Chapter 21: Round Two
The Captain was glad to have proved Q wrong. Now that Seven's little boy had been found, she was sure nothing could spoil her day. The desired outcome had actually happened. The only problem now was Hudersona. He was still missing, hence why her Bridge crew were currently assisting with a manhunt. Wherever the alien was, no-one knew.
Seven's baby had had his first thorough examination from the Doctor and Seven was relieved to know he had suffered no permanent damage. The nanoprobes in his blood were a little low but were slowly stabilising. It was for that reason that the Doctor was keeping him in Sickbay for the night, Seven at his side. The EMH would have had to sedate her before she left the little boy alone.
It had made the Captain smile at how quickly Seven's maternal instincts had kicked in. For someone who'd been struggling to adapt to becoming human over the past several months, her responsibilities as a mother were no struggle at all.
The new mother was sat at the side of the incubator when the Captain entered Sickbay, her index finger lightly rubbing the infant's cheek.
She looked up at the sound of the doors opening. "Captain." she acknowledged.
The Captain approached slowly and silently, doing her best not to disturb the sleeping infant. Her hand fell against the incubator delicately and when she looked down at the baby, she found herself mirroring Seven's smile. He looked very lost in the large blanket the Doctor had wrapped him up in but content, nonetheless.
"He's adorable, Seven." the Captain cooed.
Seven nodded in agreement. "He certainly is."
As she was so transfixed on watching her little boy moving gently in his sleep, Seven failed to notice the Captain reach out and hand her something for a few moments. It was when she finally looked around she say a small teddy bear held out in the Captain's hand.
She looked surprised but in a good way. Without saying anything and only smiling when she lifted her head, Seven met the Captain's eye.
"An amazing mother I know once told me that her research indicated human children often require a stuffed bear to help them sleep." her smile grew as she spoke and handed Seven the toy.
Laughing at the memory, Seven nodded softly.
"It will suffice." she remembered, looking at the teddy and then back to her, "Thank-you, Captain."
The Captain stayed for a few more minutes in Sickbay before she had to leave. It appeared as though her baby was telling her it was time to call it a day. She couldn't argue. Her next shift was rapidly approaching and she was in need of some sleep.
She didn't like going to sleep without Chakotay at her side but she was getting used to it. Besides, with Hudersona still missing, at least one member of the Command Team needed to on the Bridge. He'd insisted it be him.
Lying in her bed, relaxing into the mattress, it wasn't long before she noticed a slight tingling sensation flutter in her feet. Too tired to think any more of it, she sleepily assumed it had something to do with her desensitised sciatic nerve. What else could it have been, really?
=/\=
At 0100 hours, the Commander had to call it a night. He'd worked passed the end of his shift in the hopes of finding the missing alien but he was reaching the point of no return. He was simply too tired to concentrate and give it his all. Now, Commander Tuvok was in charge.
As he made his way towards his quarters, he deeply hoped the Captain had had some sense and gone to bed. The last thing he wanted was to find her up to her eyes in PADD's and drowning in coffee.
As he entered their quarters, he was greeted to an unnerving silence. Glancing around, he found himself frowning deeply. He couldn't see the Captain in the living area, her office or the bedroom.
"Kathryn?" he asked slowly.
It worried him slightly when he found a vacant bed. It had been slept in, the wrinkles in the duvet proved that, but she was nowhere to be seen.
He checked the bathroom. "Kathryn?" he called once again.
Sure she wasn't there, the Commander sighed before tapping his combadge. She was probably wandering the ship or on the holodeck. She had an awful tendency to do those kinds of things when she was having trouble sleeping.
"Chakotay to Janeway." he hailed.
The feeling of worry sat at the pit of his stomach worked its way upwards when the line remained silent.
"Chakotay to the Captain. Please respond."
It wasn't like her not to answer. Sighing roughly, he found himself pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Computer, locate Kathryn Janeway."
"Kathryn Janeway is not aboard the ship."
The Commander's eyes widened, all hints of his sleepiness lost and replaced with concern.
"What?" he cried, "Where is she? When did she leave?"
"Please restate a single question."
Rolling his eyes, feeling his feet slowly head towards the door, the Commander had to stop himself from shouting.
"Where is she?"
"Kathryn Janeway is located on Harrell XI."
The Commander gulped as he left their quarters, once again hitting his combadge.
"Chakotay to Tuvok."
"Yes, Commander?"
"We've got a problem."
=/\=
The Captain was startled as she awoke to a bright white light shining directly in her eye. Shifting slightly, she soon noticed the surface she was lying on was hard and cold, metal in fact. It definitely wasn't the bed she'd fallen asleep in.
A sharp intake of breath resulted in her eyes adjusting much quicker than she had expected but she used those extra few seconds to her advantage and looked around. What she saw made a knot in her stomach rapidly form. She was in a laboratory. Hudersona's laboratory.
The Captain felt herself begin to panic. Bound to an examination table, she was defenceless to whatever was about to happen, and she already had a pretty good idea what they were going to do to her.
"She's conscious." she heard a young woman's voice report.
The Captain forced a lot of air into her already dry mouth when two silhouettes appeared from a doorway. The smaller one, the female, approached her while the other, obviously Hudersona, watched as his young assistant do all the dirty work.
"Inject her with the serum." he ordered, "A third of the original dosage."
The Captain tried to break away but the restraints were far too strong.
She gulped. She'd never been religious, never believed in any form of deity throughout any portion of her life or career, but in that moment, she prayed. She prayed somehow that there was a way out.
=/\=
The Commander was understandably irritable. "What do you mean you can't find her?"
Ensign Kim shook his head, his hands frantically running across his console.
"I'm sorry, sir. She's not in sensor range."
The Commander found his fingers tapping on the Ensign's console as his brow dropped in severe confusion.
"The computer said she's on the planet, Ensign, so why can't you find her?" he tried very hard not to let his frustration take control of him, "Can't we scan the entire planet?"
The younger man nodded. "Yes, sir." he answered, "But I can't find her combadge or her bio-signs."
The Commander felt his shoulders tense. "Look again." he ordered before making his was over to Commander Tuvok's station, ""Tuvok, hail First Minister Telveki."
"Aye, sir."
As soon as the Vulcan establish the communication link, the First Minister immediately frowned upon seeing the Commander's expression. It was clear something was wrong.
=/\=
The Harrallien woman was putting the black vial containing the serum into the injection, ready to inject it into the Captain's neck. He could see it clearly as he watched from the top of the room in the closest corner.
He felt his composure tremble. When he set this course of events into motion, he never imagined this was going to happen. No matter what the Captain said, the child they were about to harm was still his daughter.
Compelled by Hudersona's orders, the woman went to inject the serum into the Captain's neck despite her pleas for her to stop. It was when the injection tip was only inches from her neck that an unknown but gladly appreciated energy field appeared around the Captain's body and knocked the device out of the young woman's hand. This startled not only the woman but the Captain too.
"What the hell?" cried Hudersona, coming out of the darkness for the first time.
The restraints which were enveloping the Captain suddenly broke loose and collapsed to the floor, allowing her to scramble to her feet. Bare foot, she soon noticed the cold of the floor which she had to cross in order to put as much distance between herself and her captors as she could.
"Stop her!" Hudersona spat.
The Captain hoped that whatever had helped her before would come to her aid again as the young woman approached her. Right on cue, another energy field appeared from nowhere and knocked the young woman to the floor.
"You idiot!" cried Hudersona.
Frustrated and aware of approaching footsteps the Captain had failed to notice, he pulled out a particle weapon from his inner pocket and aimed at the young woman.
"No!" the Captain cried.
However, she wasn't quick enough. He'd shot her.
The young woman's screams lasted longer than the Captain thought possible but ceased as her inclined body collapsed onto the floor. When the Captain reached her side, the door of Hudersona's lab flung open. Two Starfleet security teams, a Harrellian security team and a medical team swarmed throughout the room, led by Commander Chakotay, Tuvok and the Minister. They all had their weapons at the ready, soon all focusing them on Hudersona.
He shot at them all as a minor distraction.
The Captain instinctively ducked and found an arm coming across her head as extra protection. She didn't really have to guess whose arm it was.
The shot allowed Hudersona the needed moment to run out the lab and down a corridor. It was his final chance to escape.
Checking the young woman's neck for a pulse, the Captain didn't pay attention as the majority of the people in the room chased after Hudersona, led by Tuvok and the Minister.
"Doctor!" she cried.
Along with the medical crew and the Commander, the Doctor immediately ran over to the Captain and began to scan the young woman on the floor. Holding onto her icy hand, the Captain smiled lightly as her eyes slowly flickered, followed by a sharp intake of air.
"Hey." the Captain soothed, aware the woman was beginning to panic, "It's okay… We're here to help you."
The young woman managed to look towards the Doctor who was scanning over her body.
"Y-You'd help me…?" she was struggling to speak, "After what I a-almost did to you?"
The Captain smiled lightly and nodded, very aware of the Commander's hand finding its way to her lower back.
"He was ordering you to do it." the Captain pointed out lightly, "And I could see you weren't comfortable with it."
The young woman's face creased. She was right. She'd never meant for anyone to get hurt.
"I… I'm sorry." she managed to apologise before her body began to convulse.
"It's okay." the Captain reassured her, stroking her hair soothingly, "What's your name?"
The woman gulped. "Hedrina." she replied weakly, soon closing her eyes and breathing unsteadily, "I'm really sorry."
Smoothing down her hair, the Captain smiled as she looked at her for the last time.
"It's okay." she guaranteed, leaning down to her ear, "I forgive you, Hedrina."
And she did, whole-heartedly. She blamed Hudersona for everything, he was clearly the leader of it all. She had merely been an unwilling participant. Whatever her reasons were, it wasn't enough to not put her conscious at ease before she died.
Taking one final broken breath, the Captain felt the young woman's hand go limp. Her death was needlessly confirmed by the way the Doctor closed his tricorder slowly.
Unable to stop herself from releasing a sob, the Captain allowed her head to drop. It was only then that Chakotay hands rose up her back and lightly gripped around her shoulder blades, something she needed in those moments of comfort. It was never easy watching somebody die.
Pulling herself together, Chakotay's hands never leaving her, she took a deep breath and looked up at the Doctor.
"Doctor?" she barely spoke.
Sighing, the EMH looked down at his closed tricorder before looking back up at the Captain.
"A residual energy signature from a weapon was eating away at her tissue." he notified her, pausing for a moment, "She hadn't a chance in hell."
Knowing she was seconds away from breaking down again, something he knew she wouldn't forgive herself for later, the Commander kissed the top of her head and assisted her to her feet.
"Come on." he whispered, "Let's get you back to the ship."
=/\=
After a quick examination by the Doctor, the Captain headed back to quarters, that time with Chakotay firmly at her side. It had been reported that Hudersona had been caught by the Harrellian authorities and had been taken into custody. She was glad but that didn't help alleviate her fear due to the experience. The Commander knew she wasn't going to sleep much that night.
Upon entering their quarters, the Captain retired to the sofa, settling down slowly while the Commander went over to the replicator and ordered two large mugs of tea. Allowing them to materialise, Chakotay briefly glanced over at the Captain. She looked lost in her memories and he knew that was a dangerous place for her to be.
It was when he took a seat beside her that she seemed to realise she was back on Voyager. Placing the two cups on the coffee table, the Commander leant back and allowed her to lean against his chest. Right now, all she needed was the support and knowledge that she was safe.
They sat in silence for a few long minutes, his hand tracing soothing patterns on her back, before he decided to speak.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
The Captain sighed before shaking her head against his chest and shrugging her shoulders.
"There's not really that much to say." she confessed.
Pushing herself up and meeting his eye with a false smile, the Captain stretched her arms out before managing to clamber to her feet. He'd have stood too if he hadn't seen the pain etched on her face. She needed a moment.
"I'll be back in a minute." she told him in a hushed tone.
He understood and watched her make her way over to the bathroom.
The light activated upon her entrance, giving her the chance to look at the woman in the mirror. She looked like hell.
With a painful sigh, she began to fill the sink with tepid water which automatically stopped upon reaching its limit. Sighing deeply once again, she glanced down at the water. It wasn't long before a small reflection of a very familiar face appeared and looked up at her. Q's face.
Smiling weakly, the Captain bit her inner lip. "Thank you." she whispered.
Nodding once, Q returned the smile before disappearing in a dim flash.