Uninspired Voyages
A Star Trek: Voyager fanfiction by Andrew J. Talon
DISCLAIMER: This is a non-profit fan based work of prose. Star Trek: Voyager, Deep Space Nine, The Next Generation et al are the property of CBS Television, Para creation of Gene Roddenberry. Please support the official release.
Shepherd coolly observed the Bajoran crewman for a few moments, before he shook his head.
"I don't think we need to, actually," Shepherd said gently. "I already know."
Seska's eyes widened in shock and disbelief.
"Wha-How?!" She gasped, anger now burning in her eyes. Shepherd shook his head.
"If I wasn't good at figuring these kinds of things out, I wouldn't be very good at my job, would I?" Shepherd leaned back in his chair, his keen eyes locked onto Seska's own.
"But-But you couldn't-!" Seska tried again, hesitating like she wasn't sure if she should flee or fight. Shepherd held up a hand.
"Suffice it to say, I know," he said slowly. "So there's no use in panicking. All right?"
Seska's anger and fear were soon replaced with... More anger, but of a far more calculating bent.
"So," she stated, "now that you know... What are you going to do about it?" She shot him a proud, challenging expression. Shepherd held her gaze, unmoved.
"Nothing," he replied.
Seska snorted in disbelief.
"Nothing?!" Seska demanded. "How could you-?!"
"Let's be adults here, Seska," Shepherd stated, calm but firm as a granite mountain, "we're a long, long way from home. We can't pretend we're still back in the Alpha Quadrant where all the normal rules apply. If we don't work together, we are all going to die. Or worse."
"But I-" Seska tried, and Shepherd waved his hand to silence her.
"But nothing! It doesn't matter. Not unless you want it to matter more than our survival," he said. He locked his eyes onto Seska's. "But you need to come clean with Chakotay. You need to make things official. It's going to be a long trip home, and the fewer secrets and conflicts between us, the better."
Seska gaped like an Andorian ruglefir. Which was quite impressive given their mouths were two meters wide at least.
"You-You can't be serious," Seska growled. "You're insane! He'd never-!"
"Do you really love him?" Shepherd asked, eyes narrowed. "Do you truly care for him?"
"He'd never forgive me," Seska replied, clutching at the back of the nearby chair. Her knuckles turned white as her whole body went rigid. "He'd hate me-They all will-"
Shepherd got up and closed the distance between them. He took her hands in his and held them tightly, his gaze boring into hers. She was frozen, like a lizard on a winter's day.
"He has to face facts as well," Shepherd stated. "And unless you tell him, now; when it does come out, it will just tear this crew apart. That will make our chances of survival even lower."
He shook his head earnestly, and held on as Seska tried to pull away.
"I'm not saying it will be easy," he said quietly. "But you owe it to him."
Seska breathed hard, and fast, as she stared back at the security chief. Shepherd shrugged.
"I mean, where else are you going to go?" He asked. "The Kazon?"
Seska closed her eyes tightly.
"It might be preferable," she muttered. Shepherd snorted back.
"Yeah, sure. A bunch of Bronze aged barbarians who treat women like cattle. Totally better than dealing with things here," he said. "My point is, you haven't done anything truly unforgivable here... Yet. So I'd go and come clean, now, before it's too late."
He squeezed her hands in a more comforting fashion, and gave her a smile.
"Have a little Federation optimism. The Cardassians can't have removed all your faith. You're too strong for that."
"I..." Seska looked down at their joined hands. She looked lost and confused. "I..."
"And hey," Shepherd said, "I promise, if things go bad... I will be in your corner."
"Why?" Seska demanded. "That's ridiculous-If you know-!"
"I know," Shepherd said seriously, "and I also know we need every advantage we can get out here. Until you prove that you're a threat instead of an asset... Until you stop being a part of this crew, I'll fight to the death to keep you safe. Same as I would for anyone else."
He paused for a moment.
"Even if I don't personally like you," he added.
Seska huffed.
"You're not exactly a prize yourself," she grumbled. She sighed, and more gently tugged her hands away. Shepherd let her.
"Fine," she said. "But I'm holding you to that. If this goes badly..." She glared death at him, "you're protecting me?"
"I give you my word," Shepherd replied. Seska nodded, still stiff.
"... Then I'm going to tell him," she said slowly. She glared at him. "I'm not going to-to thank you or anything."
"I didn't expect it," Shepherd replied glibly. Seska turned and stalked off through the sliding doors, heading through the armory out to the corridors. Shepherd sighed, and rubbed his temples.
"Freaking soap opera, that's what this bloody ship is," he grumbled. He sat back down and went back to his paperwork. It wasn't all bad-He got to put in commendations for Munroe and Biessman, which were added to Chakotay's and Janeway's for the two crewmembers. The rest of it was very unpleasant: Mostly inventory. He sighed as he got through counting the phaser rifles, and entered it into a PADD.
"Could have had a crewman do this, but nooo, I had to be the nice security chief," he grumbled. The doors to the armory opened, and Seska walked in slowly... Chakotay right behind her with a phaser on her. Tuvok was flanking him, his own phaser on the woman.
"Mister Shepherd," Chakotay stated grimly, "I want Seska put into the brig. She's under arrest."
Shepherd raised his eyebrows.
"Oh? For?" Shepherd asked.
Chakotay glared at him, while Tuvok remained stoic.
"For being an Obsidian Order agent," he growled.
Shepherd blinked. He blinked again. He looked at Seska. She was hurt and betrayed, maybe near tears-The harsh woman never looked so weak before. He looked over at Chakotay, a tower of barely controlled fury.
"I'm sorry Commander," Shepherd replied, "but that's not an arrestable offense. Putting her into the brig is even less of a good idea, sir."
Chakotay balked.
"You can't be serious!" He shouted. "She told me-!"
"She told you because she loves you," Shepherd said calmly. He set down his PADD, and slowly approached them. "I get that you're angry. And betrayed. I really do."
"You can't-!" Chakotay tried, but Shepherd shot him an icy glare.
"Yes. I. Do," he growled, letting the weight of years of high risk intelligence operations burn through his glare. It was enough to even give Chakotay pause. "But shoving her into the brig isn't going to help anything."
He got close enough he could reach out.
"Give me the phaser, sir," he said. "Please."
Chakotay hesitated. He then slowly handed it over. Shepherd took hold of it, and shifted his gaze to Seska. Tuvok kept his phaser up, but had backed away a few meters. He didn't make any argument, so Shepherd decided he was letting him handle this.
Thanks a lot, Tuvok, Shepherd thought unhappily.
"I know you want to run," Shepherd said, "but it won't do any good. The only way to fix this is to sit down and talk. All right?"
Seska very slowly nodded. Shepherd glanced at Chakotay.
"You two are going to go to her quarters," Shepherd said, "and talk this out. I will take all appropriate security measures, but only you can solve this. All right, sir?"
Chakotay glared hot death at Seska, but managed a slow nod. Shepherd sighed, and tapped his commbadge.
"Laird, Munro, you're on security detail. Get to the armory to kit out. ASAP."
"Sir?" Laird asked. Shepherd shook his head.
"Follow my orders. Out," he stated. He looked at Chakotay and Seska. "You can wait at the tables for them to arrive," he said.
Seska meekly walked over and sat down. Chakotay followed, keeping his distance and never taking his eyes off her. Tuvok kept his phaser on Seska, even as he slowly shifted over to stand next to Shepherd.
"Exceptional work," the Vulcan said quietly. "How did you deduce she was a Cardassian?"
Shepherd stared for a long time at Seska and Chakotay. He then gave Tuvok a smile and a shrug.
"I didn't," he murmured.
The Vulcan stared.
"I mean, it's obvious she loves Chakotay. I thought making her go for something formal with him would make things easier on the crew," Shepherd explained quietly.
He shook his head.
"I thought I was just resolving a domestic dispute."
Despite his Vulcan stoicism, both of Tuvok's eyebrows rose high on his forehead.
"It seems we still are," he replied quietly. Shepherd shrugged again.
"Luck is just as much a skill of being a spy as anything else," he said.
"You seem to have developed it very well," Tuvok noted, almost dryly.
The next duty shift, Shepherd, Seska, Chakotay, and Tuvok met in the conference room. Seska and Chakotay were sitting next to each other, and both were tense as hell. Shepherd and Tuvok sat on the other side, both quite calm. Up at the head of the table sat Janeway, getting through her second cup of coffee and trying to look neutral. It was clear she was holding back glaring daggers at Seska though.
Or maybe just everyone.
"So Seska, what were you doing with the Kazon in the cave?" Janeway gritted out. Seska very calmly looked at the captain and took a deep breath.
"I was trading them information on Federation systems," she began, "because they captured another Starfleet ship. One of the other vessels that the Caretaker brought here."
Janeway's eyebrows rose. Chakotay glanced at Shepherd, and then back at Janeway.
"Were there any reports of other missing ships?" He asked. Janeway looked over to Shepherd to prompt him. He cleared his throat, and held up a PADD.
"Well, that is why I was sent in," Shepherd admitted. "Sent here I mean. Let's see… USS Hera, USS Lillehammer, and USS Equinox were among the Starfleet ships that went missing. Civilian ships include the Earth freighter SS Serenity, the Vulcan ship T'Var, the Bolian freighter Bertali, and of course the Cardassian Galor-class starship Trager." Shepherd gave Chakotay a wry look. "I believe you're familiar with that ship."
Chakotay's dark expression remained stony. Shepherd cleared his throat again.
"In any event," he continued, "thanks to the information Seska got from the Kazon," he nodded to Seska, who nodded back, "we do know at least one Federation ship, and one Cardassian ship are being held by their shipyard about ten lightyears away."
"This can be confirmed?" Janeway asked, her gaze icy as it focused on Seska. The Obsidian Order agent slowly nodded.
"Yes Captain," she explained. "I was trying to get intel from them by pretending to be willing to betray Voyager. They have two Alpha Quadrant ships, but their crews locked them down before they were able to get anything out of them. They wanted to get a means of understanding the technology."
"So you did betray us," Janeway stated. Seska shook her head.
"It was my job, Captain," Seska said, resolutely not looking anywhere near Chakotay. "That said, after they tried to capture me… And your force rescued me? I realized that I'm better off with, as you say, 'the devil I know.'"
She looked firmly at the captain.
"Besides… Can you really do without me on your side?" She asked.
Janeway held her gaze without any effort. She was silent for a time. Then, she made a decision.
"Shepherd. You and Mister Paris will go and investigate these claims of Seska's," she stated. "We're going to verify everything you have said. If it's true? Then we're going in to rescue the Alpha Quadrant ships."
"Including the Cardassians?" Chakotay asked. "Captain?"
He was holding his distaste back as hard as he could, but enough slipped out to make Seska wince. Janeway looked at Seska for a while, before she glanced back at Chakotay.
"Including them," she said. "We're all in this together." She shook her head. "I don't like the idea any more than you do, but we need all the allies we can get."
Chakotay held Janeway's gaze. The tension between them was so intense even Tuvok seemed put off.
"Tuvok," Janeway stated slowly, "keep Seska under guard. If anyone asks? Make something up."
"Yes Captain," Tuvok said with a nod. Janeway looked at Shepherd.
"You're the intelligence agent. Figure out a way to get in close enough to find out what's going on, but without being detected."
Shepherd nodded. "Yes Captain. I have just the thing. Permission to be dismissed?"
"Dismissed," she nearly growled. Seska and Tuvok rose, soon after Shepherd got up. Tuvok guided Seska out the doors, while Shepherd followed close behind. The doors shut behind them, Chakotay and Janeway locked in the most unpleasant staring match imaginable.
"Right," Shepherd began. "I'm off, sir."
"I wish you luck, Lieutenant," Tuvok stated. Shepherd nodded.
"To us all," he said. He headed off to Paris, who was at the helm. "Hey! Tom! Come on! We got a job to do!"
"Yes sir?" Paris asked. Shepherd led Paris to the other turbolift. He really didn't want to be anywhere near Seska.
"We have a special recon mission," he announced as the doors shut, "ten lightyears out, to a Kazon world. We need to find out if they've got a Federation ship there. Among other things."
Paris raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's going to be a problem," the pilot admitted, "none of our shuttles are really suited for a reconnaissance mission of that nature."
Shepherd nodded, and looked up at the turbolift ceiling.
"I'm aware," he said. "Aeroshuttle bay."
The turbolift hummed and zoomed down fast, as Paris raised an eyebrow.
"The Aeroshuttle? I thought it wasn't operational!"
The doors opened onto the hangar deck for the Aeroshuttle… Where Chell, Torres, and a few other engineers were hard at work on various bits and pieces of the shuttle. Torres looked up and glared angrily at Shepherd, embracing an armful of tools to her bosom.
"Lieutenant!" Torres growled. "If you're here to check up on our progress again I swear I'll kick your-!"
"I am, and save the ass kicking for later," Shepherd said smoothly. He held up a hand. "The most important thing is… Will she fly?"
Torres blew a strand of hair out of her face, and nodded.
"Yes, she will," she confirmed.
"Then what's all this junk?" Paris asked, sweeping a hand over all the spare parts lying around. Torres looked around at it, and shrugged.
"You always have parts left over," Torres explained.
Paris blinked. Shepherd beamed, and clapped the pilot on the shoulder.
"Our first mission and we get to fly her! Lucky us! Got an idea for a name for the ship, Paris?"
"Dead Meat," Paris quipped without a moment's hesitation. Shepherd shrugged.
"We'll keep working at it."
The Aeroshuttle was all set to go, and the bridge crew waited with anticipation. Harry himself was grinning in a mixture of excitement and trepidation, as B'Elanna Torres worked at her Bridge station. Janeway leaned back in her chair as they waited for the call.
"Aeroshuttle to Voyager, pre flight checks are complete, all systems green," Paris reported over the comm. Janeway nodded and looked over to Harry.
"Release the docking clamps and moorings, Mister Kim," she ordered. Harry nodded eagerly, like a puppy, as he hit the release controls.
"Docking clamps released, moorings detached," he reported happily. Janeway looked over at Torres, who nodded.
"All systems read nominal, Captain," she said, looking just a bit smug. "Ready to go."
"Flight path is clear of any debris, Captain," Tuvok interjected. Janeway nodded and stood up.
"Voyager to Aeroshuttle: You're cleared to launch!"
"Standby Voyager," Paris said quickly. Janeway frowned as the tension in the air spiked.
"Something wrong, Mister Paris?" She asked. "Is Mister Shepherd okay? We haven't heard from him."
"He's fine. He just had a last minute correction he had to make," Paris explained. "Oh, here he is now!"
"Voyager! Sorry about that. Now we're ready," Shepherd said over the comm. "And if you could Captain, strike the call sign Aeroshuttle. We gave her a name."
Janeway allowed herself an indulgent smile. Boys and their toys...
"All right, what is our Aeroshuttle's name then?"
The Aeroshuttle had left its berth in the lower part of Voyager's saucer section, and its thrusters lit up. The vessel came into view of the ship's cameras and the viewscreen dutifully pulled it up.
"We named her Thunderbird," Paris said proudly.
Janeway raised an eyebrow. The name was emblazoned on the hull of the small ship, all right. Along with...
"Are... Those racing stripes?"
Indeed they were. Flame red ones across the wings and hull.
"Yes ma'am," Paris said cheerfully. "According to Earth tradition, they make the ship go faster."
Janeway heard someone stifle some laughter. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
"Whatever works, gentlemen," she deadpanned. "Godspeed."
They would need it.
It wasn't too arduous a journey, really. Not with the Paris and Shepherd Awesome playlist.
"Write me up for 125, Post my face, wanted dead or alive! Take my license, all that jive! I can't drive 55, oh yeah!" They sang loudly in the pilot and copilot seats of the Aeroshuttle.
"I can't drive 55! I can't drive 55! I can't drive 55! I can't drive 55, uhhh!" They sang together, Shepherd getting up and doing air guitar. Paris headbanged, waving his tricorder in the air.
The song faded out, leaving them to fade out too. They then looked at each other. Shepherd shrugged.
"Is that the last Sammy Haggar song?" He asked. Paris nodded.
"Yeah, the last really good one," he said. Shepherd sighed.
"Nuts. All right... David Lee Roth time!" Shepherd declared. The console beeped and Paris looked it over.
"Oh, right," he said. "We're coming up on the target."
Shepherd slid down into his seat again, typing in and looking through the sensors. He snorted.
"Looks like these guys never heard of jammers," he observed. "Or at least aren't very good at it. Let's see..."
He brought up the sensor readings on the main viewer, and both Paris and Shepherd looked over at it. The image soon resolved itself. Both men's eyebrows rose. Tom whistled low.
"Oh... Now that's interesting," he observed, his eyes tracing over the large, ramshackle looking space station in orbit over a desolate world. Amongst the Kazon vessels and other alien ships sloppily organized around the structure, there was a familiar profile.
It was a slim vessel with an arrowhead-shaped primary hull and two nacelles. Paris glanced over at Shepherd, who nodded.
"USS Lillehammer, Norway-class starship," Shepherd replied. "Went missing a few months before our ship did."
"Yeah, that's surprising," Paris said. He pointed at another vessel, partially obscured behind several spars from the Kazon station, "but not as surprising as that."
Shepherd frowned, and zoomed in close. He blinked, and nodded.
"It definitely is," he observed, as a Cardassian Galor-class starship floated in the viewer.
I'm back, baby.