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.
State of Flux Final...
It had been a week since the operation, and most of that time had been spent in orbit of Crinax, a large Talaxian colony a few lightyears from the Kazon-Nistrim base. It was a green world with a ring system, through which multiple ships would dip to gather water ice and other materials. It reminded Janeway of gulls back home on Earth, diving into the water and coming back out with a beak full of fish. She watched them from the conference room windows, a warm mug of coffee in her hands. A little piece of home.
Closer to Voyager, the Lillehammer and the Trager orbited along the same flight path. Dozens of Talaxian worker ships surrounded them, helping make repairs. It was slow going, even with a whole team of engineers from Voyager helping out. The Talaxians were friendly, but the technological incompatibilities were difficult to resolve.
Nevertheless, as Janeway sipped her coffee, she reflected that her people deserved a rest.
The doors slid open, and she allowed herself a smile.
If only she had that luxury, she thought, a tad bitterly. She turned around and walked to the chair at the head of the table as the other captains, Chakotay, and Neelix filed in. To Chakotay's credit, his body language was completely neutral and controlled around the Cardassian Bartatt. The Cardassian carried himself with dignity, but the pride so characteristic of his people seemed muted. Vethren's steps were more restrained, still cautious, as though she couldn't believe her current circumstances despite the new uniform and captain's pips she wore. Neelix was his usual gregarious self, and smiling brightly. He was, however, keeping himself quiet for once.
"Thank you all for coming," Janeway said. She sat, and the others took their seats. Chakotay sat on her right side, as Bartatt took a seat on the left with Vethren. Neelix took a seat next to Chakotay.
Clearly, the familiarity was more comforting to them. Janeway couldn't blame them.
"Captain," Bartatt began, "let me please express my sincerest thanks for rescuing us." He bowed his head. "I understand it must not have been easy to convince your crew to aid us. Especially given many of them are Maquis." He looked at Chakotay, who remained stoic. "It is... Not easy for a Cardassian military commander to admit such things. For what it is worth, not all of us agree with the actions of our government. We only have a duty to carry it out."
Janeway nodded.
"You're welcome," she said, "but after seeing the conditions of that place, it wouldn't matter if we were at war: We'd have saved you anyway."
Vethren nodded slowly, grimly.
"Same here," she said.
Chakotay let out a soft breath, and inclined his head.
"Same," he returned.
"How were you captured?" Janeway asked.
Bartatt allowed himself a grim, sardonic smile.
"Our Gul thought we could conquer these backwater savages with our superior technology, and build a great colony for Cardassia beyond the known space," he said. He closed his eyes and sighed. "It did not go as he planned. We spent the last six months as slaves."
Janeway looked over at Vethren. She sighed deeply, closing her eyes. She looked tired just remembering it.
"Captain Roax was willing to trade some technology with the Kazon-Nistrim, in exchange for their protection," she said. "After we'd been blasted by the Kazon-Ogla for a month, it seemed like the best solution. Hand over technology that would improve their resource production, their medical care."
"But the Prime Directive," Janeway began, but Vethren's glare stopped her cold.
"Our captain was willing to face the tribunal board, even go to prison, if we could get back home," she stated unequivocally. Janeway slowly nodded, gripping her coffee cup a bit more tightly.
"Fair enough," Janeway conceded. "What happened after that?"
Vethren's eyes were fierce and mirthless.
"I believe you humans have a saying... 'If you pay the Danegeld, you will never be free of the Dane.' The Nistrim made demands we couldn't fulfill, and when the captain tried to negotiate... They seized our ship and crew."
She let out a low, tired sigh, her antenna drooping.
"They hung the captain in front of us. Killed most of the men in the mines. As for us..." She trailed off.
Janeway had noticed that most of the Lillehammer's survivors were younger women, and that the Cardassian survivors also had many women. She had avoided thinking about the implications in earnest, knowing it would only make her enraged and disgusted. Vethren nodded at the look Janeway now wore. A rage and horror shared by everyone else in the room.
She recalled the report Biessman and Jurot had filed. How the Kazon they had found with many women from both ships had all fought to the last and been killed to the last.
Janeway closed her eyes and let out a low hiss, getting her control back.
"... Nothing else needs to be said on that," Janeway stated firmly. "We need to focus on the future."
She looked around at the others.
"My intention is to return to the Alpha Quadrant," she stated.
"You... Have found a way home?" Vethren asked cautiously. Janeway held her stoic expression.
"Aside from normal warp drive? No. Nothing faster, yet," she said. At the incredulous look on Vethren's face, and the stare from Bartatt, she continued. "I have no illusions about the challenge. Or the danger. But we do have an advantage."
She nodded to Neelix. The Talaxian puffed up, but when he spoke, he was far more serious than usual.
"The Talaxian Empire stretched across most of the Delta Quadrant. All the way to a pulsar only 30,000 lightyears from your homes," he said. "And while it's been centuries since the empire was... Well, an empire," the Talaxian shrugged, "with the ancient records of Talax, we have a map at least! Beyond that, many races across the Delta Quadrant took our warp technology, and improved it! Some had it before us, and were more advanced! Some even created entirely new ways of moving between the stars!"
The Talaxian smiled brightly.
"And the adventure would be... Quite amazing, if I do say so myself," he said. "Like something out of the Epics of Rinax! Why one tale I read as a boy-Ah, um," Chakotay's hand rested on Neelix's forearm, and the little Talaxian quieted down. Janeway nodded to Neelix, then looked back to the newcomers.
"I know it's a huge thing to ask," Janeway said softly, "and if you choose not to join us, I will completely understand. We'll give you all the supplies we can spare, and Neelix can provide all the information needed to find safe harbors. A quiet place to settle." She took a deep breath. "But if you join us... We'll all have a much better chance of making it home. Together."
Janeway sat back slightly, symbolically giving them room to decide. It was a bit of body language that worked for both Andorians and Cardassians, a sign of respect.
Vethren stared at the captain. She let out a long sigh. She gave Janeway a smile. Probably the first smile she'd made in a long time.
"I had almost forgotten what it was to feel like a Starfleet officer," she admitted. "Exploring strange new worlds. Boldly going, and all that." She tilted her head. "My crew and I have had enough of the Delta Quadrant's hospitality, Captain. A faint hope is better than no hope. So... We're with you. To the end."
All eyes turned to Bartatt. The Cardassian was stoic.
"It will not be easy," Bartatt admitted, "many in my crew still hold your people in contempt. Even after our mutual suffering. Even after we were all betrayed by... An Obsidian Order agent," he hissed. He shook his head. "I have never been the most politically astute officer, Captain. That is why I was Glinn to a Gul ten years my junior. I never desired the glory of conquest. Merely the honor of duty to my people. That feeling of duty is why I struggle with this decision, Captain."
"You don't have to make the decision right now," Janeway said gently, "and this isn't a lifetime commitment if you aren't willing to make it."
"It may be better to simply tell your people that it's an alliance of mutual protection until we're clear of the Kazon," Chakotay suggested quietly. "After that, if your crew is committed to heading home with us? Then we can make it."
Janeway felt a rush of gratitude to her first officer. He continued to surprise her in new, wonderful ways.
"Would that be an acceptable compromise, Gul Bartatt?" Janeway asked.
The Cardassian nodded slowly.
"I believe it would, Captain," he said. He allowed himself a faint smile. "And to return home, after a journey like this? I believe that kind of glory... Is the kind I could live with."
Janeway finally smiled back.
"A great Talaxian once said," Neelix interjected, "'that in the end, we are all stories.' Let us make this story one for the ages!"
"One for the ages," Janeway agreed.
That hope she kept stoked inside her, of one day seeing home again. Of seeing Earth out her conference windows... It had always been small, guttering in the wind.
Now though, it felt like a bonfire.
A light to guide the way home.
Shepherd woke up in a biobed. He groaned as he looked up and around, already reaching for his sword. But there was nothing at his side.
Just his captain, standing at the side of his biobed. And the Doctor, who was observing him with a wry expression over his tricorder.
"Oh, great," Shepherd groaned.
"Not so fast. You lost a lot of blood," he said. "No tetanus or other infections... The infusion seems to be doing its job." He closed his tricorder. "If you'll excuse me, I need to see to some actually injured people. I have plenty to deal with, thanks to your efforts."
"Just trying to keep you from being bored, Doc," Shepherd replied.
"Please Mister Shepherd, Mister Paris doesn't need any help heckling me," he said wryly. "If you'll excuse me Captain."
The EMH flickered away, already examining one of the other crewmembers on biobeds. Shepherd looked over at Janeway, who smiled at him.
"So... Am I in trouble?" Shepherd asked.
"Hardly," Janeway said, "I think I'll be putting you and everyone else up for commendations."
"That's trouble," Shepherd grumbled. He sighed and laid back, staring at the ceiling. "How many casualties?"
"About twelve people from the Lillehammer were hurt or injured. All but one survived," Janeway said, "the Trager lost about twenty, but eighteen will recover. Most of them are suffering from malnutrition, injuries from trauma and overwork..." She sighed. "It's going to take some time to get them all healthy again. Not to mention their ships running. We're at a Talaxian colony to make repairs, and we'll decide what to do after that."
Shepherd was quiet for a moment.
"Seska?"
Janeway sighed, shutting her eyes.
"Ran off with a shuttle," she explained. "She got around our security lockouts easily."
"We'll have to fix that," Shepherd mumbled. Janeway looked over at Shepherd.
"Chakotay's taking it pretty hard," she admitted. "I don't blame him. She got around all of us."
"She felt trapped," Shepherd sighed. "Nowhere else to go but... Maybe somewhere she could rule." He looked up at Janeway. "What's that saying?"
"'Better to rule in hell, than serve in Heaven,'" Janeway quoted. "Paradise Lost, by Milton."
"That's the one," Shepherd said with a nod. "We'll have to worry about her having some means of infiltration... But I think she'll struggle with proving her worth for a while. Might give us some time."
"Maybe," Janeway admitted. She sucked in a breath through her nostrils.
"We've got the beginnings of a small fleet. But there's still so much to do," she said. Shepherd nodded.
"I'll get back to it the second I-"
"That's not what I meant, Lieutenant," Janeway stated, pressing her small hand against his chest. Shepherd looked down at her hand, and then back at Janeway.
"Then what-?"
"You engaged the Kazon with a sword, deliberately exposing yourself to fire," Janeway said, "and called a photon torpedo down on your own position."
"It worked didn't it?" Shepherd asked. Janeway sighed.
"Yes... This time," she said. "We had no choice. But I want to do better, Shepherd. I don't want it to become a desperate fight to the finish where we have to do insane things just to survive!"
Shepherd smiled and shrugged.
"Sometimes you have to do that kind of thing," he said. "Hell, my mom and dad would have probably pulled this off without a single loss." He closed his eyes.
"They're a lot better at crazy than I am," he said.
"Well I want you to be less crazy," she stated back, "for the simple reason that I don't want to lose any more members of my crew.
She sighed.
"I know it's a faint hope. Maybe it's even irrational. But we need to do better so we can survive without relying on the dice so much."
Shepherd sighed. He nodded.
"Yes Captain," he agreed.
Janeway chuckled, shaking her head. She then bent over, and picked up a package underneath the biobed. She held Electric Lightning out to him, and he sighed in relief. Janeway for her part raised an eyebrow.
"You brought your mother's sword with you?" She asked. Shepherd smiled.
"She used it to save me from the Borg during Wolf 359, you know," he said. He leaned back. "She also used it to fight Klingons, Romulans..." He shrugged, "More Borg."
"I've read the reports and I still don't believe it," Janeway sighed, turning the weapon over in her hands. "An ordinary human... And a sword... Slaughtering hundreds of Borg drones? Your father was a soldier from a far more barbaric time, but your mother?"
Shepherd chuckled.
"Yeah well... My mom said that we have a lot more potential than we realize. If we respect and remember our past, we can build a great future. Ya know, corny shit like that," he said. Janeway smirked.
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to keep bringing that potential out," she said. Shepherd reached out for the sword but Janeway held it away. "After you've had some rest."
Shepherd rolled his eyes.
"Yes, Mom," he muttered. Janeway snorted.
"I expect you'd obey me better if I was your mother," she stated. Shepherd chuckled and shrugged, laying back on the biobed.
"Yeah, but... To be fair, she's a lot scarier than you..."
"I guess I'll have to work on that, too," Janeway mused softly, looking over the sword.
The Alpha Quadrant
Gul Murt was a rather portly Cardassian officer. While not as physically fit as many of his fellow officers, he was certainly spry and cunning. Cunning enough to get control of the secret Battlesuit project. In the depths of the jungles of Soltok IV, a former Federation colony, the secret base worked tirelessly to create powered battle armor for the Cardassian Army. It was prestigious and top secret, and the former Federation citizens still on the world would be suitable test targets when it was complete.
Murt was watching them via a Cardassian satellite, zooming in and sneering at the pathetic day to day of their lives. Humans always looked so meek and frail, with their soft skin and long hair. Human women we good for breeding and pleasure, perhaps, but the males? Ugh. Utterly useless. A completely wretched species, in his opinion.
The door opened and Glinn Daro entered. He was a tall, frail looking attache. He almost always looked weak and sickly, and frankly it was pleasant to torment him. But the look of concern on Daro's face put any plans of torment out of Murt's mind.
"Daro, what is it?" Murt demanded.
"S-Sir, the perimeter defenses have been breached!" He said urgently. Murt snorted.
"Have they? Where are the alarms?" He demanded. "Wouldn't they be going off if that was the case?"
He hit some buttons on his console, switching the viewer's perspective to the cameras watching the front entrance. He saw nothing but a sturdy double door, reinforced with duranium. He pointed at the screen. "See? I'm sure there's nothing-!"
A sword blade, double edged and pointed, thrust through the door and slashed through it diagonally, like it was made of paper. The same blade slashed the other way, making a cross shape. A second later, the doors were blown in by a force powerful enough to make the entire base shake. Murt paled, as two figures stepped into the base.
One was in Federation battle armor: A golden faceplate obscured the wearer's face. He carried a heavy phaser rifle, which he immediately opened up with on the guards who charged from one side. The other... Was slim, shapely, female, dressed in light, loose blue and white clothing. A hood covered her face, but the sword that had cut through the doors was in her hand. She then seemed to vanish, and Murt switched to other corridor cameras. As the armored man continued to blast away, shooting down his soldiers with precision shots, the woman was slashing through his men.
"That... That's impossible," he gasped, as the woman kicked a dropped phaser up, sliced it in half, and with the same sword stroke sent the pieces flying into the faces of two more guards. They fell back, as the woman sprinted and slashed her way through them. The man followed, supporting her and shooting any of the guards who tried to get a shot on her.
Not that it looked like she needed much support: When a guard got his phaser on her and fired, the beam hit a forcefield projected from the blade. The woman charged the man firing the phaser, and swung her blade! The energy backlash made the rifle backfire, and the guard was thrown back, screaming in pain from his burns.
Murt took deep breaths as his elite Cardassian troops were taken apart by two humans without them seeming to put any great effort into it. He made a decision. The only decision he could under the circumstances.
"G-Get my shuttle ready for launch," he ordered, "immediately!"
There was another explosion. He looked out his window. The shuttle port had smoke billowing up from it, and he shut his eyes tightly.
"Get-Get the transporters-!"
"They're down, sir!" Daro cried. "They-They all went down just as the perimeter was breached!"
"Th-Then Daro, you will defend me with your life!" Murt declared. The sounds of phaser fire, sword strikes, and screaming were now coming from right outside the office door. "D-DEFEND ME!"
"B-But sir-!" Daro tried, but Murt ducked behind his desk. The sword slashed right through the doors, and a kick from the armored man brought it all down. The woman entered first, and Daro managed to avoid shivering. He held up a hand phaser.
"Y-You are violating Cardassian property and as such-!"
The phaser was quite suddenly cut in half. He gaped: He hadn't even seen the woman move. She reached up with her free hand and lowered her hood. She shot him a glare.
"Go home to your mother," she ordered.
"Y-Yes ma'am!" Daro sputtered, running out the ruined doors as fast as he could. Murt peeked over the desk. He stood up and cleared his throat.
"Th-Th-This is an act of war against the Cardassian Union and will be-EEP!"
The man kicked the desk out of the way, and it flipped up to smash against the far wall. The woman walked up, her dark blade out.
She smiled at him.
"Gul Murt. You have contacts everywhere in Central Command and the Obsidian Order," she said pleasantly. She pointed her sword at Murt, and the tip rested against his throat. He gulped, feeling the metal press harder against his flesh.
"S-So what?"
"So you're going to tell us everything you know about the disappearance of the USS Voyager," the woman stated. Her eyes narrowed. "We have not killed any of your men so far. Do not make us change that."
"W-W-Who are you?!" Murt squeaked.
The woman smiled brightly.
"I believe your intelligence reports refer to us as 'Borgbane Shepherd', or 'the Slayers,'" she stated, "but you will call me Mrs. Shepherd. And him Mr. Shepherd."
While he had been unable to do it for himself, Murt felt like he was about to do some evacuation. The fact that his suit had an internal recycling system that would take care of his waste was no comfort whatsoever.
"Wh-What do you want to know?"
Now the final of this arc. Hope you enjoyed!