Ongoing Path – The Star Trek Voyager Universe
By Stargatesg1fan1
Disclaimer: I own nothing of any recognized characters or universes within. If I did own these rights Tom Paris would have had a harem.
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Stardate 50460.3…
Voyager happened upon a phenomenon known as an inversion nebula on its course back to the Alpha quadrant. An inversion nebula had never been encountered in the Alpha quadrant because they tended to burn out after only a few short years. Hogwarts' sensors explained why this nebula had existed for centuries. A space station existed within the nebula under cloak which was projecting a field which stabilized the plasma flairs of the nebula somewhat but also ensured the flares did not start off a chain reaction.
"These plasma strands we are approaching look ready to ignite," Chakotay observed after examining some sensor readings.
"I will back us off 2000 kilometers for a safety margin," Harry suggested.
Nodding her agreement Kathryn directed, "Harry, set the sensors for full spectrum scans on a continuous sweep. If that nebula does flare up I want to get as much data as possible to send back to Starfleet with our next scheduled resupply." When there was no acknowledgement from the Ensign, Kathryn looked his way and caught him staring off in a day dream. "Mr. Kim, I need your attention on the sensors."
"Sorry Captain…full spectrum scans. I'm on it," Kim assured.
"Astro-theory never predicted this would be so lovely," Kathryn mused while staring at the nebula on the view screen. "Beauty and mystery, a tantalizing combination," the redhead said while leaning on the helm console shoulder to shoulder with her lover.
"I have found it is rare for something among the heavens to not be beautiful," Harry mused.
"I can agree with that," Chakotay added.
When his shift was over on the bridge Harry hopped over to Alternate-Voyager.
"How are you going to handle the situation with the reptilian female?" Kathryn asked after greeting her boyfriend.
"She isn't doing anything dangerous at this moment except ensnaring Ensign Kim's attentions," Harry pointed out. "I think I'll leave her be for now."
The alien in the space station was interacting with the crew of the visible Voyager via a holo-deck character she had created named Marayna. While Alternate-Voyager was no match for Hogwarts, the cloaked Federation vessel's sensors had been upgraded beyond what the original was capable of. It had only taken a few minutes of deep scans to detect the space station through the plasma flares of the nebula and the station's cloak. Harry's friends and lovers onboard Alternate-Voyager were always curious to see how he would handle situations. They were fascinated to see what a being more powerful than the Q did with his time. Of course even they only saw a fraction of what he did when he was on either Voyager. The mage also spent a great deal of time on Hogwarts continuing to work on his many projects.
"Don't you ever tire of playing with these mortals?" Qadesh queried after she popped into her mate's lab to find him working on a device which was flexing the spacetime continuum in interesting ways.
"If you are so bored all the time I could always remove some of your memories so you can enjoy new experiences," Harry suggested. Qadesh had been visiting Potter's Moon with Quinn. But the new mother had quickly grown bored of the Moon and had left the young Q with several witches on the Moon who were well suited to taking care of their ancestor's son. "Or perhaps you would like to wear a power inhibitor to block some of your powers. You could experience life as the mortals do…or at least how a witch does."
"Hmm…intriguing," Qadesh mused. "Alright…I'll do it," the redhead agreed.
Harry smiled and waved his hand without paying too much attention, causing a stylish set of platinum colored bracelets to appear on his mate's wrists. "These are delightful," Qadesh declared, admiring her new bracelets. "But how did you make them so quickly?" The redhead inquired while analyzing the runes on the bracelets. Qadesh could actually feel the fabric of reality warping around the bracelets to limit her access to her greater powers.
"I have been working on those for some time. Those are prototypes that I haven't had the chance to test yet. I just recently finished them after analyzing how your people evolved from your corporeal form to what the Q are now," Harry explained.
"Yes, I'm curious how that happened myself," Qadesh admitted. Harry telepathically started sending images and memories to his lover. "Ok…ok…that's enough," the Q said after a few minutes of knowledge transfer. "Wow…I'm not used to being unable to store knowledge in my higher dimensional essence."
"We can do a little at a time which should give you time to assimilate the information," Harry suggested.
"That works," Qadesh agreed. "So what exactly are you working on?"
The redhead listened as her man explained the experiments he was conducting and decided she wanted to act as his lab assistant. Qadesh so did love to role play. Getting bent over a lab table after the work was completed was a huge attraction as well for the randy immortal.
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Harry and the other regular bridge crew members were summoned to the bridge when a plasma strand was discovered that appeared to be close to ignition.
"Captain," Tuvok prompted when he arrived on the bridge along with Ensign Kim.
"We have located a plasma strand that appears to be about to ignite," Kathryn explained.
"There is some kind of unknown process that has been keeping this nebula from going up like a torch," Chakotay added. "We're going to see it in action."
"And if there isn't?" Tuvok inquired, aware of the danger of the nebula destabilizing.
"I'm at the ready, Mr. Tuvok," Harry assured. "I can get us out of here in time. Besides that, the Promethium drive will ensure our safety."
"Captain, the temperature is 9000 Kelvin and I'm detecting a subatomic cascade reaction," Ensign Kim announced.
As the plasma strand ignited, a bright flare filled the view screen. Harry tapped out several commands which adjusted the brightness.
"Thank you, Tom," Kathryn said.
"The plasma strand has completely burned itself out without causing a chain reaction in the nebula," Kim announced.
"Harry, can you tell what put out the flames?" Kathryn inquired of the sensor officer.
"The sensor readings indicate some kind of dampening effect between the strands but I cannot isolate it," Ensign Kim replied.
"It was like a fire break in space. If we can figure out how this process works we could figure out a way to contain a warp core breach or any plasma reaction. It's definitely an investigation worth pursuing," Kathryn suggested. "Tom, it seems safe enough now. Take us in for short range sensor scans."
"Aye Captain," Harry replied before piloting Voyager into the nebula.
"I will see all of you at the luau tonight," Kathryn said as she walked off the bridge, her suggestion plain.
Harry saw Chakotay raising an eyebrow at Tuvok who looked uncomfortable because he had not been planning to attend.
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"I'll see you ladies at the luau. I need to go make sure Mr. Kim attends," Harry told Kes and B'Elanna.
Kathryn was taking care of some last minute business.
"He had better show up," B'Elanna said.
"Yeah…just because he's moping around about Marayna doesn't mean he can't still have fun," Kes suggested while throwing her boyfriend a knowing look.
"What's going on with Marayna?" B'Elanna asked in confusion about the hologram teaching hydro-sailing.
"I will tell you on the way," Kes suggested while grabbing B'Elanna's arm and leading her out of the room.
Harry wondered if perhaps Kes knew more about Marayna than she was letting on. When Harry arrived at the sensor officer's quarters he walked right in and found Kim meditating or attempting to. Candles were lit throughout the room.
"You do realize Vulcan emotional suppression techniques take the Vulcan mind years to master and we don't have their neural makeup," Harry pointed out after recognizing the technique.
"I know…but I have to try something," Kim replied.
"But not Vulcan meditation techniques," Harry assured as he pulled his younger friend to a standing position. "You need to get laid. It will release a lot of tension. There are plenty of attractive women on Voyager. Let's go and take your mind off of it."
"Alright," Kim agreed after a few moments of thought. "I was getting tired of that anyway."
When they arrived at the luau on the holo-deck Harry steered Mr. Kim towards a frisky pair of twins the two men had enjoyed before. Just being near the resident wizard got the Delany sisters all riled up. The mage left the sensor officer in the capable and wandering hands of the twins while throwing up a charm around where Tuvok was sitting playing a Vulcan game with Marayna which would repel Mr. Kim. When Harry arrived at where his ladies were standing, he found B'Elanna absent and both Kathryn and Kes chuckling amusedly.
"What's so funny and where is B'Elanna?" Harry inquired.
"B'Elanna is with Ensign Vorik. Apparently he has a bit of a crush on our dear Chief Engineer," Kathryn explained. "He invited her to sit in a place near the waterfront as he remembered her saying something about preferring that location a few weeks back."
"I don't think he has picked up on the fact that she is with you," Kes added.
"Leave it to a Vulcan to miss an emotional connection," Harry mused. "Although I really can't blame the guy since you three look gorgeous lately."
"Yes, B'Elanna informed us about that little side effect of mating with you," Kathryn pointed out.
The redhead and blonde women turned curiously to their man.
"Is that a complaint?" Harry queried.
"Not at all," Kathryn assured. "I'm just curious to learn more about how it works."
"Quite simple really…making love to me will make you stronger and more alive than ever," Harry assured.
"That is all the information we are getting out of you isn't it," Kes surmised wryly.
Harry's grin was answer enough for both women.
"Come on, let's go spy on B'Elanna squirming with Vorik," Kathryn suggested.
"You can be so devious sometimes, love," Harry told Kathryn. "But so amusing as well," the sorcerer added.
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After completing the short range sensor scans, Voyager's crew had discovered the dampening field keeping the nebula from completely annihilating itself.
"The dampening field only seems to appear when the strand is about to ignite, as if the strand itself initiates the field," Chakotay observed.
"Which puts out the fire," Kathryn added. "It's a feedback loop. Mr. Kim, do we have enough data on this field to produce one artificially using the deflector dish?"
"Yes Captain. But it will take some time. We will have to simulate the process in the computer and then try to recreate it with the deflector dish. It will probably take a few weeks," Ensign Kim replied.
"The project is yours, Ensign," Kathryn announced. "Tom, resume course for the Alpha quadrant, warp 6."
"Aye Captain," Harry answered. The mage tapped out a few sequences in the con and received a beep in reply. "Captain, propulsion isn't responding."
"Bridge to Engineering…B'Elanna, do you know what is going on?" Kathryn prompted while her boyfriend began rapidly typing away at his console.
"I'm not sure, Captain. We are trying to narrow down the problem now," B'Elanna answered.
A few moments later Harry informed his crewmates, "Our system is being remotely accessed. There is a cloaked space station in the nebula."
Tuvok immediately triggered the alert.
"Can you lock the intruder out of our system?" Kathryn asked while coming to stand behind her genius mate.
"I can do better," Harry said with a grin. "I can reverse the direction of the connection."
"I have interfaced a defense AI similar to the Doctor's matrix with the ship's main computer. It is ravaging the intruder's systems and copying their database," Harry explained. As he analyzed the data scrolling across his console the mage announced, "It appears someone in the station has created a holo-deck character named Marayna to interact with the crew."
"The hydro-sailing instructor," Kathryn recalled while turning to look at Tuvok and Kim who had been spending a lot of time with Marayna.
"I've lowered the shields on the station and am transporting Marayna to the bridge," Harry informed his crewmates.
Chakotay and Tuvok both pulled phasors and took up positions as a transporter beam coalesced into the reptilian-humanoid form of Marayna.
She looked around bewildered for a moment and then asked, "How is this possible? Your computer technology wasn't that advanced."
"You didn't have access to my private computers," Harry replied.
"What are you going to do with me?" Marayna asked.
"Why did you try to keep our ship here?" Kathryn questioned in response.
"I generate the field from my station which preserves the nebula for others of my race and other species to enjoy. I see countless ships pass through and nobody ever notices me," Marayna explains before pausing and staring off in the distance.
"You are…lonely," Tuvok surmised.
"By choice I prefer to be on my station," Marayna replied. "I have tapped into the computer of a passing alien vessel before. I analyze all of the little details of the crews' lives. It is a way to amuse myself. I never expected to find something as engaging for my attention as your holodeck. I never expected to find you," the alien added to Tuvok. "You are like no one else I have ever encountered. I find I cannot be without you. Please stay here with me, Tuvok."
"Marayna," Tuvok began. "I have a wife and children back on Vulcan. My duty is to them. I must admit I found our time together engaging. In other circumstances I would be willing to spend time in your company. Marayna, your feelings towards me may indicate a deeper need within yourself for companionship than you are willing to admit. I would suggest calling for another to replace you here at the station for a time. Attempt to live among your own kind."
After several long moments of silence Marayna said, "It would be logical to take that course of action. I will think about it."
Tuvok nodded and Harry transported Marayna back to her station. Immediately the pilot sent Voyager towards Earth at warp 6.
"It looks like B'Elanna and I have a new project to work on," Harry announced. "We will begin immediately working on a system to dampen plasma explosions to hopefully prevent warp core overloads."
"I know you will succeed," Kathryn replied to her boyfriend.
And Harry knew he would too. Such systems already existed on Potter's Moon designs. Tuvok and Ensign Kim would repair their frayed relationship over the tensions with Marayna by the Vulcan beginning to teach the younger bridge officer Tuvok's favorite Vulcan game. It would take time but eventually Mr. Kim would become quite skilled at the pastime.
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Stardate 50537.2…
Routine scans of a star system which Voyager's sensors said was uninhabited revealed the presence of a rare mineral called Gallicite on the fourth planet.
"If these readings are right we are looking at a yield of nearly a kiloton," B'Elanna announced from the bridge's engineering console. "That would be enough Gallicite to completely refit the warp coils."
"Even though we could get more Gallicite from Starfleet it is rare enough that we shouldn't pass up this opportunity, especially since this will be relatively easy to extract," Harry observed.
"Is there any indication that anyone in the region might consider this their property?" Chakotay posed the question.
"Sensors do reveal that a colony once existed on the surface but it appears to be long abandoned," Tuvok answered.
"Alright then," Kathryn spoke up. "Let's stake a claim. I will leave it in your capable hands B'Elanna. Whatever resources and personnel you need are at your disposal."
B'Elanna nodded in acknowledgement before leaving to plan.
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It was while she was planning in Engineering that Ensign Vorik spoke to B'Elanna. Harry didn't hear about the incident until shortly after the altercation but Vorik propositioned B'Elanna despite the fact that she was clearly with the pilot. Vorik didn't take kindly to no for an answer and attempted to physically attack the half Klingon beauty. B'Elanna dislocated Vorik's jaw.
All B'Elanna could get out of the Doctor was that Vorik was suffering from a neuro-chemical imbalance. There wasn't much Kes didn't share with her boyfriend. Vorik was going through a periodic Vulcan condition known as the Pon Farr. Every seven years a Vulcan was instinctually driven to return to their home world and take a mate. The only alternative was to sate this blood fever through ritual combat to fight for their mate or intensive meditation until the neuro-chemical imbalance corrected itself. If one of these three courses of action was not pursued then the Vulcan could die. Harry knew all of this after having been the mate of T'Pol for many years. Many sessions of making love to T'Pol while she was undergoing the pon farr, were some of Harry's happiest memories. Very few beings could match the sensuality of a Vulcan in the throw of pon farr.
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"What can I do for you, Mr. Paris?" The Doctor questioned after Voyager's primary pilot had entered sick bay.
"Actually it is I that might be able to help you," Harry replied.
"I assume this is about Ensign Vorik," the Doctor surmised.
"Yes, I reviewed your case file on his current status after he attacked B'Elanna," Harry replied.
Given Harry's time in sick bay, before Kes' inclusion into her current role, the sorcerer still had free access to medical files.
"I was not aware you had any experience in Vulcans," the Doctor said wryly.
"I mated with one for many years," Harry admitted.
"Define many years?" The Doctor probed. "Given your age it couldn't have been long."
"That is classified," Harry answered with a small smile.
"Of course it would be," the Doctor suggested with a role of his eyes.
"To get back on topic…Vorik will pursue this meditation until he either succeeds or dies trying. Whether his death is the result of his failure in meditation or his continued attempts to steal my mate is still undecided," Harry explained. The Doctor was completely sure the highly overqualified pilot was perfectly capable of ending Vorik's life swiftly. "Another alternative exists. Vorik's betrothed back on Vulcan has already taken a new mate given the amount of time that had passed since we were thought lost and when we established communications with the Alpha quadrant. But I have managed to duplicate her."
"Do you mean you created a holographic copy of her?" The Doctor queried in confusion.
"No," Harry assured. "This is Remera," the mage introduced as a Vulcan female transported into the room.
"How is this possible?" The Doctor questioned as he scanned the Vulcan female and determined she was real. "She has none of the markers of a clone."
"The physics of how this is possible is beyond the Federation's current level of understanding," Harry replied. "I don't want it widely revealed that I can do this. I have explained events to Kathryn's satisfaction."
In truth Remera was from Libby's universe and had been all too happy to be reunited with a version of her betrothed even if it meant going to another universe. When Harry had informed the Doctor that Harry had satisfied Kathryn it had been more than her curiosity the wizard was implying. Every time Kathryn had tried pursuing the subject of Remera her body had been assaulted with mind boggling orgasms. Harry would simply smirk at his red haired girlfriend and say nothing more in these situations.
"I think I can satisfy your patient's curiosity as well, Doctor," Remera assured the physician. "Now if you will excuse me I shall go assist him."
With a distinctly feminine sway in her hips the Vulcan left sick bay.
"Mr. Paris, you shall never cease to surprise me," the Doctor declared.
"That's what makes life interesting, Doctor," Harry assured with a grin before leaving the medical bay.
The Doctor shook his head before leaving sick bay to go find Denara and discussing the most recent development in treating Vorik.
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"Good, you are here already," B'Elanna declared as she entered the transporter room her mate was in. "Let me show you the area we are targeting," the woman added while approaching the control console and beginning to manipulate it. "This seems to be the most accessible vein of Gallicite. We will beam down to the surface and then follow this passage until it dead ends into this chamber. We will then descend through this shaft almost straight down fifty meters. Do you see any problems with my plan?"
"None at all," Harry assured.
"Good, then let's go," B'Elanna said promptly.
The couple materialized in a jungle and immediately drew their tricorders.
"Look at that," Harry said while indicating the nearby ruins. "According to these readings these were structures only fifty or sixty years ago. This isn't natural decay."
"We can send down an archeological team later on," B'Elanna replied crisply, obviously in a hurry.
"Paris to Voyager," Harry spoke while standing from where he had been crouching and taking readings.
"Go ahead Tom," Kathryn prompted.
"I would recommend sending down an archeological team. This isn't natural decay according to my tricorder readings which I am transmitting now," Harry recommended.
"Will do, Tom," Janeway replied.
"Now can we go?" The impatient half Klingon questioned.
"Sure," Harry agreed before following his lover into the nearby cave system.
"Now that is a big shaft," B'Elanna declared as she looked into the vertical opening she and her mate would have to descend.
The woman's eyes danced with mirth at her suggestive tone and meaning.
"I hear that a lot," Harry replied while rigging his gear to descend.
It was only a minute later as B'Elanna was descending just above her man that her anchor tech malfunctioned. The anchor ripped free from the rock and B'Elanna began to plummet towards the stone floor below. The warrior mage caught his woman as she fell past and held tightly. To the incredibly strong immortal B'Elanna weighed next to nothing. It helped that Harry could manipulate the effects of gravity on matter so that his girlfriend literally weighed very little.
"Great save," B'Elanna complimented.
"Thanks," Harry said as he lowered himself down the line slowly.
As soon as her feet touched the ground B'Elanna lunged at Harry and shoved him against the rock wall, her teeth nipping at his neck biting him.
"I don't know what has come over me so suddenly. I have wanted you more and more the longer I am with you today," B'Elanna practically growled while removing her man's climbing suit.
"Maybe I'm just that irresistible," Harry suggested teasingly while working off B'Elanna's suit and scanning her with his higher dimensional senses.
The Chief Engineer was experiencing what Harry decided was the Klingon version of Vulcan pon farr. Apparently Vorik had induced the condition in the sensual beauty and now she needed to work off the blood fever. Harry was all too willing to provide the relief his mate needed.
"Just shut up and kiss me," B'Elanna urged as she pushed the warlock to the ground and mounted him.
"Yes ma'am," the immortal husked with a sultry smile that did wonderful things to B'Elanna's insides.
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"There appears to be some energy readings we couldn't pick up through all of the rock from orbit," B'Elanna began. "The readings are coming from here." The thoroughly sated woman shifted some rocks out of the way to reveal glowing energy conduits. "This is an active power system. It must have been built by the colonists."
"No, I don't think so," Harry replied. "These systems are too well maintained. At least we know the source of the Gallicite readings. These conduits are covered with Gallicite plating."
"So there are beings alive down here?" B'Elanna clarified, drawing closer to her capable mate.
"Yes, and I think they just arrived," Harry said as several beings with drawn weapons melted out of the rocks.
This species had the ability to meld with and slide through solid rock.
"Who are you?" The lead alien asked.
"We are travelers on our way home. We detected a mineral that we thought was what we call Gallicite in its raw form. But it was actually the plating on your conduits. We couldn't tell very well through all of the rock," Harry answered.
"Why are you carrying weapons?" Ishan the Sakari leader queried.
"It is standard procedure to carry weapons into any unfamiliar territory. I'm sure you will agree that the universe can be a quite dangerous place. Judging from the fact that you carry weapons, are suspicious of outsiders, and live underground I'm assuming you used to live in the colony on the surface? Were you attacked?" Harry probed.
"You've seen the surface colony?" Ishan questioned curiously. "You will come with us and will tell us."
Harry glanced at B'Elanna and saw that she was calm.
"We'll come," B'Elanna agreed. "Perhaps we can show you how to cloak your technology from detection in exchange for any Gallicite you might be able to spare. We need it to coat our warp drive coils."
"That might be possible. My name is Ishan and I am a Sakari," Ishan replied.
"I am Tom and this is my mate B'Elanna. I am the pilot of our ship and she is an engineer," Harry introduced. "I am curious…your ability to meld with rock…is that natural, technologically enabled, or a genetic manipulation you have carried out on your species?"
Looking surprised at the observational skills of the pilot Ishan eventually answered, "It is a genetic enhancement our scientists have performed. This way," Ishan indicated while leading the way into one of the few passages that led to the outskirts of the nearest Ishan village.
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As her mate worked on providing the Sakari with a design for cloaking technology that wasn't quite as advanced as that which Voyager possessed but which would be adequate B'Elanna grew curious.
"Ishan, what do you know about the species that attacked your people when they lived on the surface?" B'Elanna inquired.
"It was before my time. We never even knew the name of their kind. It was all over in an hour. Some of the colonists were fortunate enough to live in the mines. Our attackers have been described as part machine and part biological life form. The biological part seemed to be from multiple species," Ishan explained.
Harry and B'Elanna both exchanged glances before saying in unison, "Borg."
"You know of this species?" Ishan questioned in surprise.
"We have encountered their kind before. The Borg are a collective of many different species who assimilate others into a hive mind. They are a constantly adapting and advanced threat. We can give you what information we have on them. If we are entering Borg territory then this is not good," Harry explained.
The mage connected to the Sakari data storage device with his personal computer and transferred the design and Borg information.
"Perhaps in the future our two peoples could be friends," B'Elanna suggested.
"Perhaps," Ishan agreed. "I will show you to the surface. Your Gallicite will be waiting."
The two Voyager crew members reached the surface and transported back to Voyager with their payment for the help they had provided the native Sakari.
"This is definitely troubling," Kathryn announced when she had learned of the Borg threat.
"We'll survive," Harry reassured his lover.
Given all that he had accomplished Kathryn believed her mate and felt reassured by his words.
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Stardate 50614.2…
Chakotay and Ensign Kaplan were on an away mission scouting in the Nekrit Expanse in an attempt to find a faster route through the expanse. Meanwhile Voyager was traveling through the sparsely populated region of the expanse.
"Maybe this place should be renamed the negative expanse. We haven't run across anything of interest for days," Harry mused in the middle of one of his duty shifts.
"If you are bored Mr. Paris I'm sure I can find something for you to do," Kathryn said as she drew closer to her lover. Bending down and whispering in his ear the Captain husked, "The Warp plasma filters are due for a thorough scrubbing."
The Captain's suggestive meaning was clear to her immortal lover.
"I would be happy to clean the filters, Captain," Harry responded in a quiet tone.
As an alert signal began going off at Tuvok's station the Vulcan announced, "I believe long range sensors have detected something to capture Mr. Paris' interest, Captain. Long range sensors have detected an unidentified ship."
"What kind of ship?" Kathryn queried.
"Sensor information is very limited," Tuvok replied. "The vessel appears to be stopped directly in our current flight path."
Normally Kathryn would have sent a standard greeting but given the fact that Voyager had likely just entered into Borg territory the redhead ordered, "Raise the cloak."
"Aye, Captain," Tuvok said while raising the cloak and making Voyager invisible.
"Bring the foreign vessel on screen as soon as we enter visual range," Kathryn added.
Twenty seconds later a Borg cube appeared on the screen. The blood of every crewmember on the bridge ran cold at the sight. Harry found himself immensely curious about the inert cube. The Borg craft dwarfed the Federation vessel many times over. The only interaction any wizard had personally ever had with the Borg was at Earth's first encounter with the species back when Harry served under the identity of Commander Tucker on the NX-01. Despite his limited familiarity with the Borg, Harry was confident his technology could deal with the Collective due to the many studies and simulations he and his scientists had performed over the years using sensor readings from Federation vessels which had encountered the Collective.
"Red alert," Kathryn ordered. "All stop, Promethium Drive and shields to maximum…Tuvok are they scanning us?"
"None of the Borg systems appears to be operational," Tuvok answered.
"These readings are consistent with electro-kinetic storm damage of incredible power. I would say it happened about five years ago," Harry announced.
"This is a rare opportunity to study as much as we can about Borg technology," Kathryn said.
"I might be able to get one of their data nodes running and we can access the full schematics of their ship," B'Elanna suggested.
"Excellent," Kathryn agreed. "Tom, take us into transporter range and then join B'Elanna and Tuvok on the away team."
"Aye Captain," Harry said.
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The cube was dark when the away team transported onboard. The team's personal shields kept them comfortable in the hostile environment; keeping the atmosphere within the shield warm and the air clean.
"It's like a ghost ship," B'Elanna suggested.
"I doubt any ghosts would inhabit a Borg cube. Even they would fear assimilation," Harry joked, earning a smile out of his mate and easing her nerves somewhat.
A couple of corridors later tricorders began beeping and B'Elanna said, "Here is one of the access nodes. I should be able to tap into the main data systems from here if we can get the node operational."
As he crouched and removed a portable power device from the satchel he was carrying Harry added, "I'll work on isolating the node's power supply systems and integrating this portable supply. My scans show the node's power supply is integrated with secondary systems including drone command relays and regeneration chambers."
"I'll work on adapting our interface to the node," B'Elanna agreed while assembling her personal computer.
"I will begin intensive scans from within the cube's hull," Tuvok volunteered.
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Several hours later the away team was sitting in the briefing room explaining to the Captain the results of their mission.
"The Borg database is incredibly immense. It will take us years to sift through it in just general terms," Harry explained.
"My scans detected 11,000 corpses. One section of the hull was breached and the vacuum of space preserved several of the corpses. We brought one back for the Doctor to examine," Tuvok explained.
"The cube was never able to transmit a distress beacon back to the Collective before its systems were overloaded," B'Elanna added.
"B'Elanna, Tom, you assist the Doctor with that autopsy of the Borg you brought back. I think it would be a good idea to rendezvous with Chakotay earlier than we had planned," Kathryn suggested.
Voyager detected a message buoy launched from Chakotay's shuttle and headed towards it. Meanwhile the autopsy proceeded in sick bay.
"I must say…there is nothing like the vacuum of space for preserving a handsome corpse," the Doctor declared with a smile.
"Only you love would make that statement at a time like this," Denara said fondly to her mate.
The Doctor began his scans of the corpse, proclaiming, "The subject's abdominal organs are unremarkable. Pulmonary system exhibits evidence of extensive alveolar damage as well as a slight swelling consistent with exposure to space. In addition there are signs of severe cardiac depolarization."
"Which is consistent with the electrocution that would result from the method which took out the Borg cube," Kes pointed out.
"This is intriguing," the Doctor mused as he examined an implant on the lateral portion of the head. "It may be some sort of axonal amplifier."
"I wouldn't touch that," Harry urged. "That is a backup neuro-electric power cell."
The Doctor stayed clear of the power cell while the sorcerer and his mate continued to run deep scans of the Borg. The physicians continued to examine the corpse.
"Do you think it would be possible to come up with a virus which would corrupt Borg nanites as soon as they were implanted?" B'Elanna asked her boyfriend as they were examining the tubes which shot out of the Borg's hand and injected other beings with the nanites in question.
"Very possible," Harry replied. "It might take awhile to get past the nanites' programming but we'll just have to wait and see what we can do."
OP – Star Trek Voyager – OP – Star Trek Voyager – OP – Star Trek Voyager – OP
"According to the buoy Ensign Kaplan and Commander Chakotay landed on the surface of the planet we are orbiting in response to a distress call three days ago," Tuvok informed the Captain.
"Can you locate the shuttle?" Kathryn inquired.
"I'm detecting signatures that are consistent with Federation starship grade materials. The shuttle appears to have been dismantled," Harry spoke up.
"I'm picking up both their com badges in a heavily populated region," Ensign Kim added.
"Voyager to Commander Chakotay, do you read?" Kathryn prompted. When no response came she pressed, "Ensign Kaplan, do you read?"
"Electro-dynamic turbulence from the nebula is interfering and it will take me a little while to clean it up," Kim said.
Soon the wayward crewmembers were back onboard Voyager. Chakotay explained how he and Kaplan had been attacked by former members of the Borg collective as soon as they had exited their shuttle. Only their personal shields had saved the pair from death along with the timely assistance of friendly former Borg. One of these former Borg, an attractive blonde human named Riley Frazier, accompanied Chakotay back onboard Voyager to make a proposal to Kathryn.
"We have given it a lot of thought and the solution to our problem is to reestablish the neural link among all of the former Borg living on the planet," Riley suggested after Kathryn, Harry, and B'Elanna had been brought up to speed on the situation.
The Pilot and Chief Engineer accompanied the Captain into the briefing because they were the closest Voyager possessed to an expert on Borg technology. Plus Kathryn just felt safer having her boyfriend around.
"You can't be serious," Kathryn replied.
"I know it sounds extreme Captain but I think you should hear her out," Chakotay interjected.
Harry could tell Chakotay and Riley had slept together.
"Alright," Kathryn tentatively agreed.
"If you think about it Captain when we were linked we had no ethical conflict. There was no crime, hunger, no health problems. We lived as one harmonious family," Riley explained.
"You were more one being than one family. A family is a group of separate and unique individuals. There are many families which aren't unified. Some family members hate one another," Harry pointed out.
The tone of the mage's voice caused his two lovers to exchange a worried glance. There had been signs to the two women along with Kes before that hinted that their man might have been abused as a child. While measures on Earth had been taken to make sure child abuse would be discovered quickly and dealt with accordingly outlying human colonies didn't have such strict oversight. As far as Kathryn, B'Elanna, and Kes knew their lover had never lived offworld but he was very mysterious about his past. Kathryn had known her boyfriend's father for years professionally and she had a hard time imagining the man as a child abuser. But then again…rarely were such people easily discernible. Both intelligent Federation females filed this incident away as another aspect of their man to contemplate.
"What exactly are you asking us for, Dr. Frazier? If you did not need something from us you would have already established your small collective," the Captain pointed out. "And what will keep your miniature collective from starting to violently assimilate other cultures?"
"We have a small neuro-transponder which is only powerful enough to link a small group of beings together. Besides that, the effect is only temporary with so little power. We would need a much bigger neuro-electric field generator to reconnect our planet's population permanently," Riley explained.
"You want to use the one on the Borg cube," B'Elanna broke in, suddenly surmising what the blonde woman was after.
Riley nodded.
Slowly Kathryn clarified, "You want to reactivate a Borg cube?"
The incredulity in Kathryn's tone was clear.
"Not the whole cube Captain, just the generator and it would only need to be on for a few minutes," Riley replied, like that made it any better.
"It wouldn't matter…the Borg on that ship would become active again," Harry assured. "My analysis of that cube has shown that much."
"They could really do that after being 'dead' for so long?" Kathryn clarified, putting the emphasis on the term dead after hearing about some of the implants discovered during the autopsy performed on several Borg by the Doctor.
"Yes…Borg medical technology is truly astounding. In any case I can alter the nature of our P-drive to generate the effect Dr. Frazier desires," Harry explained.
Hope brimmed in the blonde woman's eyes.
"Dr. Frazier, if you will excuse us we have some discussions to have in private. We will inform you of our decision," Kathryn announced, the dismissal in her tone clear.
"Thank you for your time and your assistance with supplies and resources," Riley said before standing and leaving.
After the blonde had departed Kathryn turned to her mate and said, "Talk to me Tom. I know there is a plan brimming in that brilliant mind of yours."
"I can reestablish the collective in miniature on this world with many safeguards in place. I can also leave a cloaked satellite system in orbit which will monitor and tap into this collective. If anything doesn't go as we would like I can use that system to disable the collective. As you know we now have the Paris Array," Harry said with a wince at his last two words.
The two women and Chakotay exchanged amused glances at the genius' obvious discomfort at the name of the communications array which the inventor had come up with. Starfleet had insisted on naming the array after its inventor. The array utilized tiny wormholes for communication. The wormholes were established between two points in space for less than picoseconds which required negligible power. But with the frequency with which the wormholes could be established there was no disruption in real time communication over virtually any distance given the discrete packets information was transferred in. To generate longer lasting or larger wormholes would require more negative matter and energy than the combined output of all the Warp fields of all the ships in the Federation.
"Starfleet could establish real time monitoring of this miniature collective and gather invaluable data to use against the Borg," B'Elanna caught on once again.
"Could this method you have for neutralizing this mini-collective work against the Borg?" Kathryn queried.
"I'm afraid not. The Borg Collective is an entirely more complex beast than the basic link I would be generating for this miniature collective. But B'Elanna and I have hope of being able to reprogram Borg nanites which could be injected into a being's blood stream like an inoculation to keep new nanites from taking hold," Harry answered.
"That sounds promising. And this miniature Collective does sound like it could prove worthwhile. There is very little risk to Voyager or the Federation. I will take it up with my superiors and see what they say," Kathryn said as she stood.
Harry knew what the Federation was going to say and what they were going to ask of him. They would want to establish the miniature collective but they would also want him to send the Borg cube back to Earth for study. There was no way in hell he was going to risk that. The damn fools would likely get his favorite planet assimilated if they started screwing around with a cube. Chances were good they would somehow let onto the Borg that they had become a threat and the Collective would immediately attack Earth. Transferring the collected data stores of the cube to Earth was one thing…but sending an actual cube was entirely different. Data couldn't be as easily detected as a Borg cube.
"What's going on?" Kathryn demanded a short while later after finishing her call with Starfleet HQ.
The redhead had been summoned to the bridge for an emergency by Tuvok.
"Captain, the Borg cube appears to be coming online," Tuvok announced.
"Take us out of here slowly," Kathryn instructed. "Tom, will the Promethium drive protect us against a Borg cube?"
"We might just find out," Harry replied.
"Captain, the Borg cube has initiated a self destruct sequence," Ensign Kim suddenly announced.
That was all the warning the crew had before the cube exploded. Luckily Harry had already been piloting the ship away and the shields and Promethium drive took the rest of the impact or so the crew thought.
"It must have been some sort of latent safety protocol," Kathryn surmised. "Well that ruins the Federation's plans for the cube. Tom, take us to the planet and let's set up that miniature collective."
OP – Star Trek Voyager – OP – Star Trek Voyager – OP – Star Trek Voyager – OP
When Harry visited Alternate Voyager as he usually did later that day the first thing the Captain of that vessel said to him was, "You have the Caretaker's Array don't you."
"Yes," Harry confirmed.
"We suddenly realized it after you explained your plan to acquire the cube and keep it out of Federation hands," B'Elanna explained as she sat on the edge of her bed.
"What are you going to do with your new cube?" Kes queried.
"I'm going to store it in a pocket dimension like the Array is stored in. And like the Array my scientists will examine it for useful technologies. The Array has already yielded some impressive breakthroughs for my civilization."
"Will you let me follow along with the research?" B'Elanna asked with her best pleading tone.
"Of course," Harry assured.
"You should have held out a bit longer. She was prepared to persuade you," Kathryn pointed out with amusement.
"We were going to help her," Kes added.
"Oh in that case…my answer has changed to maybe. You'll have to convince me," Harry declared.
The three laughing women pounced on their wizard.
OP – Star Trek Voyager – OP – Star Trek Voyager – OP – Star Trek Voyager – OP
Rev 0 Posted 11/1/2015
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