DISCLAIMER: You all know the drill - Paramount is God. All hail Paramount. They own everything in the Star Trek Universe - I'm just
using my overactive imagination to take their characters where they refuse to go. All in the name of fun, not profit (I wish).
RATING: PG-13 Nothing my momma couldn't read.
<< BACK TO PART V: THE DISCOVERY
Within a few hours, preparations had started. They had begun gathering rations and supplies and were sorting out the details. Captain Janeway and Chakotay, along with Lieutenant Blake and Ensign Martens, were making their way towards the underground water source to take as much as they could with them to the surface. They had found an abandoned pile of small storage containers that they thought were watertight, so they went to the pool to fill them up.
"We'll need to make at least five trips," the Captain was saying as they made their way over the rough path towards the water. "My last count had over forty of us, and that lift won't hold more that seven or eight people at a time."
"We'll also have to keep a couple of people on the lift at all times, so that makes even more trips," added Chakotay.
"What are we going to do if that ventilation shaft is twenty meters straight up?" Lieutenant Blake wanted to know.
"Well, there are forty of us�I think we'd stretch pretty far if we got up on each other's shoulders." They all chuckled at the mental image.
"We could find some kind of tool that might be able to make handholds in the rock," suggested Chakotay.
"And we only need to get a couple of people to the surface to lower the rope for the rest of us," pointed out Captain Janeway. "I'm sure we can find a couple of avid climbers in the group."
They came to a small ledge that overlooked the water source, and stopped to make sure that the pool was deserted. When they saw no one after a minute or two, Chakotay and Nathan hopped down off the ledge. Chakotay turned around and helped the Captain and Kelly Martens, a young science ensign from the Yukon, jump down while Nathan checked the area carefully.
"Looks clear," he confirmed. They grabbed the containers that were still on the ledge and moved towards the water. Using some of the smaller containers to fill the larger ones, they proceeded quickly with a minimum of conversation.
They were nearly finished when Kelly Martens stood up beside the container she was filling with the Captain. "Did you hear something?" she asked.
"What?" The Captain stood up and looked around.
"It was like�a rock being kicked or something."
The foursome looked around suspiciously but could not see anything. Nathan secured the lid on the container that he had been filling and carried it over to the ledge where they had come in. When he was walking back to the pool, a figure jumped out of the shadows with a yell and tackled him to the ground. Chakotay moved to help Nathan, but two more Turei jumped out and attacked him. Captain Janeway and Ensign Martens were set on by three more, and they tried desperately to fight off their larger attackers. They managed to knock one of them down, and the Captain whispered urgently in Martens' ear. "Get back to camp and bring help. Make sure you're not followed."
"But � "
"We're outnumbered. Do it." With that, Ensign Martens ducked under one of her attackers and ran quickly in the direction that they had come from. Lieutenant Blake and Chakotay saw her running and, guessing that she was going for reinforcements, distracted without much difficulty the three Turei that were still attacking them. She made it to the passageway that they had come from and took off in the direction of camp.
Chakotay managed to take out one of the Turei that was attacking him, but there was still one more. He glanced over at the Captain and saw her slam her remaining opponent into the rock wall with her elbow to his throat. He was distracted for a second when the Turei that he was fighting swung a heavy metal pole at his head, and when he looked back he saw the Captain still holding her attacker against the wall, but one of the others that had been knocked down already had gotten up and was moving up behind her.
"Captain! Behind you!" he yelled at her as he ducked another swing.
She whipped around too late, and the Turei grabbed her by the shoulders and pinned her against the wall, slamming her head against the rock. She felt dazed for a moment, but then fought back. It was hard, because he was larger than her and had her pinned against the rock wall. She managed to shove him away for a second, but before she could move away from the wall, he reached for something in his belt and came at her again. She was thrown back against the wall and felt a sharp excruciating pain in her abdomen. She looked down and saw him pull away a crude metal dagger covered with blood.
Chakotay grabbed his opponent's arm and used it to flip him onto his back on the ground, knocking him out cold. He glanced at Lieutenant Blake, who was holding his own, and then went to help Kathryn. She was still pinned against the wall, so Chakotay leaned down and grabbed the metal pole that his assailant had been using. He sprinted over to her and grabbed her attacker from behind, turning him around and hitting him on the side of the head with the metal pole. He fell to the ground, and Chakotay looked around. Nathan had managed to subdue his attacker, so Chakotay decided to get out of there before more arrived. He turned to Kathryn to see if she was hurt. She looked pale, and was sagged against the wall with her hand clutching her side.
"Can you make it back to camp?" he asked. She nodded. The adrenaline coursing through her system made her oblivious to the burning pain in her side, and she was barely even aware that she was hurt.
"Nathan!" yelled Chakotay. "Grab the other container here and get it back to camp. We're right behind you." Lieutenant Blake put the lid on the container that Janeway and Martens had been filling, and carried it over to the ledge that led back to camp. Chakotay and the Captain followed him. At first, he had his arm around her shoulders, but after he helped her up on to the ledge he left her to go on unsupported so that he could carry the other container. She made her way unsteadily along the tunnel, using one hand to balance herself along the wall and keeping her other hand clutched over the wound that she was still largely unaware of.
They met Ensign Martens and the others about a third of the way back to camp. Somebody took the water container off Chakotay's hands, and he put his arm around Kathryn's shoulders again. She used her free arm to grab his shoulder, and leaned on him for support.
When they reached the camp, the Captain leaned back on a large rock and continued clutching her side. She hadn't yet realized the extent of her injury, and began giving orders. She told them to gather the water and supplies and prepare to leave. She told Seven to take Tom, Jarel, Lieutenant Rollins and Lieutenant Ayala and go get the doors open.
"The rest of us will wait here until the team returns from the lift and we get weapons," she finished.
"We'll have to stick together in a group," said Chakotay. "If we're spread out we're more vulnerable to attack."
Seven and her four companions crawled through the tunnels and reached the exit by the metal doors. They looked out first to see if there were any Turei around, and when they were sure the coast was clear, they climbed out of the tunnel, replaced the cover, and moved over to the doors. Seven approached a small wall panel, and used the exoskeleton of her left hand to tap into the computer panel and override the door. A current of electricity snaked across her implant and up her arm, and she fell limp. Tom caught her as the doors slid open. The Turei nearby heard the doors open, and they heard them approaching as they ran inside the doors and closed them behind them. Checking Seven's pulse and satisfied that she would be all right, Tom propped her up in a corner and moved to where the lift came down. He saw Jarel examining a panel and moved over to help her.
"It looks like a sensor for the door," she said. "Seven managed to bypass it, but if we activate it, they'll think that somebody's trying to pry the door open."
"Why would we want that?" asked Tom.
"If they think that there's a problem, they'll come down to stop it."
"And we can grab them from behind," he finished. "Good � do it." She hit a few buttons on the controls, and a light began flashing on the console. After a few seconds, they heard the lift start to descend. They cracked the door open slightly, and then backed against the wall behind the lift so they wouldn't be immediately visible to the guards. The Turei, who were still outside, saw the door shift open slightly and began banging their fists and weapons on it. Tom grinned. All the better, he thought.
It took a few minutes for the lift to come down, but they eventually saw it in the shaft above them coming slowly towards the floor. They saw four guards on the platform, and as soon as the lift stopped one of them pointed to the commotion outside the doors, and they stepped off the lift. Tom motioned with his hand, and he and the three others jumped the guards from behind. They had the advantage of surprise, and managed to overpower the guards and take their weapons. Setting them on stun, they shot each of the guards in turn and piled them in a corner. Jarel shut the doors completely and began working on the lift controls. "I think I can disconnect the sensors so that they won't be able to tell that the lift is moving." Her fingers flew over the controls as she worked.
She froze when a voice came over the communications system: Krilum, report.
"Can you add some static to the comm system?" Tom asked her. When she nodded, he reached for a button and cleared his throat. He hoped they had the equivalent of a universal translator built into the comm system, or this was going to be a short escape.
"Some of the prisoners tried to pry the door open," he said. "We stopped them but they damaged the lift and I'll need to repair it before we can return to the surface."
Acknowledged. Tanak out.
They sighed with relief, and Tom motioned to the two security officers. Ayala and Rollins took three of the weapons from the guards, leaving one for Tom, and moved out the doors. The Turei had surrounded the area, but since the two lieutenants were armed the aggressors backed off. They didn't use the tunnels since they still wanted to conceal their existence, so they took off in the direction of camp at a slow jog..
"Someone's coming," said Lieutenant Oren, who was on the lookout. "It's Ayala and Rollins." The group sighed with relief when the two security officers came into view carrying weapons.
"We have access to the lift. Tom and Jarel are fixing it so they won't know it's in use," reported Ayala.
"Good work," said Chakotay. "All right, everybody, let's move."
As people began gathering up supplies, Chakotay turned to the Captain. He noticed that she was still sitting limply on the same rock that she had leaned on when they came back with the water. He thought that this was unusual, since she was usually a very hands-on leader, but right now she was content to lean limply on the rock and give orders from there. He looked carefully at her, and for the first time noticed that all the color had drained from her face and her eyes seemed glazed over. When she saw him moving through the growing crowd towards her, she pushed herself weakly into a standing position and gently reached for the rock as she wavered on her feet. She was still clutching her side with her other hand, and as the adrenaline in her system subsided, she was becoming aware of the pain that was throbbing in her side.
"Kathryn, are you okay?" He moved closer and put his hands on her shoulders to steady her.
She looked down at her hand and slowly pulled it away from her body. It was covered in blood, and she stared at it in puzzlement as if it belonged to someone else. After a moment, the significance of the dagger, the pain and the blood dawned on her and her eyes widened in horror.
Chakotay followed her gaze and his jaw dropped as he saw her bloody hand. The blood wasn't visible on her black uniform, but the red color contrasted sharply with the pale skin on her hand. His head snapped up and he looked her in the eyes. "Kathryn?"
The fear in his eyes was mirrored in hers for a few seconds, but then her eyes rolled back into her head and she fell limp. Chakotay caught her and lowered her gently to the ground as he yelled for help. Talia and Mark ran over.
"What is it?" Talia asked as they came up.
"She's bleeding," said Chakotay, starting to panic. He quickly unzipped her jacket to reveal that her tank top underneath was soaked in blood. "It must have been from when we were attacked before."
"I'll get something to stop the bleeding," said Talia, and she ran off.
"Kathryn�can you hear me?" Chakotay sighed with relief when her eyes fluttered open. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"About what?" she muttered back.
"About being stabbed in the gut."
"I guess I didn't notice," she said weakly with a grin.
He shook his head at her attempted humor and lifted the bottom of her tank top as Talia returned with some material to clean the wound. Chakotay wiped away most of the blood and could see the wound just under her ribcage. He held a small wad of cloth against it and then used a longer strip to tie it in place before he pulled her shirt back down over it.
"It looks pretty bad," said Talia quietly.
Chakotay nodded. "And it looks like she's lost a lot of blood. Do you think you can walk?" he asked her. She nodded and grabbed his shoulder as he helped her to her feet. Her legs folded under her for a moment, but she steadied herself and he helped her move in the direction of the rest of the group with his arm around her waist.
The large group slowly made their way away from camp toward the lift. The Turei moved towards them aggressively when they saw them approach, but when one of them lunged towards them and was stunned with one of the weapons, they retreated to a safe distance. Mark knocked on the door, and it opened to reveal Tom and Jarel working at the controls. Seven was still propped up unconscious in the corner. Chakotay, still supporting Kathryn, made his way over to Tom and Jarel.
"Are we ready?" he asked.
"I think so," said Tom. "I'll take somebody up to access the shaft and � " he broke off when he saw the Captain hanging on Chakotay's shoulder, her jacket hanging open to reveal her shirt covered in blood.
"What happened?"
"She got stabbed when we were getting the water and neglected to mention it until she passed out. Could you have a look at it before you go up?"
"Sure," said Tom, and he helped Chakotay sit her against the console on the floor. "Pardon me, Captain," quipped Tom as he pulled her tank top up to below her chest.
"Just watch your hands, Lieutenant," she said with a weak grin. Tom lifted up the bandage and checked on the wound.
"Looks clean � but it could get infected and you could have internal injuries. Keep your hand over the bandage as much as possible," he instructed her, "To try and stop the bleeding. And try not to move too much." He stood up and addressed the rest of the group. "Anybody here ever been rock climbing?"
A pair of hands went up.
"Okay � Briggs, Keller, you're with me. Jarel, we'll send the lift down when we're in the shaft." Tom climbed on the platform with his weapon and was joined by Ensign Keller and Crewman Briggs from the Yukon crew, who carried the rope that they had found with some other abandoned equipment.
"See you at the top," Tom said with a grin, and the lift slowly ascended into the shaft. They rose for a couple of minutes before he saw the ventilation shaft and stopped the lift. They pried the grate off and he followed the two men into the shaft. It was only about a meter square, so they had to crawl on their hands and knees until they reached the end of the tunnel where the vertical shaft began. They stood up and looked upwards towards the grate at the top, over twenty meters above them.
Fortunately, the sides of the shaft were not smooth and there were plenty of handholds all the way up to the top. Tom put the makeshift rope over his shoulder and followed Crewman Briggs as he began to climb. It was difficult, and he slipped a few times before he had gone more than a few meters, but he slowly advanced towards the top. Ensign Keller followed behind Tom, and the three of them made slow progress.
About halfway to the top, Tom heard Crewman Briggs yelp as his foot slipped. A few small rocks fell down towards Tom and hit him in the face. Briggs tried to find another foothold, but the small outcropping he put his weight on crumbled and he lost his grip. He plummeted towards the bottom of the shaft, landing on Tom's shoulder as he passed. Tom lost his grip on one side, but his other hand had a firm hold on the rock and he was able to stay on the wall. Briggs had not hit Ensign Keller, who was still on the wall below Tom.
"Shawn � you okay?" asked Keller.
"Yeah," came a groan from the bottom. "I think I broke my ankle, but I'm fine. Keep going without me."
Tom and Keller continued up the shaft, being particularly careful when they passed the section where Briggs had slipped, and eventually made it to the top. Tom reached up and removed the grate above them, and climbed out on the surface. He helped Ensign Keller climb out and then took the rope off his shoulder and threw one end down the shaft.
"Briggs," he yelled. "Can you take the lift back down to the surface or do you want one of us to come down?"
"I'll go this time. Otherwise there'll only be one of you to hold the rope for the next group."
The others were waiting anxiously at the bottom when they heard the lift start to come down again. They kept their weapons trained on it, but lowered them when they saw Crewman Briggs alone on the lift.
"Going up," he said with a grin. "Tom and Justin made it to the surface."
The first group was shuttled to the shaft, and Tom and Ensign Keller held the rope while the group climbed up to the surface. When they had all made it, they pulled Crewman Briggs up and then Tom climbed down the rope and took the lift back to the bottom.
When almost everybody had been taken to the surface, he let Commander Walker take the lift up while he walked over to where Chakotay and the Captain were sitting on the ground.
"Did everyone make it up okay?" asked Chakotay as he approached.
"Yeah. Crewman Briggs broke his ankle when we were climbing up the first time, but everything else went smoothly. How's she doing?"
"I'm fine," said the Captain.
"No offense, Captain, but I have a feeling you'd say that if you were missing a limb. I'll take the two of you up in the next group."
"No," she protested. "Get everybody else out first."
He grinned at her. "I already did. I knew you'd want to go last. The only ones left are the two of you, Seven, Adin Jarel, and Nathan Blake."
When Mark came back with the lift, Chakotay and Tom helped the Captain onto it, and Mark carried Seven over. Jarel and Nathan hopped on, and they headed for the top. When they reached the shaft, Tom and Nathan climbed in, then took Seven from Mark before he followed them in. Chakotay climbed in next and helped Kathryn in after him. They waited for Jarel while she worked on the controls. She hit a button and quickly climbed into the shaft as the lift fell out from under her.
"I destroyed the velocity controls. It'll impact on the ground and won't be operational for a while."
"Good work, Lieutenant," said Chakotay. "Now let's get out of here." Kathryn and Seven, who was still unconscious, slowed their progress. Kathryn put her arm over Chakotay's shoulder, and used her arm from her uninjured side to move along. He had his arm around her too, and they crawled along slowly side by side.
When they reached the vertical shaft, they yelled up to the top to tell them that they had arrived before figuring out what to do. They had managed to get the injured Crewman Briggs to the top without much difficulty, but he was able to hold onto the rope. Neither Seven nor Kathryn could, so they would have to go up with someone. Mark offered to take Seven, so they put her arms around his neck and tied them with a ripped piece of material. They tied a loop in the rope that hung from the top of the shaft, and Mark stuck his foot in it. He held onto the rope with one hand, and put his other arm around Seven with the rope in the crook of his arm, and was slowly pulled towards the top. Kathryn, exhausted, had sat down against the wall on one side of the shaft. Chakotay walked over to her and noticed that her eyes were closed.
"Kathryn?" When she didn't respond immediately, he put his hand on her cheek and gently tapped it. Her eyes came open slowly.
"Stay with me � you hear?" he said, trying to hide his concern. "We've come this far � I'm not going to lose you now."
She nodded in response, and he sat with her until the rope was dropped back down to the bottom. He helped her up and walked with her over to the rope. He secured his foot in the loop they had made and turned to her with a grin.
"Do I need to tie your arms around me or do you think you can hold on?"
"I think I can manage," she said, returning his grin, but she was hanging onto the rope for support as she spoke and her voice wavered. She put her foot in the loop beside his, and put her arms around his neck. He mimicked Mark and held the rope in one hand and her waist with his other arm. When the people at the top were sure that they were ready, the rope jerked and they began moving up. When they were about halfway up, she weakly put her head on his shoulder.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Just tired," she said quietly.
"Well, you can't go to sleep. You've lost too much blood. Besides, since when does the indomitable Captain Janeway require sleep?"
She chuckled softly despite herself. "Since I've been kidnapped, tortured and, most recently, stabbed. If I ever try to pull another all-nighter, remind me about today."
"Like you'll listen," he said, then became serious. "If I ever take you for granted, remind me about today."
She raised her head slightly, surprised, and saw the concern in his eyes.
"You have no idea how terrified I was when I saw you bleeding earlier. Don't ever do that to me again."
She looked at him for a moment, then nodded and put her head back on his shoulder. They soon reached the surface, and they were helped up before the rope was thrown down for Tom, Jarel, and Nathan to climb up. When they reached the top, the senior officers surveyed their surroundings to decide where to go. As each new group had come to the surface, they had moved to a small rocky outgrowth not too far away, so they were concealed from the building that housed the guards. The group that had just arrived moved towards this shelter as they discussed where to go. Lieutenant Oren jogged up to where they were gathered. She and three of the Yukon crew had been scouting the area.
"There's a ravine about ten minutes in that direction," she said, pointing. "It should give us some protection from these windstorms, and it might keep us from being spotted if we're pursued."
"We would also be trapped in it if we were pursued," pointed out Mark.
"We won't be trapped if they can't see us," she insisted. "If we're out of sight they'll just move on and keep looking."
"If they know about the gorge, they'll suspect that thet's where we'll go," said Chakotay.
"It's worth the risk," said Talia vehemently. "How long do you think we can last in these winds? And from the looks of this terrain, they're only going to get worse. Besides," she added in a calmer voice, "The walls aren't that steep and we could get out if we had to. We could have a few people walk along the top to keep a lookout, as well."
They agreed that it was the best suggestion so far, and the group of forty moved in the direction Talia indicated.
They were not able to walk along the ravine for more that a couple of hours before the sun dipped on the horizon and it began to get dark. Deciding that it was dangerous to make their way along the unknown territory in the dark with no flashlights, they found a small sheltered area and set down for the night. Chakotay found some dry vegetation, and, after borrowing a few strands of hair from some of the women, got a fire started the old-fashioned way so they could conserve the power in their weapons. He moved back to where the Captain was sitting while others added more fuel to the fire and used it to start a couple more.
"You're getting much better at that," she said with a small grin as he approached. "I remember when it used to take you hours to get a fire started."
"It's all in the wrists," he chuckled. "And the hair."
He noticed her shiver and moved with her to one of the fires that was now going strong. They sat side by side against the rocky wall in a dark corner near the fire. After a few minutes of sitting by the fire, Chakotay noticed that she was still shivering, so he pulled her over towards him so that she was sitting in between his legs with her back leaning on his chest. She leaned her head on his shoulder and turned on her side so that she could see his face. He wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her arms to keep her warm.
They noticed Tom walking around the group, making sure that everyone was as comfortable as possible, and Chakotay commented quietly, "What I wouldn't give to be back on Voyager right now."
The similarity to her own words what seemed like an eternity ago struck her and she looked up at him in surprise.
"That surprises you?" he asked, confused by her expression.
"No, I feel the same." She took a deep breath and looked down at the ground. "I just realized that I�when we thought you were dead, I said something to B'Elanna that�"
It was unusual for her to be at a loss for words, and he squeezed her closer to him in encouragement for her to continue.
That gesture was all she needed to be able to go on. "I never really told you how�how devastated I was when we thought you had died. I felt lost, alone, abandoned�" She looked at him again and he saw a tear roll down her cheek. "I regretted never telling you how much you mean to me�I felt as though I had lost a part of myself. I couldn't imagine going on without you," she finished in a whisper.
He reached his hand over to her face and brushed the tear away with his thumb.
"You don't have to," he said softly, and leaned forward to gently brush his lips against hers. She put her hand on the back of his head and pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. When they broke apart, she kissed his hand that was on her face still and nuzzled into his shoulder, falling asleep. At first, Tom had wanted to keep her awake but he had eventually decided that they couldn't do that indefinitely and had told Chakotay that if she drifted off to let her sleep. Chakotay brushed a loose strand of hair out of her face, and leaned his head back against the rock, soon asleep as well.
Tom glanced over at his two commanding officers and his eyes widened. The Captain was curled up in Chakotay's arms, and was sleeping with her head on his shoulder. It's about time, he thought. I guess being stranded alone in a prison cell for six weeks did what being stranded on Voyager for six years couldn't. He chuckled softly to himself and continued making the rounds.
* * *
The first thing Chakotay was aware of when Tom shook him awake at first light was Kathryn's head still on his shoulder.
"Sleep well?" asked Tom with a mischievous grin.
"Not bad," mumbled Chakotay. He looked over at Kathryn and became alarmed at the pallor of her face. He shook her gently to wake her, but she didn't respond. Touching her face, it felt cold and clammy. He and Tom looked at each other in alarm, but her eyes fluttered open a few seconds later before they began to panic.
"Good morning," she whispered. She felt too weak to even lift her head off Chakotay's shoulder, and just wanted to go back to sleep.
Tom felt her pulse and turned to Chakotay. "I think we should try to keep her awake from now on. Her pulse is slower today, and she's probably going into shock from the blood loss. If she falls asleep again we might not be able to wake her up."
Chakotay nodded. He put his arm under Kathryn's knees and stood up carrying her in his arms. Her head was still on his shoulder, and she had her arms folded limply in front of her with her hand resting on his chest.
The group moved off down the ravine again, trying to put as much distance between them and the guard station as possible. Chakotay tried to keep Kathryn talking at first, but she was too weak to do much more than mumble at him, so he talked instead, trying to keep her alert and listening.
They had been walking for about an hour when Chakotay saw Seven, who was walking a few meters ahead of him, stop in her tracks and tilt her head.
"Seven? What is it?" said Mark, who was walking beside her.
She turned around to Chakotay and the Captain and announced, "I am receiving a transmission through my cranial implant." They looked at her in surprise.
"It's from Voyager. They have located us and will arrive at our position within hours."
Everyone around her stood for a few seconds in shock before the news sunk in. Mark and Tom walked off to spread the good news, and Chakotay turned to Kathryn. He noticed that her eyes were closed. "Kathryn?"
Her eyes slowly fluttered open. "Hm?" she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Voyager's coming for us. They'll be here soon. You're going to be all right."
The corners of her mouth turned up in a smile, but it slowly faded. "It's cold," she mumbled.
"You're going into shock, Kathryn. You have to stay awake, understand? You have to keep talking to me."
She nodded, but her eyes closed slowly. After a moment, she opened them again and looked at him with more alertness than she had shown over the past few hours. "I'm sorry," she whispered, moving her hand that was on his chest.
He frowned. "For what?"
"For us."
"Don't start talking like that," he said, concerned at the direction her thoughts were taking. "We'll have you fixed up in Sickbay before you know it."
"I want you to know I�" her voice trailed off, and her eyes rolled back in her head.
"Kathryn?" Her head rolled limply against his shoulder when he shook her. "Kathryn?" he repeated, more urgently.
She was unresponsive.
A few minutes later, Tom came over at Chakotay's request to check on her, but as he suspected Tom said that there was nothing they could do for her.
Moving away from them, Tom fell into step beside Seven.
"Is there any way that you can send a message back to Voyager?"
"I do not believe so," she replied. "I do not have the necessary equipment to modify my neural transceiver to send a transmission."
"They probably scanned for your cortical implant frequency, right?" When she nodded, he continued, "Is there any way that we could alter the frequency momentarily, like for a second or two?"
She thought for a moment. "I believe that it would be possible to alter it slightly. For what purpose?"
"Because if Harry's monitoring it, I can send him a message."
"You will need to modify my cranial implant," she said.
"We'll need something to�" He noticed a young woman walking not too far away from them. He recognized her as Amanda Harding, the fianc�e of the injured Crewman Briggs who had been on the Yukon with him. She had long blond hair that was intricately twisted at the back of her head.
"Amanda!" he yelled, walking over to her. "Do you by any chance have a pin in your hair?"
She nodded and, reaching behind her head, extracted a long bobby pin from her hair. Grabbing it, Tom thanked her and walked back over to Seven.
"Will this work?"
"Crude, but effective," she conceded.
"I'm not sure I can do this while I walk," he said, and he called for the group to stop and take a break. He and Seven sat down on the ground and she told him what to do to alter the frequency of her Borg implants. Using the bobby pin on the starburst implant on her cheek, he began tapping in uneven intervals as a grin spread across his face.
* * *
On Voyager, Harry was sitting at Ops trying to determine Seven's exact location on the planet's surface. While he was calculating, he noticed a brief but slight shift in the frequency of her cranial implant. It was just a flash, but it was quickly followed by three more. After a short pause, there were two more short shifts, and then a slightly longer one. Harry furrowed his brow, completely puzzled. He wondered if she was injured, but there almost seemed to be a pattern to the frequency shifts. There was now a short burst, then a longer one, and then a shorter one again, and then that sequence of three repeated itself. After another pause, another sequence began and his eyes widened as he muttered to himself. "Long, short, long, long."
"Ensign?" said Tuvok, turning around in his chair.
"Morse code!" he exclaimed. "Tom's sending a message using Seven's cranial implants."
"What is it?" said B'Elanna, jumping up from the engineering station and running over to Ops.
Harry frowned as he slowly decoded the message. "Hurry�need medical assistance�we have located the Captain�" Every face on the bridge, even Tuvok's, lit up with that news, and Harry continued. "�and more Starfleet crew�Captain Proton out."
* * *
The senior officers in the group had decided that it was pointless to exhaust themselves when their rescue was imminent. They had continued walking for about an hour after Seven's message, stopping only so Tom could try and send a reply, but they had eventually decided that they were far enough away to avoid capture by the guards if they pursued them. Just to be sure, they had posted lookouts and Mark was mentally on the watch for anybody approaching.
Two and a half hours after Harry had received the message from Tom, Voyager was within visual range of the planet.
"I'm reading two Vaadwaur ships on long-range sensors," reported Harry. "We'll have to get out of here quick as soon as we get them off the surface."
"Have you located them?" asked Tuvok.
"I'm reading�over forty humanoids on one of the northern subcontinents. Our people are in that group."
"Send Security to transporter room two and begin beaming them to Voyager."
Seven was the first one to know that Voyager had arrived. As soon as he sent Security to the transporter room, Harry sent another message to her to alert her of their imminent rescue.
"Voyager is in orbit," she announced. "They are preparing to begin transporting us."
Chakotay looked at Kathryn. Not a moment too soon, he thought. Her face was completely ashen, and she was still unconscious. Her pulse was getting weaker by the minute, and although he had changed her bandage once it was already soaked through with blood again.
Small groups of people began disappearing in a blue shimmer all around him. He squeezed the inert form in his arms closer to his body, silently begging her to hold on just a little longer. After what seemed an eternity, he was engulfed in the familiar blue glow of the transporter beam and the welcome surroundings of Voyager's transporter room appeared. The small room was crowded, and officers were herding groups of people out the door to clear the transporter pad after each group.
Tom, who had been beamed up in one of the previous groups, was helping to direct the traffic, determining who should go to Sickbay immediately and who could wait. When he saw Chakotay materialize with the Captain, he jumped up on the platform and yelled at Ensign Lang at the transporter controls. "The Captain's critically injured � beam us directly to Sickbay!"
They dematerialized again and reappeared in Sickbay. Crewman Briggs was sitting on a biobed and the Doctor was using an osteoregenerator on his wounded ankle. They didn't immediately notice the transport.
"Doc!" yelled Tom to get his attention. "We need help with the Captain!" Seeing her lifeless form in Chakotay's arms, the Doctor rushed over as Tom and Chakotay lifted her onto the nearest biobed.
"She has a stab wound to the upper abdomen and she's lost a lot of blood. She may be in shock," reported Tom as he grabbed a medical tricorder and handed it to the Doctor.
"How long has she been unconscious?"
Chakotay closed his eyes so he could think straight. "About three hours, but off and on before that."
The Doctor examined her with a frown. "There's massive internal hemorrhaging. She's got a ruptured spleen and it looks like there's some kidney damage." The monitors on the bed began to beep furiously and alarms went off on the tricorders.
"What is it?" asked Chakotay, and he grabbed Kathryn's hand.
"Her blood pressure's falling!" yelled the Doctor. "70 over 40 and dropping. Ten milligrams cordrazine!"
Tom handed him the hypospray and he applied it to the Captain.
"It didn't help," reported Tom. "Her neural activity is decreasing too � 47 percent and falling."
"Cortical stimulator!" ordered the Doctor. Tom handed him the piece of equipment and the Doctor secured it to her forehead. "Begin with 40 millijoules," he ordered.
The alarms continued undaunted. "Increase to 60 millijoules."
Tom shook his head in frustration. "No effect � neural activity at 38 percent."
"70 millijoules! Twenty milligrams cordrazine." He took the hypospray from Tom and applied it to her neck. The alarms on the biobed were finally silenced and were replaced by the rhythmic beeping of her heartbeat.
"Her neural activity is stabilizing," said Tom, relieved. "Blood pressure 90 over 50 and rising."
Chakotay closed his eyes and sighed with relief. That had been way too close for comfort, and she wasn't out of the woods yet.
"She's stable for now," the Doctor was saying to Tom, "but she'll need surgery for the internal injuries. We'll prep her as soon as we're finished with any other major cases."
"I don't think there will be any," Tom told him. "Briggs' ankle was the worst injury, besides the Captain. You should take a look at Seven when you get the chance, though � she got an electrical shock and was unconscious for a long time."
The Doctor nodded and began examining the Captain further. His eyes widened as he looked at the readings on his tricorder.
"Her norepinephrine levels are over fifteen times the normal level," he said in amazement. He noticed the scars on her face and arms and frowned. "That would explain it - it looks like this isn't the first injury she's sustained," he said as he scanned her with a tricorder.
Without taking his eyes off her, Chakotay told the Doctor what he would find. "She has two, maybe three broken ribs on her left side, multiple head traumas, probably a concussion." The Doctor's eyes widened as he scanned her and confirmed Chakotay's assessment of her injuries as he continued. "She has second-degree burns on her left arm and face, and her right arm is broken in two places."
"Eight, actually," said the Doctor quietly. "There is a series of smaller fractures between the two major breaks. And it looks like they've been set."
Chakotay nodded. "I tried to set them so they could heal faster. We didn't know about the smaller fractures."
"How did this happen?" asked the Doctor as he reached for an osteoregenerator.
"She let the Vaadwaur who was interrogating us grind his foot into her arm so he would believe me when I gave him fake information." He closed his eyes to try and shut out the image of her writhing on the floor in pain. "I heard the bone snap under his foot," he added quietly.
The Doctor and Tom stood and looked at him in mute horror. They were distracted from their train of thought when the doors to Sickbay opened and B'Elanna rushed in. Tom saw her and stepped away from Kathryn to embrace his wife. They stood in each other's arms for a few seconds before B'Elanna pulled away and hit him on the chest.
"Don't ever do anything like that again!" Despite her pretense, her voice wasn't as angry as usual, and all the vehemence in her expression evaporated when she saw Chakotay. She broke into a smile and stepped away from Tom to give Chakotay an affectionate hug.
He looked down at her belly with raised eyebrows. "I guess I've been gone longer than I thought," he said with a grin.
She gave him a good-humored whack on the arm. "Too long for me. Good to have you back, Chakotay." Her face clouded over and she paled when she saw the Captain laying on the biobed. "Is she going to be all right?" she asked Tom as he came and stood beside her, putting his hands on her shoulders.
"She's in pretty bad shape and she'll need some surgery, but she'll pull through."
The Doctor interrupted. "Mr. Paris, we should begin. There will be plenty of time to catch up later."
Tom kissed his wife on the cheek and moved towards the bed to assist the Doctor, and B'Elanna took Chakotay by the arm and pulled him out the door to let them work.
* * *
Sickbay was dark when B'Elanna entered later that night. In the dim lighting, she could see Chakotay slouched in a chair next to a biobed where the Captain lay. He was sitting about halfway down the bed across from the displays that were monitoring her vital signs. She looked much better than when she had first been brought on board � her worn and dirty uniform had been replaced by a crisp, clean aqua Sickbay gown, and her cheeks had more color in them.
"Shouldn't you be getting some rest?" said B'Elanna quietly. He looked up at her, startled, before turning his attention back to the sleeping form in front of him.
"I don't think I could sleep," he said. "I'd rather stay here."
"I figured as much," she said. "Here." She walked over and handed him a blanket that she was carrying.
He chuckled. "Thanks." He held the blanket on his lap but didn't open it.
B'Elanna pulled up a chair and sat next to him. "Tom said she'd be fine, Chakotay. You really should get some rest."
Chakotay reached out and ran his finger along the display of her heartbeat on the monitor in front of him. "I know that she'll be fine. It's just�so many times I've watched her sleep and been afraid that she wouldn't wake up again. It's hard to get over that fear."
She reached out and put her hand on his knee. "Chakotay�It must have been awful."
"What they did to her�I can't stop thinking about it. I watched as they broke her bones and I couldn't do anything. They used some kind of synaptic stimulation device that was�indescribable pain. She would be unconscious for hours after that�" He trailed off, unable to continue.
"You're both safe now," B'Elanna assured him after a minute.
"I don't even want to think about what would have happened if Voyager hadn't found us when you did. She was so pale, so cold�"
B'Elanna squeezed his knee reassuringly, encouraging him to let it out. "When I close my eyes," continued Chakotay, "I can still see her hand covered with blood as she pulled it away from her�I've never been more terrified in my life." Chakotay turned back to the heartbeat on the monitors and stared at it until B'Elanna gave a soft gasp. He turned to her and saw that her hand was on her belly.
"What?" he asked her, concerned.
"She's kicking," she told him with a smile. "Here." She slid her chair closer to his and took his hand, pressing it to her belly to feel her child kicking inside. He looked at it in awe, and then smiled as he looked up at her face.
"She's as strong as her mother."
B'Elanna smiled and ran her hands over her swollen abdomen. "Miral, say hello to Chakotay. He's an old friend of mine."
"You decided on Miral?"
She nodded. "After we thought the Captain had died, Tom and I were talking about it. He suggested naming her after the Captain, but I wanted to use Miral, because you and Kathryn both liked it."
She looked up at him and saw that he was looking at her with a look of surprise and amusement.
"What?" she asked.
"Nothing. I was just surprised to hear you call her that."
It took B'Elanna a moment to realize what he was referring to � her using the Captain's first name.
"You'd be surprised at a lot of things," she told him with a knowing smile. "Listen, I really should get back to my quarters. If Tom finds out that I'm wandering around the ship at this time of night, he'll make the Doctor put me on restricted duty. Get some rest, Chakotay."
With that, she left him alone with the still sleeping Captain.
* * *
Before Captain Janeway opened her eyes, she could hear hushed but agitated voices near her. She couldn't identify them at first, but then she recognized the urgent tone of the Doctor, followed by Chakotay's tired but insistent voice. She couldn't make out what they were saying, and slowly forced her eyes open. She saw the roof of Sickbay above her and relaxed with relief � she was back on Voyager. She slowly turned her head in the direction of the voices and saw the Doctor with his back to her facing Commander Chakotay and Commander Walker.
"I'll call you as soon as she's awake," the Doctor was telling Chakotay. "You need to get some rest, Commander."
"I'm fine," he insisted. "I want to be here when she wakes up."
They were intent on their conversation and didn't notice that she was awake. Mark, with his empathic abilities, sensed her come to and made eye contact with her over the Doctor's shoulder. He cleared his throat, but they ignored him, still arguing.
"Doctor," he said, touching the hologram's arm.
When they continued arguing with each other, he met Kathryn's gaze again and rolled his eyes with a shrug. He stepped around the Doctor and moved over to her bed.
"They'll be done in a minute, I'm sure," he said with a chuckle. She didn't answer but smiled at him.
When Mark spoke, the Doctor and Chakotay finally stopped bickering and looked at the bed. When they saw that she was awake, they joined him beside her.
"Welcome back, Captain," said the Doctor with a beaming smile. "How are you feeling?"
"Not bad, considering how I felt the last time I was awake," she said softly.
"Well, we had a few close calls, but you're going to make a complete recovery. I repaired the damage from the stab wound, and also took care of some of your previous injuries, namely your broken bones and the scars from your burns." He stopped his bragging for a moment and became serious. "And quite frankly, Captain, I'm amazed that you were able to endure as well as you did, given the extent of those injuries."
"So am I," she groaned, trying to sit up.
Chakotay put his hand on her shoulder and pushed her back down. "Take it easy. You're not going to be up and around for a while yet."
"I've already been away for almost two months � it's time I got back to my ship," she insisted weakly.
"Absolutely not," the Doctor objected. "I'm not letting you on duty for at least another week."
Biting back a retort, she glared at him instead and started trying to figure out who could smuggle in crew reports for her. Not Chakotay, but maybe B'Elanna. Or Seven � yes, Seven would definitely be a good accomplice. She would understand that it was inefficient for her to sit uselessly around Sickbay doing nothing when she had two months of catching up to do. Remembering that Mark was standing beside her, she tried to suppress the thought before he picked it up. Chakotay, however, knew her well and didn't need to be telepathic.
"Don't even think about it," he told her, crossing his arms.
"What?" she said, feigning innocence. He paused, trying to decide if she was lying or not.
"You heard him, Kathryn," said Mark, and she knew by the poorly concealed grin on his face that he knew exactly what she had been thinking. She favored him with one of her most vicious glares, but when he stubbornly refused to combust on the spot, she growled and crossed her arms. "Fine," she said bitterly. Maybe bringing Mark on board had been a mistake, she thought to herself with a smile. It was bad enough having Chakotay around to see right through her, but now there were two of them.
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