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 51221.3…
Harry arrived in sickbay after Kathryn alerted him that Seven was having flashback issues.
"It's happened three different times now at different locations at different times of the day," Seven explained. "I experience a series of disjointed images in my mind. Can you be more specific?"
"Can you be more specific? Were these hallucinations?" The Doctor asked while he began scanning her.
"I don't know…I have never hallucinated," Seven replied.
"It's as though I was aboard a Borg vessel but I was frightened. I felt fear. Each experience is similar. I am pursued by the Borg. They want to assimilate me," Seven explained. "I'm running from them and then each time I see a bird."
"What kind of bird?" Harry inquired.
"I'm not sure what type it is. It is large and black. It's flying towards me and shrieking. It seems like the bird is attacking me," Seven answered.
"Hmm…your hippocampus is in a state of agitation," the Doctor announced. "As your human physiology continues to assert itself psychological manifestations are bound to manifest in a variety of ways."
"Seven, your situation is unique," Denara began. "We would expect there to be some bumps along the way. If this gets any worse we will definitely look aggressively for a solution. But at this point let's just see how events unfold."
"This could be a manifestation of some sort of Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder," the Doctor added.
"That makes sense," Kathryn added. "You were assimilated and have been through a prolonged trauma."
"I was not traumatized," Seven objected. "I was raised by the Borg. I don't see them as threatening."
"Seven, you may not see them as threatening now but you did then. Your human emotions were suppressed while you were assimilated and now they are being let free. We've been doing research into the Collective and it would appear that neurologically assimilation shares some characteristics with Vulcan emotional suppression techniques. The last time you felt emotions you were likely terrified," Harry explained. "Those emotions are unfolding now."
"We'll continue to study your neural scans further," the Doctor suggested. "In the meantime your digestive system is ready for you to begin taking solid and liquid nutrients."
Up until then Seven had joined Harry and his friends for meals but hadn't actually eaten anything because her digestive system wasn't yet ready for it.
"Oral consumption is inefficient," Seven objected.
"But it can be quite enjoyable," Kathryn pointed out. "Tom will make you something delicious."
Harry was quite a good cook.
"Of course," Harry agreed. "Come on, I'll take you to the mess hall and whip you something up."
The food would get Seven's mind off of the flashbacks. Kathryn meanwhile headed off to Engineering to check on the status of Voyager's cloaking systems. The Federation vessel was moving through a region of space controlled by the quite disagreeable species called the B'omar. The Federation had started up a program of probing space ahead of Voyager's path home using Warp 10 capable probes. Those probes had revealed a sensor net around B'omar space. Using this data on the sensor net Harry had confirmed that Voyager's cloak would be sufficient to get by the sensor net. The Federation vessel's path was designed to keep it clear of populated B'omar space as often as possible yet get through B'omar space as quickly as possible.
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The Mess Hall…
"What can I do for you today, Lieutenant?" Crewman Matthews asked Harry as the pilot and former drone entered the mess hall.
"Seven is ready to begin eating normal food and I told her I would whip her up her first meal," Harry explained. "If you don't mind," he added.
"Not at all," Matthews agreed, having tasted the pilot's cooking and admitting it was excellent. "I'll leave you in his very capable hands, Seven."
The Chef bustled off to continue with preparing the next meal. Harry took up an apron and set to work.
"Have a seat," Harry instructed as he carried Seven's plate along with his own over to a nearby table. Seven sat opposite her companion looking distinctly uncomfortable. "Relax, now cut off a bite like this," he said while demonstrating. "Put it in your mouth and chew before swallowing."
Harry demonstrated and Seven followed suit.
"That is a curious sensation," Seven declared in reference to swallowing solid food. As she took another bite and finished swallowing Seven went silent. Moments later a Borg implant shot through her skin at the top of her wrist and spread out like a metallic flower blossoming. Seven gasped in pain. Moments later she said, "You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile."
Seven stood and approached her mate. She reached and attempted to shove the wizard who had stood up when she had stood. Harry grasped Seven's extended wrist and twisted her arm behind her back. Seven attempted to wrench the arm free but found herself unable. She reached back with her other hand to fight him off but the warrior grasped that appendage. He took her legs out from underneath her and drove Seven to the ground. Seven bucked and fought but her companion was too strong for her. Harry touched what would appear to others to be a pressure point like Tuvok always used and Seven slumped unconscious. In actuality he had used a stunner to knock the blonde out.
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Seven came to awareness and found herself in the medical bay. She quickly sat up and found her worried mate standing next to her bed.
"What happened?" Seven asked.
"The few implants you had in you were picking up a subspace signal your subconscious recognized," Harry explained. "Unfortunately your implants couldn't fully resolve the signal into a particular direction so the implants directed the nanites in your system to reconfigure into a system that was capable of resolving a location."
"I remember now…I thought it was a Borg signal," Seven replied. "If it wasn't Borg then what was it?"
"An emergency signal from The Raven," Harry answered. "The ship your parents brought you to this region of space in."
"The vessel I was assimilated in," Seven realized.
"Yes," Harry confirmed. "We are over the planet The Raven has crashed on now."
"Lt. Paris has suppressed the nanites that were causing havoc in your body," the Doctor interjected at this point.
"We can go down to the planet and see the ship which brought you here if you would like," Harry offered.
Seven didn't answer aloud but only nodded her agreement.
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Seven stepped out onto the surface of the M-Class moon behind her mate. It was just her and the handsome pilot. The moon was orbiting the fifth planet of a system centered around a yellow dwarf star. A heavy mist hung in the air.
"It's this way," Harry directed while walking along the rocky crags of the lunar surface, following his personalized tricorder. The couple soon came into sight of The Raven. "It's partially assimilated by the Borg. No life signs are registering. Do you recall it?"
Seven closed her eyes for a moment before answering, "I have flashes of images showing this ship when it looked whole."
"Let's go inside," Harry suggested. "You might find something worth keeping."
Seven agreed with a nod and this time she took the lead. They found a tear in the side of the crashed vessel and walked in through the opening. Rubble was strewn about inside.
"I feel a sense of familiarity," Seven said as she walked slowly through the passages. They arrived on what was once the bridge. Seven walked up to a control panel with a flashing green strip of light and a quiet clicking sound. "This is the signal that my systems detected and which drew me here." She reached out and brushed off a keypad before typing in a command sequence. The signal shut off. Another vision caught Seven's mind in its grip showing her the scene from her past as her parents were taken by Borg drones on that very bridge and she cowered in a corner. Her parents were screaming for her to run and hide. "Papa," Seven said with confusion.
Harry pulled Seven into an embrace and whispered, "It's alright, Seven. There are no Borg here now."
Seven clutched at Harry as his strong arms encircled her upper body, providing comfort.
"This is where it all began. This is where I was assimilated," Seven explained in a quiet frightened voice.
"I know," Harry assured. "The bird you have seen in your visions. It was a Raven. Your subconscious knew that and associated it with this vessel which brought you here from Earth."
Seven nodded and added, "I remember having my birthday here. My cake had six candles on it and one more to grow on. My father conducted important experiments and we had to travel a long time to get here. Then the men came. Papa tried to fight them but they were too strong. I tried to hide. Maybe they wouldn't find me because I was little. But they did. The big man picked me up and I was transported away. Then I became Borg."
"You are no longer Borg but you bear the weight of what you were from your time among them," Harry replied. "I'm sure your parents left their personal effects here as well as your own things from when you were a child. The Borg would have no reason to disturb them. Let's go look."
Seven agreed and broke from the embrace. She still kept hold of Harry's hand though. They ended up finding a treasure trove of things which had belonged to Seven and her family. They were even able to recover digitized personal journals from the ship's computer, all of her father's research, and countless hours of family video. Seven's mother had been in charge of documenting the research and Mrs. Hanson had also documented her daughter's growth and their family life. Seven would come to appreciate this over the coming years. When they had transported all of the material up to Voyager the couple returned to the Federation ship which promptly resumed its journey back towards Earth.
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Stardate 51244.3…
The being a certain channel referred to as Path-Harry appeared in his new universe and found himself in the form of another Federation officer or rather he was an over five century old Harry Potter shape-shifted into the form of a Federation officer. The god quickly reviewed the memories from this version of himself and found that he was several centuries beyond the point in time he spent on the Enterprise NX-01. Given the fact that T'Pol, Hoshi, and several others had been the mates of this Harry Potter he knew this wasn't the verse he had left from. It was a different reality cluster in the Between but close by the cluster of the other Federation universe the Fey had made his home in.
Harry put those thoughts aside as he departed to find some of his mates in this universe. As he walked through the corridors towards where he could sense his mates the deity noticed dozens of aliens that didn't belong on the Starship Voyager. These alien beings were using phase-shifting cloaking technology and performing experiments on Voyager's crew. The native Harry had been aware of them and had been studying these aliens even as the aliens studied the Voyager crew. Native-Harry had been foiling the attempts to harm his crewmates. Harry decided to continue in this effort because it was quite honestly the path he would have taken. It was better to play along with the events of a universe he made his home in rather than a quick fix which would take away from his enjoyment of life. He would make sure no serious harm came to his shipmates.
"Aristotle," Harry called mentally over his neural link with the replicat.
"Yes Master," the replicat replied as he appeared so only the god could see him walking alongside the deity.
"Initiate temporal retrieval protocols on the mates of my native-self. He had a strong subconscious second-sight and I think he could actually foresee my arrival or at least that something would happen to bring his mates back to him without his intervention. He's quite fascinating," Harry directed.
"Yes Master," agreed the replicat before fading out of sight.
Harry found Seven of Nine and B'Elanna Torres, two of his mates in a Jeffries tube.
"What are you two ladies up to?" Harry questioned.
"B'Elanna was just enlightening me on the proper procedure for acquiring more power for the Astrometrics lab," Seven answered.
"I realize I got the same lecture about following proper procedure from Kathryn when I first started working on Voyager," B'Elanna admitted wryly.
Harry grinned and pointed out, "Turnabout is fair play."
The fey stepped forward between the two beauties and put an arm around each. He took first B'Elanna's and then Seven's mouths in a fiery kiss. Both women felt small climaxes shudder through them at the lip embrace.
"What was that for?" B'Elanna inquired.
"Just to remind me how lucky I am," Harry assured.
Suddenly B'Elanna felt a different and not so pleasant sensation wash over her. Harry turned his head and narrowed his eyes. Two of the alien scientists had just used an invasive scanner on B'Elanna. The aliens, a species' name which translated to roughly The Experimenters, realized something was wrong and that one of their subjects could see them. Before they could raise an alarm to their comrades they were gone, banished to a hell universe. Harry realized he might have been acting a bit rashly as a result of the affection he felt for his new mates. Native-Harry felt strongly for the beauties he shared his bed with and the divine being couldn't really blame him. They were gorgeous creatures physically, mentally, and spiritually.
"Do you sense something amiss, B'Elanna?" Seven inquired, quite perceptive and attentive to her friend's body language after having studied up on body language reading techniques shortly after becoming Tom's mate.
"No, nothing really," B'Elanna answered slowly. "I just thought I felt someone watching us."
Klingon battle awareness Harry thought might be the culprit. The aliens might be using sophisticated phase cloaking technology but they still were not wholly cloaked from detection to senses not in control of the conscious mind.
"How about I take you two ladies to lunch," Harry suggested.
"That would be agreeable," Seven replied.
Harry and B'Elanna grinned at the former Borg drone's typical response. When they arrived in the mess hall they found Kathryn sitting at a table with her head down and a cup of steaming coffee sitting nearby. B'Elanna and Seven took seats at the table while Harry went up behind Kathryn and began rubbing her shoulders. The Captain of Voyager tensed for a moment before relaxing when she recognized the strong hands of her lover.
"You have positively magical hands, Tom," Kathryn said, her voice muffled against the table. "But you really shouldn't be doing that in front of the crew."
"Given our position relative to Earth and the long journey ahead I think they had best get used to seeing you needing comfort. You're only human," Harry replied.
"It feels too good to stop you," Kathryn admitted.
"I'll bet," Harry agreed while he channeled his healing powers into Kathryn's form and shifted the ends of the experimentation instruments into a different phase so that she couldn't feel them at all instead of the traces which she had been feeling as headaches for quite some time now.
"You should take him back to our quarters. He could make you feel even better there," B'Elanna suggested, alerting Kathryn to her presence.
"He does give superb quality massages," Seven commented, feeling she should contribute to the conversation.
As if to prove their point the sex god channeled some of his power into Kathryn's flesh and stimulated her to orgasm with his mere touch.
"I would love to. But as soon as I try to relax I just know I'm going to get called to deal with something," Kathryn admitted.
As if his ears were burning, Chakotay's voice came over the com, "Bridge to the Captain."
"I'm here Chakotay, what is it?" Kathryn replied.
"We've reached the source of those energy readings and I thought you would like to see what we found," Chakotay explained.
"I'm on my way," Kathryn alerted. She stood with reluctance and noticed she suddenly didn't feel so well compared to when she was receiving a massage. "You're coming with me."
Kathryn took her lover's hand and started dragging him out of the mess hall.
An amused Harry said to Seven and B'Elanna, "Lunch will have to wait for another time ladies."
The amused blonde and brown haired females watched the couple go.
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"Binary pulsars," Chakotay announced as the image of the twin astronomical rarities orbiting each other was projected on the main view screen. Columns of light were projected out of the two opposing magnetic poles of the stars. A ring of matter orbited around the stars as they circled each other. "Gravitational forces between them are so intense that everything within fifty million kilometers is getting pulled in."
"We're well out of range," Harry observed as he approached the helm and looked over the shoulder of the Ensign manning the helm.
"Gamma radiation is high but as long as we are careful I think we can get some pretty valuable data," Chakotay suggested.
"I could also equip some Parris Array upgraded probes with a miniature version of a Promethium field and send them closer to the pulsars," Harry added.
"You can fit a Promethium drive on a probe?" Kathryn asked in amazement.
"No, but I can install resonators which we can charge up and synchronize with our drive which should offer protection as long as the probes don't get too far away. Think of it as quantum entanglement," Harry suggested.
"Amazing," Kathryn declared, meaning both her man and his inventions. "Do it. A holo-crewed ship will be dispatched to pick up the probe and take the readings. Meanwhile we will be continuing on our journey."
Voyager rarely slowed down for anything those days. The Federation starship was perfectly capable of interacting with the residents of the space it passed through via holo-crewed ships.
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A few hours later Harry was asked to come to sick bay.
"What can I do for you, Doc?" Harry asked as he walked into sick bay. The mage caught sight of an elderly man who he didn't recognize for a moment. Then the deity's senses told him who the elderly man was. "You look like shit, Chakotay."
"It's nice to see that I am still recognizable," Chakotay replied.
"Commander Chakotay is suffering bone decalcification, tissue necrosis, decreased visual acuity and all the other classic signs of aging," the Doctor explained.
"But the symptoms have developed within hours instead of decades," Denara pointed out.
"Do you have any theories as to how that is possible?" Chakotay questioned.
"There is a rare genetic disorder called Progeria which causes premature aging but only in children. There has never been a case of it in an adult," the Doctor said.
"Progeria was also eradicated two centuries ago," Harry pointed out. "I assume you performed a molecular scan on his DNA?"
"Yes, these segments of his DNA," the Doctor responded while indicating the nearby scanner monitor. "Regulate your body's metabolism. They have been hyper-stimulated somehow."
"Can you give me a prognosis yet or is it still too early?" Kathryn inquired.
"It's too early," Harry answered. "We need to do some more testing and a bit of research first."
"Denara and I concur," the Doctor added.
"Chakotay, you need to remain here while we perform more tests and so we can monitor your condition," Harry advised.
"Please keep me informed," Kathryn requested before leaving sick bay.
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A few hours later another crewmember arrived in sick bay with the same hyper-stimulation Chakotay had showed. This time it was Crewman Matthews, the ship's chef.
"These scans show that your DNA also seems to be hyper-stimulated, Crewman Matthews," the Doctor observed.
"The DNA that is being hyper-stimulated though isn't human," Denara pointed out.
"It's Xindi, more specifically Primate-Xindi," Harry advised.
Matthews was staring at himself in a mirror with horror.
"My great-great-great grandfather was a Primate-Xindi," Matthews volunteered.
"That explains where the hyper-stimulated DNA came from," the Doctor concluded.
"Your condition is stable for now, Crewman. Don't worry…we fully intend on reversing these anomalies," Harry assured. "For that we need to get back to work. Dr. Pel will look after you."
Matthews and Chakotay were not the last Denara had to handle while the research progressed. More afflicted crewmembers arrived as the day progressed.
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"I've almost got the electron-resonance scanner ready to go," Harry announced. "And here we go. As the ship's primary medical professional I will let you go first, Doctor."
The holographic physician stepped up to the scanner viewer and took a look.
"Can you give me more resolution so I can focus on the hyper-stimulated segments of Commander Chakotay's DNA?" The Doctor requested.
"There you go," Harry said after he had done as requested.
"There seems to be some kind of contaminant on the base pair sequence," the Doctor commented. "It didn't show up on the first scan."
"I'm giving you a closer look," Harry announced.
"I'm not sure what I'm looking at," the Doctor said several moments later.
"Let me take a look," Harry suggested. The two males switched out. Several moments later he declared, "It looks like an alien barcode."
The Doctor dug deep in his archives for a reference to barcodes and when he had accessed the information he added, "Yes, I can see the similarities. Maybe it is some kind of alien identification."
"This is nano-technology but on a scale that makes Borg nanites look gargantuan," Harry observed. The wizard walked around the scanner's console and began typing rapidly. The Doctor continued looking at the DNA barcode. "The majority of the barcode is out of phase."
"That would explain why my initial scans didn't reveal it," the Doctor suggested.
Even as the Doctor spoke Harry drew his tricorder and personal phaser and quickly modified the phasing beam's output pattern. The mage waved the tricorder around for a moment before quickly releasing two quick phaser shots. Two members of The Experimenters race lost their phase cloaks with startled looks. Harry rushed forward and delivered an uppercut that put the male Experimenter on the right out cold on the ground. A back fist sent the other hurtling into the nearest wall with enough force to induce unconsciousness.
"I need to get to my lab, Doctor," Harry announced. "We appear to have invaders. Mention nothing of this to the rest of the crew. If anyone asks say I'm running an experiment in my lab pertaining to these afflictions."
The startled holographic AI nodded his understanding. Harry swept from the room.
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"You asked to see me," Seven said to her mate as she walked into his lab.
"Yes, we have been invaded by a hostile group of aliens which call themselves The Experimenters," Harry explained calmly. "They use a cloaking technology which renders them out of phase with our sight range. I wish to modify your ocular implant so that you can see them. I would like you to explain this to the Captain while I go dispatch our unwanted guests."
As he spoke the warrior wizard lifted a sword that seemed to pulse with an odd light from one of his work surfaces. He tested the sword with a few quick swipes through empty air.
"I see," Seven replied, surprised at the amount of calm the genius male displayed. "Proceed."
Harry lifted a prepared device and modified Seven's implant. Her vision took on an orange hue.
"This phaser has been modified to destabilize Experimenter phase fields. One shot will destabilize the field and a second shot will kill," Harry directed.
"I will proceed straight to the bridge," Seven assured as she took up the pistol.
"I will be working," Harry announced grimly.
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"Any attempt to resist will be futile," the Experimenter leader declared.
The Experimenter had been revealed on the bridge shadowing the Captain by Seven as soon as the former Borg drone had stepped onto the bridge. Tuvok currently had a normal phaser trained on the Experimenter while Seven had the enhanced phaser aimed on target.
"I think you underestimate Tom Paris," Kathryn rebutted. "Now I demand you reveal your ship or ships at once."
Ignoring the demand the Experimenter replied, "If you don't resist the casualties will be kept to a minimum although some deformities may occur. We're simply scientists like you."
"From where we're standing you are a hostile invasion force," Kathryn rebutted.
"Captain, I believe words will not solve this situation," Tuvok advised.
"I think Tom is resolving it well enough by himself," HK announced. "I'm reading new bio-matter showing up all over the ship. It appears they are corpses. Dozens have appeared already. After Tom moves through a section new corpses appear."
"He's slaughtering your people," Kathryn informed the Experimenter leader grimly.
"He can't get them all. We'll destroy your ship first," the Experimenter replied, attempting to keep her worry off her face.
She was unsuccessful.
"Captain, I believe I can recalibrate the external sensors to detect their ship or ships provided they use the same phase technology," Seven suggested.
"Do it," Kathryn ordered.
It only took a few minutes before Seven's efforts had revealed the two small vessels. The vessels were attached to the hull of Voyager. The ships weren't large enough to transport the dozens that were onboard Voyager. It was obvious they had ferried the Experimenters onboard in smaller groups.
"Captain, Tom appears to be moving towards the alien craft," HK announced. "I'm reading over fifty bodies throughout the ship."
"Send crews out to clean up the ship. Space this trash. Tuvok, lead teams to claim the ships after Tom cleans them out," Kathryn ordered.
"And what of her Captain?" Tuvok inquired while gesturing towards the female Experimenter.
"Send her back to Earth for study with the next supply shipment," Kathryn replied.
Tuvok was perfectly aware that the Experimenter wouldn't survive the trip without extreme changes to her DNA due to the effects of unshielded above-Warp 10 space. He also knew his Captain was completely aware of that. Logically that meant Kathryn didn't want the Experimenter to survive unscathed. Tuvok would follow the spoken and unspoken commands. He set about following orders. Starfleet Command was happy with the two new phase-cloak equipped ships they got to study. That the leader of the assault on one of their vessels was mutated in transit didn't bother Command much. The Alpha Quadrant may have been a less hostile place with the influence of the Federation but the Delta Quadrant wasn't so lucky. The simple fact was Voyager didn't have the means to support long term prisoners. Releasing the Experimenter would be a bad idea given what had happened to her team. Nobody onboard Voyager thought any less of their resident genius. They were all just grateful he had dispatched the threat.
Seven, Kathryn, and B'Elanna were sure to show their man just how grateful they were later that evening. The Fey felt it was a great start to a new universe, a very welcoming start.
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Stardate 51268.4…
The senior crewmembers stood inside of Voyager's new Astrometrics lab.
"Space, the great unknown," Kathryn said. "Tom," she prompted.
A hologram of the galaxy floated above the large table shaped console in the center of the room. A walkway along one side of the room allowed those present to get a higher vantage point over the galaxy.
"Before there were maps and globes let alone subspace sensors mariners navigated by the stars," Chakotay explained. "We're returning to that tried and true method. But this time there is a difference."
"Lieutenant Paris and Seven of Nine have melded Starfleet and Borg science to create this new technology," Kathryn continued. "And I'm sure I speak for the entire crew when I say thank you." There was clapping heard throughout the room. "Now, how the hell does it work?"
"Astrometrics sensors measure the radiative flux of up to three billion stars simultaneously," Seven explained. "The computer then calculates our position relative to the center of the galaxy."
"This mapping technology is fifty times more accurate than what we have been using," Harry added. "Seven, will you do the honors?" Seven typed out a command sequence on the nearby console. "We've plotted a new course back to Earth."
"By my estimates this trajectory will eliminate five years from your journey," Seven announced.
"That region of space we're about to enter looks like it has a lot of M-Class planets," B'Elanna observed.
"It does," Seven confirmed while zooming the hologram into this region. Several smaller volumes of this region were highlighted in different colors. "Spatial grid 005, primary species the Zahl," she added.
"What do we know about this species?" Tuvok inquired.
"The Zahl are technologically advanced but are non-confrontational," Seven explained. "Their resistance quotient is quite low."
This last statement gave the others pause.
"Thank you all for coming. We have a lot of work to do," Chakotay broke the silence to say. "So…," he added before the Doctor interrupted.
"I'd like to say a few words if I may," the Doctor said. "I've prepared a speech for this occasion. When I was first activated, on Stardate 48315 and I found myself mono e mono with the Delta Quadrant I didn't think we would survive a week let alone three years. There was strife. There was discord. You were all at each other's throats. But over time I've had the pleasure and pride of watching this crew learn to work together as colleagues, even friends."
There was some mild clapping. The Doctor went silent and exchanged a look with Denara. Harry mouthed the words thank you to the Doctor's lover. It didn't take a genius of Harry's caliber to realize Denara had shortened the Doctor's usually longwinded speech down to something manageable. The group broke up. On their way back to the bridge Voyager made contact with a foreign vessel. When they arrived on the bridge they found this vessel firing on Voyager.
"They're firing on us, Captain," the Ensign on duty announced.
"It's a small vessel with fifteen life-forms onboard," Tuvok announced. "They have low Warp capacity and limited armaments. They pose no threat."
There was only a miniscule barely noticeable vibration as more weapons fire impacted against the Promethium drive's energy field.
"Open a channel," Kathryn instructed. A humanoid alien with spiral darker formations at each top corner of his forehead came on the screen. "Good day sir. Have we offended you in some way?"
"You will reverse course immediately," the alien demanded. "This region is in dispute. You have no business in Krenim space."
That word sent a chill down Kathryn's spine and caused Harry to pause. Kes had experienced one of her alternate timeline visions which warned of a species called the Krenim. The Krenim had caused great damage to that alternate timeline Voyager. But the vessel before Voyager was not capable of inflicting such damage. Kathryn glanced at her mate and noted the tension in his shoulders. She would tread cautiously and just hope he had made the modifications to the Promethium drive which should protect against temporal based weaponry.
"We were not aware this was Krenim space. Our information told us this was Zahl territory," Kathryn responded.
"The Zahl have no legitimate claim here. They have taken what is ours. Reverse course or be destroyed," the Krenim commander demanded.
"I'm afraid we can't do that," Kathryn replied.
In response the Krenim cut off the communication.
"They are in retreat," Tuvok announced.
"His bark is obviously worse than his bite," Chakotay suggested.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that. Before Kes left us she had a vision which showed the Krenim inflicting massive damage on Voyager in an alternate timeline," Kathryn warned. "In that timeline they had temporal based weaponry. Are the modifications to the Promethium drive you mentioned at that time complete, Tom?"
"Yes," Harry assured.
"Then maintain our course. Maybe the Zahl will be able to shed some more light on the situation," Kathryn suggested.
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Voyager met up with two Zahl vessels four days later. A Zahl Ambassador came onboard.
"As long as you travel in Zahl territory you travel among friends," Ambassador Jahal declared. "I apologize for your mishap with the Krenim."
"It isn't your fault. But we had intelligence which suggested the Krenim were a lot more powerful and had temporal based weaponry," Kathryn explained.
"That intelligence is quite out of date then," Jahal replied. "The Krenim dominated this space many years ago. They did possess deadly weapons based on temporal science. It kept them in power for a long time. Many years ago we fought the Krenim and took back the planets they had annexed. We dismantled their military forces. Their ships still wander our territory making grandiose claims. Don't let them trouble you. Now, tell me about Voyager. A single ship alone half a galaxy from home…how exciting for you."
Before Kathryn could respond the com system chirped.
"Bridge to Captain, sorry to interrupt, the Krenim vessel is back and they are demanding to speak with you," HK announced.
Harry followed Kathryn to the bridge along with Tuvok and Jahal.
"Hello again," Kathryn greeted the Krenim commander.
"You've ignored our warnings and now you consort with our enemy," said the Krenim.
"Leave this space or I will seize your vessel and send you home in a cargo container," Jahal warned.
"Jahal, please," Kathryn requested while gesturing towards him for patience. "Believe me, we're not conspiring against you."
The sensors beeped a warning moments before HK announced, "Captain there is a spatial distortion heading towards us. Whatever it is it's huge. It's five light-years across and expanding."
"Tracking its origin," Tuvok added. "It's a vessel near the Zahl home world."
Harry typed quickly and transported Jahal back to his ship.
At Kathryn's look the Fey explained, "The spatial shear from that wave front could kill the Ambassador if we tried keeping him within our shields."
"Spatial shear," Kathryn said with a questioning tone.
"It appears to be a massive buildup of temporal energy. It's some type of spacetime shock-wave," Tuvok added. "It's originating from a vessel near the Zahl home world."
"It's caused by a crude method of time travel. The vessel in question has semi-removed itself from the spacetime continuum. Then they destroy something with an antimatter beam. Antimatter is regular matter traveling back through time. Destroying something with this particular weapon will annihilate the object from the timeline. In this case I suspect they just destroyed the Zahl home world. The resulting change in history shunts the ship that is semi-removed from spacetime into the new timeline created from that change," Harry explained. "We're also currently semi-removed from spacetime with the temporal shielding modifications I made."
As the shockwave washed over Voyager and the surrounding space the view in the main view screen showed the Zahl vessels disappearing and the Krenim vessel undergoing a major upgrade. Voyager was unchanged. The connection with the Krenim ship in its previous form had been lost in the transition.
"We are being hailed," Tuvok announced.
"On screen," Kathryn prompted.
The same Krenim commander showed up on the screen but he was arrogant now and calm.
"Your presence in Krenim space has provoked our ire. State your identity and your reason for violating our borders," the Krenim demanded.
"My name is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager," Kathryn announced. "We are trying to get home by passing through your space."
"No," the Krenim interrupted. "You will submit to the Krenim Imperium. I would prefer to seize your vessel before it is too badly damaged. Surrender now and I will forgo the execution of your crew."
"I don't respond well to threats," Kathryn rebutted. To Tuvok she ordered, "Open up with the spatial disruptor, maximum power."
The resulting spatially oscillating beam saw the Krenim vessel turned to dust within seconds.
"Now they'll come for us," Harry announced.
"Who will come for us?" Chakotay asked.
"The Krenim ship which sent out that shockwave," Kathryn surmised.
"Tom is right. That vessel is on its way here but it can't move faster than Warp 6. We could outrun them," HK suggested.
"We could. But they're mucking about with time in this whole region of space," Harry pointed out.
"And we can't allow that. Can we take them?" Kathryn asked her mate.
"I believe we can, yes," Harry replied.
"Then we wait," Kathryn announced.
OP – Star Trek Voyager – OP – Star Trek Voyager – OP – Star Trek Voyager – OP
The much larger Krenim vessel showed up several hours later.
"That entire vessel is in a state of temporal flux. It's like they exist outside of spacetime," HK announced.
"They do partially," Harry confirmed.
"They're scanning us," HK said.
"They are attempting to transport out two crewmembers. I'm jamming," Harry said.
"We're being hailed," Tuvok announced.
"On screen," Kathryn commanded.
"State your identity," ordered the Krenim time-ship's commander, Annorax.
Kathryn stepped forward and looked over her mate's shoulder at his console. As they had planned as soon as the time-ship had gotten close enough her mate had begun hacking the vessel's systems. She saw the information she was looking for.
"I'm Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager, Annorax," Kathryn replied. The surprise showed on Annorax's features. "You've been at this for a long time."
The number of years on the pilot's console stood out at 200.
"I don't know how you know what you do but you have diverted me from my mission," Annorax stated.
"You didn't think you would be able to get away with toying with the timeline forever did you? And you have been using such a crude means of temporal travel too," Kathryn suggested.
"You know nothing of temporal mechanics," Annorax rebuked.
"On the contrary," Kathryn replied. "We know far more about temporal mechanics than you ever could hope to. You'll notice you haven't been able to shut down our shielding and kidnap two of our crewmembers despite your best attempts."
"You can't hope to withstand the power of this vessel," Annorax declared before cutting off the communication.
"I'm reading a massive energy buildup," HK announced.
"Don't worry…we're ready for this," Harry assured.
Moments later a visibly oscillating purple energy beam shot forth from the tip of the time-ship and washed over Voyager. The Promethium field, an angry red color, flared into visibility. Seconds later the spatial disruptor burst to life and returned the energy the Promethium field was absorbing right back to the Krenim ship but in a tightly focused beam. Within moments this beam had drilled through a spot in the Krenim ship's shield no bigger than a standard Federation shuttle. The disruptor beam drove through the side of the Krenim vessel and into its power core. A discharge of energy so intense it appeared as if a new star had blossomed was released when the temporal core powering the antimatter beam's oscillating mechanism went critical. The Promethium drive absorbed the shockwave as it washed over Voyager. There was a more profound effect which rippled across space in a region quite a few light-years big. Hundreds of years of temporal manipulations corrected themselves as the source of the disturbances was eradicated from the timeline.
"Let's get the hell out of this region of space," Kathryn urged.
"Yes Ma'am," Harry replied before taking Voyager back into Warp speed.
OP – Star Trek Voyager – OP – Star Trek Voyager – OP – Star Trek Voyager – OP
Stardate 51367.2…
Harry, Kathryn, B'Elanna, and Seven were enjoying a chance to do some shopping on the world of a friendly race named the Mari. The Mari were a fairly advanced race of telepaths. Harry was helping Seven with the purchase of some Mari fruits while B'Elanna and Kathryn bartered with a merchant named Guill.
B'Elanna suddenly let out a cry of pain and growled, "Hey."
A Mari male had shouldered into B'Elanna as he walked past.
"I'm sorry," the offender, a Mari man named Malin apologized.
Harry sensed Malin pick up on the violent thoughts B'Elanna was projecting and Malin quickly hurried away.
"Are you hurt?" Guill asked as Seven and Harry approached with their purchased fruits.
"No, no I'm fine," B'Elanna assured as her fiery temper calmed.
Guill's hands were on B'Elanna's shoulders. Harry sensed the Mari's telepathy was enhanced through touch. Using this touch Guill was probing B'Elanna's mind for the base of her violent thoughts, most recently stirred up by his associate Malin.
"It's been a pleasure doing business with you," Guill told B'Elanna as he broke contact.
B'Elanna's subconscious registered how creepy Guill made her feel even if her conscious mind didn't pick up on it. There was suddenly a loud commotion coming from nearby.
"Help me please," someone shouted.
Harry arrived on the scene to find a Mari man standing holding a bleeding head while Malin smashed a bunch of pottery.
Malin took the carved walking stick and stalked towards his victim while shouting, "This will teach you to watch where you're going you idiot!"
As Malin raised the cane to beat the Mari merchant further Harry's foot lashed out and delivered a precise blow to the side of Malin's head. Malin dropped to the pavement unconscious.
"Janeway to Voyager," Kathryn said after tapping her com badge.
"Go ahead, Captain," HK prompted.
"Chief Investigator Nimira and Tuvok need to return to the surface right now. There has been an altercation in the market place in the capitol," Kathryn instructed.
"Aye, aye, Captain," HK replied before cutting communications.
Tuvok had been giving the Chief Investigator of the Mari capitol a tour of Voyager. The pair arrived shortly.
"What has occurred?" Nimira asked as she noticed Voyager's pilot treating an injured man.
Several of the onlookers explained the situation to her. After the explanation was done B'Elanna asked a pertinent question.
"Why did everyone just stand around when Malin first attacked? Why did nobody help Bolip?" B'Elanna asked.
Bolip was the name of Malin's victim.
"Violence is almost unheard of on Mari. I'm sure everyone was shocked," Nimira explained. "When it does occur we investigate the circumstances thoroughly. I would like to ask Captain Janeway, Lieutenant Torres, Seven of Nine, and Lieutenant Paris to answer some questions."
"You have our cooperation," Kathryn replied.
"Chief Investigator, are you suspicious of my colleagues for some reason?" Tuvok inquired.
"No, Lieutenant. I am simply conducting an investigation," Nimira replied. "Please, follow me."
The Chief Investigator led the group to her law enforcement station. She took the group one by one into an interview room. Harry volunteered to be interviewed first.
"I will be monitoring your thoughts as we speak and this transcription device will record your engrimatic activity for later review," Nimira explained while gesturing towards a chair with two devices protruding from either side near the head. "How long had you been in the market place before the attack happened?"
"A little longer than an hour," Harry answered.
"Did you have a clear view of the attack?" Nimira questioned.
"Not initially," Harry said. "My companions and I approached only after we heard a commotion. We arrived on the scene and I intervened."
"What exactly brought you to the market in the first place?" Nimira asked.
"We wanted to obtain a sampling of Nimira goods while on your world to determine if any trade opportunities were available between your people and ours," Harry clarified.
"Had you ever seen either of the two men involved in the altercation before you intervened in their fight?" Nimira probed.
"No," Harry responded and it was the truth.
He had only sensed Malin bump into B'Elanna using senses other than his eyes.
"I think that is all the questions I have for you, Lieutenant Paris," Nimira declared. "Please send in Captain Janeway when you leave."
Harry did so. Apparently Nimira got more out of the others than she did Harry. It was at this point that the Chief Inspector revealed some startling news.
"Are you saying it is a crime on your world to even think about violence?" Kathryn asked incredulously.
"Yes," Nimira replied.
"That is utterly ridiculous," B'Elanna declared.
"I assure you these laws are quite necessary. We were once a society plagued by violence. When we prohibited hostile thought crime began to drop immediately," Nimira explained.
"I find that very hard to believe," Harry said.
"We have the statistical data to prove that over the next three generations violent crime dropped to almost non-existent levels," Nimira explained.
"We have conducted extensive studies in telepathy. In order for Malin to react so harshly to B'Elanna's thoughts the emotions of the thoughts would have had to get past his mental defenses. Malin may or may not have picked up on projected thoughts from B'Elanna. In either case he should have immediately purged the thoughts from his system," Harry pointed out.
"True," Nimira admitted reluctantly.
"I think it's far more likely Malin was intentionally probing B'Elanna's mind for violent thoughts and that destabilized her subconscious from being capable of filtering her emotions. I think Malin mind-raped B'Elanna," Harry suggested.
Harry was deliberately being a bit overdramatic to knock Nimira off guard.
"Why would he do such a thing?" Nimira demanded.
"If you tell a child not to do something they will immediately rebel against your directives. I suspect your culture is the same way with violent thoughts," Harry proposed.
"I find that very doubtful," Nimira rebutted.
"And I doubt your claims of your society being free of violent thoughts," Harry said.
"Chief Inspector, we are trying our best to respect your laws which we were not aware of. Perhaps we can conduct investigations on both your end and our end," Kathryn suggested.
"Fine, but Lieutenant Torres will have to remain in our custody," Nimira replied.
"I don't think so. If she was mind-raped I am not about to leave her within easy reach of foreign telepaths," Kathryn suggested.
Nimira glanced between the offworlders and saw the look in the eyes of Voyager's pilot. His eyes promised violence if she pressed the issue. Nimira shivered and decided she wouldn't push.
"Very well," Nimira agreed. "I will begin my investigation immediately."
"We will do the same," Tuvok said.
As the group left the law enforcement center B'Elanna said, "Thanks."
"Any time," Harry assured his lover.
OP – Star Trek Voyager – OP – Star Trek Voyager – OP – Star Trek Voyager – OP
"So how exactly does this device work?" B'Elanna inquired of her mate as she watched him assembling the components for his device which he had replicated minutes before.
"Telepaths use psionic energy to probe the minds of others. Psionic energy permeates through space well and reacts in a certain way with the psionic energy within the minds of those they are probing. Through the reaction of their psionic field with the psionic field of another being telepaths can either read or write to or from another's mind. Different types of mental processes generate a different psionic signature. Each person also has their own unique psionic signature. My device can identify people involved in psionic transactions and also what type of transaction occurred," Harry explained.
"It can do that even after all this time has passed?" B'Elanna asked fascinated despite her general dislike of telepathy.
"No, your psionic field has been altered too greatly. My device also takes advantage of my knowledge of temporal mechanics to search for signatures in the not too distant past," Harry replied. "There, it's done."
As the mage slotted the last piece into place and announced the machine's completion he picked up the spherical object.
"Great…can we go use it now," B'Elanna requested.
"I don't see why not. Let's transport down to the surface," Harry proposed.
The couple walked to the transporter room. Along the way Kathryn joined them, having been summoned by her mate. When they materialized in the same market where the whole mess inciting this incident had occurred Harry immediately spotted trouble. An old gray haired Mari woman was poised with a knife raised to the back of a much younger woman. Faster than his companions could follow the warrior held his phaser drawn and delivered a precise shot to the old woman. She dropped to the ground unconscious.
"What happened?" Talli, the bewildered almost-murder victim, asked as she turned around.
"She was going to stab you," Kathryn supplied even as Tuvok and Nimira arrived in the square.
"Tell me everything," Nimira requested as she realized something serious was going on. After the witnesses recounted what they knew Nimira turned to Harry hopefully and asked, "Will you help us with your device?"
"Yes, of course," Harry agreed.
He pulled out his tricorder and tapped out a sequence on the keypad. The telepathic scanner rose into the air and navigated over to where the altercation had taken place between Malin and his victim. Harry pressed another sequence on his tricorder and a dome of translucent energy swept out from the sphere. The dome played out for a dozen meters and glowing translucent beings materialized. The viewers quickly recognized those involved in the incidents which started the investigation. B'Elanna was shown as was Malin and Guill. Kathryn's translucent form was standing nearby. The scene progressed and played out as those present remembered it but fields of energy were visible flowing between the beings in the dome.
"As you can see the energy connecting Malin and B'Elanna is different from the others in the square. Malin intentionally invaded B'Elanna's mind to gain access to her emotions and thoughts. In doing so he opened himself up more fully to her emotions," Harry explained. The onlookers gasped as Guill's mental probe also speared into B'Elanna's mind. "And Guill did the same."
"You will never take me," Guill declared and turned to run.
Before he got two feet a phaser beam drilled into Guill's back. The beam had been fired by Tuvok.
"My investigations have uncovered evidence of an underground black market dealing in violent thoughts," Tuvok announced. "Mr. Guill appears to be a merchant of more than just visible wares."
"I must review your evidence," Nimira said, troubled.
"Of course," Kathryn agreed, stepping forward. "We can leave a Parris Array in orbit so that you can communicate with us and our home world. Tom has already agreed to provide his telepathic scanner in trade. We can deliver them via Warp 10 cargo shuttles. You will find it an invaluable tool in your line of work I imagine."
Harry wouldn't provide plans for the scanner due to the secrecy he felt necessary in the temporal technology. The scanners would be made on Potter's Moon.
"Thank you Captain and you Mr. Paris," Nimira replied. "I apologize on behalf of my people, Lieutenant Torres."
"I would just like to return to Voyager and get back on our way towards home," B'Elanna declared.
"I think we all feel the same," Harry added.
"Before you go could I have a word with you, Tuvok?" Nimira requested.
The Vulcan nodded and stepped aside before the others beamed back to Voyager. The Federation starship resumed its journey shortly after. Kathryn asked the Vulcan later about his last discussion with Nimira. The Chief Inspector wished to express her personal apologies to Tuvok. The Vulcan had wisely told Nimira that every culture had its dissidents no matter how much society may have liked to ignore them.
OP – Star Trek Voyager – OP – Star Trek Voyager – OP – Star Trek Voyager – OP
Rev 0 Posted 12/25/2015
Author's Note:
Check out my Facebook group Stargatesg1fan1's Fanfiction Works and Favorites.
Merry Christmas everyone! I decided to post a little early as a present which a lot of the other authors are doing. For those of you who ask me questions about specific Path verses I am no longer answering these in individual PMs. Instead when someone asks me about a potential Path verse I will go categorize it in a document on my Facebook group called Planned Path Verses & Other Verses. I'm simply tired of answering questions where nobody but the person who asked them can read them. Lol! I'm trying to save myself time. Multiple people are curious about the same verses.
Stargatesg1fan1