Disclaimer:
Paramount Pictures own all things Trek. I make no money from
this story. All characters besides the STV senior staff, are
mine. Do not archive or post anywhere else without my written
permission.
Betareaders:
Thanks to Pol, Snowolf, Jay, Glynis and Saffron. Any mistakes
lingering are purely my own!
Pairing:
J/7
Rating:
NC-17. Same gender love between adult, consenting
women.
Violence:
Yes, some. It's an action story.
Format:
Different fonts and background colour describe changes in past and present. I hope
this will work out well in simple html. Let me know if it
doesn't come out right. Thank you.
Summary:
An unexpected attack destroys the most joyous moment, so far, in
Janeway's and Seven's life. The consequences are devastating and
the crew is now held hostage, fearing their captain is dead.
Chapter
6
“What
the hell’s going on?” Tom Paris raised his voice over the
howling klaxons. “Are they under attack? Are we?” He
struggled to keep the stretcher with Harry Kim’s unconscious
body level.
“We
have to keep moving,” B’Elanna gasped, the pain in her side
making it almost impossible to speak. “So far they haven’t
spotted us.” Glancing back at Neelix, she was encouraged by
the sturdy Talaxian carrying the other end of the stretcher.
They
had just begun their dangerous mission of transporting Harry to
Voyager when a series of explosions shook the ground, smoke
billowing all around them. Realising the smoke hid them; they
had ignored the risk of inhaling it as they moved as fast as
possible for the now more or less obscured ship.
Looking
down at the pale face on the stretcher, B’Elanna’s eyes
narrowed. “Wait!” she called out, her eyes darting back and
forth as she looked for any signs of life in Harry. “He’s
not breathing!”
They
stopped in the middle of the tarmac, the smoke still cloaking
them. B’Elanna ignored her own pain and leaned over Harry. “Come
on, Starfleet,” she whispered before pinching his nose
together. She blew into his mouth twice. Harry did not move. B’Elanna
repeated the manoeuvre. Harry’s body tensed and he gave a
choked sound. “All right, he’s breathing, but barely,” B’Elanna
shouted. “Let’s move!”
She
couldn’t run, but walked as fast as her weakened body allowed.
The pain in her back and ribs made her head spin, but Harry’s
life was at stake and there was no way she was going to give up
on him.
They
reached the ramp leading up to Voyager’s shuttle bay. Huddling
behind two large crates, they squinted through the smoke coming
and going with the wind. “Where the hell is everyone?” Tom
asked. “No guards anywhere. I don’t like this.”
“There’s
no time for a break anyway,” Neelix urged. “Harry’s hardly
breathing. Come on, good people!”
B’Elanna
shook her head. “You go on. I have to rest. I can’t move,
but I’ll catch up with you. Get Harry to sickbay.”
“I
have a better idea.” Tom pulled out an item from his pocket.
Pressing a small button on a futuristic device, he produced a
sparse looking, semi-bald man.
“State
the nature of …” The Doctor caught himself. “B’Elanna.
Tom. Neelix. What’s going on?” He stared down at Harry for a
few second. “Have you moved him? Are you crazy?”
“Stop
chattering, Doc. You have to carry B’Elanna. We need to get
these two into sickbay.”
“Sickbay?”
The Doctor took another two seconds to take in the situation.
“Let’s go.”
B’Elanna
felt strong arms around her. The holographic man picked her up,
one gentle arm around her back, one under her knees. “You’ll
be fine, Lieutenant.”
So
many times she had yelled at this man, this wonder of a
hologram. And now I could kiss him. I truly love every single
member of this crew. B’Elanna hid her face against the
Doctor’s neck. “Thank you,” she whispered, not sure he
could hear her over the noise.
“You’re
welcome,” the Doctor murmured, his voice reverberating through
her chest.
Soon
the familiar surroundings of Voyager met them as they reached
the top of the ramp. Tom and Neelix panting hard while they
struggled with the stretcher. “Still no guards,” Tom
reported. “Computer. How many bio signatures are onboard?”
There was no response from the main computer. “Computer. Run
diagnostic of the mainframe.” Still nothing. “Oh, well.
Better keep moving.”
They
ran through the corridor, Harry’s body now still and white.
Stopping by a turbo lift, Neelix punched in commands into the
console. “It’s working.”
“You
can let me down,” B’Elanna suggested, moving in the Doctor’s
arms. “I can walk.”
“You’re
fine. Just relax, Lieutenant.” The Doctor held her tight. “Conserve
your strength. We will soon need your services.”
Finding
it easier to obey for the moment, B’Elanna looked at Tom. “At
least we’re home,” she sighed. “As it is.” Tom nodded
solemnly, and for the first time, B’Elanna noticed the changed
expression on his face. Her boyish lover seemed to have turned
into a serious, aged man. “How’s Harry?”
“He’s
breathing, but that’s about it,” Neelix replied.
The
turbo lift doors opened and they stepped inside. Neelix punched
in new commands while Tom tilted the stretcher to accommodate
for the length of it, B’Elanna watched Harry’s slumped body
with concern. “He’s not falling off, is he?”
“No,
we strapped him onto it pretty good,” Tom assured her, tipping
Harry’s head back. “Damn it, he’s in bad shape.”
The
Doctor put B’Elanna down, and moved closer to Harry. “His
heart can’t take much more of this.”
“Deck
four.” The computer’s unexpected voice startled all of
them. The door opened and Tom and Neelix manoeuvred the
stretcher while the Doctor stuck his head outside. “Looks
clear. No aliens.”
The
group made their way to the doors leading into sickbay. “Computer,
unlock and open.” When there was no response, the Doctor had
to use the emergency handles kept behind a small hatch in the
wall to pry them open.
B’Elanna
kept her fingers on the fluttering carotid pulse on Harry’s
neck. His skin was cold and clammy to the touch, but the thing
scaring her most of all was the bluish tint to his pale
complexion. The men placed the stretcher on a bio bed while the
Doctor searched the looted room for any type of medical
equipment available. “They have not left much,” he scolded.
Moments later, he found a medical tricorder on the floor behind
a work console. The Doctor approached the main biobed. “Get
him off the stretcher. I think the biobed is intact and I need
him on it in order to get proper readings.”
Tom
and Neelix rushed to follow his instructions. B’Elanna wanted
to help, but was forced to find a stool to sit down, her legs
giving in again.
After
scanning Harry, the Doctor’s hands moved faster, plucking
among the medical equipment at his disposal. “He’s
electrolytes are low, his vital signs are failing and there is
not one organ operating normally.”
“Can
you do anything?” Neelix paled and leaned hard against the
bed. “It can’t be too late.”
“I’m
not sure we got him here in time,” the EMH sighed, “but I’ll
do anything I can.” He punched in commands into the biobed,
sending an arch up over Harry’s chest. “The ventilator will
assist his breathing, and put less strain on his heart, keeping
him saturated with O2. In the meantime, I need a hypo spray and
several vials of saline, potassium, and TPN.”
Tom
nodded. He moved over to the counter, pulling out drawers. A
relieved look on his face appeared and he waved several vials at
them. “They didn’t want these, apparently. Maybe they didn’t
know what they were. What medication do you want, Doc?”
“Give
me the whole box,” the Doctor huffed. “I fear he’s going
to need all of them.”
“B’Elanna,
are you all right?” Neelix walked over to her. “You look
awfully pale.”
“My
back hurts.” B’Elanna coughed. “I need something to keep
me going. I have to get to engineering.”
Tom
came up to her, loading yet another hypo spray. “Okay if I
give her some pain relief, Doc?”
“A
mild one, if the lieutenant means to keep focused.”
“Understood.”
Tom pressed the cold nozzle to her neck and B’Elanna felt the
icy hiss against her skin. Within seconds most of the pain was
gone and she could straighten her back. “Good. I guess you
have to stay here with the Doctor and work on Harry. Neelix, you
come with me. I have to see what they’ve done with my warp
core.” She walked over to the EMH, squeezing his shoulder with
a gentle hand. “Any hidden weapons in here, by any chance?”
“This
is a sickbay, not a …” He stopped, a sorrow tinted smirk on
his face. “Look in the third stasis chamber. Since the Kazon
attack the first year, I’ve kept a few phasers lying around.”
Neelix
moved with rapid, short steps over to the hatches, opening the
third one. Reaching inside, he felt around, a broad grin on his
face as he pulled our three phasers. “Here, Lieutenant,” he
said, offering B’Elanna one and then Tom the other. “I’ll
keep one as well. Shall we go, before your medication wears off?”
B’Elanna
nodded briskly. “Yes. Set the phaser to heavy stun, Neelix. We
don’t know who we’ll run into.” Kissing Tom hard on the
lips, she moved towards the door. “We can’t communicate yet,
but unless they looted my desk of everything, there should be
extra comm badges. If I can get the computer up and running, I’ll
site-to-site transport some to you. See you later.”
Making
sure the corridor was empty; B’Elanna raised her phaser in a
defensive position and motioned for Neelix to join her. It was
time to check the damages.
***
Seven
knew the nanoprobes were still functioning at peak performance.
They kept her erect and there was no pain from where her wrists
were attached to the glass poles. If they could only sedate
the hurt and anguish of my heart. Kathryn. She knew to the
sixth decimal of a second how much time had elapsed since the
men left, but she did not care. Nor was she nervous about what
may happen to her in this chamber. The multicolour diodes kept
changing colour into different patterns and sometimes they
switched off, rendering the room complete darkness.
It
was hard not to think of Kathryn. The happiness of their
engagement party, torn to shreds by the alien attack, which had
kept them apart for more than two months. I would give
everything to know she is uninjured. I would sell my soul back
to the Borg if I knew it would bring Kathryn and the crew to
safety. No sacrifice is too much. One deep sob was all Seven
allowed herself before pressing her lips together. She was not
going to cry. If she started, she would not be able to stop.
Seven forced herself to think of happy moments, and there were
plenty to choose from.
The
night before the party, Kathryn had made such passionate, tender
love to her. Replicated candles sat in every corner of their
bedroom as the captain undressed Seven with tenderness, placing
kisses on ever part of her revealed skin. “You’re so
beautiful,” Kathryn whispered. “You smell wonderful.”
Seven
stood still in the middle of the bedroom floor, comfortable in
letting her lover push the blue bio suit down her hips. Kathryn
was dressed in only a robe, coming straight from the sonic
shower. Her auburn hair glistened when the candles found
highlights, making them sparkle. “You are the one who is
beautiful,” Seven murmured. “You are the essence of beauty
to me.”
Stopping,
Kathryn rose and cupped Seven’s cheeks. “I am? I think you’re
biased, darling, but I know it’s true for you. You never lie.”
Never.
I have never deliberately lied to you. I have hidden things, for
reasons of self-preservation, when I thought you may not
understand. Seven regarded Kathryn with moist eyes as the
captain leaned down and liberated her from her bio suit and the
boots. Kissing her way up, she elicited a moan of pleasure from
Seven, nuzzling the lanky body.
“Tell
me what you want, darling.” Kathryn wrapped her arms around
her lover’s waist, holding the naked body close while leaning
back to meet her eyes. “Tell me how you want me to make love
to you tonight. I’ll do anything for you.”
Something
twitched and burned between Seven’s thighs at the words,
spoken in such a throaty, lustful voice. “Anything?”
“Absolutely.
There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”
Searching
her mind and heart, for options, Seven thought her nanoprobes
might close her system down as a multitude of suggestions
surfaced within zero point five seconds. Examining them one by
one, she was at a loss what to choose. “I am not sure.”
“Should
I romance you? Ravage you? Bathe you?”
Her
eyes widening, Seven raised her optical implant. “Bathe me?”
“I
know your nanoprobes keep you immaculate and pristine every
minute of the day, but there is something to be said for a hot
bath to just relax and enjoy the moment.” Kathryn smiled. “Want
to try?”
Seven
had taken baths before, since sharing the large tub with her
lover was such a delight. “Yes. I would like to try this. Will
you come into the bathtub with me?”
“Do
you want me to?” Kathryn’s eyes darkened.
“Yes.”
Taking
Seven by the hand, Kathryn led her into the bathroom connected
to the bedroom. Punching in commands, water rushed into the
large, rectangular tub, filling it in less than a minute. “Temperature
all right?” Kathryn asked.
Feeling
with her human hand, Seven nodded. “It is agreeable.”
The
sight when Kathryn let her robe fall to the floor, made Seven
gasp out loud. The naked body next to hers was trim and firm,
certainly well kept for a woman in her mid forties. Average,
soft breasts over a stomach with a slight convex curve, thin
auburn curls at the apex of Kathryn’s thighs, Seven wanted to
touch and taste it all.
“Get
in.” Kathryn nudged her with warm hands. “I’ll slip in
behind you.”
Usually
they bathed the other way around, with Seven, being the taller
of the two, behind Kathryn. “Very well.” Accommodating her
lover, Seven climbed into the tub, sitting down in the hot,
scented water. Reaching up, she held Kathryn’s hand as the
other woman slipped in behind her.
Seven
felt Kathryn’s legs stretch out along both sides of her, the
curls on her sex pressing into Seven’s buttocks. Unable to
suppress another moan, Seven shuddered.
“Am
I turning you on, sweetheart?” Kathryn’s throaty voice asked,
teasing in her trademark gentle fashion, like her lover
sometimes did when they were alone.
It
has the desired effect, Kathryn. “Yes.”
No lies, ever.
“Oh,
God, darling.” Kathryn’s greedy hands rose quickly from the
water and took hold of Seven’s breasts, cupping them,
massaging them, finding the stiffened peaks and tweaking them
even harder.
Seven
leaned back, careful not to press to hard against Kathryn.
Moaning, she arched into the touch, delighted at the rough
attention her lover paid her breasts. She knew without having to
look how dark pink her usually pale nipples had become.
Kathryn
nibbled at her shoulder with sharp teeth, as her lover let one
hand slip down Seven’s abdomen, reaching soft, blonde hair.
“Let
me in.” Dark and hoarse from arousal, the voice behind Seven
commanded her without effort.
Spreading
her legs, bending them at the knees, Seven opened herself to
Kathryn’s hand. Unwilling to wait, the hand moved further
down, in between folds slick from something other than the
water.
“So
accessible. So ready.” Kathryn pushed her fingers forward,
sliding them up and down on either side of the engorged
clitoris.
Seven
whimpered almost inaudibly, feeling how she grew harder, wetter.
“Take me, Kathryn, please?” she begged.
“Yes,
darling.”
And
Kathryn took her, over and over. Her lover pressed several
fingers into her, thrusting, flicking her thumb over Seven’s
aching clitoris, building the pressure until she was trembling
all over.
“Move
a little, darling.” Taking advantage of the spacious tub,
Kathryn managed to move on top of her lover, one arm around
Seven’s narrow waist, one hand buried between her legs. “I
love you, Annika.” There was no doubt in the other woman’s
voice. “I love you more than life. I’d do anything for you.
Anything.”
The
orgasm made Seven lose control. Unlike her usual contained ways,
she allowed the startling pleasure to take over, disconcerting
her enough to give a sharp scream. Clasping down on Kathryn’s
fingers, still caressing that spot within her, which made her
convulse over and over, Seven rode the waves, mindless and only
aware of her own pleasure.
When
she began registering her surroundings, she heard Kathryn call
out her name in a deep, husky voice, the other woman straddling
a long, slender thigh, pressing against it. “Seven!”
Raising
her head, Seven stared with unseeing eyes on the shifting
pattern of the diodes. She had carried Kathryn to bed, only to
commence licking every drop of water from her slick body. When
she finally locked her mouth onto Kathryn’s sex, it had been
the start of a series of orgasms intense enough to almost render
the captain unconscious.
She
froze in place between the poles. A faint hum, increasing in
frequency, reverberated throughout the chamber. Seven felt it in
her soles of her feet, and up her legs. Kathryn. Will I ever
see you again? What will happen to me, to us? At least, if I
expire today, I know you know…I love you.
***
“I’ve
never been onboard anything so advanced,” Mirish stated as she
crawled behind Janeway through a Jeffrey’s tunnel toward the
bridge. “Our space crafts are ancient, compared to this.”
Janeway
grimaced at the pain in her knees, but kept the speed up,
knowing every minute counted. “She’s an intrepid class
vessel. When we left our home world she was state of the art.”
Stopping just inside a hatch, Janeway debated whether to
continue in the corridor on the other side, or climb the ladder
next to her, to another level within the Jeffrey’s tube
system.
“We
can’t afford detection, Captain,” Kingas warned, raising an
eyebrow. “How far is it to the bridge?”
“Two
decks up, and at least two more tubes like the one we just
crawled through,” Janeway estimated. “We have to move
faster. We don’t know how long we have before they discover
the guards.”
“It
was mayhem out there. I doubt if they’ll notice for a while
yet. But let’s go, then, Captain.”
Janeway
reached for the ladder, beginning her ascent. Her heart raced at
the familiar scent and feeling of her beloved ship. Having been
away from Voyager for so long made it seem almost surreal to
once again being inside the vessel. The main computer did not
respond to hail, which worried her. The aliens had had plenty of
time to cause damage to every system.
It
didn’t seem as if the aliens had bothered examining the
Jeffrey’s tubes. The panels were intact and there was no
debris, as there had been in the corridors. Poor Voyager looked
slaughtered, with loose wiring hanging from the consoles
throughout the ship. After going down the main corridor, distant
voices had made Janeway choose another, safer route to the
bridge.
Finally
they reached the hatch leading out underneath a console in her
ready room. Listening with her ear pressed hard against the
hatch, Janeway couldn’t make out any voices or other signs of
any aliens present. She punched in command codes, making sure
nobody could open the hatch once she closed it behind them.
Opening it a crack, she saw the room was empty. She climbed out
and extended a hand to Mirish and then Kingas, pulling them out
of the tube before the hatched locked behind them.
The
ready room was destroyed. There was no other word for it. Every
piece of technology was gone and the aliens had broken her desk
when trying to remove it. Spying something red on the couch
beneath the view port, Janeway saw it was the one of her uniform
jackets. She hurried over and slipped it on. It was impossible
to zip it up, due to the bulkiness of the coverall, but it didn’t
matter. The awareness of her uniform made her feel as if she
took back her captaincy. After two months of fighting alone for
her life in the jungle, she needed the reassurance to help her
step back into command.
Gesturing
for the other two to remain quiet, Janeway pulled a weapon from
her belt, setting it to kill before moving toward the bridge.
The door didn’t open automatically. Grunting in annoyance,
Janeway grabbed a suction device from a small cabinet, attaching
it to the door. Pressing it open, Janeway looked out on the
bridge. A dark figure moved over by the ops station. Hesitating
only for a second, she noticed it was one of Masier’s men,
about to pull out circuits from Harry’s consol.
“Step
away from the computer.” Janeway’s voice was filled with
rage, apparently startling the alien. “Move!” She directed
her disruptor towards him.
“Who
are you?” The mercenary demanded, sounding surprised and angry.
“How the hell did you get in here?”
“I
won’t tell you again. Step away from the console.”
Instead
the bulky man reached for a weapon attached to his well equipped
harness. Janeway didn’t hesitate. Firing continuously, her
upper lip pulled back in a snarl, she sent him flying into the
console behind him.
“Captain,
stop! Enough! He’s dead.” Kingas tugged at Janeway, pulling
her out of the red haze. “We don’t have much time.”
Janeway
tossed the weapon onto the captain’s chair and moved behind
Tuvok’s tactical station. Punching in commands, most of them
by chance since tears of fury and fear rose in her eyes, Janeway
began running a simple diagnostic to see what was working or
not.
“Mirish,
secure the door leading out of here.” Kingas walked over to
Janeway’s ready room, peaking inside the open door. “Clear!”
“The
only other door out of here seems to be this one,” Mirish
pointed toward the turbo lift.
“There’s
a door through the conference room as well. I’ve put a lock on
it.” Janeway blinked the tears away. “The computer is coming
online, but that also means anyone paying attention will know
someone’s onboard.”
“Can’t
be helped.” Kingas examined Seven’s console behind the
command chairs. “Can we get the big screen online?”
“I
think so.” Janeway scrolled down the system files, overriding
a set of commands, only to find circuits missing in so many
places around the ship, she wondered if it was going to be at
all possible.
“Computer
online. Requesting command code.” The pleasant female
voice of Voyager’s main computer startled Kingas and Mirish,
making them raise their weapons.
“Damn,
that wasn’t funny.” Kingas frowned, walking over to Janeway.
“Is it operational?”
“I
have an overview of the compound on short range sensors,”
Janeway stated. “Computer. On screen.”
The
sight meeting them on the main screen at the front of the bridge
was unbelievable. Janeway stared at the tall flames raging,
having spread to the barracks. Mercenaries were trying to round
up the Voyager crew escaping the fire, the smoke and flames
making this task impossible. “Oh, God,” Janeway breathed.
“What the hell was in the ammunition storage that would spread
the fire like that?”
“I
don’t know,” Kingas said, her voice grim. “But look!”
She pointed to the corner of the screen.
To
Janeway’s amazement it looked as if several of the Voyager
crew were systematically attacking the Sidiors. Hiding behind
debris, risking being too close to the burning structures, men
and women surprised the unsuspecting men, disarming them.
“Gutsy
people, your crew,” Mirish offered.
Janeway
broke out of her reverie, staring at the console before her. “Computer.
Give me the number and location of the bio signatures on
Voyager.”
“Sixteen
alien signatures found. Four in the officer’s mess hall. Eight
in cargo bay two. Four in engineering. Two human signatures
found in sickbay. One Klingon/human hybrid signature found in
Jeffrey’s tube 17A. One Talaxian signature found in Jeffrey’s
tube 17A.”
Janeway
drew a deep breath. “Damn it, my chief engineer is onboard.”
Relief mixed with worry flooded her veins. “Jeffrey’s tube
17A leads to the aft of engineering. She might be on her way to
her post. She and … Neelix? They won’t stand a chance
against four of the mercenaries!”
Kingas
pulled out yet another disruptor, switching it on with a
distinct hum. “Then we just have to help her, don’t we?”
