed over to check on Mike. "He's out for the count." He tapped his comm. badge. "Chakotay to Harry. Lock onto Ayala and beam him over to sickbay. Then lock onto the other two unconscious lifesigns in my vicinity and beam them straight into the brig."

"No problem," Harry answered, and Ayala disappeared in the transporter beam. "We are getting kind of full in the brig, though."

"Has anyone else called?"

"No, just your three."

"Good then maybe that will be all." He closed the line and then tapped it again hailing Tuvok. "Report."

"We have located and secured all personnel but one on decks four and five. The last life sign we are tracking has barricaded himself in quarters. I believe it is Cyronius." Tuvok paused. "I have detected no signs of the Admiral or Madelyn."

Chakotay felt his blood boil. "I haven't either. Decks one and three are secure."

"Deck two, as well," Sveta contributed.

"I will contact you when we have apprehended Cyronius."

"Good hunting," Chakotay said, closing the line again.

"B'Elanna to Chakotay."

"Go ahead."

"They're using ghost records, Chakotay. I can't even determine who is who on this ship, much less where they've actually been. Given time, I could figure it out-"

"We don't have time, B'Elanna."

"I know, but without some sort of encryption key…"

Chakotay sighed. "What about Kathryn? Any references to her?"

"Only one. Just a program file name. Janeway Epsilon Three."

Tom's voice joined B'Elanna's on the line. "I think it's a holoprogram, Chakotay."

"There are holosuites on deck two," Sveta said.

"B'Elanna, send the program there and we'll take a look at it." He closed the line again, and he and Sveta made their way back up the corridor. As they neared the doors, B'Elanna hailed him again.

"The program was designed to start where it left off," she explained. "Do you want to see the whole thing?"

"How long will that take?"

There was a beat of silence before Tom answered him. "Looks like it runs for about an hour."

"No, we don't have that kind of time. Just load it and Sveta and I will see what we've got."

The lights lit up on the panel outside the holosuite doors, indicating the program had started. Chakotay moved forward, and the doors slid open to reveal dark metal stairs in front of him partially obscured by a cloud of steam paused in the programming. He started down the stairs, feeling and hearing Sveta behind him. He cleared the stationary burst of steam and was able to see his surroundings for the first time. And what he saw nearly killed him.

Kathryn.

A bruised and bloodied Kathryn, lying on the grated metal floor, staring up at an unseen assailant, her face twisted in a grimace of pain.

"Computer," Sveta's voice carried a dark tone to it that Chakotay hadn't heard in a long time, "include in program all lifesigns actively participating when this program was saved."

Three male forms shimmered into existence near Kathryn. One that Chakotay had just seen shooting at him in the corridor. Another one had his booted foot planted on Kathryn's chest, holding her down. Chakotay had only seen the man's picture before. He'd thought at the time that he couldn't possibly hate the man any more than he had in that first moment, but now he knew better. The name emanated from his chest in a deep growl. "Milo Cyronius."


If you are feeling a little lost by the last few paragraphs, go and read ch. 11. ;)