First Contact

I watched as they moved, my sharp eyes noting how they wordlessly signaled and their search pattern.

These aliens were clearly soldiers, But what were they looking for?They were acting as if they weren't supposed to be here. My suspicions were proven correct when a human stepped through the door. He was wearing some sort of uniform with a badge on it. He too was looking at an object, this one being a tablet I saw a few kids messing with. This young man froze when he looked up and noticed the aliens but the one closest to him never gave him a chance to react. It turned and he pointed the strange weapon at the boy and fired. An actual laser shot out, hitting the boy's right shoulder, flinging him into a wall near to my hiding place and knocking him out cold. A second earlier I swore I heard the badge chirp and a voice but I suppose I was imagining it. However something strange happened, the aliens were suddenly speaking english! I stayed quiet as I listened to them.

"You should practice your aim, Velras, he's still alive."

The one named Velras turned and scowled. "At least I took the shot, Surull. You just stood there staring!"

The other threw an object he was holding at the two bickering.

"Quiet! Surull, get back to searching, the Maj wants that technology and the federation will know we are on board soon. Velras, you had better finish him or I'll see to it that you are shamed."

I had heard and seen enough. I had to be in some sort of the future to have aliens trying to steal human tech. Or maybe trying to steal it back? Didn't matter. They attacked an unarmed, unarmored human and intended to finish him when the boy in question couldn't even defend himself. That was enough for me, a former human soldier, and my new beastial instincts to label these three as 'Enemies'. So, trusting what my new instincts told me, I made my move.

Bridge of Voyager

Captain Janeway was a woman who prided herself of keeping a calm, cool mindset when in tough situations, but now she was annoyed. This was the 10th attack this week, her ship was battered, her crew was tired and stressed, and these Kazon would not stop. Why did she tell them of the replicator, or beam the water down with the cargo porter instead of on the shuttle with them during that first meeting? She supposed what they said about hindsight was true she mused as she gripped the armrests of her command chair during a particularly hard impact.

"Captain, a Kazon shuttle has docked at our port airlock and three of them are now making their way on deck six, it would seem they are headed for Cargo Bay 3, However.. I am detecting an unknown life sign already within. Internal sensor logs are reading that it appeared during the attack."

She paused before the first order left her lips and stood to look at her Chief of security. The look of confusion was shared by her bridge crew but she had a glimmer of hope. Perhaps whoever this is, would be willing to help her crew get home with the same power they used to get aboard her ship.

"Was there only three Kazon?"

"No, there are four more still with the shuttle."

Janeway gave a nod and started towards the turbolift, giving out her orders.

"Very well, You're with me Tuvok, Chakotay. Mr. Paris? You have the bridge."

Stepping into the lift, the captain pressed her com badge and asked Neelix and Kes to join them for a possible first contact. By the time the lift reached Deck Six, both of them were waiting and fell in line with Janeway with Neelix speaking up of his worries.

"Captain! Repelling boarders is something I do not think we feel qualified to do!"

She inwardly sighed and gave one of her half smiles to passing crewmembers as she calmly assured him.

"I didn't ask for you to help with the Kazon Mr. Neelix, There's an unknown entity on the ship and I am hoping you and Kes can help with first contact."

Whatever he was going to say next was halted when her comm badge chirped. The report she got made her tense and hurry the pace. One of her crew stumbled upon the Kazon and was attacked… then the Kazon were attacked by the entity. One of them managed to call the other four before their lifesign disappeared but that isn't what worried her. No, it was the fact the internal sensors were showing the entity was with her unfortunate crewmember. Rounding the last corner everyone froze with a sharp intake of breath. Absently the captain saw Kes quickly looking away and Neelix stammered as he normally did when upset. It was easy to see why. There in a door that repeatedly tried to close was a Kazon arm, A pool of their greenish red blood pooling out into the hallway. She knew she didn't have to give the command as everyone drew their phasers.

"Neelix, Kes… wait here…" With that, she crept cautiously forward until she, her first officer and head of security reached the door and hit the button to open it fully. Janeway liked to think not much could shake her but the sight of the arm and only an arm laying shredded not far from a destroyed pulsar rifle truly tested her. That was when she heard a sound that sent chills down her spine and judging by the mutter of Chakotay, it did the same to him, a rasping growl that ended with a chitter of sorts wandered out of the darkness. The horror only grew as they entered it fully. Pieces of Kazon soldiers were scattered about, along with large spattering of blood and their internals. Laser and plasma burns were scattered about telling her these proven warriors panicked. A thought that was confirmed when Tuvok pointed out a head that had terrible cuts on its terror stricken face. It took a moment but when her first officer made his thoughts known, she felt dread fill her.

"Those look like claw marks Captian."

"Tuvok.. Is it still in here?"

She didn't dare take her eyes from the darkness. Every fiber of her being was screaming at her to flee but she ignored it. Here was a threat possibly worse than the Kazon. Least with them there was strategy but an animal was unpredictable.

"Indeed, I am also picking up another lifesign that is human. We have to assume it is Ensign Jackson."

"Is he…?" She couldn't bear to finish her question, thankfully she didn't need to.

"His lifesign is stable, it appears he is only unconscious. The entity seems uninterested in harming him."

That reassurance helped calm her down and her mind took a moment to think. A normal beast wouldn't keep anyone alive which meant there had to be some level of intelligence and a mere animal wouldn't be able to board a ship in dead space. With that in mind she gathered her courage and stepped forward, ignoring the protest of the others, and spoke out, her voice echoing in the dark room gave her goosebumps.

"I am Captain Kathryn Janeway, this is my ship. The man next to you is one of my crew. Did you save him? Can you understand me?"

Silence reigned for several moments and she could feel the tension grow. Just when she was about to try again, a deep, raspy growl that was unmistakingly male spoke up from the darkness that made her skin crawl.

"Captain? Ship? You are humans.. yet one of you is not. Why are there aliens on Earth?"

She shared a look with her fellow officers and hazzard another step forward, mindful not to step in the mess in front of her, speaking up once more.

"We are not on Earth.. This is a Starship, lightyears from our home. How do you know of it?"

Another stretch of silence and then with a voice so obviously laden with shock, the voice asked. "What.. year is it?"

Janeway glanced back at her two companions, Chakotay looked confused while Tuvok was frowning. Deciding It wouldn't hurt to answer, replied. "2371."

She hated to admit it to herself but the sudden sharp hiss at her answer made her heart race. When the silence that followed stretched on she decided to introduce the others with her then asked if they could recover their injured crewmate. He didn't reply but there was the sound of fabric sliding across the floor and Tuvok confirmed that their unconscious Ensign was being brought closer along with muted thuds and the sound of something clicking on the deck plating. The sound stopped near the edge of the darkness as if hesitating then it stepped into the light. Janeway felt all of her experiences come to bear to not take a step back. She looked up, her face neutral as the massive reptilian step close to her and glanced down at her. She could glimpse the unconscious Ensign grasped by the back of his uniform in the beings left..claws?. It stopped three feet away from her and she watched those golden eyes look over and behind her for a split second then returned its eyes to hers. There they stood, taking in each other then with deliberate slowness, he laid her crew mate close to her then took several steps back and lowered himself to his belly. After tucking its claws it gave a raspy long hiss that she realized was a sigh and spoke again.

"They hit him in his left shoulder but missed his heart. The boy was lucky the one that did it didn't take time to aim..They planned to finish the job."

Janeway took a chance and let her gaze leave the strange being to check the unfortunate man. It was as this strange and terrifying being said and after giving the rest of her team in here the signal to come get him to sickbay did she turn her attention back to the stranger. It, he had a clawed hand out, flexing it open and close but she could tell he wasn't looking at them. Whether he knew she was looking or not, she couldn't tell but he spoke up again. "I detest bullies, even more so when they wave weapons around… So what now? I am apparently a forced stowaway on a ship far from my.. Our home and a few hundred years in the future.. If this is even my timeline.."

Janeway really had no answer to that. This whole scenario was completely outlandish to her. She looked at the surprising civil creature in front of her who waited calmly for her while she tried to sort out the million questions raging in her mind.

"We can figure it out but first I want you to answer one question. Are You a Threat to this ship and her crew?"

When his head snapped in her direction and locked eyes with her. He might've been a reptile but his conviction and seriousness was as clear as his answer.

"No. I will die before betraying this crew."

Letting one of her half smiles show, she approached him as he himself stood to his full height and held out a hand, the fear she had no longer present.

"Then welcome aboard Voyager." She watched him stare at her hands then a flicker of alarm coursed through her when he seemingly snarled, letting her see the decidedly deadly rows of teeth lining his muzzle besides the ones always present. She thought she had somehow insulted him, that is until his tail came around and pressed into her hand, the scaly hides warm against her palm. Her confusion cleared when he held both claws up, both glistening in the light from all the blood covering them.

"Apologies Captain, but I couldn't sully you with my deeds."

Her smile grew as she realized he was grimacing, not snarling, regardless she made sure her own teeth weren't showing.

"That is quite alright, why don't we move to a more suitable location for introductions and answers?" With a wordless nod from the being, she once more showed trust by turning her back and making her way to the door. She kept her hearing focused and when she heard the heavy thuds and sharp clicks of him moving slowly a respectable distance from her and calmly. She allowed herself to relax then, despite not being what she hoped for, she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth with who she ended up with. She just knew deep in her gut this being was going to be valuable to their mission of getting home.

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A/N:

So the infamous Captain has now met our super dino boy.. A part of me feels sorry for those Kazon….almost

Changes I made: Well I know I said I planned to follow Hiver's lead in the no transporter business but as I went back and started to watch the series again, I realized how heavily they relied on it to explore. So then I thought, "How do you restrict the use of it?" The answer came to me then of the first enterprise (Captained by Jonathan Archer) Their teleporter was meant strictly for loading and unloading cargo and gathering samples. So Voyager has the very basic, small transporter that is incapable of human transport. Course the Kazon is of a different opinion. Hm, I think that is all.. I think.

Thank you to my betas for giving this a looksee.