"Sailor Trek: Voyager" By Bill Harris
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Sailor Trek: Voyager
By Bill Harris
Chapter 7 -- The Face of the Enemy
PG13
Tuxedo Mask grunted in surprise as he hit the ground hard. He glared at Chakotay, who had pulled him roughly down. "What are you --" he began, his voice harsh.
Chakotay quickly covered the younger man's mouth. "Quiet!" he said in a low voice. Then he pointed over to their right. "We've got company."
Tuxedo Mask glanced in that direction and was immediately grateful that at least Chakotay had been paying attention, for one of the Negaran soldiers could be seen moving in the distance. "I can't believe I missed him," he muttered, chagrined.
"I wouldn't worry about it. You do have other things on your mind at the moment." Tuxedo Mask couldn't help but agree. The foremost thing on his mind had been to get to Sailor Moon as fast as possible. "The important thing is that they haven't spotted us." Chakotay added a mental
I hope while he tapped his comm badge. "Chakotay to Tuvok, respond quietly."
"Tuvok here," came the muted response. The Vulcan may have only been masquerading as a Maquis, but he would have made a good one, Chakotay mused.
"We've got hostiles approaching the shuttle. We could use some helping hands here."
"Understood," Tuvok replied. "We're on our way and should be there shortly. Tuvok out."
Chakotay got up and crouched down beside a nearby tree, eyes constantly looking about for other Negarans. Tuxedo Mask took a position next to him. "I hate to be a pessimist, but even with all the other crew here, what can they do to help? You've only got three phasers among you and they're not exactly much use against the Negarans."
"If phasers don't work, then we'll use sticks and stones. Or even our bare hands." Chakotay looked him right in the eye. "One rule that both Starfleet and the Maquis both shared: we don't abandon someone just because the odds are against us."
"I wasn't suggesting that you not help them," Tuxedo Mask replied.
"I know you weren't. But-" Chakotay never got to finish his statement, for now Tuxedo Mask dove into him, sending him sprawling on the ground. The reason was readily apparent as several energy bursts slammed into the tree he had been next to. Tuxedo Mask leapt to his feet, ready to do battle with the Negarans. Meanwhile, Chakotay readied himself to help him in any way he could.
Even if it meant using his bare hands...
Not far from their position, the Shepard, or what was left of it, lay on the planet's surface. The fuselage was still intact; which was miraculous considering it had plowed a deep furrow in the ground upon impact, completely shearing off the engine nacelles. The door opened partway, then jammed. This was quickly rectified by a pair of gloved hands that grabbed the door and forced it the rest of the way open with a shriek of tortured metal. Jupiter leapt out of the wreck and looked about. "Man, I'm glad to be out of there."
"You're not the only one," Sailor Moon observed as the others followed her outside. Sailor Moon and Mars assisted Janeway while Venus aided Paris outside. Mercury followed them, bringing with her the shuttle's emergency medical kit. Thanks to their enhanced abilities none of the Scouts had been seriously hurt by the crash, but both Starfleet officers were groggy at best. Janeway was sporting a large bruise over her left eye, but Tom obviously had the worst of the crash, as was evidenced by a rather nasty cut on his forehead.
Venus took one look at the shuttle and grimaced. "Any landing you can stalk away from is a good landing, I guess."
"Any landing you can walk away from," Mercury corrected her while she examined Tom's injuries. Fortunately there didn't seem to be any signs of a concussion. She fished into the medkit for a dermal
regenerator and began applying it's healing beams to the head wound.
"We were lucky," Tom said. "If the captain hadn't managed to bring those thrusters back online..."
Janeway shook her head. "It wasn't me, Tom. My controls were completely out."
The helmsman frowned. "Then who..?" Mercury clicked off the regenerator. Satisfied that the instrument had done it's work, she went over to Captain Janeway.
"It must've been me," Venus said, beaming.
In the middle of conducting a scan of the captain, Mercury almost dropped her computer while the other Scouts stared at Venus in shock.
"You?" Mars eventually choked out.
"Yep. During the crash, I tried to help out by fiddling with the panel next to me. Nothing was happening so I finally gave it a good solid whack." She demonstrated by slapping the flat of her palm against the shuttle hull. "That's when Tom said he got some thruster control back."
Silence came over the group while they struggled to accept what she had said. Finally Jupiter spoke. "I guess the shuttle's systems were so badly damaged, the only thing she could do to them was get them
to work."
"Yeah. There wasn't any way she could make it any worse," Mars agreed.
"Hey!"
"It doesn't matter how it happened, whether Venus shocked the thrusters back online or it just boiling down to good old fashioned luck," Janeway said. "All that matters is that it worked and we managed to get down in one piece." Mercury silently agreed with her as she got back to completing her scan. It seemed that the captain had gotten away with nothing more than a serious bruise which could easily be treated by...
She blinked. For a brief- a very brief- moment, Captain Janeway's EEG had fluctuated, showing once more the double pattern she had seen on the bridge. For the moment, she decided to say nothing, but she knew she'd have to speak to Tom about it at the first opportunity.
Seemingly unaware of Mercury's concern, Janeway did notice that Tom was gazing ruefully at the wreckage of the
Shepard. "Something wrong, Mr. Paris?"
"I was just getting to like that shuttle," Tom responded. "It was almost broken in."
Janeway smiled slightly and patted the helmsman on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Tom. We'll just build a replacement..." Then, sighing, she added, "...again."
"Again?" Mars asked. She glanced back and forth at the two Starfleet officers. "The way you two are talking, you'd think you go through shuttles the way Serena goes through her lunch."
"I heard that, Mars," Sailor Moon growled at her.
"Not now, you two," Mercury said. "We don't have any time for this."
Janeway nodded in agreement as she got to her feet. "Mercury's right. We need to get all the phasers out of the shuttle that weren't damaged in the crash, along with anything else we can use and then get out of here. Someone was bound to have seen the shuttle go down, so we're very likely to have visitors soon. And I don't think they'll be the friendly type."
Her words proved prophetic, as several Negaran energy bolts shot into the area. Through sheer happenstance most of them only struck nearby trees or the shuttle's hull, but one struck Sailor Jupiter and knocked the tall Scout roughly to the ground.
"Jupiter!" cried out Sailor Moon. Immediately she went to her friend's side as did Paris. Janeway took up a defensive position while Venus and Mercury followed Mars' lead and cut loose themselves at the attacking aliens.
"Jupiter, are you OK?" Sailor Moon asked. Paris was already scanning her with the medical tricorder and was relieved to note that the blast hadn't caused any significant damage.
"Oh, I'm fine," Jupiter growled, gritting her teeth, her hand rubbing the area the blast had struck her in the side. "But
they're not gonna be!" With that, she leapt to her feet, shoving her way past the two of them. Paris could feel static electricity building up as electrical arcs played around Jupiter.
"JUPITER THUNDERCLAP ZAP!" she cried, flinging her attack into a group of the aliens. There was a loud explosion as the electrical discharge went off among them. When it cleared, several of the attackers could be seen lying motionless on the ground.
But more of the aliens came out into the open, more than enough to replace those Jupiter had felled. Several of them moved rapidly at her, hoping that she proved less deadly in hand to hand combat. Jupiter quickly showed them just how empty that hope was as she quickly disarmed one and then, using a
mok'bara throw Worf had taught her, used that particular Negaran as a weapon against his fellows.
Taking cover by the Shepard, it was near impossible for Janeway to tell how the others were doing, as the battle around the shuttle was becoming extremely chaotic. She could hear the Scouts utilizing their powers all around her, but as was the case in most battles, there was little she could do at the moment other than try and deal with the adversaries nearby. One appeared in front of her, ready to rush her position and she took aim at it, but was taken aback when a fair sized rock struck the Negaran square in the middle of it's forehead. "Hah! Take that, you offspring of a Kazon!" a very familiar voice cried out.
Janeway turned towards the source. Sure enough, to her great joy she saw... "Neelix!"
The Negaran did not seem impressed. In fact, it seemed downright outraged at the Talaxian's attack, even if it didn't understand his verbal gibe. It brought it's staff down sharply, sending a bolt of energy at the Talaxian. But Neelix was far more nimble than it had supposed, and he ducked down behind a small rockpile. The energy bolt passed over his head and exploded harmlessly against a nearby tree. Neelix peered back over the rocks at the Negaran. "Missed me," he taunted the alien.
Undaunted, the Negaran raised it's staff to try again, but this time a flash of red hit the crystal at it's apex. The crystal fell from the staff to the ground, cloven in two. The object that had sliced through
it continued unhindered, embedding itself in the ground.
"A rose?" Sailor Moon felt her heart leap for joy upon seeing it, for it could only mean one thing. She looked up in the direction it had been thrown from. Sure enough, high up in the trees was... "Tuxedo Mask!"
The tuxedo clad warrior leapt down among several Negarans and his cane flashed about him, knocking several of the aliens to the ground.
In almost the same instance, two dozen Voyager crewman popped up from seemingly nowhere and pelted the Negarans with a hail of rocks.
Thrown into a tumult of confusion by this sudden turn of events, the alien assault faltered. Sensing the opportunity to drive the aliens off altogether, Janeway cried out, "Now! Everyone attack at the same time!"
"We're on it, Captain," Sailor Moon responded, already beginning the process of launching her own attack. "MOON SPIRAL HEART ATTACK!"
In nearly the same instance, the attack cries of the other Scouts rang out through the area.
Between the Scouts' earlier efforts and this sudden barrage, the Negaran leader realized that her force had been cut nearly in half and what was left had been thoroughly disheartened. She called out in a loud, shrill voice for a general retreat.
"That's it, run!" Jupiter shouted after the withdrawing aliens.
"Unfortunately, I have a bad feeling they'll be back," Paris said. "And probably with reinforcements."
"I wouldn't worry too much about that, Lieutenant," Neelix said. The Talaxian was smiling, glad to be reunited with some of his shipmates and with his own performance in the recent battle. "I'm sure we'll be long gone by then."
The conversation may have continued, but it was interrupted by a loud (and joyful) cry of "Darien!" All eyes turned towards the source to see Sailor Moon bounding towards Tuxedo Mask and seized him in a tight hug.
"I'm... glad to... see you too, Serena," he managed to get out. "But... I can't...
breathe."
"Oops." She relaxed her grip slightly, but still kept her arms around him. "Sorry about that."
Janeway turned from the happy reunion and regarded her first officer with a broad smile. "The idea was for us to enter the citadel and rescue you," she mildly admonished him.
He shrugged, unrepentant. "You know us old Maquis types... We like to turn the tables on people. But if you want, I suppose we could go back to our cell."
"That won't be necessary," she replied. "I guess I should have known that you would be able to find a way to escape on your own."
"I just wish I had been able to get here sooner. But a group of Negarans were insistent on treating us to their own brand of hospitality."
"How did you get them to back off?" Janeway asked. "Your phasers weren't modified to be effective against them."
"True," Chakotay admitted. "But as you saw, Tuxedo Mask can be quite effective in hand to hand combat. And while the Negarans may be immune to standard phaser fire, the same can't be said for the local environment. They started to back off quick enough after I exploded a rock in the middle of a group of them."
Janeway winced at the thought. "Ouch."
"...so we've been able to accomplish half our mission objectives," Janeway's voice echoed across the bridge. Harry stood in the center of the bridge, listening intently to his captain's voice while B'Elanna sat sulking at the engineering station, grumbling to herself over the loss of another shuttle.
"But in doing so we've lost any advantage of surprise we may have had."
"Do you want us to close in and pick you up?" Harry asked.
"Negative. We still have to find a way to deal with this Negaforce. If we leave it here unchecked it could prove a danger to the entire quadrant... if not the Federation, or even the Scout's Earth." There
was a pause on the other end. "I was hoping to keep Voyager out of danger, but we need every advantage we can get. We'll approach the citadel on foot. A group will mount an attack on the main entrance while a smaller team will work their way inside. At the same time, I want you to bring
Voyager into orbit and begin an attack on the citadel from orbit. Use phasers only, no torpedoes. The two pronged attack like that should keep the Negarans busy enough that we can get to the central chamber without interference."
"Understood. When should we begin our attack?"
"I'll signal you when we're ready, Mr. Kim. Good luck. Janeway out."
In other circumstances, this would be a rather pleasant walk through the woods, Tom reflected. Even if it was a bit on the dark side and they were the constant threat of being attacked by the locals.
It was because of that they were being extremely cautious in approaching the citadel. Mercury and Tuvok were at point, scanning constantly for any danger. Next came Neelix and Sailor Jupiter. Tom half hoped that the Talaxian was getting cooking tips from the Sailor Scout. From the way the two of them were talking, it was entirely possible.
He and Venus were covering one half of their rear sections, while Chakotay and Mars kept watch on the other flank. That left Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Moon and Captain Janeway in the center of their party. But he noticed that Captain Janeway had isolated herself from them, walking almost all alone in their small band. It went almost unnoticed by the other two as they stuck close by one another.
Tom had to smile at that. He could imagine that he and B'Elanna might react similarly under the same conditions.
"I'll take a wooden nickel for your thoughts," Venus spoke up.
Tom took a moment to think about that. "Isn't that supposed to be 'A penny for your thoughts'?"
"Whatever," the Sailor Scout answered. From her tone, Tom got the impression that this wasn't the first time she had mangled a saying.
"Well to answer your sentiment, I was just thinking that this would be a rather pleasant walk through the woods under other circumstances. Especially if you ignore the fact that we're about to invade the
stronghold of some nigh-omnipotent being like this Negaforce."
"You know, that brings something else to mind that I've been thinking of ever since I heard that the aliens were trying to capture
Voyager."
"What's that?"
Venus turned and looked him square in the eye. "What does the Negaforce want with a starship?"
Mars watched Chakotay try another scan with his tricorder, but before long the commander was shaking his head in frustration. "If it's not working, why do you keep trying?"
"Sheer stubbornness," he answered. "I know your friend Mercury can keep a lookout with her computer, but I like having more than one option. Of course, that's not always possible." He closed the tricorder and returned it to his belt. "Like now. I was able to get better range on a Borg ship."
Mars had started concentrating on the forest surrounding the party, but this casual statement got Chakotay her full attention. "You've been on one of those cubes?"
"What was left of one," the first officer replied. "Several months ago, I led a small away team to get information on what had destroyed it and it's companion cubes." Chakotay proceeded to give Mars a brief account of that particular mission which resulted in the
Voyager's first encounter with Species 8472 after the interdimensional aliens had annihilated a Borg armada consisting of fifteen of their cube ships.
Mars shook her head. "Sounds like they could help you guys against the Borg."
"The enemy of my enemy isn't always my friend," Chakotay replied. "Especially in this case. It turns out that Species 8472 has some extremely xenophobic qualities. We think their goal at the time was
the annihilation of all life in this galaxy. In the end, we actually had to work with the Borg against them."
Mars almost stopped dead in her tracks. "You're kidding."
"I'm afraid not. But if you don't mind, I'd like to change the topic of discussion to the more recent past." He took a quick glance at Captain Janeway, and then added in a lower voice, "Namely, what happened on
Voyager after I beamed down."
"What do you want to know?"
"Mercury already told me the details of what she saw, but I'd like your point of view as well." He paused momentarily. "Namely, is that my captain we're following and if so, is she doing this of her own free will."
Mars took this opportunity to scrutinize Janeway once again. "As far as I know, the answer to both is yes. I'm not sure why she chose to come along, but I believe she thinks her reasons are valid.
Whatever it is that's inside her head, it's not unduly influencing her." After a moment, "I think. I can't make any promises about how accurate I am about this."
"Fair enough," Chakotay replied.
At the front of the group, Mercury kept her attention on her scans of the area, while Tuvok walked beside her alert for anything nearby, and keeping a firm grip on his phaser rifle. Since the scanning range of Mercury's computer had proven to be far greater than the
tricorders, the Vulcan reasoned that the most logical course of action was to maintain a careful watch on the area around them. They had seen that the Negarans possessed a rudimentary teleportation ability, so it behooved them to be wary of any Negarans appearing right on top of them.
"We're still clear," Mercury told him. "I haven't detected signs of any other hostiles since we spotted that band earlier."
Tuvok nodded. Shortly after they had set out, Mercury had picked up an approaching group, no
doubt another assault force to capture them.
Thus warned, they were able to detour around them without being detected themselves. "Very well. But I recommend you keep a watchful eye out. We are still some distance from the entrance."
Mercury nodded. She had already deployed her visor and was using it to keep a constant scan of the area, so that she could keep a visual lookout herself. "I agree. I just hope you remember the layout of those tunnels. I could scan them to find the correct route, but it would be a lot easier if we knew it ahead of time."
"There is no need for you to concern yourself with that," the Vulcan assured her. "When we recovered our equipment, I stored a map of the tunnel system into my tricorder." He removed the instrument from his belt and handed it to her. "If you wish, you can download it into your computer. As you possess the greater scanning range, it would be logical to do so."
"Thank you," she answered. With a flick of her wrist, she opened the tricorder up. Within seconds, she had the Starfleet device interfaced with her computer and was downloading the maps into it.
From his place not far behind them, Neelix watched her work with some awe showing on his face.
Finally, moved up to the two of them and quietly asked Tuvok, "Are you sure you're not related to her, Mr. Vulcan?"
Mercury flushed a light red in embarrassment, while just behind them Jupiter struggled to conceal her own amusement. For his part, Tuvok allowed himself a small flash of irritation before he resumed
his emotional control. Even so, he still appeared to be somewhat exasperated for a Vulcan. "No," he replied, "we're not."
Chakotay frowned. They had made their way back to the concealed entrance into the citadel, and unlike before there were guards present- but only two. "I don't like this," he muttered to himself, shaking his head.
"Something wrong?" Sailor Moon asked.
"Only two guards," he replied, indicating the Negarans. "I would've expected there to be more by this point. Metallah knows we escaped, and she has to know we were moving around inside there by now."
In fact, now that Chakotay took the time to think about it, their entire sojourn through the citadel had been rather easy. Too easy by far.
He should have seen it long before now, the former Maquis leader thought bitterly. But being first officer on
Voyager for nearly four years seemed to have dulled his reflexes, at least as far as these type of operations went.
"It doesn't matter how many there are, Chakotay," Janeway said. "It doesn't really change anything. We still have to get past them and inside."
"Not to worry, Captain," he replied. "We've gotten plenty of practice at this." He nodded to Tuvok and Tuxedo Mask.
"Be right back," the tuxedo clad man whispered to Sailor Moon.
Before she could answer, he put an arm around Tuvok and jumped upwards, carrying the Vulcan into the branches above, and they were swiftly lost to sight. There being little else for them to do, the remainder of the group waited patiently (or in some cases impatiently) while keeping a watchful eye out for any other Negarans.
As it turned out, they didn't have to wait long. Seconds after they
had gone above, a black blur emerged from the branches and landed behind the two guards. Before either had a chance to react, Tuvok had already placed a hand at the base of one's neck. The guard spasmed slightly as Tuvok performed the nerve pinch and it slumped to the ground. The second guard fared little better. It had managed to turn to face
him, only to see Tuxedo Mask's cane on a direct course for it's face.
Janeway heard a muffled thud, followed by the Negaran flying into the nearby treeline. It slammed into a large tree and slumped to the ground.
"That should take care of the guards," Chakotay noted.
"I'm not picking up any other Negarans," Mercury confirmed.
"Then it's time to get moving," Janeway replied. "Tuvok, you and Sailor Mercury will take point. Tom and Sailor Jupiter will handle the rear." She tapped her comm badge as she made her way to the entrance. "Janeway to Voyager."
Back on Voyager, there was little else to do at the moment other than wait for the captain's signal. Seven chose to pass the time by running a series of diagnostics as well as refining the deflector pulse they would employ to block potential boarders.
Or that's she would have been working on had she not found herself being continuously distracted. Finally she had had enough. "Ensign Kim, would you please stop that?"
Harry paused. He had been pacing back and forth in front of the command chair, but he seemed genuinely puzzled. "Stop what?"
"Your constant pacing," Seven elaborated. "It is becoming annoying."
At first Harry didn't believe her, but he was forced to when a glance over at B'Elanna drew a confirming nod. "Sorry. I guess I'm a little nervous."
Seven didn't react physically other than to return her attention to the Operations board. But she still said, "Then perhaps the Doctor should give you a tranquilizer."
That got an sniff from the Doctor. Evidently Seven's comment had mildly offended the hologram. "I'll handle the medical diagnoses around here, if you don't mind. Besides, I think it would be unwise to use a sedative on the current commanding officer just before we go into battle."
"Thanks, Doc," Harry said. "I just wish I knew why the captain was so insistent on going along with the rescue team."
"I wouldn't know," the hologram replied. "I'm a doctor, not a starship strategist."
"Don't worry about it, Harry," B'Elanna commented from the engineering station. She paused in her current task an looked over at the young ensign. "You'll do fine, Starfleet."
Harry couldn't help but smile at her use of the nickname she had used for him during their first encounter, back on the Ocampa homeworld four years previous. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Maquis."
Although she didn't comment on it, Seven found this whole exchange not only distracting, but highly inefficient as well. But a chirp from the Operations panel proved a welcome distraction for her. "We are receiving a signal from Captain Janeway," Seven said. "They are in position."
The tension level on the bridge rose dramatically, the bantering atmosphere rapidly dissipating. B'Elanna made her way to the
turbolift, "I better get to Engineering."
"And me to Sickbay," the Doctor added, following her into the turbolift.
Harry hesitated, then took a seat in the command chair. "Ensign, lay in a reciprocal course back to the planet. Bring us out of warp as close to it as you can."
The helmsman nodded and made the appropriate settings to the helm. "Course set, sir."
Harry nodded. "Engage at warp six. Graves, sound battlestations." The bridge lighting shifted to a reddish hue while the alert klaxons sounded. Within seconds the ship dropped out of warp, the mass of the planet filling the screen. "Here we go..." he said, taking a deep breath in a vain attempt to settle his nerves. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that
he would end up leading Voyager into a
battle.
"We are coming over the target area," Seven spoke, still infernally calm. "Entering optimal firing range.
"Commence firing!"
Lambert almost jumped out of his skin when his borrowed tricorder beeped. That was the signal he had been waiting for to commence his attack.
Once they had broken off from the main party when leaving the shuttle, he had lead his band over to what seemed to be the main entrance into the Negaran citadel. To minimize the risk of detection, he had broken up the group into small bands with orders to make their way there as quietly as possible. Fortunately most of those with this group had been with
Voyager's security department, so they had already been versed in these type of tactics. As far as he knew, the Negarans were unaware of their presence.
He gave a hand signal to those around him to spread the word to the others. In less than five minutes, they would begin firing on the alien stronghold with the phasers they had gotten from the
Shepard.
Mars frowned. The tunnels they had entered proved to be deserted and they had been able to make their way downward without opposition. The ease of their advance made her uneasy. "Where is everyone?" she hissed to Chakotay. "This is way too easy."
The first officer nodded. "I had the same thought," he responded, keeping his own voice low as well. "A few months before we arrived in the Delta Quadrant, my Maquis cell tried a raid into a the
headquarters of a Cardassian Gul. We managed to sneak inside, but we were soon up to our armpits in Cardassians. We had a devil of a time just getting out in one piece. I can't see Metallah having security this bad, unless..." His voice trailed off.
"You think it's a trap?" Mars asked after a moment.
"That's a good possibility," he answered.
"It doesn't mater, you two," Janeway said from behind them. "If it is a trap, we'll just have to be ready to spot it before it closes up. But for now, we are here and so is the enemy." The ground chose that moment to shake beneath them and a shower of dust rained down from the ceiling for emphasis.
"What was that?" Venus asked.
"I'd say Voyager's here," Mercury answered. Realizing that time was growing short, the group
hurried their way downwards into the heart of the citadel.
"This time, you're not getting away," Metallah muttered, watching a small holographic image of
Voyager. It was apparent that the starship was closing fast on her world and was clearly intent on settling into orbit. As had been the case when it had reappeared, the attraction beam was unable to get a firm grip on it. So she would have to employ alternative strategies to capture the ship. Once again, she called upon her troops to form boarding parties. Unfortunately, she couldn't call upon all of them, for some had to be sent to ward off the simultaneous attack made by some of the Starfleet crew upon the main gate. Meanwhile, another group of her elite guard combined their energies and hurled massive energy discharges upwards, just as they had done against the shuttlecraft. But this
time the goal was simply to disable the ship, not destroy it.
Indeed, great care would have to be taken to avoid damaging the ship too badly. They still needed it to leave their world and use it to spread their influence over the entire galaxy. Bringing all that lived within it under her domain.
So far all was going to the plan, Harry noted. Voyager had settled into a synchronous orbit over the planet and was firing burst after burst from it's main phasers.
But it wasn't proving a free ride for the starship. Several energy bolts, similar and yet larger to those that had attacked the shuttle, hurtled upwards and impacted on the shields. The bridge shook as yet another bolt slammed into the shields. "Damage report."
"Shields are at eighty seven percent, and holding," Seven announced. "They have adjusted their firing pattern again. I am altering the shields to compensate." The bridge shook once again as another energy bolt impacted into the shields, but it was noticeably less than before. "Compensation complete. Shields are holding."
"Acknowledged," Harry said. "Maintain phaser fire, Ensign Graves."
"Aye, sir."
They had reached the entrance to the chamber in the lower levels, where, according to Chakotay, the real power behind Metallah resided. Mercury glanced quickly into the room, just long enough for her visor to get a clean scan. It was more than enough for her to confirm that the being residing within the container possessed the power and essence of the Negaforce. However, there were also several odd readings from inside the entity. She tapped rapidly on the small keyboard, prodding her computer to provide a quick analysis.
Just down the hall, Mars was starting to fidget, finally prompting Sailor Moon to ask, "Mars, what is it?"
"That's what," she replied, indicating the chamber. As they had approached the room, her psychic senses had been warning her of danger. This close, the sense was almost overpowering. "I'm not sure what's in there, but I'm getting a really bad feeling about this."
"I think you're just nervous," Venus said.
Mars snorted. "You'd be nervous too, if you had this feeling. Whatever that thing is in there, it knows we're out here."
That got Chakotay's attention, as well as everyone else's. "If that's so, then why hasn't it done anything to stop us?"
"How should I know? All I know is that it knows we're out here." Mars jerk suddenly as if she had been poked with a cattle prod. "And now it's laughing at us!"
"I am also sensing something usual," Tuvok said. "And I can confirm my observation on our last visit to this location- the entity's thought patterns are human."
"Of course!" Mercury exclaimed. "I should have seen it sooner. These energy readings I detected inside it are almost identical to a human brainwave pattern. Much more powerful, of course, but still a
brainwave pattern."
"So now what?" Jupiter asked. "I doubt we can surprise it now."
"We can't go back," Janeway pointed out. "So I suggest we just go inside." Before anyone could object, she stood up and strode into the chamber.
Mars couldn't believe it. "She's gotta be nuts!"
Chakotay shared her misgivings, especially after being given the warnings from Mars and Mercury, but seeing as there wasn't any evidence that she was being controlled he still gave Kathryn the benefit of the doubt. "She's the captain," he said, "It's out job to follow her lead."
Phaser at ready, the first officer led the rest of them into the chamber. The Scouts shared a doubtful glance among themselves, but followed him nonetheless.
As they approached, the colors within the container pulsed and they all heard laughter echo within their minds. "Yes, I wanted you here, Captain Janeway. I knew there would be survivors from that shuttle crash. Starfleet crews have an annoying tendency to do that. So I allowed you into here, just as I allowed the others to escape from here. I had already scanned them, but I wanted to get a clear look into their shipmate's minds as well. And it is much easier to do that face to face."
"Well, I hope you find the contents of them interesting," Neelix quipped.
The presence ignored him, continuing to talk to Janeway. "However, your mind seems to be
resisting my probes, Captain. I find this most interesting."
"You'll find I'm full of surprises," Janeway replied evenly. "Now since we're all here like you wanted, why don't you show yourself?"
The voice chuckled. "Why not?" The colors pulsed again, and began to glow, flowing out from the container like a liquid. It reshaped itself outside, assuming a humanoid form dressed in what looked like a Starfleet uniform from a hundred years ago- black pants and boots with a gold shirt. The shirt had a very familiar arrowhead insignia over the left breast.
Mercury heard Janeway mutter, "At last."
The bridge shook again, as an alarm sounded from the tactical station. "We've got multiple intruder alerts on several decks," Graves reported. "But they're scattered in ones and twos throughout the ship."
"Don't let them hook up with each other. Seal them all off with force fields and then flood those areas with the modified
anestazine," Harry ordered. "Seven..."
The Borg had already anticipated him. "I am adjusting the deflector pulse in an attempt to compensate, but I am not optimistic we will be able to increase it's blocking efficiency." Despite her vocal pessimism, she kept working on the Ops panel.
"Just do what you can."
"It's working," Graves said. A smile came to her face as she read the incoming reports. "The new gas is knocking them out cold."
Harry smiled as well. It looked like things were going their way for a change. "Once they're unconscious, beam them in with their friends in Cargo Bay One. Then clear all affected areas of anestazine."
The chaos in orbit contrasted sharply with what was happening in the bowels of the citadel. There a standoff between the infiltration team and the mysterious humanoid figure was in progress. "Allow me to introduce myself," the figure said, it's voice resonating deeply. "I was once known-"
"You were once known as Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell," Janeway said for him. "Formerly of the Federation Starship
Enterprise, under the command of Captain James T. Kirk."
Mitchell blinked, or at least he appeared to, in surprise. "I'm impressed, Captain. You know who I am?"
Janeway nodded. "Oh, yes. I know all about you, Commander."
"Hey, do you mind filling us in?" Jupiter asked.
Mitchell smiled. "Go ahead, Captain," he said with a laugh. "If you make any errors, I'll correct you."
"I'm sure you will," Janeway noted. Turning to her companions she began, "Over a hundred years ago, the
Enterprise was exploring along the edge of our galaxy. There it encountered a powerful energy barrier that nearly destroyed the ship when they tried to cross it. For the most part the crew managed to escape unscathed, but it had a very profound effect on Commander Mitchell and one other member of the crew. He, and then later she, started to develop psionic powers at a frightening rate. Soon he began to see his shipmates as toys for his amusement, and the later as insects."
"A god does not have to answer to mortals, Captain," Mitchell snarled, seemingly irritated.
"Absolute power corrupting absolutely," Janeway said, refusing to back down. "Captain Kirk ordered the
Enterprise to make for Delta Vega, a small and rather insignificant planet near the galactic rim. It harbored an automated lithium cracking station and it also had enough supplies and parts to effect repairs on the
Enterprise. As it was uninhabitated, it was also a perfect spot to leave Commander Mitchell."
"You mean they were just going to leave him there?" Sailor Moon asked.
"Far better than the alternative," Janeway told her. "Mitchell was growing dangerously reckless in using his power. Who knows what he would have done had he reached a populated world. He
demonstrated very effectively just how dangerous he was when he escaped from confinement, killing another crewmember in the process."
"I could have killed them all, Captain," Mitchell said.
"I often wondered why you didn't. Though you certainly tried hard enough to kill Captain Kirk in that final confrontation." Janeway paused and turned back to face Mitchell. "There's just one thing. I was under the impression that you and Dr. Dehner had been killed."
"You have such limited thinking," Mitchell said, chuckling. "Our physical bodies may have perished, but the essence of what we were survived. Our powers were enough that we had grown beyond the need for a physical form. But the conflict did weaken us to the extent that we were mostly powerless for decades. But soon after I had regained some of my power, a tunnel opened in space and time, leading to Earth in the Arctic regions. But not my Earth, of course." He turned his gaze to Sailor Moon.
"Instead it lead me to your world, just as you were beginning your final confrontation with Queen Beryl and the Negaforce."
"You were there?" Sailor Moon asked.
"Yes," Mitchell confirmed. "I watched with great interest as you battled them. In the moment you defeated them, I absorbed the power of the Negaforce and took it for my own. But before I could return to my own universe, the final outburst of power from the Silver Crystal shifted the far end of the quantum flux to this world. Sixty thousand light years was too far for me to cross on my own, so I contented myself with waiting and granting some of my powers to the local population. For the last year and a half, I have been building up my power and hoping for a ship to come within range that I could use to get back to the Alpha Quadrant. The Borg scout ship was the first real hope I had to
escape here, but it proved too tough for capture. Voyager came shortly thereafter, but it managed to elude me as well. But now I have the information from your minds that gives me the means to go where and when I will without the need for a ship."
"You mean you want the Silver Crystal," Sailor Moon said. "Well, you're not getting it!"
Mitchell seemed genuinely puzzled. "Why would I want the Silver Crystal?"
"Huh?"
"Ah," Mitchell said, with sudden realization. "You misunderstand me. I meant the information in your minds, which gives me the means to avenge myself on those who have wronged me. Besides, I bear no ill will to you or your world... indeed I am grateful to you for providing me the means of escaping endless exile on Delta Vega." His expression hardened as he turned to the Starfleet personnel. "But the same does not hold true of you."
"Why?" Chakotay challenged. "What happened to you was an accident. If there had been any way that Captain Kirk could have helped you..."
"I don't want or need your help!" Mitchell roared. "But Kirk abandoned me on that desolate world. And now he and his ilk will pay the price." He waved his hand and a large holographic image filled the
air above their heads, displaying Voyager still maintaining the phaser barrage on the planet below it.
"And it begins here..."
Janeway realized with horror just what Mitchell was intending for her ship. Hurriedly she slapped her comm badge. "Janeway to
Voyager. Harry, get the ship out of there! NOW!!"
Even as she gave the order, Mitchell made a slight, almost offhanded gesture. As a cold sense of dread gripped her heart, Janeway knew that it was already too late.
He was already ordering the ship to warp speeds when a loud shrill alarm sounded, and Harry felt his heart catch in his mouth. This type of alarm was reserved for when the ship was in imminent threat of destruction.
Seven appeared to be as placid as ever, but even she was growing concerned at the readings in front of her. "Ensign Kim, we have a problem."
"What the hell..." B'Elanna looked up at the warp core. The steady hum of power from it had suddenly increased in both tone and pitch. A glance down at the diagnostic panel showed that the power output from the core was increasing rapidly as well.
Increasing too rapidly...
"Power levels in the warp core are increasing geometrically," Seven warned, her voice starting to take on an urgent tone. "Core breach is imminent."
"Eject the core!" Harry ordered. "Now!"
"Everybody out!" B'Elanna urged her engineers, hoping that the core would hold long enough. But she wasn't optimistic that it would, as coolant leaks were appearing all over the place as the core's energy levels exceeded any reasonable level. "Computer, eject the core. Authorization: Torres omega three seven two." Reaching the door herself, she saw the core begin to slide downward as the
ejection process began... just as the dilithium chamber split open and released in one large explosion
the raging energies contained within it.
For a split second, another star illuminated the Negaran homeworld.
Sailor Trek: Voyager
By Bill Harris
Chapter 8 -- Rebirth
PG13
They stared with varying expressions of shock at the sight of Voyager's destruction. Finally, Venus shook her head in denial. "That... that can't be real. It's gotta be a fake."
"I'm afraid not." The Scouts turned as one to face Mercury. She in turn had her attention focused completely on her computer. "He overloaded the warp core, forcing it to generate more energy than it
could possibly handle." She looked up from the palmtop, glaring at Mitchell. The expression on her face was a mixture of sadness at the loss of life in orbit and outrage that any being could be capable of such a wanton act. "The core exploded before they had a chance to eject it."
Far above them in the Negaran throneroom, Metallah was also in a state of shock. The ship that she had labored so hard to capture and use in spreading the power of her people through the stars, had been wiped from existence. She was certain that nothing her forces had done would have triggered it's destruction. There was only one explanation that she could think off. Leaving her second to handle the
Voyager crewmembers attacking the front gate, she strode determinedly towards the lower chamber.
One was not supposed to question a god, but she had to find out why Mitchell had destroyed the ship.
Metallah was not the only one who wanted the answer to that particular question.
Janeway turned to face Mitchell, who had an insufferably self satisfied expression on his face.
"Why?" she asked in a bitter voice. "After trying so hard to capture my ship, why destroy it now?!?"
"I no longer have the need for a starship," Mitchell explained. "Before, my plan was to use your ship as a means to return to the Alpha Quadrant and avenge myself on the Federation. I can travel short distances in space, but even I must rest at certain points. For the long trip of thousands of light years back to Federation space, that would mean a voyage of several hundred years at least. The Federation may not even exist by the time I returned. Therefore to shorten the voyage, I needed a ship. But thanks to my recently discovered information, I know how to return quickly to Federation
space and in my own time frame as well."
"And just how do you intend to do that?" Tuvok asked.
Mitchell gazed thoughtfully at him. "I thought Vulcans were supposed to be intelligent."
"Just answer the question, creep!" Venus snapped.
Mitchell chuckled lightly, as if Venus' display of ire only amused him. "To answer it simply, by using the quantum fluxes. First I will journey to your world through the one from this world. Once there, I can use the quantum flux that Kirk used to get to and from your universe. That will place me in the Alpha Quadrant with little effort, and in the right time to properly repay my 'old friend'."
Jupiter frowned. "But wouldn't that put you in deep space near the Romulan Neutral Zone?"
Mitchell waved it off. "It is of no matter. I can make the short voyage to a nearby world and easily obtain the services of a starship. Then I can begin having my revenge on my dear friend James." He took a moment to ponder the possibilities and smiled. "Maybe even the Enterprise itself. It would be poetic justice."
"But if you do that, it will change history!" Mercury protested. "Both for this universe, and to a lesser extent our own."
"So?" The one time Starfleet officer seemed unconcerned. "Why should you care? The changes to your timeline will be minor. You won't even notice the difference. As for altering the past of this
universe, I really don't care." He paused, considering. "Now that I think about it, I think I did the
Voyager crew a favor. This way they had a chance to live and die, rather than simply ceasing to exist."
"And that's supposed to justify that?" Tuxedo Mask exclaimed, gesturing at the image still displayed above them. "That's supposed to justify mass murder?"
"A god doesn't have to justify his actions to anyone," Mitchell said arrogantly. "Least of all to mere mortals."
"You son of a..." Tom began, taking a step towards Mitchell. From the look on the helmsman's face, it appeared he was going to try and tear Mitchell apart with his bare hands. Chakotay grabbed him by the arm, restraining him from trying anything rash.
But there was no one to restrain the Scouts, who had quite plainly heard enough. By unspoken accord, the group moved in unison, taking up positions around Mitchell.
"Don't be fools," Mitchell told them. "You haven't got a chance against me."
"We'll just have to see about that! JUPITER THUNDERCLAP ZAP!" the tall Scout cried out and unleashed her power at Mitchell. When it appeared he was unscathed, Venus immediately followed up on her friend's efforts.
"VENUS LOVE-CHAIN ENCIRCLE!" The golden band of energy lashed out and struck Mitchell,
whose only reaction was to laugh.
"Is that the best you can do?" he asked, taunting the Scouts. "Here's a sample of
my power." Making a sweeping gesture with his right hand, he sent a pressure wave outward that slammed into both Venus and Jupiter, sending both of them flying. Venus hit the far wall hard while Jupiter ended up colliding with Janeway. Thus cushioned, Jupiter was almost immediately back on her feet but the captain remained on the ground, dazed from the impact. Venus was also getting back to her feet, albeit rather shakily. "That was a warning, Sailor Scouts," Mitchell snarled at them. "I have no quarrel with you but if you continue to interfere, I'll crush you like the insects you are!"
If Mitchell had intended to cow the Sailor Scouts and their allies, he failed utterly. In fact, it seemed that his remarks only served to harden their resolve. "Well, you'll find these insects have a powerful
sting!" Mars retorted, launching into her attack. "MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND!"
The fire rings struck Mitchell, but had the same effect as the previous attempts. Which is to say, very little. "Pathetic," he said, pointing a finger at her. An arc of energy, similar in appearance to lightning, shot out at her. Mars able to dodge most of it, but the outer edges of the bolt grazed her right leg. A sharp, searing pain shot through her knee and she cried out involuntarily.
"Mars!" Sailor Moon cried out and raced to her friend's side.
Ignoring the injured Scout, Mitchell smiled arrogantly at Mercury.
"Go ahead, Mercury. I believe it's your turn."
Mercury quickly went over her options before committing herself. Considering the lack of success the others were having against Mitchell, she didn't see how her powers would be much more effective. But maybe there was a way she could impair him and buy themselves time to regroup and formulate an alternative strategy. So... "MERCURY BUBBLES BLAST!"
The temperature of the room dropped drastically as the fog formed around them. But before it had fully settled in, the fog suddenly dispersed as quickly as it had appeared. "Tsk, tsk, Mercury," he said, wagging a finger at her. "I was expecting much better from you."
Sailor Moon looked up in time to see Mercury being struck by Mitchell's latest attack, a large pressure wave, similar to what had struck Jupiter and Venus. Mercury flew backwards several meters before landing hard onto the floor.
"Mercury!" Sailor Moon gazed with deep concern for her friend. "Are you OK?"
"I'll... be fine," she answered, although the shakiness in her voice caused a large sense of doubt to rise up in Sailor Moon.
Chakotay and his fellow Voyager crewmate had not been idle. From almost the first moment the combat started, they had been firing shot after shot from their phaser rifles at Mitchell. But the
self-proclaimed deity ignored their efforts as if they were less than nothing, preferring to focus his attention on the Sailor Scouts. Now he was turning his attention to Venus and Jupiter, who had recovered enough by this time to reenter the battle. Each of their own individual attacks had proven ineffective against Mitchell, so they tried combining their powers.
About the only visible effect was that Mitchell seemed to be becoming a bit irritated. "That's enough playtime," he snarled, turning his gaze to Jupiter.
Jupiter braced herself to dodge whatever Mitchell sent her way, but even so she was totally unprepared for what happened. The ground beneath her feet split open slightly and a swirling mass of vines erupted from it, quickly ensnaring her arms and legs.
"Hang on, Sailor Jupiter. I'll get you free," Venus said confidently. She took a step towards her, intending on blasting the vines holding her friend. Unfortunately, Mitchell had other ideas.
Before Venus could move so much as another millimeter, he looked in her direction. The blonde froze in midstep, unable to move.
Mitchell pointed a finger in her direction. "Goodbye, Sailor Venus," he said just before sending a blast of psychokinetic energy hurtling her direction.
Venus stared wide eyed in horror as the white hot beam shot at her, unable to move or even to scream. Then, just before it impacted, she felt something hit her in the side and send her sprawling onto the ground. Now able to move, she saw just who had knocked her out of the way... and at a price.
"Tom!"
The young lieutenant was lying still, smoke rising from the wound in his chest. He evidently had attempted to block the blast with the medkit, but it had gone right through it and struck him just to the right of his sternum. Chakotay was already racing over to him and reached Tom just before Venus did. Out of the corner of his eye he noted that Neelix was using his phaser to liberate Jupiter from the vines holding her...
And that Mitchell was taking aim at the two of them. "Neelix! Behind you!"
Alerted by Chakotay's warning, Neelix dove for the ground, taking Jupiter down with him. Even so, the lightning like arc still struck the Talaxian in his left side.
Jupiter tore the remaining vines loose and started to help Neelix up. "Are you OK?"
"I'll be fine," he said, his voice sounding a bit strained. "Fortunately we Talaxians are quite resilient."
"Well, thanks for the help, but..." She took a close look at the wound and gulped. The area around it was charred and cauterized, and it looked fairly deep to her. "Doesn't it hurt to breathe?"
"Not as much as you might think," Neelix assured her. "I never thought I'd be glad my lungs were stolen four years ago. And luckily, the one Kes lent me is over here." He patted the right side of his
ribcage.
"You only bought her a few more seconds, Talaxian," Mitchell sneered as he prepared to fire on her again. But instead he suddenly pulled his hand back, grimacing in some pain. The rose that had grazed him was now embedded in the cavern floor. "Finally taking action, Cape Boy?" he sneered.
"I strike when I'm needed, and when it will do the most good," Tuxedo Mask responded. "Besides, I was sure they'd beat you easily." Smarting from the taunt, Mitchell snarled and hurled a small ball of energy at him, but the tuxedo clad warrior moved easily out of the way. So far, so
good, Darien reasoned to himself. Now if only I can keep his attention on me long enough for the Scouts to really find a way to beat
him.
"Is he...?" Venus began.
Chakotay felt for a pulse, and noted with a great sense of relief that there was still one to be found. From the severity of the wound, he had half expected that Tom had been killed instantly. "He's alive,
but it doesn't look good." He reached into the medkit for the medical tricorder, but found that the small instrument had been partially melted by the blast impact, rendering the device useless. He glanced up at Mercury. When she had seen Tom go down, she had moved instantly to render assistance, her own injuries put aside for the moment. "Would you mind?" he asked, motioning to Tom.
"Of course," she answered, already activating her palmtop. In an instant the requested readouts started appearing on the display, and she grimaced as she read them.
Chakotay noticed her expression. "It's that bad?"
"I'm afraid so. He's got severe trauma to his cardiopulmonary system. I'm surprised he's even alive at all. We need a real doctor to treat him and..." Her voice trailed off as an odd readout appeared. An
odd datafile had appeared in her computer listing. She toggled the inquiry to get more information on it, but for some reason it activated the unknown program.
She readied herself for some other form of trouble, but even so she still almost dropped her computer in shock when the holographic doctor appeared in front of her... Or at least a version of him that was one third his normal size. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency," he said, then belatedly realized that his surroundings weren't what he expected. "Wait a minute... I was in Sickbay. What am I doing here? Where's my mobile emitter?" Then the full extent of his circumstances struck him. "Why am I the size of a five year old?" he demanded. "And why is my voice coming from that device?" He gestured to Mercury's computer at the last.
"Was your computer hooked up to Voyager's main computer?" Chakotay asked Mercury.
She nodded. "Yes. I saw the overload building up in the warp core and I linked up my computer to try and help stop it. But the ship exploded before I could do anything."
"Exploded?!?" the Doctor exclaimed.
Chakotay chose to ignore the Doctor for now. "Then somehow the Doctor's program must have been downloaded into your computer before the ship was destroyed."
"Destroyed?!?" the Doctor exclaimed again. He looked bewilderedly between the three of them. "Will someone tell me what's going on?"
"Later," Chakotay told him. "Right now Tom need's your help if he's going to have a chance. Suffice it to say that your program is running off of Mercury's computer. Since it wasn't designed for our type of holographic programs, that's why your size is smaller and your voice is coming from her computer."
"Well, I wish it had done a better job of it," the Doctor noted sarcastically. "At this size, I won't be very good with standard medical equipment." For emphasis, he stooped down to pick up the ruined medical tricorder, but his hand just passed tight through the device. "Correction: I'm not going to be any good in this condition."
"I'll help you, Doctor," Mercury volunteered. She felt a gentle touch on her shoulder and turned to see Neelix beside her. He and Jupiter must have moved to their position after the Talaxian had freed her.
"You're going to be needed back in the fight," Neelix pointed out.
Mercury quickly glanced back to the battle. Sailor Moon was now confronting Mitchell, who was still busy with Tuxedo Mask. The tuxedo clad warrior had managed to evade Mitchell's various attacks until now but he couldn't keep that pace up forever. "On the other hand there's not much I can do to affect the outcome. I'll assist the Doctor with Tom."
"You're right. Here," She handed her computer to Neelix. "You'll need this to keep the Doctor running." She turned to Venus and Jupiter. "Let's go."
"Right," Venus responded, and the three of them charged back towards the conflict.
In the meantime, Sailor Moon had rushed to aid Tuxedo Mask. "We aren't going to let your attempt to rewrite history succeed, Mitchell! Besides, I have a hard enough time studying history as it is
without people like you changing it! In the name of the Moon and Starfleet Command, I'll punish you!"
Barely pausing for a breath, she launched right into her own attack. "MOON SPIRAL HEART ATTACK!"
Chakotay held his breath, hoping against hope that Sailor Moon would have better luck than her fellow Scouts had been having. But that hope turned out to be in vain. The first officer swore softly in frustration when he saw that Mitchell seemed unharmed. "I think I've just about had enough of you," Mitchell told Sailor Moon.
"And just what do you think you're going to do about it?" she retorted with more bravado than she felt. Mitchell didn't seem to react at first, but several pebbles fell down around her. "Huh?" Puzzled,
Sailor Moon glanced to the ceiling above and then froze. A rather sizable chunk of the ceiling had just broken off and was now plummeting down at her.
Thankfully, a black blur moved her out of the way just before impact. The rock slammed into the floor with a mighty crash, but Mitchell wasn't paying it any mind. Instead, he was glaring at Tuxedo Mask, who had one arm protectively around Sailor Moon. "Always with the last minute rescues, Cape Boy?"
"As many as it takes to defeat you," he retorted, readying a rose.
"You don't have that much luck," Mitchell said. He was preparing to attack the two again, but a disturbance at the cavern entrance distracted him. An obviously angry Metallah stormed into the room. Ignoring the scattered Sailor Scouts and Starfleet crewmembers, she stormed right up to Mitchell, her voice loud and strident as she yelled at him in her native tongue. "Ah, I see. If you'll excuse me, I seem to be having a... labor relations problem. But don't worry, I'll get right back to you." With
that, Mitchell seemed to forget about the battle while he turned his attention to Metallah.
The others moved over to where Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon were standing. For the moment it seemed that Mitchell was giving Metallah his full attention, ignoring the Scouts completely. Chakotay hoped that this lull would give them the chance they needed to regroup and turn the situation around. But he didn't have much hope that they would as he watched Tuvok aid a limping Sailor Mars towards the group.
"Now what do we do?" Venus asked. "Nothing we throw at him seems to touch him."
"Do you have anything else in your arsenal?" Chakotay asked. "Some other, more powerful attack."
"Yes, there's one more thing we could try," Mercury answered.
Actually, there were two things they could try, but the potential cost of using the second was not something she cared to contemplate. And it was for that reason that she dared not suggest it.
Not that she had to. Sailor Moon had already thought of using the full power of the Silver Crystal here, but she was willing to give Mercury's alternative a try first. "You're talking about the Planet Power, right?"
"Yes." Mercury glimpsed over at Mars, who was still being supported by Tuvok. "But I'm not sure Sailor Mars is up to it."
"I'll manage," Mars retorted. Tentatively she put her weight back on the leg, but grimaced again. "Though it would be easier if this leg would stop throbbing."
"Maybe you can get the Doctor to give you a painkiller," Jupiter suggested.
Tuxedo Mask took a quick glance at the confrontation. "I'm not sure you're going to have the time to get it."
"There is an alternative," Tuvok said. The Vulcan moved in front of Mars. "There are a series of Vulcan disciplines I can use to help you control the pain and enable you to function at optimum
efficiency. As we do not have the time for me to teach them to you, I must form a low level mind link between us using a mind meld."
Mars seemed uncertain, but the urgency of the situation prompted her to nod.
"Okay, let's do it."
Tuvok place his hand on the right side of Mars' head, placing his fingers at the appropriate contact points. "My mind to your mind. Your thoughts to my thoughts..."
"Why did you destroy that ship?!" Metallah raged. "You knew we needed it!"
"So what if you did?" Mitchell told her. As always when he dealt with his underlings, he replied in English, using his telepathic abilities to translate it for her. He crossed his arms and glowered at her.
"You may have needed the ship to leave this world... but I no longer do. Not that I ever really did."
If she had been human, Metallah would have blinked in surprise. As it was, she did recoil in shock at Mitchell's announcement. "What do you mean, you don't need that ship? You cannot leave this world without a ship!"
"You severely underestimate my power, Metallah. I only needed the ship to reach the Alpha Quadrant in a timely manner. And I only needed you to acquire the ship for me." He paused and smiled.
"But... But..."
"Metallah, Metallah," he chided her as one would a child. "There are still some limits on my powers, and crossing vast distances in space is one of them. I can easily cross short distances of a few light years but even I must rest for an extended period after doing so. Hopscotching like that across the galaxy would take me centuries to reach my goal, which is why the ship was needed. But now I can take a shortcut across time and space, thus eliminating the need for a starship." He regarded her carefully. "But you have served me well. Therefore, rather than force you to endure the pain of my imminent departure, I will grant you a quick death."
Tuvok released his grip on Mars and moved back from her. Again she tried to put weight on her leg, but now it had been reduced to a dull ache. The damage was still there, but at least now she could walk on it. "I'm ready," she told the others, nodding her thanks to
Tuvok. "Let's do it."
The others nodded and formed up in a circle. Chakotay moved to one side, his phaser rifle ready just in case Mitchell turned back to them, while Tuvok and Tuxedo Mask did likewise on the other.
"Okay, creep. This one's for Harry, B'Elanna, Seven and everyone else on
Voyager," Venus muttered, risking a sidelong glance over at Mitchell.
"VENUS STAR POWER!"
"MERCURY STAR POWER!"
"MARS STAR POWER!"
"JUPITER STAR POWER!"
Janeway blinked as she regained consciousness and took a quick look around to evaluate the situation. Mitchell was confronting a Negaran, which she had no doubt was Metallah. On the far side of the room, the Scouts were grouped together, preparing an attack of their own. Chakotay, Tuvok and Tuxedo Mask were standing nearby them, evidently providing cover. In another corner she could see Neelix and what looked like a smaller version of the Doctor (How had
that happened?) tending to the fallen Tom Paris, who was either badly injured or maybe even dying. "No more, Mitchell," she
whispered, getting to her feet. "You'll kill no more of my crew today. It ends
here."
"MOON COSMIC POWER!"
"But you need us!" Metallah shouted, now grasping at straws.
"I need no one," Mitchell said flatly. He leveled a finger at her. "But there is one more thing you can do for me. When I arrived, I granted you and you people a share of my power, so that you could help me acquire a starship. Since that is no longer necessary, I'll take back that power. It will serve me far better that it will serve you after I have gone."
Before she could protest, a beam lanced out from Mitchell, striking her in the abdomen. Feeling her powers being drained from both her and her people, Metallah groaned and fell to her knees.
"You... you cannot do this," she protested feebly.
Mitchell regarded her as one would regard an insect. "Yes, I can. Goodbye,
Metallah." At a thought, a lightning like burst of energy emerged from his hand and struck Metallah. The ruler of the
Negaran people didn't even have time to scream before she collapsed into a lifeless heap.
"SAILOR PLANET POWER" the Scouts chorused and the chamber was instantly filled with a brilliant light.
Lambert wasn't sure what to do. The aliens had been putting up a good fight at the citadel main gate. But moments ago they had suddenly ceased firing, and started dropping like flies to their weapons. He didn't know just what to make of it.
A massive explosion rocked the ground beneath his feet, throwing him and his fellow
Voyager crewman off their feet. Looking upward, he gaped in shock. The citadel was now a flaming ruin, the top of the structure having literally evaporated. "What the hell was that?"
Chakotay stared upward at the open sky above him. The Scouts' attack had completely blown the roof off the chamber and through the citadel above it. He wasn't sure which amazed him more: the sheer power of the attack, the fact that he and everyone else in the room were still alive or that Mitchell seemed unaffected.
Then again, now that Chakotay took a closer look, maybe he had been affected by the blast after all. Mitchell's form had rippled for a second before solidifying, and his face bore a pained expression.
Regaining his composure after a moment, Mitchell glared at the Scouts. "That almost hurt," he growled. A glow formed around his hand as the Scouts started to take up defensive positions. "Had I not just reabsorbed the power I had infused the Negarans with, it might have even been enough to destroy me. But I suppose I should dispose of you, before you pose too great a threat." Chakotay raised his phaser rifle and took aim, despite knowing that his efforts would no doubt be useless. Not far away, Tuvok did the same, while Tuxedo Mask readied yet another rose. But before any of them
could fire, a figure approached Mitchell.
"Mitchell," Janeway said, taking another step closer to the former Starfleet officer. She could hear Chakotay urging her to get clear but she ignored him, keeping her attention firmly focused on Mitchell. The time had long passed to drop the pretense. She and her ally had to take a direct hand in this before more of her crew paid the price. "Dispose of
this!" She raised a hand, pointing in Mitchell's direction.
Immediately a white glow surrounded it and lashed out at Mitchell.
Taken completely by surprise, he fell to the ground with a loud cry.
"Captain?" Chakotay breathed, lowering his phaser. Since they had arrived on this planet, he had seen many things that would ordinarily be termed 'unbelievable'. But seeing his captain speaking in the same tenor of voice as Mitchell, and manipulating energies similar to what he had been wielding was going well beyond the bounds of believable and into the realm of the fantastic.
Tuvok, having had known Janeway for far longer than Chakotay, also seemed stunned by this turn of events. But in typical Vulcan fashion, his only comment was, "Fascinating."
Mitchell shook his head in an attempt to clear it, more stunned than anything else. He heard
Janeway say something else, but the words didn't register for him. On the other hand, the tone of her voice did. It had altered, taking on a resonating quality. Turning to face her, he received another, more profound shock. Janeway's eyes had a silver backglow to them, similar to his own. But how was that possible? She hadn't been exposed to the galactic barrier as he had been all those years ago on the
Enterprise, there was only...
It came to him in an instant. Of course! If he was able to survive all those years, the so could... "Elizabeth!"
"Got it in one," the entity inside Janeway replied before letting loose another blast of psychokinetic energy at Mitchell.
"Elizabeth?" Chakotay whispered, still confused.
"He is referring to the entity within the Captain that Mercury and Mars detected earlier," Tuvok informed him. "Apparently it is Dr. Elizabeth Dehner, who had been altered in the same manner as Mitchell had been when the
Enterprise attempted to traverse the energy barrier at the edge of our galaxy."
"Logical," Mars agreed. She had already 'heard' Tuvok reason this out moment ago through the mindlink between them. "When
Voyager first crossed over to our universe, Dehner's essence must have somehow infused itself within Captain Janeway. That's what I sensed in the ready room."
Sailor Moon looked oddly at Mars. Her manner of speaking had taken on a distinctly Vulcan tone. "Are you sure you're feeling
okay, Mars?"
"She's fine, meatballhead," Tuvok said suddenly. The Vulcan then shifted somewhat uncomfortably under the stares he was getting. "As am I."
Despite the seriousness of their situation, Chakotay couldn't help but chuckle slightly. "I wish Tom had been able to hear you say that."
Trying to press the advantage surprise had gained them, Janeway/Dehner bombarded Mitchell with all the power Dehner could muster. At first it seemed to Chakotay that they had him on the ropes. But all too soon a glow surrounded Mitchell, one that seemed to be protecting him from the onslaught.
"He's forming a shield," Mercury confirmed.
"Great. Is there anything this creep can't do?" Jupiter muttered.
"Die, apparently," Chakotay observed.
We'll have to see about that, Sailor Moon thought, and began edging over towards Mitchell. If Janeway and Dehner failed, she could see only one course of action left, and she just knew her friends would make major objections if she proposed it.
Janeway gritted her teeth, and mentally urged Dehner to intensify the attack. They had to take him out quickly. If Mitchell got a chance to recover, they might not get another chance like this.
Accordingly, Dehner summoned up more of her power and channeled it into the barrage they were maintaining against Mitchell. The glow of energies surrounding the former Starfleet officer grew to the point where Mitchell could no longer be seen. It was now impossible to tell if the bombardment was having affect on him.
The answer became readily apparent when a large pressure wave came from Mitchell's location, emanating in all directions and scattering Janeway, the Scouts and the other Starfleet officers about as if they were tenpins. Janeway shook her head to clear it and struggled to her feet. Seeing that Mitchell was also standing, she and Dehner prepared themselves to renew the battle.
"A good try, Elizabeth," Mitchell said. He may have looked as if he had just run a marathon, but it was plain to see that his strength was returning rapidly. Janeway could feel Dehner's own power starting to renew itself, but she felt certain that it wouldn't be fast enough. "Inhabiting the captain and hiding yourself inside her mind until you could get close enough to strike was a clever strategy. You almost had me there... for a moment. But the moment has passed."
"You haven't won yet, Mitchell," Janeway replied.
"True, but it's only a matter of time now," he told her. "My power was always greater than yours, Elizabeth. That was true on Delta Vega, and it's even truer now that I have the energies I took from the
Negaforce to draw upon. You haven't got a chance."
Both Janeway and Dehner knew that this was most likely true, but that didn't stop her from trying to strike at Mitchell again. Unfortunately, he was prepared for her blow this time and parried it before retaliating with a strike of his own. Janeway fell to the ground with a loud cry of pain.
Mitchell took a couple of slow, measured steps towards her.
"Goodbye, Elizabeth."
"Hold it!" a voice cried out.
Turning to his right, Mitchell saw Sailor Moon facing him defiantly. If her bravado impressed him any, he didn't show it. "If you don't mind, I'm busy. Besides, I already took your best shot, remember?"
"That was just for starters. If you were really at D Point, you know for certain that I can do more than that," she countered.
Mitchell raised an eyebrow as a glow started forming around the broach containing the Silver Crystal. "So you intend to use that little jewel. Well, if you want to throw your life away in a futile attempt to stop me, go right ahead."
"If that's what it takes to stop you, then so be it," she answered without hesitating. "You're the kind of monster who would destroy everything just for the sheer fun of it. Eventually you'd get around to destroying my world. Even if you wouldn't, I'm not about to let you destroy this universe. For this world and for these people, but most
especially my friends- both the Sailor Scouts and those Starfleet
people we've met along the way. So for the sake of Kirk and Spock, Picard and Riker, the crew of
Voyager and even Worf... I'd gladly sacrifice my life to stop you."
Another moved to stand beside Sailor Moon. "If the cost must be paid in lives, then you should not be the one to pay it, Sailor
Moon," Janeway/Dehner said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We should be the ones to shoulder the burden."
Sailor Moon shook her head. She may be willing to make the supreme sacrifice herself, but she was unwilling to allow someone else to do the same. "Captain, I can't let you..."
"It was my ship. Those still alive, both here and on the surface, are my crew," Janeway interrupted, the tone of her voice making it clear that the Starfleet captain, not Dehner, was speaking at the moment. "We've both made the choice willingly, Sailor Moon. One way or another, it ends...
now." Not giving the Sailor Scout a chance to make any further argument, Dehner used her own powers to link with the Silver Crystal, and began funneling her energies through it. Realizing that any further argument would be pointless, Sailor Moon willed the Crystal to life. A bright beam emerged from the Crystal, striking Mitchell and actually staggering him.
"Come on," Tuxedo Mask urged the others. "We have to help Sailor Moon." The others nodded, and followed his lead, taking up positions just behind Sailor Moon and Captain Janeway.
Regaining his senses at long last, Chakotay took in the situation with a glance while he help Tuvok to his feet. "Grab your phaser," he instructed the Vulcan. "Set it for continuous fire at maximum
intensity."
Even as Tuvok made the adjustments to his weapon, he felt compelled to point out the obvious. "Commander, given the amount of power demonstrated by Mitchell, the Sailor Scouts and even Captain
Janeway, I am uncertain as to the difference two phaser rifles will make to the battle."
"Maybe it won't make any difference," the first officer conceded. "But that's our captain out there, and I intend to give her whatever help I can."
Chakotay half expected Tuvok to point out the illogic in making a futile gesture, but the Vulcan surprised him by simply saying, "Agreed," before aiming and triggering the phaser.
Neelix watched the battle progress uneasily. "I wish there was something we could do to help."
"I'm afraid there isn't, Mr. Neelix," the Doctor noted. "All either of us can do now is watch... and hope."
As the battle intensified, the power of the Crystal forged a link between the three minds utilizing it- Sailor Moon, Captain
Janeway, and Dehner. Each of them felt the determination the others felt to destroy Mitchell, but Dehner kept some of her own thoughts to herself. She knew that Sailor Moon would object strenuously, and Janeway most likely would as well, but she did not intend to survive this battle even if they proved victorious. It had been hard enough for her to hold onto her own humanity for only a century of this type of existence. She knew that if she lived on, she could become as bad if not worse than Mitchell, and she would rather die before that happened.
Sensing that Mitchell was close to breaking- after all, he was under attack by not only Dehner's full power, but Sailor Moon's reinforced by the other Scouts and by two phaser
rifles- Dehner concentrated on pouring her last reserves of power into it and she mentally urged her two allies to do likewise. Both agreed instantly, and she felt the output from the Silver Crystal increase to yet another level.
At long last, Mitchell's shielding failed him and the full power of the Crystal struck into the core of his being. Dehner took a moment to redirect the Crystal's powers into another avenue before Sailor
Moon would cease fire. If the legends of it's power were true, then she could use it to help Captain Janeway and repay her for her assistance. It would take the last reserves of her own power, but she no longer cared. There was only time to say... "Goodbye."
Had anyone been there to see it, the view from space would have proven breathtaking. In the span of less than a second a fountain of light erupted from the heart of the citadel and soared upward into space. The base of it spread outward in all directions, rapidly spreading out to cover the entire planet. Wherever it touched, the faded and drab look the surface had possessed was replaced with bright and vivid colors that were normally typical of a class M world. The top of the fountain continued skyward, reaching outward into space until it touched the debris field that had once been an
Intrepid-class starship.
Unaware of the events taking place above, all Chakotay could do was shield his eyes, trying to keep his phaser firing at where he thought Mitchell was and hope that what he was doing would make some small difference. He hadn't thought it was possible, but the light from this display of power was even more brilliant than when the Scouts had launched their Planet Power attack. Eventually the light faded, allowing him to lower his hand and look directly at the scene. The captain still stood there next to Sailor Moon. Tuxedo Mask and the other Scouts were standing behind them. Of Mitchell, no sign remained. Everyone present was frozen for a moment... until Captain Janeway and Sailor Moon both
collapsed.
"Kathryn!" "Serena!" Both Chakotay and Tuxedo Mask were first to react. Tuxedo Mask rushed over to Sailor Moon's side, while Chakotay likewise went to his captain. Chakotay immediately checked for a pulse, and was relieved to find one, even if it was light and
thready. "Neelix, bring the Doctor over here!" he called over his shoulder.
"On our way, Commander," the Talaxian responded.
Nearby, Mercury was checking Sailor Moon's condition through her visor and sighed with relief. "Her bioreadings are low, but seem to be stable for the moment. I think she'll be
okay, but we should get to some a medical facility of some sort as soon as possible."
A wave of relief washed over the Scouts, but Mars felt a sense of worry coming through the mindlink she still shared with Tuvok. Turning, she saw the Vulcan was gazing at his captain and friend, the concern he was feeling evident in his thoughts and even on his face. "Mercury, what about Captain Janeway?"
She turned to the captain and waited for a moment for her visor to process the data it was receiving. When the readings were finally displayed, the relief she had felt moments before ebbed from her like the receding tide. "It's not good," she decidedly understated. "Her bioreadings are even lower than Sailor Moon's. If we don't get her some medical help soon..."
"Neelix, where's that Doctor?" Chakotay called out.
"Keep your shirt on, Chakotay. We had to pick up what was left of the medkit."
The first officer looked up suddenly, then almost shrugged in resignation. What was one more shock after everything else that had happened. "Tom? But how..?"
"I'm afraid the answer to that medical miracle will have to wait until later," the Doctor noted dryly. "Mr. Neelix, if you'll put the computer down on my level..."
"Of course, Doctor," he said, and put Mercury's palmtop on the ground in front of the hologram.
The Doctor grimaced as the readings scrawled across the screen. "There's no time to lose. Mr. Paris, administer two cc's of cordrazine to the captain, and zero point two cc's of it to Sailor Moon."
Paris started to make the appropriate settings to the hypo, then paused. "Did you say two cc's?" Needless to say, that was a rather large dosage of the powerful stimulant.
"I did, Mr. Paris. And hurry up about it. We're losing ground rapidly."
Janeway's eyes snapped open almost instantly after Paris injected her. She looked around wildly for a moment before she focused on... "Chakotay..."
Tom moved over to Sailor Moon and, after resetting the hypo to administer the smaller dosage, gave her an injection. As with the captain, the results where immediate. She stirred and opened her
eyes. Seeing Tuxedo Mask hovering over her, she gave a weak smile. "Hi."
"Hi yourself," he answered.
Behind him, Mars sighed in relief. "I swear, Serena, if you ever do anything like this again, I'll... I'll kill you myself."
Darien saw a mischievous gleam come into Sailor Moon's eyes and knew instantly that there was going to be trouble. "Why Raye," Sailor Moon said. "I never knew you cared."
"WHAT?!?" Mars screeched. "Of course I care!"
"Try not to talk, Captain," the first officer told her. How weak her voice had sounded chilled him to the bone. "Save your strength."
"No time for that," she said. She could feel the effects of the cordrazine injection wearing off already. "Just... those still alive, Chakotay. Do whatever you have to do, but... Get them home."
"You'll be able to do that," he objected. "Just rest and let the Doctor do his..." He froze momentarily as her head rolled to one side and her body fell limp. "Captain!"
"Her vital signs are falling rapidly," the Doctor said with alarm.
"Mr. Paris, prepare another injection. And somebody get the cortical stimulators ready."
Janeway heard Doctor's initial statements, but the conversation after that had become a rather indistinct mumble that grew fainter as time passed. That combined with the fact that the light was fading around her into darkness, made her fairly certain that she was dying. At least she had been able to keep Mitchell from making good on his threat of annihilating the Federation in the past. Her crew's friends and families would be safe, even if they didn't know the ultimate sacrifice most of them had made to insure that.
I only wish... That I could have gotten them, all of them, home, Janeway thought as she felt the darkness close in on her.
"You will."
Who said that? Was it some aspect of Dehner that remained with her, speaking to her in her mind? Was she still mind linked with Sailor Moon? She couldn't be sure. Maybe she had simply imagined
it. Indulging in a bit of wishful thinking just before the end. Then, just before the darkness became total, she was certain she heard a voice rising above the din from the outside world.
"Voyager to Captain Janeway."
Harry?
Blackness.
"Well, that was certainly interesting. But I always knew that Kathy had it in her."
If she could have, Janeway would have frowned inwardly. There was something about that male voice that was familiar. But before she could puzzle it out further, an unknown female voice spoke in a light, almost teasing voice, "If I didn't know you better, I'd say you were carrying a torch for her."
"Oh, please, my dear," the male replied, sounding offended. "One ball and chain is enough. I only hold the utmost respect for Kathryn."
"...she's coming around now."
Hearing that voice, Janeway forced open her eyelids and was instantly positive that she was dreaming somehow. She blinked a couple of times, but her vision remained steady. In fact, she could have sworn she heard... "Doctor?" she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
The hologram came into view above her, not the midget version she had seen during the battle below but instead back at his normal size. "Take it easy, Captain. You're out of immediate danger, but your system is still weak from your ordeal. I'd rather you keep off your feet for a bit."
Janeway nodded. At the moment she felt like a wet dishrag, but she still felt compelled to prop herself up on her elbows. She looked around her and felt as if she might lapse into unconsciousness again. Somehow, someway, she was lying on the surgical biobed in
Voyager's Sickbay. Unless she were hallucinating then by some improbable miracle,
Voyager had been reborn. "This is impossible. I saw the ship destroyed."
"We all did," Amy said. For some reason Janeway was unaware of, she had transformed back into her normal identity. Standing behind the biomonitors, she glanced back and forth between them and her computer.
"All her bioreading appear to be normal, Doctor, if a bit on the weak side. And that includes her EEG. But since it appeared normal before..." Her voice trailed off and she glanced meaningfully at Janeway.
"You needn't worry, Amy," Janeway reassured both her and the Doctor, "The only one using my head right now is me. Dr. Dehner is gone... forever." Feeling some of her strength returning, she swung her legs off the biobed and sat up. Maybe a bit too quickly as the room threatened to start spinning around her.
"Captain, I told you to take it easy!" the Doctor admonished her sharply.
She held up a reassuring hand. "Don't worry, Doctor. I'm not going to push it anymore."
"I've heard that one before," the hologram groused.
"Well... not today if that makes you feel any better," she added with a smile. "How long was I out. And how did..?" She moved her hand to indicate the room around her and the ship beyond the Sickbay walls.
"You've been unconscious for nearly a full day. And as for the ship... I guess you could say that things like this tend to happen when the Silver Crystal is used in that manner," Amy answered. "When Sailor Moon first used it's full power, during our final battle with Beryl, it somehow brought all of us back from the dead." She paused, considering. "Still, I wonder why Sailor Moon wasn't as affected as you where."
"If I had to guess, I'd say that it was a result of Dr. Dehner's influence," Janeway theorized. "I seem to recall her using her own life force to empower the Silver Crystal at that critical moment."
"Well, I for one am glad to be back on the ship and out of Mercury's computer," the Doctor said. "Existing as the 'Chibi-Doctor' had it's drawbacks."
"What about the rest of the crew? And Tom?" Janeway asked.
"All personnel are accounted for, Captain," the hologram assured her. "And in excellent health, I might add. Another side effect of the Silver Crystal, I believe. You and Sailor Moon were the only ones
I had to treat in the aftermath. In fact, I was able to release Sailor Moon from Sickbay some time ago.
Now, if you'll excuse me..." Not waiting for her reply, the hologram tapped onto his comm badge. "Doctor to Chakotay."
On the bridge, Chakotay looked up expectedly. "Go ahead, Doctor."
"I'm pleased to report that Captain Janeway has regained consciousness and is completely out of danger."
Chakotay could almost feel the tension that had been lingering over the bridge crew literally
evaporate. For each member of the bridge crew, and those Sailor Scouts present, the tense
expressions faded to be replaced with smiles. Even Tuvok seemed somewhat relieved to hear the
Doctor's news. "I'm on my way down, Doctor. Chakotay out." Rising from his seat, Chakotay gestured
to the tactical station. "Tuvok, you have the bridge."
"Acknowledged, Commander," the Vulcan replied as the first officer made his way to the turbolift.
Raye got there before he did. "Mind if I come along?"
"Not at all," Chakotay answered, motioning her towards the turbolift.
"Looks like the good guys win again," Mina observed as the doors closed behind them.
"Yep," Lita agreed with her friend. "This calls for a celebration."
Tuvok frowned as he assumed his position in the center seat. "A celebration?"
"Yeah, you know. A party."
"I fail to see any cause for celebration," Tuvok said. "This ship and crew has endured numerous hardships over the last few hours, even leading to it's own, if temporary, destruction. It is only by sheer
good fortune that we have emerged unscathed."
"Yeah, and that's what we're celebrating!" Lita told him.
"Don't be such a stone in the swamp, Tuvok," Mina chided him.
The Vulcan frowned. "'Stone in the swamp'?" he questioned. "I do not believe I am familiar with that human phrasing."
"I think she means 'stick in the mud'," Tom said.
Mina shrugged. "Whatever."
"Well, I think having a party is a brilliant idea," Neelix said, heartily embracing the notion. "And as the ship's morale officer, I'm going to insist on it to Captain Janeway... after the Doctor releases her
from sickbay, of course."
"Do you think she'd mind if started getting things ready?" Lita asked.
"Of course not," Neelix said. "And I should get started right away, too." He started for the turbolift, then paused and turned back to the two girls. "Would you two mind giving me a hand?"
"Sure!" they chorused.
Sitting at the engineering station, B'Elanna watched with some apprehension as the trio made their way to the turbolift, on their way to the mess hall. "I hope that Mina can cook better than she handles
electronics."
"She does not," Seven stated flatly.
B'Elanna groaned softly. "That's just great. We survive all this only to killed by terminal food poisoning."
"Well, at least we know there's one good cook in the bunch," Harry pointed out, trying to make the best of it.
Turning in his seat, Tom looked around at his shipmates. "So... Any bets on which of them will poison someone first?"
Playing the role of a good host, Chakotay allowed Raye to precede him into the room. When he did follow her inside, he felt a palpable sense of relief when he actually saw his captain and friend sitting up on the biobed. Of course he had known he would, having heard the Doctor's announcement minutes before. And while he did trust the hologram's abilities, there was nothing like seeing that fact for oneself to dispel any lingering doubts.
Raye was also glad to see the captain nearly recovered, but at the moment she had something else on her mind. A quick glance to Amy confirmed that all traces of Dehner seemed to be gone from Janeway's mind, but she wanted to be sure for herself. Not saying anything initially, she approached the biobed and stared intently at her.
"Why do I get the impression that you're probing the depths of my soul?" Janeway asked lightheartedly.
"That's because I am," she replied. Ignoring Janeway's look of incredulity, Raye continued her probe until she was satisfied. "There's no sign of any other minds other than her own." She gave the captain a meaningful look. "Not that I can detect, I guess."
"I can see that I'm going to be apologizing for keeping that little fact concealed for quite a while," Janeway observed.
Chakotay shook his head. "Not to me."
"Huh?" Raye looked mystified.
"I know from experience that there are times when a captain needs to keep information to him or herself," he explained.
"But you wouldn't mind an explanation," Janeway said.
Chakotay nodded. "True."
"If this were just a matter of trust, Raye, I would have told you and the others about it in a second. But you saw how powerful a telepath Mitchell was. He would have taken that knowledge from your minds in an instant, and then we would have lost the only advantage we had- surprise."
"Not that it made much of a difference," Raye said.
"I'm afraid so," Janeway said, sighing. "The original plan Dehner and I had created was for me to confront him alone after we had freed the away team. She could have concealed myself, Tom and the Scouts from him until that was done. After that, there would be too many minds for her to hide. Once that was done, I would have sent the others back to the ship in the
Shepard, while Dehner and I confronted Mitchell."
"Given how powerful he was, that course of action would have been suicidal," Amy pointed out.
"And somehow, I don't see Commander Chakotay agreeing to leave you behind to face him," the Doctor added.
Chakotay nodded. "You got that right."
"Well, Mitchell was much more powerful than either of us had anticipated, so it's probably just as well," Janeway conceded. "Besides, the destruction of the shuttle took care of that idea."
"Speaking of the shuttle..." Chakotay began.
"That's right," Janeway said. "We should send down a team to recover the wreckage. It'll at least give B'Elanna something to work with for fashioning a replacement."
"That's not necessary," Chakotay told her. "We haven't been sitting on our hands waiting for you to recover. I sent a team down shortly after we returned to the ship. They
found the Shepard in
pristine condition, with absolutely no signs of damage. It's currently back in the shuttlebay."
"Why am I not surprised at that?" Janeway asked wryly. "So how are we otherwise set?"
"All personnel are safe and accounted for," the first officer told her. "As for the ship, there's no sign of damage to any of the ship's systems. In fact, things seems to be running better than before we came to this planet."
"Well, at least some good came out of this," the captain observed. "By the way, where are the other Scouts?"
"The last I saw, Lita and Mina were on the bridge," Raye answered.
"And Serena and Darien?"
Chakotay decided to answer that one. "I gave them permission to use holodeck one for an extended period. It seemed the least we could do was to give them some time to themselves."
"I wonder what program they chose?" Janeway mused.
"I don't have any idea," Chakotay confessed, "But I think Tom may have made a suggestion or two."
Serena looked dubiously about the cafe. Using the holodeck to visit a French cafe had seemed like a good idea before, but some of the characters the holodeck had created were downright strange. Especially the one guy who was constantly playing pool. "Darien, are you
sure this is the program Tom was talking about?"
"Reasonably sure," he answered. "At least, I didn't see another program labeled "Sandrine's" in the listing."
Sailor Trek: Voyager
By Bill Harris
Part Epilogue
PG13
"...and imagine yourself in the place where you've been the most at peace with yourself."
Raye tried to relax and comply with Chakotay's urgings, but it wasn't easy. Even discounting the recent events surrounding their visit to
Voyager, there had been many factors in her life that had discounted her feeling relaxed in any manner. Especially since she had gotten that vision of utter devastation. After a moment she sighed. "I don't think this is..." she began, but her voice trailed off when she opened her eyes and got a good look at her surroundings.
Instead of being in Chakotay's quarters, she found herself somewhere on the temple grounds. No mater how carefully she looked, she couldn't tell the difference between this and reality. "Whoa. This is weird."
"Don't worry about it," she heard Chakotay's disembodied voice tell her. "You should see your animal guide somewhere nearby. Just remember not to tell me or anyone else what it is, or you'll offend it."
"I heard you the first time," Raye grumbled while looking around the grounds. At first she thought the chuckling she heard in the background was from Chakotay, but she soon realized that the voice was
much too deep to be that of Voyager's first officer. Turning towards the source, she found herself confronted by a large gray wolf. The wolf looked her over very carefully, and then seemed to grin.
"Greetings, cubling. I've been waiting for you."
Though she had been told the animal guide would be able to communicate with her, the sight of a talking wolf proved very startling for Raye. She gasped in surprise, and then blinked as she suddenly
found herself back in Chakotay's quarters.
"Something wrong?" Chakotay asked, still seated on the floor in front of her.
"It spoke to me!"
Chakotay smiled. "I did tell you they would be able to communicate."
"I know, I know," Raye conceded. "Still, it was really weird hearing..." Chakotay opened his mouth to warn her again about speaking of her animal guide, but his fear proved to be groundless. "...an animal speak like that."
"I understand," Chakotay assured her. "The first contact is always the hardest one, depending on the individual, of course. On one hand, Captain Janeway's went relatively smoothly. On the other extreme, there's B'Elanna."
"Oh?" Raye cocked an eyebrow in a very Tuvok-like manner. It was all Chakotay could do to keep from grinning broadly. "What happened?"
"B'Elanna's the only person I know who tried to kill her animal guide."
Raye's other eyebrow went upwards. "Fascinating." This time Chakotay did grin, and Raye flushed red and tried to hide her face with one hand. "I don't believe I said that."
"I wouldn't worry about that too much. It's only a side effect of the mind link, and Tuvok did tell you it should fade soon enough. Besides, I think Tuvok finds it a little more distressing sounding like you."
Raye felt her temper flare, and she glared at Chakotay. "What's that supposed to mean?!?"
"Only that a Vulcan is even more embarrassed acting like a human than you should be for acting like a Vulcan," he reassured her. He gestured to the
akoonah on the floor between them, "If you want, you could try to re-establish contact."
"I don't think there's time for that right now," she answered. She stood up and Chakotay did likewise. "I think Neelix's party is about to start. But I should be able to make contact with it on my own later, right?"
"That's right," Chakotay confirmed. "And if what you tell me about your fire readings, you won't need an
akoonah either. The fire reading ritual itself should be more than enough to induce the proper mental state."
Raye nodded. "Okay, maybe I'll try it after I get back home. Thanks,
Chakotay."
"Anytime," he responded as she left the room. After she had gone, Chakotay sat done on the floor once more, and rearranged the contents of his medicine bundle in front of him. He had a few things to work out for himself after recent events, and there was no time like the present. He picked up the river rock and, cupping it in both hands, closed his eyes; trying to clear his mind. When he felt ready, reached out with his right hand and placed it atop the
akoonah. "A-koo-chee-moya. I am far from
the sacred places of my grandfathers. I am far from the bones of my people. I come here seeking guidance..."
When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a forest glade much like what one would find in North America. All was still about him except for the sounds of birds chirping in the distance.
Then there was a rustling in the bushes on the far side of the glade, from which emerged large gray wolf. Though he did not know it, Chakotay had the same animal guide as Raye, and it was here to greet him as always.
Sensing his need for answers, the wolf turned and headed for one of the many trails leading from the glade. Chakotay hurried to follow the guide.
It seemed as if he wandered about the forest for hours, though it may well have been minutes. Time was hard to tell on a vision quest. But eventually trail led to the mouth of a cave. It was impossible to
see what was within, for the inside was as black as pitch. Still the wolf unerringly went inside, not bothering to see if Chakotay followed. Pausing at the entrance for only a fraction of a second, the first
officer went into the cavern...
...and emerged into a sea of white.
Yet not entirely white, for the background swirled about him, hinting at colors he could not perceive directly. And the was a large structure nearby, one that resembled a large door or gateway if nothing
else. He looked around it carefully, but he could not tell where it led too, only that there was a mass of pulsating energies within the frame of the door. "What is it?"
"It is a gateway," a voice answered him. Chakotay whirled about to face the source. It was a humanoid female, dressed in attire that was similar in form to the Sailor Scouts. She also bore a staff which had a vague resemblance to a large key. "The Gateway of Time, to be exact. But what are you doing here?"
"I was brought here, by my animal guide."
"I see," she replied, then paused in contemplation. "I wonder why the old wolf brought you here?"
Chakotay was shocked that she knew what his animal guide was, but he struggled to conceal it.
"Who are you?"
"I am Sailor Pluto, the guardian of this realm," she answered, staring sternly at him. "I trust you have a good reason for coming here, Commander."
Sailor Pluto? Chakotay thought. So far this was turning out to be one of the stranger vision quests he had ever been on...
B'Elanna took a moment to wipe off the sweat that was accumulating
on her brow. "I can't believe I let you talk me into this."
"I don't know what you're complaining about," Lita replied. "I think this is fun."
"Some fun." B'Elanna took a moment to look at her surroundings once again. She and Lita were in the middle of the standard Klingon calisthenics holoprogram, and as before, she was having a
miserable time in it. "If I wanted to be hot and sweaty, I'd create a program for somewhere on Cardassia Prime."
Lita's brow furrowed, showing the puzzlement she felt. "Cardassia Prime? Where's-"
Before she could finish, a loud cry echoed around them and various holo-monsters charged the two of them. Lita heard B'Elanna cry out followed by a loud splash, but she was too occupied with the assorted creatures to do anything about it. Handling the
bat'leth as if she had been born to it, she block the incoming attacks and disabled the creatures one by one. When the last of the holo-creatures hit the floor and dissolved, she turned and looked for the
Voyager engineer.
Finding her wasn't hard. B'Elanna was a few meters behind her, sitting waist deep in a pool of marsh water and looking as if she was getting angrier by the second. Lita choked off a laugh, but enough escaped to send B'Elanna flying into a rage. "That does
it!" she exclaimed, standing up and trying fruitlessly to wring the water out of her clothes. "I have had
enough of this ridiculous program!" She bent down and picked up her own
bat'leth before slogging her way out of the water. "Computer: end program!"
The scenario dissolved around them, revealing the hologrid. Still enraged and thoroughly soaked, B'Elanna started storming for the exit.
But Lita grabbed her before she got to the exit. "B'Elanna-"
"Let me go, Lita," she retorted flatly.
Lita complied but not before she said, "I'm sorry."
B'Elanna's anger started dissolving as quickly as it had formed. "It's not your fault," she told the tall girl. "It's just that these type of activities don't appeal to me."
"Yeah, I can tell," Lita said. "It just... I had so much fun going through this program with Worf back on the
Enterprise, I wanted to take the opportunity to enjoy it here with someone." She smiled apologetically. "I guess I assumed that since you were half Klingon..."
"Big mistake," B'Elanna told her gently. "But an understandable one. I've never been too comfortable with my Klingon heritage."
"Done already?" They both turned to see Tom Paris approaching. "I just got off watch from the bridge, and I was hoping to catch a little of the action."
"I'm afraid you're a little late, Tom. We just finished," B'Elanna said.
From the state her clothing was in, Tom had a feeling just how it had gone for B'Elanna. But he still couldn't resist getting a little jab in. "So, is that a
bat'leth I see in your hand, or are you just happy to see me?" he quipped.
Lita couldn't help but giggle at the joke, but B'Elanna was not amused. "Very funny, Tom." She raised the weapon up threateningly. "In case no one's ever told you, you should never tease a woman holding a sharp blade," she warned him. "Especially one who's soaking wet, and very angry."
Tom carefully put his hand on the flat of the blade. "I see your point," he said as he gently shoved the weapon away.
Lita wasn't sure if she should intervene or not, but she was saved the effort of deciding by the timely arrival of Harry and Mina. "Hi!" the blonde said brightly. "Is the holodeck free?"
"Yeah, we just finished," Lita replied. She glanced over the attire both Harry and Mina were wearing. "What are you guys up to?"
"Parrises squares," Harry answered, hefting the ball that was used for that particular game. "Care to join us?"
"No thanks," Lita answered, while both Tom and B'Elanna indicated negative answers as well. "I thought you were going to help Neelix finish things up?"
"He said he could handle things from there," Mina said. "And I figured it was like you said when you decided to head here- there's no telling if we'll ever get a chance to try out one of these holodecks
again." With that, she and Harry entered into the holodeck.
"I better get going then," Lita observed. "Even if he said he can handle things, I bet Neelix wouldn't mind having some help."
While Lita walked away, B'Elanna glanced through the open holodeck doors and shrugged. "If nothing else, Harry keeping Mina occupied in there reduces the odds of any of us getting food poisoning," she said quietly as she and Tom walked away from the holodeck door.
Evidently not quiet enough, for Mina quickly appeared in the still open doorway. "HEY! What's that supposed to mean!" she challenged the Klingon engineer. But before B'Elanna could reply, both she and Tom heard Harry shouting "Look out!" just as the ball came soaring out of the holodeck, scoring a direct hit on the back of Mina's head. The dazed blonde staggered slightly before she crumpled onto the deck.
Pluto sighed. Chakotay had left the Gateway not long ago. She hoped she had been able to help him find the answers he was looking for, but she even more fervently hoped that the Gateway was not going to become Grand Central Station to those on vision quests. The last thing she needed was to become a cosmic counselor.
Almost in response to her thinking about unwanted guests, a flash and ripple of sound to her right announced the arrival of Q. The entity seemed somewhat amused, but it was soon apparent as to what. "Well, I see you'll let just about anybody here nowadays."
"Now Q, I didn't just 'let' Commander Chakotay in here. He was brought here by another."
"Another?" Q scowled at her. "What do you mean by that?"
"There are more things on heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy, Q," she replied, paraphrasing a quote from Shakespeare.
Q snorted. "I ask a simple question, and I get a Vorlon-esque answer. Fine, be that way." Turning from her, the entity seemed to sulk.
Pluto sighed. For all his supposed age and omnipotence, the entity still persisted in some very petulant behavior. "You did as I asked?" she asked.
"Of course," Q replied. "Have I ever let you down?"
A small smile came to her face. Opportunities like this didn't come very often. "Many times," she casually replied, causing Q's face to fall suddenly. "But I'm mainly concerned about this instance."
"Well I don't know what you are worried about," Q said. He snapped his fingers and a videocassette appeared in his hands. "Here's all the evidence of
Voyager's little sojourn to your world. Now all they have is another UFO mystery on their hands."
Pluto nodded. "Good."
"Now what's all the fuss about? After all the odd events that have occurred in Japan in the last couple or three years, I would've thought a sighting of
Voyager in the Arctic would cause nary a
ripple."
"Just making sure, Q."
Darien stepped out onto the bridge but after a quick glance it was evident that Serena was not here, despite what the computer had told him earlier. But before he could make a discrete exit, "If
you're looking for Serena, I believe you'll find her in the mess hall."
He turned towards the mid-bridge station, where Seven of Nine stood watching him intently. "How do you know..?"
"The celebration Neelix is planning is scheduled to commence shortly," she replied. "Undoubtedly, Neelix is already setting out the various food plates he has been preparing. Given Serena's eating habits, the rest is simple deduction."
"I guess you would know," Darien said with more than a little venom in his voice. "After all, the Borg did make her part of that collective of theirs for a while."
Seven continued her work, but she still replied. "Her assimilation was not an easy task for the
collective. Serena's... unique personality destabilized several parts of the collective. It was some time
afterwards before the irrational impulses were completely eradicated. Were it not for her biological distinctiveness, the collective would not be interested in reassimilating her."
"The Borg still want to assimilate her?" Darien repeated, shocked.
"Yes," Seven replied matter-of-factly. "Along with yourself and the other Sailor Scouts."
"Not that I think they'd succeed, but it's probably just as well that the Borg are from another universe," Darien observed.
Now Seven stopped and looked evenly at Darien. "Do not take too much comfort in that fact," she stated. "The Borg possess transdimensional technologies, and are quite capable of crossing over
to your universe."
"They can do that?" Darien breathed.
"Yes, once they have the correct dimensional coordinates. You and the others should remain vigilant at all times. The Collective has placed a high priority on assimilating the six of you... along with the future city of Crystal Tokyo."
As Seven had predicted, Serena was in the mess hall, eagerly eying the assorted food trays that Neelix was setting up. Though the forms of most of them were decidedly unfamiliar, the smells were thoroughly enticing. Besides, she reasoned to herself, if Lita had a hand in the creation of most of these, they were sure to be fantastic.
For his part, Neelix was taking great delight in explaining to Serena just what each dish was and what went into creating it. He was expecting a good many of the crew to attend at some point, so he had prepared a wide variety of foods using assorted recipes from both the Delta and Alpha Quadrants. "...and in honor of the Sailor Scouts being on board, I even got your friends to help prepare a couple of selections from your world. Such as this one," Neelix said as he placed the try down on the counter.
"Do you mind if I try it?" Serena asked.
"Of course not. There's plenty for everyone," Neelix replied. As Serena popped one into her mouth, he went on, "I tried it myself earlier, and I must say I thought Mina did an excellent..." The Talaxian's voice trailed off as he watched Serena's face turn a bright shade of red.
"Um... Is something wrong?"
"Water!" Serena managed to get out over the burning sensation in her mouth. Someone thrust a glass into her hands and she eagerly downed the contents. "Thank you!"
Immersed as she was in her task, Janeway didn't hear the door chime at first. But the second chime break through her concentration. "Come."
The door slid open, allowing Amy to enter the ready room.
"You wanted to see me, Captain?"
"Yes, Amy, I did," Janeway answered. "Sorry for keeping you waiting, but I was..." She motioned to the datascreen on her desk.
Amy nodded and smiled. "I understand. I've gotten engrossed with something like that before."
"I'll just be a moment." While Janeway returned her concentration to the terminal, Amy took a moment to idly look about the room. Her gaze briefly flit upon the floor where she had half expected to see the hole the Negarans cut in it during the siege of the bridge. But since the ship had been completely restored by the Silver Crystal, the floor looked as if it had never been damaged.
"There you go."
Amy jumped slightly. Captain Janeway had come from behind the desk to stand next to her, and was offering her... "An isolinear optical chip?" Puzzled, Amy took the chip and examined it. "Why are you giving this to me?"
"Because I need a favor from you," the captain answered. "I'm not sure that I have the right to ask, not after deceiving you all like I did. And especially after you and your friends helped restore
Voyager."
"We'd gladly do it again, Captain. And as for your keeping silent about Dr. Dehner, your reasons for doing so were correct. If Mitchell had known about her, he might have been more aggressive in trying to stop us. If that had happened, we might have lost
everything." She held up the data chip again. "But that doesn't tell me anything about this."
"That chip contains an assortment of Voyager's log entries since we came to the Delta Quadrant," Janeway began. "And it also contains personal messages from my crew to their families and friends back home."
She placed both hands upon the desk and leaned back against it. "You've already had three encounters with Starfleet that we know of- Kirk's
Enterprise, Picard's and now Voyager- so it's entirely possible you'll have others at some point in your future. If you do, and provided they're from a point in time after our current
stardate, then give them this data chip. Even if Starfleet Command can't do anything to help get us home, it will let our families know that we're alive... and that we're coming home."
Amy didn't even take a moment to ponder this. Producing her computer, she opened it up and placed the isolinear chip inside it. "No problem, Captain."
Now it was Janeway's turn to smile. "Thank you. Now unless I'm mistaken, Neelix's victory celebration should be getting underway right about now. How about we head down to the mess hall?"
Neelix greeted them with his customary enthusiasm when they got to the mess hall. "Captain, Amy, come in! I was wondering if you two were going to be here."
"My fault, I'm afraid Neelix," Janeway told him. "I wanted to discuss something with Amy before things got going." She took a moment to survey the mess hall, which was already rather crowded. It seemed that a good part of the ship's company was already here, including most, if not all, of the senior staff. Over on the far side of the room she could see Tuvok engaged in a conversation with Raye, while nearby Mina was discussing something with Harry. In the center, she could see Serena
and Darien listening to Tom expound on their adventures in the Delta Quadrant. "I see you wasted no time in getting things started."
"There's no use in procrastinating when a celebration is in order," the Talaxian told her while urging her and Amy towards the buffet table he had erected. "Now come on in and join the festivities."
Janeway looked in amazement at the assorted dishes. "You must have worked all night on this, Neelix."
"The work load wasn't as bad as you might think, Captain. It helps having a couple of very eager assistants. In fact, I haven't had this much help since..." He paused, thinking. "Well, it must have been
since before Kes started working in Sickbay. Now help yourselves." With that, Neelix hustled back into the kitchen area, where Janeway could see Lita still working on something.
Glancing back, he saw that B'Elanna had come up to the table. "Don't be afraid to try anything," he heard her say, "Most of is actually edible." Neelix smiled to himself and continued on his way into the
kitchen.
Lita glanced up from the pot she was tending. "Doesn't that bother you?"
"Doesn't what?" Neelix asked, puzzled.
"B'Elanna's comments about your cooking. At first I thought it was just her Klingon side showing itself, but I'm beginning to think that she's just being mean."
"You couldn't be further from the truth," Neelix told her. "It's just B'Elanna's way of blowing off steam."
"But why does she always chose you to do that?"
"Because I told her to."
That comment threw Lita off her stride. "Huh? You told her to?"
"Yes," Neelix confirmed, nodding. "Being half Klingon, B'Elanna has a very volatile temper, but she can't afford to lose control in front of her staff. So I told her that she could come here and use me as a target of her temper. I don't mind." Picking up a wooden spoon, the chef gave the pot a couple of good stirs.
Not knowing what to say right off, Lita just watched him tend to the leola root stew for a few moment. "You can be a strange guy, Neelix, but you've got a big heart," she observed, patting him on the shoulder. "That must be why so much of this crew likes you."
Neelix turned to respond, but in doing so he noted the mess hall doors opening again and Chakotay enter through them. "Ah, a late arrival. That accounts for all of the senior staff."
Neelix wasn't the only one to note Chakotay's arrival. Janeway threaded through the crowd and made her way over to her first officer. "Finally decided to join the fun?"
"Sorry for being late, but I was on a vision quest," he said apologetically. "A very unusual one, I might add."
"Oh?" Janeway was intrigued. "Anything you care to talk about?"
Chakotay hesitated before answering. "Maybe later, after I've had some time to think about it."
Things were still in full swing two hours later when a beep sounded from the comm system. "Seven of Nine to Captain Janeway."
"I wonder what she wants?" Mina mused.
"One way to find out," Janeway said. However, she had a feeling that whatever Seven was going to say, it would be of extreme importance. The Borg was not of the habit of making casual interruptions to ship activities. "Go ahead, Seven."
"Long range sensors have detected Borg transwarp signatures. They should be able to scan the system within the next twenty minutes."
A collective groan went up through the room. "Talk about bad timing," Lita grumbled.
"Leave it to the Borg to be gate crashers at a perfectly good party," Serena added, equally disappointed.
"I couldn't agree with you more," Janeway said. "Unfortunately, it means we better be on our way." Speaking loud for the benefit of the assembled crew, "If you have any goodbyes to make, I suggest you do so now."
"Take care, Tuvok," Raye said. "I hope the personality traits you got from me don't prove too embarrassing to you."
"I shall endure it," Tuvok assured you. "However, I think the logic and emotional control you gained from the mind link could prove to be of great help to you."
"Don't bet on it," she grumbled.
"Goodbye, Amy," the Doctor told her. "But I hope you don't take any offense when I say I'm glad I don't have to exist inside your computer anymore."
"None taken, Doctor, she assured him. "I can certainly see why you would think so."
"Good," the hologram responded. "I wish I could be there to help you on your way, but even without my assistance, I'm sure you'll make an excellent physician."
She colored slightly before responding. "Thank you for thinking so, Doctor."
"I'm not just saying so," he noted. "Besides, it's not just my opinion. Remember, my program is based on the logs of some of Starfleet's finest Doctors. And I can say without any doubt whatsoever
that both Doctors McCoy and Crusher share the same opinion that you will be among the finest Doctors your Earth has ever seen."
"Well, I guess this is goodbye," Harry said somewhat lamely. "Take care of yourself, Mina."
Mina ignored tentative hand Harry offered, choosing instead to give the young ensign a very affectionate hug. "Just doing my job as the Scout of Love," she told him in answer to the unspoken question on his face. "Hopefully Seven will hear about this and realize that if she doesn't do anything, she might lose to someone else."
Harry blinked, too shocked to say anything as she walked away. "Are we talking about the same Seven of Nine?" he finally managed.
"Take care of yourself, B'Elanna," Lita told her. "And try not to be too hard on Neelix." Before the half Klingon could answer, Lita moved off to say farewell to another member of
Voyager's crew.
"What was that all about?" Tom asked.
"I'm not sure," B'Elanna replied as she watched the girl move away.
"I just wished she could have stayed longer," Tom said wistfully. "I was hoping she could show Neelix how to make a good pizza."
"Thanks again for you're help, Serena," Janeway told the girl. I don't think I can ever thank you enough for what you've done for my ship and crew."
"I didn't exactly do it all by myself, Captain. You and Dr. Dehner helped."
Janeway turned to Neelix. "Neelix, why don't you escort our guests to Transporter Room One," she suggested. "Everyone else, I'm afraid it's back to work."
"Of course, Captain. Ladies and sir, if you'll follow me," Neelix said, leading the way out of the mess hall. One by one, the five girls and Darien followed him out, each pausing momentarily to make a last wave to the crew.
"It's a pity they have to leave this abruptly," Chakotay commented, as the door closed behind the last of them.
"Well, I'm just glad we met them when we did," Janeway said. "Otherwise, I doubt we would have survived this little encounter."
Tuvok nodded, agreeing with his Captain. "Indeed, they were instrumental in helping us defeat the Negasleaze on Negara."
The others turned to stare at the Vulcan security officer.
"Negasleaze?" B'Elanna asked, smiling slightly.
Tuvok shifted uncomfortably. "It would seem that there is still some personality overlap from my mindlink with Raye. It should fade with time, and in fact be gone within two weeks."
Tom smiled. "I think I'm going to enjoy the next couple of weeks."
"Well, here we are," Neelix said as the group entered the transporter room. "If you just take your positions on the pads, we can get you started on your way home."
"Just a moment, Neelix," Mina said. "Negara may have been cleansed by Sailor Moon, but we should transform before we beam down, just in case."
"Good idea, Mina," Amy said as she took out her transformation wand. Seconds later, the small room echoed with the assorted transformation cries.
Neelix watched in awe at the display of light as the five girls changed into the Sailor Scouts and Darien also transformed into
Tuxedo Mask. "Wow!" he exclaimed when the light show was over. "That was just... just..." He struggled for a moment to find the right words, but finally just reiterated once more, "Wow!"
"Thanks, Neelix," Mercury said as they took their positions on the transporter platform. "I think I can safely say we all have felt the same way about
Voyager."
"Oh, before I forget," Jupiter spoke up, and tossed Neelix a
padd. "From one chef to another."
The Talaxian caught the padd and quickly examined it's contents. "Recipes!" he said, beaming with delight. "Thank you, Li- er, Sailor Jupiter."
The tall Scout gave him a broad smile. "Anytime."
Not knowing what else to say, Neelix turned to the transporter operator. But before he could give the command, Sailor Moon spoke
up, "Hold it, Neelix!"
"Yes?"
"Let us say it this time."
Neelix nodded. Whenever you're ready."
"Energize!" they cried out simultaneously.
On a bluff overlooking what had once been Metallah's citadel, six columns of white energy shimmered into existence and then resolved themselves into the forms of the Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask.
Venus gazed at the sky above them in awe. "Wow, I can't get over how different this planet seems than when we first landed here."
"Crash landed, you mean," Mars corrected her. "But you're right. That sky is a much deeper blue than what we would see back home."
"Due to the differences in the atmospheric composition," Mercury pointed out. "But there are other differences to our last visit to the surface." She pointed to the ruins of the citadel not far from their position. Among the toppled stones they could see that the local plantlife was already moving in.
"Talk about fast growing plants," Jupiter said. "It's only been two days, but it looks like that stuff's been growing for a year."
"The plantlife here must be extremely aggressive," Mercury observed. "A place like this could be a botanist's dream."
"Or a farmer's," Tuxedo Mask said. He pointed down into the valley. Though it was still in it's early stages, they could see the beginnings of a village being constructed by the surviving
Negarans, along with the outlines of crop fields.
"It looks like they're trying to put their lives back together," Sailor Moon said.
"Yes," Mercury confirmed. "I'm detecting the remains of a previous village in the same area. Undoubtably the Negarans were an agrarian and peaceful people before Mitchell came here."
"And they're getting back to that lifestyle now that he's gone," Sailor Moon said.
They stood watching for a bit before Mars shook herself. "We better get going. Captain Janeway said they'd wait for us to leave before they broke orbit, and that Borg ship is on the way."
There weren't any protests to Mars' urgings, as they all were anxious to get home. They quickly formed up into a circle, and after a moment's concentration, teleported from the surface.
Harry looked up from the sensor readouts. "We've lost sensor contact with the Sailor Scouts. It looks like they've teleported."
"We are picking a slight distortion effect in the quantum flux," Chakotay confirmed, glancing at his own panel. "It looks like they made passage through it." He settled back in his chair and looked at Janeway. "Should we try to close it before the Borg get here?"
"You mean like the Enterprise did?" she asked. After the first officer nodded, "I don't think that's a good idea, Chakotay."
Chakotay frowned. "Why not?"
"Because the procedure they used didn't close the quantum flux as they thought it would," she explained. "If you take a look at the subspace signature of the flux, you'll see that it's identical to the flux the
Enterprise-D traversed before they attempted closing it."
"So that means that this is the same flux," Chakotay said after he had a moment to check the readings for himself.
"I'm afraid so. It's been redirected twice so far as we know- first to Delta Vega, and then to here. If we try redirect it, who knows where in time and space it'll end up. We could just end up making things worse."
"We can't just leave it here for the Borg to find," Tom protested. "We might as well just leave them a sign, 'This way to Sailor Moon'."
"I have no intention of doing that, Tom. Harry, set up an anti-proton burst from the main deflector. That should scramble any readings the Borg might take of it."
A universe away, a black cat perked her ears and looked about the courtyard. Nothing was visible, but she was sure that something was about to happen. She cast a baleful glare at the sleeping form of Artemis before nudging him. "Wake up, Artemis." When the white cat seemed reluctant to do so, she cuffed him roughly on one ear. "I said, 'Wake up!'"
"I'm awake, I'm awake," he muttered, rubbing the ear painfully. "What's so important?"
"Can't you feel it?"
"The only thing I'm feeling right now is a headache," Artemis retorted.
Luna opened her mouth to respond, but in that moment the Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask materialized. Seconds later, they had reversed their transformations, returning to their normal identities. "Thank heavens you're back," Luna said. "You've been gone for hours. What happened?
What did you find?"
"Hours?" Serena asked, focusing on Luna's first statement. "But I thought we spent a couple of days on
Voyager?" She turned to Amy for confirmation.
Artemis gave a catlike frown of puzzlement. "Voyager?"
Amy was already checking her computer. "I supposed there could have been a temporal variance when we teleported from their universe through the quantum flux."
Now Luna was puzzled. "Quantum flux?"
"Cool. We don't have to try and cover for where we've been the last couple of days," Mina noted.
Amy nodded. "Yes, and we didn't miss any school either."
"You would think of that, wouldn't you Amy?" Lita teased her.
Before Amy could respond, Luna spoke up, "Excuse me, but will somebody please tell me what's been going on!"
"Sorry, Luna," Amy apologized, then launched into a quick account over the events since they had teleported to the Arctic. Though they remained silent, both Luna and Artemis were wide eyed in
amazement.
"Nuts!"
All eyes turned to Serena. "What's wrong, Serena?" Darien inquired.
"I just remembered I've got a math test tomorrow!" she complained. "I thought I'd gotten out of it, too."
Amy shook her head. "You'd just have to make it up later, so it's just as well."
"You're not much help. Amy."
"If you'd just study ahead of time, you wouldn't have any problems in math or any other subject," Raye commented calmly. "It's simply logical." The others stared at her for a moment before she belatedly realized just how she sounded. "Not again!" she muttered.
"Logical?" Mina asked. "Where you taking Vulcan lessons back on
Voyager?"
"Odd, I thought Chakotay was showing her how to contact her animal guide," Darien remarked.
"Maybe she snuck in a couple of sessions when we weren't looking," Lita suggested.
"Amy, I think you better give Raye a quick scan. She's getting a greenish complexion," Serena said, getting into the action. Amy nodded, and produced the small device.
Raye glared at all of them, but chose to focus her ire on Serena. "I am
not turning green!" she snapped.
Serena's only reaction was to raise an eyebrow in a distinctly Vulcan manner. "Really Raye, your attitude is... most illogical. What would Tuvok say?"
"I don't care what he would say!!"
"Have you always been this emotional?"
"Can it, meatballhead!"
"Don't call me meatballhead!!"
The others watched as the argument quickly escalated into another one of their infamous tongue wars. "Well, it didn't take them long to fall into old habits," Darien remarked.
"If I were you, Darien, I'd be more worried if things didn't get back to normal," Amy told him.
"True," he conceded. "Things are probably getting back to normal back on
Voyager too... At least as normal as it gets for a ship so far from home."
"Do you think they'll make it back home?" Mina asked. "I mean... they've got a long ways to go."
"Yeah, like sixty thousand light years," Lita chimed in.
Amy looked down at her open computer. Attached firmly to the inside of the lid was the isolinear chip Captain Janeway had given her. After making sure that it was secure, she closed the computer and put it away. "It may not be any time soon, but I think they will eventually get home." She smiled at the others before continuing. "Besides, we all know that when all is said and done, Starfleet crews usually manage to accomplish their mission."
"We've got the star between us and the Borg ship," Tom reported.
"That should be more than enough to obscure our warp signature," B'Elanna said. "They won't know we were ever in the system."
"Good," Chakotay said. He half turned to the operations station. "Harry, are you sure that anti-proton pulse from the main deflector will keep the Borg from spotting the flux?" The pulse had seemed to scramble readings from the flux when they had released it over
Negara, but it didn't hurt to be certain. The last thing anyone on the ship wanted was for the Borg to discover the passageway to the Scouts' world.
"Positive, Commander," the ensign replied. "I been scanning for myself, and even I can't tell it's there. It should be at least a year before it's discernable as a quantum flux."
"The collective should lose interest in that world long before then," Seven said. "There is not
technology worth assimilating, and the alien's biological distinctiveness is not remarkable enough to
warrant the effort."
"Since we seem to have covered our tracks as best we can, it's time for us to be on our way," Janeway noted with a smile. "Tom, let's resume our course for the Alpha Quadrant. Warp six."
Tom had already made the necessary course computations, but he made a quick check of the helm nevertheless. "Course and speed ready, Captain."
"Engage."
Outside, the warp nacelles elevated into their flight positions and the ship accelerated into warp.
Voyager was once more on course for the Alpha Quadrant. And home.
The End of the Sailor Trek saga.
Notes: Comments, critiques and questions are welcome. Just email me at Soton@aol.com.
As before, thanks to Gene Roddenberry and Naoko Takeuchi, for creating their respective genres. Additional thanks to Rick Berman, Michael Piller and Jeri Taylor for creating "Star Trek: Voyager." (Personally, I think the series is a lot better than some people give it credit for.)
I would also like to add a special thank you to Will Wolfshohl, who has patiently provided a lot of critical commentary along the way,
and for pointing out a serious plot hole I had left open during
chapters 5 & 6. That gave me enough warning to craft chapter 7 in a way to cover up my mistake. Credit to him as well for suggesting that Chakotay should introduce Raye to her animal guide.
Additional thanks to Mike Stancel for his own remarks and suggestions along the way, including Neelix's little quip in chapter 7 that Tuvok and Mercury might be related.
I would also like to extend my thanks to each and everyone of you that have taken the time to send me comments regarding the stories.