Chapter Eighteen
Waves crashed loudly against the sand. It was a soothing sound that rolled over the beach as the water collided with land before being sucked out to sea again. The cool water swirled around Kathryn's ankles as she walked barefoot in the surf, the occasional drop splashing up along the bottom of her capris. As much as she loved being in space and especially loved Indiana, there was something magical about the beach that neither place possessed. This was the only place she truly felt the ability to relax, no matter how stressed she was. The smell of saltwater and sand permeated every fiber of her being and floated around her as she continued to walk, eventually deviating from the surf to walk amongst the sand dunes. The hot sand clung to her wet feet, but she didn't notice; she'd wash them off later. Right now, she felt inexplicably drawn to the dunes that rolled along the edge of the beach roughly fifty meters from the shoreline.
Kathryn knew this place and why she was here. In a way, the mere fact that her mind brought her here was a sense of comfort. With any luck, she would have some answers as to what was going on with her away team. Normally she looked to science and reason during difficult times, while Chakotay turned to his spirituality, which is why they complemented each other so well. If her subconscious mind brought her to this place, then clearly there was something here that would help her bring the away team home.
As Kathryn walked along the dunes, the wind slowly picked up. It was a gentle wind that swirled around her, spreading the wonderfully relaxing smell of the ocean all around her and tugging her hair loose from where she had tucked it behind her ears. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, allowing the salty air to fill her lungs to capacity before slowly letting out her breath. When she opened her eyes, there was a small snake coiled at her feet as if it appeared by magic. Although she knew the creature was harmless, she still took a small step back in surprise, snakes weren't exactly commonplace on the beach.
The snake tilted its head as if to say, "There's nothing for you to worry about." With a smile on her face, Kathryn crouched down on the balls of her feet and tentatively reached out to stroke the snake's small head. It closed its eyes and leaned into her touch. For a second, Kathryn was reminded of Mollie, who acted the same way when she pet her. The realization brought about a pang of homesickness to her that she wasn't expecting. Just as quickly as the homesickness appeared, it was gone. Intrigued by the snake, Kathryn sat properly on the ground and ignored the fact that sand now covered large portions of her lower body.
"You're not usually who I see here," Kathryn commented as she continued to run her fingers over the smooth scales of the snake. The scales felt soft in a unique way against her touch. Kathryn was used to farm animals with soft fur, not reptiles, but she could definitely understand their appeal. "Who's animal guide are you?" While her knowledge of animal guides were strictly limited, she had never before heard of one appearing to someone it didn't belong to. A sudden realization hit her. "You're Chakotay's aren't you?" The snake's tail twitched as if to say yes. "Are they alright? Why didn't they meet us?" she pressed desperately. They were ridiculous questions, she knew that the snake wouldn't answer her, but this was the closest she'd come to hearing from any of her away team in over a week. No sooner had Kathryn asked her questions did the snake disappear and the beach melt away.
"Tuvok to the Captain." Tuvok's voice jolted Kathryn from her sleep suddenly. Her legs flailed as she jumped, dropping the book in her hand to the floor with a dull thud. Drawing in a deep breath, she ran her hand over her face and looked around. She'd fallen asleep reading on her chaise again; it was starting to become a nightly habit that she needed to break. "Lieutenant Tuvok to Captain Janeway. Please respond."
Still half asleep, Kathryn tapped her comm badge and said, "Go ahead, Mr. Tuvok."
"Please report to the bridge immediately." Tuvok's deadpan voice made it impossible to figure out what was wrong, but it couldn't be good if she was being summoned to the bridge in the middle of the night. One thing Starfleet hadn't prepared her for when training to become a captain was all the late night summons for all sorts of emergencies. After seven years, however, she felt that she was finally starting to get used to them. Usually she and Chakotay traded off, almost like parents taking care of a child during the night. With her First Officer still missing, however, she was the one constantly being called to the bridge.
Letting out a tired groan, Kathryn pushed herself to her feet. On her way to her bedroom, she snatched the discarded book off the floor and put it on her nightstand before digging through her closet for a fresh uniform. Whatever was going on on the bridge, she figured it would probably keep her occupied until the start of her shift, so she might as well get dressed. With enough coffee, she should be able to function like a normal human being. It was a struggle for her to keep her eyes open as she shed her dirty uniform and forced her exhausted limbs into a fresh one. Once again, she was changing out of a dirty uniform and into a clean one without changing into the requisite pajamas in between. She had to get better at changing into pajamas and actually making it to bed, not sleeping on the couch or chaise with an open book or PADD clutched in her hands. In her mind, she could hear Chakotay chastising her for not taking better care of herself, just like she had done to him before he left on the away mission. With any luck, she'd hear him do that again soon.
Thoughts of Chakotay sent memories of her dream rushing back to Kathryn. She froze, her fingers still buttoning her tunic. How could she have forgotten that dream? It had just happened. She had no way of knowing if that was Chakotay's animal guide who visited her. It was probably nothing, just a dream about the beach with a snake, as strange as that may sound. She was a scientist, she had to look at things logically, which meant the dream she'd had was little more than a strange dream. Figuring that the sleep deprivation and absence of Chakotay was driving her to wild conclusions, Kathryn finished buttoning her tunic. A quick glance in the mirror told her that she looked as awful as she felt, but she couldn't exactly take her time getting ready this morning, she had to get to the bridge. She ran a brush through her hair and quickly applied some makeup to hide the dark bags under her eyes. The mini beauty routine helped with her appearance but did absolutely nothing to help with how she felt; just like most days, it was going to be long day full of endless work. She would have to report to the bridge as is, she didn't have time to waste on unimportant things like this. Duty called.
The corridor was blissfully quiet and empty, allowing Kathryn to continue to force herself awake as she walked briskly to the turbolift. The dim lights that indicated the late hour made it hard to wake up as she forced her eyes to stay open. Sighing, she ran her hand over her face again. Chakotay had been right, she desperately needed a vacation. Perhaps when he returned, he would be able to take over the ship for a day or two while she recovered from his prolonged absence; she might even go so far as to book some time on the holodeck. Kathryn entered the turbolift.
"Deck one," she announced sleepily. As the turbolift began to move, she took advantage of the quick break to lean against the wall and close her eyes. No sooner had she did so did the lift begin to slow down. The last thing she wanted was for her crew to see her so exhausted, so she forced herself to stand upright and put on a strong expression as the doors slid open.
As soon as Kathryn set foot the bridge, Tuvok sprang up from his seat in Chakotay's chair. No matter who was in charge of the bridge, they always sat in Chakotay's chair, not hers, out of respect, not that she would have minded if they sat in her chair while they ran the bridge. Although Tuvok's Vulcan features gave off no emotions, Kathryn knew him well enough to sense that something was wrong; she could see it in his eyes.
"What's wrong, Mr. Tuvok?" she asked hastily.
"Captain, this would probably be something best discussed in private," he suggested. She glanced around the bridge. Based on the reactions of the crew, she knew that they all knew something she didn't know. Anxiety began to well up inside her. Whatever it was, she knew it couldn't be good.
"By all means." She motioned towards her ready room. Tuvok took the invitation to exit the bridge and enter the ready room. Kathryn followed, and the door slid firmly behind them, giving them the privacy to discuss whatever had summoned her here in the middle of the night.
Once in the comfort of her ready room, Kathryn made an immediate beeline for the replicator. She'd just had a cup of coffee a few hours ago before falling asleep on her chaise, but she knew she was going to need one right away to prepare her for whatever Tuvok had to say.
"Coffee, black," she ordered sharply. The blessed beverage appeared, prompting her to snatch it up. As soon as the smell floated up to her nose, she instantly felt more awake. She took a long drink, which also helped perk her up a little after just a few hours of sleep. "What is it, Tuvok?"
"We picked up three distress calls." All thoughts of coffee and exhaustion immediately fled Kathryn's mind as she abandoned her cup on the small table in front of the couch. At first, she was excited about hearing from the away team after so long, but the sound of three distress calls didn't sound reassuring at all. One distress call would have been enough to put her on edge, so things must be incredibly serious if they sent out three.
"What did they say?" she pressed. Fear was written across her face. As Captain, she knew it was her job to keep those emotions in check, especially during such a situation, but this news made it incredibly difficult. Four of her most trusted officers were missing, and two of them she considered to be her close personal friends. She had been hoping to hear from the away team, but not like this. It was probably a good thing that they were already on their way back to the planet. After waiting for a little over twenty-four hours, Voyager had turned back to meet them with the hopes of finding them on the way with some sort of ridiculous story that Tom would regale them with about why they were late. There would be teasing on the part of several crew members, B'Elanna would pretend to be angry with her husband for his tardiness, but ultimately everyone would be relieved to see the away team return safe and sound. With the news of three distress calls, however, that reality seemed highly unlikely.
"We were only able to decypher part of the messages," Tuvok replied. Although he felt no emotions himself about the current situation, he could sympathize with how Kathryn was currently feeling. Already anticipating the next order, he approached the panel on the wall of the ready room and brought up all three messages for Kathryn to hear. She needed to hear them for herself to fully understand the situation.
Static filled the air and surrounded both Tuvok and Kathryn as the first distress call pumped out of the speakers hidden the bulkheads around the ready room. It was just like the original distress call that summoned the away team to the planet in the first place: difficult to understand without massive amounts of work from operations.
"Mayday…" Harry's voice crackled over the speaker. Kathryn kept her eyes trained firmly on the ground as she listened with extreme concentration to the message. "...stranded without….and...mayday" Static consumed the message, making it impossible to make out the rest of it.
"Play the next one," Kathryn ordered the second the first distress call ended. While she kept her voice even, inside she was already playing through several scenarios about what would cause the away team to send out a distress call, and none of them were particularly pleasant. These were four of her most competent officers here, they were capable of handling countless worst case scenarios. Once again, static filtered through the speakers until Harry's voice finally broke through the white noise.
"Away team...emergency...medical emergency." Just as quickly as the message began, it ended, leaving them with more questions than answers. Despite the Doctor's complaints, Tom was an extremely capable medic who should be able to handle a wide variety of medical issues, especially with the equipment aboard the Delta Flyer.
"Were you able to clean up anymore of the message to figure out what the medical emergency is?" Kathryn demanded.
"Negative, Captain. This is all Operations was able to do."
' "Play the third one." There was more static.
"Voyager…" There was an extreme desperation in Harry's voice that hadn't been there in the other two messages. In his previous messages, he sounded frustrated and worn out but otherwise relatively fine, but this one was entirely different. "Immediate evacuation….is going to die. I repeat...to die." Wide eyed with horror, Kathryn's head shot up. What had happened? She had sent four of her best officers on this away mission, and it was supposed to be little more than a simple relief effort, nothing should have caused someone to lose his or her life. Her face hardened with determination as she did her best to banish her emotions. Right now, she needed to be a leader, ready to make command decisions to save her crew, there would be time for self-pity and emotions later.
"How far away from the planet are we?" she snapped as she paced the room nervously. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, making the coffee unnecessary, and she needed do something with all her pent up energy.
"At maximum warp we will be able to reach the planet in approximately eight hours," Tuvok replied. As usual, his voice was calm and, in a way, relaxing. It helped Kathryn feel slightly better about the situation. Like Chakotay, he was always a calming force in her life, which was necessary given the current situation with the away team. "Good, I want us at maximum warp the entire way. Have Operations continue working on those messages to clean them up as much as possible. See if you can communicate with the away team. I know it's a long shot, but I want you to try. I want to know exactly what we're walking into. I also want the Doctor brought up to speed. If it's really a life or death situation, I want him on the ground when we land." Confusion flashed across Tuvok's face. He had been able to follow the Captain's plan up until now.
"Excuse me?"
"I'm not sending another shuttle down to this planet, it's too risky." Kathryn had no idea where this was coming from, call it a gut feeling, but she knew that sending another shuttle down to rescue the away team would be too much of a risk for everyone involved. "We're going to land Voyager."
"Captain, landing Voyager puts the entire crew at risk. Sending a shuttle down is a far more logical choice." Kathryn put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. She knew he was right, he was almost always right, but, as a Vulcan, there were some things he just didn't understand.
"Tuvok, while I appreciate your sentiments, something in my gut tells me that I need to land the ship, so that's what I'm going to do. The shields are much stronger, and the weapons far more powerful."
"Do you think we're going into a hostile situation?" He raised an eyebrow in curiosity.
"I don't know," Kathryn admitted. They were essentially going into this situation blind and therefore needed to anticipate a wide variety of situations. "But I want to be prepared for anything. Right now, that means going to maximum warp to get us there as quickly as possible. Bring Tactical up to speed and run through a series of drills. I hope I'm just being paranoid, but one member of my crew is already critically injured and I'll be damned if anything happens to anyone else on this ship." They began to walk towards the bridge once again. "And that means you have the bridge."
"Where are you going?" Tuvok knew there was no way the Captain was going to go back to sleep after receiving such distressing news, but he couldn't figure out why she wasn't going to remain on the bridge with him.
"To wake B'Elanna. She needs to know what's going on."
The sound of the doorbell floated through B'Elanna's head and permeated her dream. Thinking it was a part of her dream, she ignored it at first and rolled over, clutching her pillow tightly to her chest. The bell rang again. Although she was aware of the fact that someone was at the door, she once again ignored it; sleep was more important to the exhausted young mother. The door bell rang for a third time, this time rousing B'Elanna from her sleep. Her head shot up. Bleary eyed, she looked around and tried to figure out what was going on. Thankfully, Miral was still fast asleep in her cradle at the foot of the bed. For a moment, B'Elanna couldn't figure out what had pulled her out of her sleep. Suddenly, it hit her: the doorbell. She glanced at the clock, it was nearly 0300 hours. There had to be some sort of emergency to cause someone to appear at her door at this hour. She scrambled out of bed dashed across the floor to answer the door before whoever was there rang the doorbell again and woke Miral.
Kathryn was starting to get worried. It wasn't like B'Elanna to not answer the door, especially after several rings. She contemplated letting herself in when the door finally slid open.
As soon as B'Elanna saw the Captain, she blurted out in a relieved voice, "You've heard from Tom." Kathryn sighed. This wasn't going to be an easy conversation for her to have.
"Lanna, may I come in?" In an instant, B'Elanna's heart sank. If the away team was back or there was good news, the Captain would just come out and say it. She knew her well enough to know something was wrong. She could see it in her eyes and hear it in her voice. Something was definitely wrong.
"I, uhh, Miral's asleep," she stammered as she motioned over her shoulder into the dark quarters. In her stressed, sleep-deprived mind, her immediate reaction was to look after her daughter's well being, plus it would be difficult to get her back to sleep if she was awoken.
"I'll be quiet, I promise, but this is a conversation we need to have inside." B'Elanna did her best to keep her expression neutral, but her heart pounded anxiously in her chest as she stood to the side and granted the Captain entrance to her quarters.
Since Miral was sleeping, they kept the lights low, giving the serious conversation an ominous glow. Kathryn immediately made herself at home on the couch across from B'Elanna. The Captain leaned forward intently and tried to think of the best way to say this.
"We've picked up three messages from the away team," she started slowly, making sure to pick her words carefully. Right away, B'Elanna's eyes lit up.
"What did they say?" she asked eagerly. "Are they alright? Why didn't they meet us? Are they on their way?" In her eagerness, B'Elanna's voice began to rise to its full volume. Kathryn raised her hand to calm her down, not only so she could talk but also so she didn't risk waking Miral.
"It's complicated, and we know very little," she explained as gently as possible. "The atmospheric interference has made it impossible to hear the entire message. All we know is they're stranded and there's some sort of medical emergency."
"Who's hurt?" B'Elanna interjected. She immediately berated herself. If she wanted to know what was going on, then she needed to stop interrupting the Captain and let her speak.
"We don't know." B'Elanna had the feeling that there was more. She could see in the Captain's eyes that there was something more, and she was trying to find the best way to say it. Her heart pounded loudly in her chest; it was so loud she was almost certain the Captain could hear it.
Kathryn had no idea why she was struggling so much to tell B'Elanna what was on the third distress call. She'd had to have so many difficult conversations over the years with countless crew members, but there was something about this one that made it more difficult. Perhaps she would feel better if she had more information, something more than one of the members of the away team was critically injured.
"Captain, what is it?" B'Elanna pressed. Kathryn reached out and took the Lieutenant's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. B'Elanna knew this couldn't be good.
"We've already jumped to maximum warp, and we should reach the planet in approximately eight hours." She was stalling, and both women knew it.
"Captain, what's going on?" B'Elanna repeated. Her voice had began to rise with anxiety once again. This whole nonsense of beating around the bush was going to drive her insane. She needed Kathryn to just come out with it before she lost her mind.
"The last distress call said that someone is critically injured. We don't know who-"
"Who made the distress call?"
"Harry made all three distress calls. All we can assume for certain is that it wasn't him who is injured." B'Elanna pulled her hand free from Kathryn's and jumped to her feet. She paced nervously in front of the Captain. Her mind immediately scattered in a million directions. Tom could be critically injured, and there was nothing she could do about it. She needed to know for certain that he was safe, she wouldn't be able to rest. Of course, if Tom was alright, that meant that Chakotay ran the risk of being the one injured. That thought made her feel sick to her stomach as well. Two of the most important people in her life could be dying, and there wasn't anything she could do about it.
"Well what are we doing about it?" she snapped. In her agitation, her voice began to rise once again. "Have you tried communicating with them? Do you know what kind of medical emergency it is? Have you spoken to the Doctor?" Kathryn got to her feet and grabbed B'Elanna by the shoulders, forcing the young woman to look at her properly.
"We are doing everything in our power to get there as quickly as possible," she promised. "We are trying to get a message to the away team, but there's too much interference in the atmosphere. The Doctor is being brought up to speed, and we're getting there as quickly as possible. We're going to land Voyager on the planet's surface and rescue them."
"So all we can do for the next eight hours is wait?" B'Elanna exclaimed. The loud outburst was finally enough to wake Miral, who began to cry for attention in the next room. B'Elanna glared angrily at the Captain for a second as if blaming her for waking the infant before turning on her heels and retrieving her daughter.
As soon as Miral was safe in her mother's arms, her crying stopped. After being roused from her sleep, all she wanted was to be held. B'Elanna gently bounced the infant in her arms and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. She'd been looking forward to Tom returning, and now there was the possibility that he was critically injured. B'Elanna buried her face in the soft pillow of her daughter's hair and inhaled the sweet smell that was uniquely her own. Miral grabbed at her mother's tank top with her small fingers as if to hold on for dear life as she was carried back to where the Captain waited.
"B'Elanna, we are doing everything in our power to get the away team back safely," she assured. "I'm just as worried as you are. I care deeply about every single one of them, and I want them all back safely."
"Well you sure have a funny way of showing it," B'Elanna snapped while glaring angrily at her. "How can you be so calm? A member of your crew is on that planet and possibly dying, and you're inexplicably calm."
"Don't take my calmness for lack of concern," Kathryn warned. "I came here because I promised you that I'd tell you as soon as we heard from the away team. I'm sorry, B'Elanna, I wish I more information for you." With a small, sad smile, she reached out to stroke Miral's hair affectionately. "I'd tell you to get some rest, but I don't think either of us will be getting anymore sleep tonight." Kathryn reached out and put a reassuring hand on B'Elanna's shoulder. She wished she had something better to tell her, she could see the concern in her eyes. "I have to report back to the bridge. If you need me, you know where to find me."
As Kathryn turned to leave, B'Elanna called out, "Captain?" Nearly at the door, the Captain turned around. "Thanks for telling me." As frustrated as she was with the situation, B'Elanna knew that she shouldn't hold it against Kathryn; she wasn't at fault for any of this. She had kept her word, and B'Elanna couldn't hold it against her that the news wasn't what she wanted to hear.
"We'll get them back, Lanna...all of them." Although they were just words, they had an oddly reassuring effect on her. She felt foolish for doubting the Captain. If anyone was going to get the away team back in one piece, it would be Kathryn Janeway.
With her beloved coffee cup in hand, Kathryn paced the bridge anxiously. She was surprised she hadn't worn a hole in the floor from how much she'd walked the length of the bridge. They were still an hour and a half away from the planet, which meant an hour and a half of not knowing who was hurt or who serious it was; it was all a stressful mystery to everyone on board. Operations had been unable to clean up any of the distress calls any more, which meant they had no more information that they already had. Guilt ravaged Kathryn. She shouldn't have sent her people down to that damn planet, not when they knew they couldn't communicate with them and definitely not when they left orbit for so long, the trade negotiations they'd engaged in could have waited. This was all her fault. Anything that happened to the away team rested squarely on her shoulders, and she would have to live with the possibly permanent consequences of her recklessness. As much as she always wanted to help other alien races, it wasn't worth the lives of her own crew. Growing frustrated with the lack of information, Kathryn slammed her coffee cup down on the small table next to her chair.
"I'll be in my ready room," she announced before stalking across the bridge and disappearing into the privacy of her ready room where she hoped she would be able to collect her thoughts..
Once alone, Kathryn threw herself down behind her desk and buried her face in her hands. Trying to keep a professional facade in front of her crew, paired with her lack of sleep, left her feeling both emotionally and physically drained. She ran through each scenario about what could have happened to the away team through her mind like a horror movie she couldn't stop no matter how hard she tried. She wanted each member of the away team to come back safely, but she knew that that wasn't happening. Something was wrong with one of them, and she hated not knowing which one it was so they could prepare accordingly. She prayed that each one was safe, but with each prayer, that meant that she was mentally condemning another one of the away team to some sort of horrible, unknown fate. At least she knew that Harry was alright, but that still left Chakotay, Tom and Seven in question. In addition to a million worse case scenarios that plagued her mind, Kathryn couldn't help but hear B'Elanna's stinging accusation that she didn't care. Of course she cared. She would feel guilty if this happened to any member of her crew, but she had sent four of her closest friends down to that planet without a second thought, and now she had to deal with the consequences of her actions.
The sound of the doorbell shattered Kathryn's thoughts. Her head shot up. Aware of a few tears in her eyes, she quickly swiped them away. Despite how she felt, she was still the Captain and had to give the impression of calmness and level headedness to every member of the crew.
"Come in," she called. The door slid open, revealing Tuvok. With his arms folded neatly behind his back, he entered the ready room. As always, he was the picture of calmness and and level headedness.
"Captain, we should debrief the rescue team," he suggested. Kathryn got to her feet and crossed the room.
"Of course." Tuvok didn't move. Now that he was closer to the Captain, he could see the remnants of the tears in her eyes.
"Captain, are you alright?"
"I'm fine," she insisted. Despite her assurances, Tuvok didn't look convinced. He raised an eyebrow skeptically. She sighed. She should have known better than try and act like she was fine in front of him. "Alright, I'm worried about the away team," she admitted. "What if we're too late, Tuvok?"
"Captain, Commander Chakotay is a strong leader, and Lieutenant Paris an able medic. Even if one of them is the one who is injured, the other will undoubtedly take charge and lead the away team. I am confident that they will do everything in their power to keep everyone on the away team safe until our arrival." Although Tuvok's words weren't exactly reassuring, they still managed to make her feel better, but only just a little. She would only feel at peace again when she had all of her crew back on Voyager safe and in one piece.
Kathryn tapped her comm badge and ordered, "Doctor and Lieutenant Torres to the conference room." With the exception of herself and Tuvok, they was the only Senior Staff left on the starship. Hopefully, that would all change in a few hours.
"On my way," B'Elanna said hastily over the comm system. That was good enough for Kathryn, who exited her ready room, crossed the bridge and entered the conference room where she sat at the head of the table with Tuvok right behind her. Within moments of sitting down, B'Elanna appeared. Just one look at her was all Kathryn needed to know that she hadn't slept since her late night visit. She felt awful for being the reason for her lack of sleep, but it had been a necessary conversation. "How long until we get there?" B'Elanna demanded as she sat down at her normal seat. Her chair automatically swiveled in the direction of Tom's chair. Normally they sat with their chairs turned ever so slightly towards each other, usually with their knees resting comfortably against each other's beneath the table. It was subtle sign of their marriage that the Senior Officers took as normal behavior in their meetings.
"We will enter orbit in approximately one hour and ten minutes," Tuvok replied. He sounded so calm and matter of fact that B'Elanna wanted to punch him; sometimes he could be so obnoxious with his Vulcan mannerisms. "We should land on the planet shortly thereafter." The Doctor entered the conference room and took a seat at the table as well. Everyone was here. It was strange to have such a small meeting of the Senior Staff.
"Doctor, how are you doing preparing sickbay?" Kathryn asked.
"I'd feel better if I knew who was injured and in what way," the Doctor replied in a somewhat annoyed tone.
"You and me both," she muttered under her breath. "I want you prepared for every eventuality, just to play it safe. When we land, you and Mr. Tuvok will go out and find the away team. Do what you have to to get them all back in one piece."
"How do we know it's even safe to move whoever is injured?" B'Elanna questioned.
"Until we know otherwise, we will assume that that isn't the case. I know it's hard, but we need to stay optimistic. We're going to land Voyager, the Doctor and Mr. Tuvok are going to rescue the away team, and with any luck, we'll be on our way in a few hours."
"Captain, I would like to be a part of the rescue team," B'Elanna requested. Kathryn sighed. She had been expecting that from the moment she told her they were on their way to rescue to the away team. In all honesty, she was surprised it took her this long to make the request.
"B'Elanna-"
"Don't B'Elanna me. I need to do something to help. I'm not just going to sit around and wait for you to bring Tom and Chakotay back!" She was also worried about Harry and, in a way, Seven, but Tom and Chakotay were close to her heart; Tom was her husband and Chakotay was practically family. The thought of something happening to either of them made her feel sick to her stomach with anxiety.
"Lieutenant Torres, you are too emotionally involved," Tuvok pointed out bluntly, causing her blood to boil even more than it already was.
"Of course I'm emotional, that's my husband and Chakotay down there. For all we know, one of them is dying!" B'Elanna exclaimed as she jumped to her feet. Her head whipped around to face the Captain. "Please, Captain, let me join the rescue team." Kathryn looked at Tuvok and the Doctor.
"Go prepare for the rescue mission," she ordered them. Both men took that as an invitation to leave. Even though the real source of her anger was the Captain, B'Elanna glared at them. She felt that she should be preparing to leave as well.
Once they were alone, Kathryn leaned back in her chair with a sigh. For a moment, her collected facade melted away to that of one under an unbelieveable amount of pressure. Very rarely had B'Elanna seen her like this. Even under the most stressful of situations, she always seemed completely collected. With everything going on, however, there was only so much a woman could take before snapping, and she was dangerously close to snapping. Kathryn understood B'Elanna's frustration, and she would feel the same way if she was in her shoes, but she had to do her best to put her emotions aside and think about the entire crew as a whole.
"Are you going to lecture me about the chain of command?" B'Elanna snapped as she crossed her arms over her chest and glowered with overwhelming hostility towards the Captain.
"No." Kathryn's voice was surprisingly calm as she pushed herself to her feet. "I'm going to tell you that I don't know what I'm sending Tuvok and the Doctor into on that planet, and I refuse to put the life of Miral's other parent on the line, no matter how much you beg." B'Elanna's gaze momentarily softened. She had no idea that that was the Captain's logic. She wasn't doing it out of spite, she was doing it to protect Miral.
"I, I don't know what to say," she stammered as she attempted to collect her thoughts. She'd been fully prepared to go down swinging, her mind already coming up with a dozen hurtful insults to hurl at the Captain in an effort to convince her to send her on the rescue team. The last thing she'd been prepared for was compassion and such a candid admission.
"We're going to get Tom, Chakotay, Seven and Harry back here safely, that's a promise. What I need you to do is return to engineering and prepare to land this ship so we can do that as quickly as possible. I need you here; Miral needs you here."
"Aye, Captain," B'Elanna relented with a sigh of frustration. Although she felt slightly better about the Captain's decision, it didn't change the fact that she still wanted to help rescue the away team; she needed to feel that she was doing something more than helping land the ship, which she'd done what felt like a dozen times. With the lives of her husband and closest friend on the line, she felt like helping in engineering simply wasn't enough.
Just as Tuvok predicted, Voyager came into view of the planet in exactly an hour and ten minutes. From her seat in the center of the bridge, Kathryn watched it appear on the view screen. Roughly the same size as Earth, the planet appeared to be made up mostly of large, tan continents separated by murky, dark oceans. Grey clouds swirled across the planet, somewhat obstructing the view of several of the continents. From a distance, it looked like a relatively harmless planet, but there was obviously something wrong with it if the away team was stranded there with someone on death's door. The sight of the planet caused excitement and apprehension rippled through Kathryn. Soon she would have her entire crew back, or at least that's what she hoped, there was no way to know what had happened to the away team since the transmission of the last distress call. Kathryn banished all thoughts of worst case scenarios from her mind; she had to force herself to stay optimistic, no matter how difficult it may be.
"Captain, we're ready to enter the upper atmosphere."
"Very good. Blue alert." The lighting on the bridge dimmed as blue streaks lit up along the walls and ceiling, indicating the change in status. All across the starship, the crew scurried to their stations, eagerly awaiting their orders as Voyager began to descend into the upper atmosphere. "I want you to land approximately three kilometers from the distress call we received," she instructed to the ensign at the conn.
"Aye, Sir."
"Descent course plotted and ready to go."
"Atmospheric controls at standby, landing mechanisms ready to go, inertial dampers at maximum." Kathryn nodded. Despite the fact that it had been several months since they'd last put Voyager down for maintenance on a small planetoid, everything ran smoothly. Every member of the crew knew exactly what was expected of him or her, and they did so even without being given instructions. In a way, it was a relief to Kathryn, who was far too stressed and exhausted to think straight. She couldn't ask for a better crew.
"Continue to scan the surrounding area for lifesigns," she ordered. "Maybe once we're inside the atmosphere, the interference will let up a little bit, and we'll get a better sense of what's going on."
"Aye, Captain."
"Bring her down gently." Dark clouds swirled before the viewscreen, blocking their view of what was going on. Slowly, Voyager continued to descend through the atmosphere. Without warning, the starship jerked forward, nearly knocking Kathryn out of her seat.
"The remnants of a plasma storm are still in the atmosphere," Tuvok announced from his position at the rear of the bridge. "They will make landing more difficult."
"I don't care," Kathryn insisted. "Keep going." They'd come this far, and she wasn't going to let something as trivial as a plasma storm stop them now. The starship continued to tremble and lurch as it lost altitude and came closer to the planet's surface. The surface began to materialize in front of everyone on the viewscreen. Tan, barren landscape stretched endlessly in all directions.
"Captain, scanners are able to pick up something about a kilometer away from our landing coordinates," Tuvok said. Her head whipped around.
"What is it?"
"I am not sure. All I know is that it is manmade."
"Continue to scan." She turned her attention back to the viewscreen and the situation at hand. They still had to land this ship. "Extend the landing struts. Get ready to release inertial dampers and make sure they're adjusted to match the planet's gravity." The crew scrambled to follow the orders as quickly as possible. Beneath them, Voyager shook slightly as it adjusted to the odd sensation of losing altitude. Mentally preparing herself, Kathryn tensed. The starship shuddered as its landing struts came in contact with the planet's surface. They had finally landed.
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