Captain's Log, Stardate 50107.4: Sensors have indicated sizeable deposits of tellerium on the planet Setor where we are in orbit. Lt. Torres and I are planning to take a shuttle to the surface to examine the deposits and possibly extract a supply. While we are engaged in doing this, Voyager will travel to Kramor II to acquire some food supplies. We will rendezvous at 1800 hours.
Kathryn Janeway ended her log and pushed the computer terminal back. Rising, she left her Ready Room. Chakotay glanced up from his seat and rose as she walked onto the Bridge.
"Commander, I'm about to head to the Shuttlebay for the flight to the surface. As soon as we've cleared the ship, set course for Kramor II."
"Understood, Captain," Chakotay responded. "Course is laid in. Good luck with the tellerium."
"Yes," Janeway replied, heading for the turbolift. "I hope it'll be useable. It would ease my mind considerably to have an adequate supply of it aboard." Chakotay nodded. "It certainly would," he agreed.
"I hope the Kramorians are as friendly as Neelix says," she remarked as the turbolift doors slid aside."
"I'm about ready to greet some friendly species," he agreed. She laughed and stepped on to the turbolift.
"You have the bridge, Commander," she said. He nodded acknowledgement and turned back to his seat as the turbolift doors closed on the captain.
In the lift, Janeway tapped her commbadge. "Janeway to Torres." "Torres here, Captain," came her Chief Engineer's reply. "Lieutenant, I'm on my way to the shuttlecraft. Are you ready to go?" "I'm already at the helm doing pre-flight, Captain," Torres replied. Janeway's mouth quirked in a smile. She should've known. "Understood, Lieutenant," she said crisply. "I'll be there shortly. Janeway out."
She entered the shuttlebay and walked toward the small, sleek craft poised for takeoff. Stepping through the hatchway, she found find Torres busy at the helm, doing a pre-flight check.
"Captain." Torres did not pause in her keying of the console helm controls as she acknowledged Janeway's presence.
"Are we almost ready for launch?" Janeway asked, sitting down in the pilot's seat and running a practiced eye over the console.
"All systems normal, Captain. Pre-launch sequence initiated," Torres answered. "Shuttlecraft Cameron to Voyager," Janeway said. "Prepare to launch. Open shuttlebay door and depressurize."
"You are cleared for launch, Cameron. Opening shuttlebay door," came the comm voice of the technician on duty at the shuttlebay systems console.
"Initiating launch sequence. Firing thrusters. Course bearing 487, mark 2," Torres said.
"We've cleared Voyager," Janeway said as the shuttlecraft left the shuttlebay and entered space, curving around to head for Setor. Both women were busy with the controls of the shuttle for a few minutes as the shuttle entered orbit and prepared to land.
"I hope Voyager finds some good food supplies on Kramor," Janeway remarked as they traveled.
"I hope there are no leola roots," Torres said.
"I hope there's nothing worse," Janeway said. Suddenly she frowned. "B'Elanna, slow to one-quarter impulse." Torres glanced at her questioningly as she slowed the engines.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"The pressure's dropping in conduit Alpha-7," Janeway said. "Go check it out. We don't need any problems when we're about to land on a strange planet with Voyager out of easy reach."
"I'm on it." Torres rose and headed to the back of the craft. Janeway kept an eye on the readout.
"An engineering team checked this shuttle out just last week," Torres' voice drifted from the back. "If they overlooked something, I'm going to have somebody's hide."
"Probably a minor malfunction," Janeway said. "The readings aren't criti--" The clatter of an access hatch cover banging to the deck interrupted her. There was a loud hiss.
"Oof! What the hell--?" came Torres' startled voice. Janeway started to rise from her seat, ready to go to Torres' aid.
"B'Elanna? What was that? Are you all right?" she called back. There was the click of a valve being turned and then the sound of an access hatch cover snapping back into place.
"It's okay, " came Torres' reply. "A valve was loose and some escaping gas hit me in the face. Everything's fine now according to the readout back here."
"Yes," Janeway replied, turning back to the helm. "The computer's happy now." There was a short silence and then Torres reentered the cockpit and resumed her seat at her console. She sat for a minute, very still, staring at the console in front of her. An odd expression ghosted across her features, and her eyes assumed a strange glitter. Janeway, busy at her own controls didn't notice. After a minute, Torres began to move her hands over the touch pads, entering commands.
"Approaching landing coordinates," she said tersely. Janeway just nodded.
"This is one of the few planets we've tried to land on that doesn't have a volatile atmosphere," she remarked.
"Yes." Torres' reply was terse and Janeway glanced at her.
"Is something wrong, B'Elanna?" she asked.
"No," came the response. Janeway made a wry grimace and turned back to her controls.
The shuttlecraft flew toward the surface and landed without incident. Janeway secured the controls and rose, gathering her equipment. She opened the shuttle's hatchway and stepped onto the surface, flipping open her tricorder.
"There's a deposit three-quarters of a kilometer to the east," she said, studying the display. "Let's go che--." Turning, she expected to see Torres behind her, but Torres was nowhere to be seen. Frowning, Janeway called out.
"B'Elanna! What are you doing? Let's go! I want to use ev--" She stopped in stunned amazement as Torres, her face blank, her eyes glittering, stood in the doorway of the shuttlecrft, aiming a phaser straight at her.
"Lieutenant! What the hell do you think you're doi--?" Torres fired the phaser and Janeway lunged out of the way at the last millisecond before the searing blast would have caught her squarely in the chest. The blast sliced through the strap of her equipment bag instead and it tumbled away as she hit the ground and rolled, coming up with her own phaser. She fired in Torres' direction, but Torres also lunged out of the line of fire and the phaser blast struck the edge of the shuttle's exit, blistering the hull. Janeway scrambled to her feet and ran in a flat-out sprint toward a grove of trees, zig-zagging. She dove through the trees. Expecting to hit the ground and roll behind a tree, she instead found herself flying off a low bank, and fell about six feet, crashing to the ground. The impact of her fall sent her phaser spinning away to drop into the tangle of dense ground cover.
"Commander," Paris said, "We're coming into range of Kramor II." Chakotay glanced up from a PADD he was reading.
"Mr. Tuvok," he said. "Hail the Kramorians and inform them of our arrival."
"We are invited to establish orbit, Commander," Tuvok said a few minutes later, "And they have informed us that they await the arrival of the Away Team."
"Mr. Paris, Mr. Kim. Report to Transporter Room One," Chakotay said. "Mr. Neelix, Ensign Lee, Ensign Lobar, report to Transporter Room One," he hailed the Talaxian, and other crew on the Away Team. Paris and Kim left the bridge.
In the transporter room they gathered on the transporter. Paris nodded to the transporter chief. "Energize," he said. They disappeared in the tingling blue whine and materialized on the planet. A group of Kramorians stood waiting to greet them. Kramorians were humanoid with dark skin and white-blonde hair. One stepped forward.
"Greeting," he said. "I am Nok-Sarr. This is Luk-Wee, Tay-Kar, and Dron-Vee." Paris introduced his group. The Kramorians seemed transfixed by Lobar, the only female on the Away Team. Paris glanced at Kim, raising an eyebrow. Lobar was attractive but not that stunning. Maybe Kramorian women were unattractive.
"We're glad to meet you, Nok-Sarr," he said. "And we are grateful that you are letting us gather food supplies."
"We are glad to help. We are secluded here, and we have been looking forward to meeting a new culture." Nok-Sarr seemed distracted, darting curious glances at Lobar. The rest of the Kramorians seemed just as interested as he did. Lobar, aware of their scrutiny, glanced at Paris questioningly, but maintained her composure.
"Well, Nok-Sarr," Paris said briskly, "if you'll just show us where to start, we'll begin gathering our food supplies." Nok-Sarr seemed to tear his gaze away from Lobar and focus on Paris.
"Of course," he said. "This way, please." He started off in the direction of a big barn- like building.
Stunned for a moment, Janeway lay, waiting for her head to clear. She sat up gingerly, pushing herself erect. She seemed to be in one piece. She had cracked her elbow rather soundly on the ground, but it didn't hinder her. There was a rather nasty abrasion on one palm, but she could live with that. At least nothing was broken. Awkwardly, she rose to one knee, and then to her feet, looking around the ravine into which she'd fallen. She lifted her head, listening for Torres. What the hell had happened to Torres? Why had Torres tried to shoot her? She looked around for her phaser. Where the hell had it gone? She tensed as she heard the sound of someone crashng through the trees and got to her feet. Moving swiftly to some rocks, she crouched down out of view. She watched Torres come to the edge of the bank and squat down on her haunches, scanning the ground below. Torres lifted her eyes and her gazed roved around, darting keenly here and there. Janeway stayed perfectly still.
"You will not escape me, Janeway. I will hunt you down like an animal. Show yourself! Surrender!" The tone and cadence of Torres' voice was so Klingon that Janeway sat transfixed.
What happened to her? Is it something in the atsmosphere? she wondered. She looked around. She needed to get back to the shuttle. But getting past a Klingon who evidently had murder on her mind was going to be a problem. Damn, the tricorder had gone flying when Torres fired at her, and now her phaser was gone, too. And Torres was fully equipped and fully armed.
"I guess this is what they call surviving by your wits," she muttered, raising her head cautiously as she heard the sounds of Torres moving away and to her left. She rose to her feet and made her way cautiously to a section of the bank where she could climb up and get back on the higher ground. It sounded as though Torres was moving away from the shuttle. Wonder why she's not using her tricorder to locate me? Janeway wondered. The tricorder would zero in on my position as though I were lit up like a Christmas tree.
B'Elanna Torres was no longer, at least in her clouded mind, even half human. She was wholly Klingon and she was out to kill the human captain. She intended to take over the ship and get it home. Janeway has meandered around this quadrant for three years and we are little closer to the Alpha Quadrant than we were the day she destroyed the Array and stranded us here, she thought. There are ways to make time if you don't have to stop and consult bloody Starfleet regs every time you turn around. The rulebook was going to be thrown out when she got command, she vowed.
Torres had gone back to the shuttle after Janeway disappeared into the trees and scoured the craft for a weapon more suitable to a warrior. I'll take the phaser, she decided. After all, Janeway has a phaser and it will not do to be out-gunned. She disdained the technology such as the tricorder. If I can not hunt down one puny human using my own senses and natural skills, she thought scornfully, then I do not deserve to call myself Klingon. Rummaging through a toolkit, Torres spied a metal digging blade. She used the replicator in the shuttle to make a whetting stone since nothing similar was available, and honed the edge of the tool until she had fashioned a deadly knife. She used it to hack the sleeves of her uniform off above the elbow and used one of the sleeves to make a headband. This cursed planet was hot and she didn't need sweat blinding her at a critical moment.
Janeway had made it back to the higher ground and was cautiously heading back to the shuttle. The fact that Torres was not using a tricorder was probably an advantage. If she could just be quiet enough, she might make it. She crept from tree to tree peering into the surrounding woods. "Come on, Torres," she said under her breath. "Yell some more so I can get a fix on your position." I just can't understand, she thought, why she's not using the tricorder. She wants to find me, so why doesn't she use the tricorder to zero in on me? Why would she not use it? Then it came to her: the Klingon warrior mindset. If something was making her think she was Klingon, she would scorn technology, preferring to use her own senses and strength to hunt down her prey. She remembered a combat simulation at the Academy with a Klingon cadet. They had been partners and Trat'kh, the Klingon, had refused to use a tricorder to locate an enemy sniper who was wiping out her squad. Trat'kh had insisted on trying to track the sniper by himself and she'd had to threaten him with a disciplinary hearing to bring him into line.
Her senses sharpened as she heard movement several meters ahead of her and she strained to see. Suddenly, she caught a flash of gold: Torres' uniform. She looked around hurriedly for a better hiding place and spotted a thicket of vines and undergrowth. With a look over her shoulder, she crossed the clearing swiftly and tried to find an opening in the vines through which she could slip and hide herself. She didn't want to hem herself in and give Torres an easy target, so she was relieved to see that she could exit the tangle of growth fairly easily. She squirmed into the thicket, grimacing at the pain from her palm when she seized the rough branches. Crouching, she sat waiting for Torres to approach.
Torres strode into view a scant few minutes later and Janeway caught her breath as she saw her Chief Engineer at closer range. It was eerie: Janeway remembered B'Elanna's pure Klingon double who had been beamed back to Voyager from the Vidian prison where B'Elanna, Paris and Durst had been imprisoned before Chakotay disguised as a Vidian had rescued them. Torres bore a startling resemblance to that double now: Her eyes were darker and feral; her brow ridges seemed more pronounced; her face appeared thinner and darker. She moved with the fluid grace of a leopard through the woods, head swiveling left then right as she scanned for her prey. Janeway, noting that Torres had apparently not disdained all technology, and was wearing her phaser, watched her warily, not sure what she'd do if Torres were to suddenly head for the thicket. She had no weapon, not even a stick, which in any case would be about as effective as a toothpick
Torres stood, listening, her eyes darting in a circle here and there. She looked straight at the thicket and Janeway's blood froze. She tensed, ready to flee if necessary. Torres' expression grew more frustrated as she searched and Janeway heard her growl some Klingon curses. In impotent rage, Torres slashed out with her knife and sheared a small sapling in half. Growling more Klingon curses, she slashed more growth around her, muttering. Then she turned and stalked off in another direction and Janeway started breathing again.
"Lieutenant Paris," Nok-Sarr approached Paris who was cataloguing a container of food about to be beamed back to the ship. Paris glanced up.
"Yes, Nok-Sarr?" he inquired.
"May I ask you something?" the Kramorian said.
"Of course. What is it?" Paris responded.
"Why is that one..." He pointed at Lobar who was helping Lee load a container with some fruit, "...so radically different from the rest of you?" Paris looked at him in astonishment and then noticed Neelix at his elbow, fidgeting and shifting from foot to foot.
"What's the matter with you, Neelix?" he demanded.
"Tom, I need to talk to you. Now." Neelix's voice was urgent as he darted glances at Nok-Sarr.
"Forgive me," Nok-Sarr said, distressed. "Have I offended in some way?"
"No, no, no,no!" Neelix said rapidly. "Not at all. No, no. But if you would, for just a minute, excuse us. I must confer with my colleagues." Nok-Sarr gave a short bow and withdrew. Paris scowled at the agitated Talaxian.
"Neelix," he said, "what the hell is going on here?" Neelix's hands fluttered.
"I--ah--I...forgot to mention one small detail about the Kramorians," he admitted. Kim coming up just then, rolled his eyes.
"What small detail, Neelix? Is this mission jeopardized?" Paris fixed Neelix with a baleful look.
"No, the mission isn't jeopardized," Neelix hastened to assure him. "It's just that....there are no females on this planet."
As soon as Torres was out of sight, Janeway crawled out of the thicket and began to make her way again to the shuttle, constantly glancing back over her shoulder to see if Torres had spotted her. Along her path she found a stout branch and picked it up. She moved cautiously from tree to tree, looking back over her shoulder frequently. It was unnerving to have Torres more or less behind her. She couldn't be sure Torres wouldn't suddenly reverse direction and start heading for her.
She was moving from a spot behind a tree trunk to a large boulder when a line of phaser fire exploded a smaller rock beside the boulder. Swearing, Janeway made a desperate dive for the boulder, hitting the ground and rolling behind it. Deciding she didn't want to be a sitting duck, she rose after a minute and ran flat-out back through the woods, zig-zagging to make herself a harder target. She came to the edge of the bank and half-rolled, half-slid down it. She spied a tangle of undergrowth and headed toward it. She crouched down behind it, wiping away the sweat streaming into her eyes.
Torres growled curses as she saw her phaser fire go wide and blow up a rock, and started off at a jog in Janeway's direction. Her face was feral and there was a hard, vicious set to her mouth. She increased her pace. She was closing in for the kill.
Remembering how visible Torres' gold uniform had been, Janeway shrugged out of her jacket and turned it inside out. The red of the shoulders was making her too clear a target. She put the jacket back on and picked up her stick. Torres shouldn't have any trouble tracking her. She hadn't made much effort to hide the signs of her progress. Somehow, she thought, I've got to disable her so I can get back to the shuttle. Or distract her in some way, ....something..... She sat thinking, keeping an ear cocked for Torres' approach. Was there some way she could make Torres think she was in one spot when she was actually in another?
Her eyes fell on the thin green vines weaving through the undergrowth she was hiding behind. She fingered one and looked around. She spied a small thin sapling a few meters away and rose warily, craning her neck to see if she could see Torres. Quickly she moved over to the sapling. Placing her foot at the base she used her good hand to snap it off and moved back to her hiding place. She found it odd that Torres had not appeared, but she couldn't think about that now. She glanced at her injured palm. Breaking the vine with it was going to be difficult, if not impossible. She thought a minute, and then picked up her stick, pulling a length of the vine out of the tangle of growth. She wrapped an end around her stick and pulled, snapping the vine off.
Working quickly, contantly scanning and listening for Torres, she fashioned a bow, pulling the supple vine as tight as she could. She looked around again for something to use as an arrow and spotted some sticks lying on the ground. It would have been nice to have something to sharpen those with. Then perhaps she could shoot Torres, injuring her enough to disable her. As it was, she'd have to settle for creating some kind of diversion. Gathering her makeshift weapons, she crept out from behind her hiding place and moved silently up the ravine, listening for Torres. Presently, she heard the sound of Torres moving through the woods, and she stopped. Rising, she notched one of the sticks into her bowstring and turned in the direction from which she had come. Drawing back the bowstring, aiming a little high, she let the arrow fly, hoping it would go some distance. She grinned in satisfaction as she saw it arch into the air and hurtle toward the trees. She heard the faint thunk as the stick struck the trunk of a tree. She crouched down to see if Torres took the bait.
Torres' head snapped around as she heard the sound far to her right. She stood stock-still, listening. Was that Janeway? How had she gotten that far down the ravine? She stood thinking. Then she turned and headed toward the spot where the sound had come from. Janeway turned as soon as she heard the arrow hit and started up the ravine again. She found a low spot in the bank and made her way back to the higher ground. She stood, scanning the woods for Torres, but saw nothing. She began to move quickly in the direction of the shuttle. As she walked, she felt the commbadge on the inside of her jacket hitting against her body. She stopped, looked around and crouched at the base of a tree. She reached in and pulled the badge out.
"Janeway to Voyager," she said. There was no response, and no sound of an open channel. All her falling and rolling around on the ground must have damaged it. She turned it over in her hand, running her thumb over its edge. If there was some way to get the back off the thing, there might be enough of an edge to it to allow her to sharpen one of these sticks....But commbadges weren't meant to be taken apart and she had nothing to prise it open with. Besides these sticks were of some tough hard wood that wouldn't sharpen with anything less than a knife anyway. She sighed and decided she'd better get moving again. She rose and moved off through the woods.
The sound of Torres' voice so close tore along her nerves in shock and she ran to the cover of some deadfall. She knelt behind it and peered cautiously over the top.
"Janeway!" Torres shouted. "A compromise!" Janeway raised her eyebrows. She had the distinct feeling that any compromise Torres could propose would still put her on the losing end. "Surrender," Torres continued, shouting, "And I will allow you to die with dignity." Janeway snorted. Some deal. "If you do not surrender," Torres added ominously, "I will kill you in the most painful way imaginable."
"Have to catch me first," Janeway muttered. She peered over the deadfall and caught a flash of gold. Torres' uniform.
"No females?" Kim exclaimed, keeping his voice down so the Kramorians couldn't hear him. "That's some detail to forget, Neelix!" He looked at Paris. "We could be violating the Prime Directive all over the place," he added. "Honestly, Neelix....!" Lobar came up just then.
"The Commander is going to wonder why we're not back on board the ship with supplies, Lieutenant," she pointed out. "We're due to rendezvous with the Captain and Torres at 1800 hours."
"I know," Paris said. "Neelix has just informed us that there are no females on this planet." Lobar stared at him in astonishment and turned to look at Neelix.
"Well, we'd better tell the Kramorians something," Neelix suggested. "They're getting upset." Paris glared at him and then, putting on a smile, walked over to Nok-Sarr and Luk-wee.
"I'm sorry, Nok-Sarr," he said smoothly. "We didn't mean to be rude." He indicated Lobar. "Ensign Lobar, to answer your question, is a female of our species." Nok-Sarr and Luk- Wee glanced at each other uncertainly.
"Ah," Paris considered for a moment. "You see, our species have two genders. Neelix tells me your species is just one gender."
"That is correct," Nok-Sarr replied. "What is the purpose of a...fe-male?" Lobar gazed at Paris expectantly, as did Kim.
"The female bears our young," Paris replied, ignoring them.
"I see," Nok-Sarr said. "Curious that your species requires another gender to do that."
"I take it that Kramorians are genderless," Kim observed.
"That is correct," Nok-Sarr told him. "All Kramorians can produce young."
"Well," Paris said. "That's very interesting."
"We are curious about your species' reproductive process," Nok-Sar said. "As I am sure you must be about ours." The members of the Away Team looked at each other, and then turned their collective gazes on Neelix, who winced.
Torres had reached the spot where she had heard Janeway and finding nothing, muttered furious Klingon curses when she realized Janeway had tricked her. She turned and stalked angrily back in the direction of the shuttle, her eyes blazing with rage and blood-lust at falling for such an obvious ploy. "She will pay for this," she vowed, her voice a harsh, menacing growl. "She will pay most dearly."
"....and that is how our species reproduces," Tom Paris finished as a straight-faced Harry Kim, and dead-pan Lobar listened. Neelix, still chagrined, had been sent off with Lee by Paris to take the supplies back to the ship.
Luk-Wee and Nok-Sarr had listened intently, rapt, as Paris had explained the human reproductive process to them. Paris had strained to be as clinical as possible. I'm going to get Neelix for this, he vowed. Harry would make his life miserable when they got back on board and he had no doubt that Megan and Jenny Delaney would learn of it in short order.
"Fascinating," Nok-Sarr remarked, glancing at Luk-Wee. "Thank you, Lieutenant for telling us this. This will make interesting conversation among our people for some time to come." "I would imagine," Paris said drily. "Well," he continued, "It is time for us to return to our ship. We have a rendezvous to make with our captain. Thank you so much for your hospitality and helpfulness, Nok-Sarr, Luk-Wee."
"We are glad to have been of assistance. May you have a safe journey back home."
"Paris to Voyager," Paris said. "Three to beam up." Nok-Sarr and Luk-Wee watched as their visitors disappeared in a tingling blue whine of sparkle.
"Commander Chakotay," Tuvok said from his station on the bridge. "The Away Team is back on board and the supplies have been secured."
"Thank you, Mr. Tuvok, " Chakotay said. "Helm, set course for Setor. Warp 4."
"Aye, sir," the officer at the conn responded.
Janeway arrived at the clearing where the shuttle was at last and ran thankfully toward the craft. Nothing happened when she keyed the touchpad to open the door and her heart sank. Torres had put in a security lockout and not even Janeway's command override could disable it. Janeway leaned against the side of the shuttlecraft, trying to think what she could do next.
"I thought you might try to get back here." Janeway felt the point of a knife at the base of her skull just under her left ear at the same time she heard Torres' words. She stayed very still. "Drop those," Torres growled, pointing to the bow and arrows. "Turn around ... slowly," Torres said. Janeway complied and now the point of Torres' knife was at her throat, just under her chin. She gazed into dark eyes that she did not know any more: hard, glittering with menace.
"B'Elanna, what's happened to you?" she asked. Torres flicked the knife and a warm trickle of blood ran down the side of Janeway's neck. "Quiet!" Torres hissed, her lips pulled back from her teeth in a snarl. Janeway searched her face, finding nothing of B'Elanna in there. She swallowed, her throat dry. Suddenly her commbadge chirped.
"Voyager to Janeway." So it hadn't been damaged after all; Voyager had just been out of range. She thought she'd never been so glad to hear anyone's voice in her life as she was Chakotay's. She flinched as Torres pressed the knife into her throat. Torres shook her head just once. Then her fist shot out and Janeway crumpled to the ground, out cold. Torres reached down as Chakotay's comm voice came through the commbadge, hailing Janeway once again, and seizing Janeway's jacket in her hand, began to drag her away from the shuttle.
Janeway came to, face down on the damp hard floor of a cave. Her hands were tied behind her back and her feet were bound. She lay, trying to orient herself, not wanting Torres to know she was awake. She could hear the sound of equipment being moved. Suddenly hands grabbed her and hauled her to a sitting position. Torres shoved her roughly against the wall of the cave. "I knew you were awake," she growled. "Do not think you can fool me." Janeway looked around the cave. Torres had brought equipment from the shuttle and set it up.
"What are you going to do?" she asked. Torres ignored her and walked over to a blinking console and sat down on the rock in front of it. Janeway glanced down to see that Torres had removed her commbadge. Suddenly Chakotay's comm voice echoed in the cave from some communications equipment Torres had set up.
"Chakotay to Janeway. Please respond."
"Chakotay!" Janeway yelled. "Beam me---" Faster than anyone would have thought possible, Torres had crossed short distance separating her from Janeway and backhanded Janeway across the mouth. Janeway fell to the side, tasting the warm salt of blood.
"Speak again and I will kill you on the spot," Torres said.
"Tuvok," Chakotay walked over to the Security station. "Can you get a lock on either of them?"
"No, Commander," Tuvok replied. "Something is blocking the sensors. Scans indicate that there are caves on the planet."
"Torres to Chakotay." Chakotay frowned. That didn't sound like B'Elanna, and yet it did. He glanced at Tuvok.
"Chakotay here, B'Elanna. What's going on?" he asked.
"Janeway is my prisoner," Torres replied. "I am taking over the ship. Surrender to me now, or I will kill her."
"Torres," Chakotay said angrily. "What the hell is going on? Is the captain all right?"
"For the moment," Torres replied coldly. "But unless you turn the ship over to me now, I will kill her."
"Torres, you know I'm not turning the ship over to you," Chakotay said. "Let me talk to the captain."
"Then you have condenmned Janeway to death," Torres said flatly. "You have one half hour to beam all those to the surface who do not wish to follow me. If, at the end of that time, you have not done so, I will beam Janeway's body to Voyager." The channel was closed. Chakotay turned to Tuvok.
"What the hell has happened down there?" he asked.
"Unknown, Commander. I have, however, detected a dampening field around one of the caves on the planet's surface. I would surmise that that is where Lt. Torres and the captain are."
"Tuvok, Paris, Kim.You're with me. Ayala, you have the bridge. Chakotay to Kes. Report to Transporter Room 1." Chakotay snapped out orders. "Let's go." Those addressed hurried toward the turbolift with him as he turned to leave.
The Away Team materialized on the surface and traveled quickly to the cave where sensors had detected the dampening field. Tri-corders out, they spread out, trying to find a weakness in the field. They quickly discovered that Torres had sealed the cave's entrance with a fall of rocks and debris.
"It's no use," Kim said in frustration a few minutes later. "It's solid, Commander. We can't get through it, and we can't disable it." Chakotay looked grim.
"Wait a minute," Paris said. "I'm detecting....a very small opening. This way." He started off, his tri-corder out and the others followed. They arrived at the spot and Paris gave a frustrated exclamation.
"It's too small for anyone to get through," he said in disgust.
"Not for me," Kes said suddenly, studying her tri-corder intently. "I can get through, Commander." Chakotay considered. They didn't have much time. And no one else could get through the opening.
"Torres is going to have sensors going," Kim pointed out. Kes smiled and held up a thoron generator
"This will block sensors," she said. Chakotay smiled.
"Good work, Kes," he said. "Proceed, then, but be careful. You will have to stun B'Elanna the minute you get in there. Maximum stun." Kes nodded.
"Understood, Commander," she said. Turning, she wormed her way into the small opening.
Torres paced the cave, stopping on every pass to check her equipment. Janeway sat, face throbbing, watching her. There were ten minutes left on the clock. She hoped Chakotay had set some plan in motion.
Kes stepped into the cave and fired her phaser at Torres just as Torres turned and spotted her, starting to lunge with a snarl in her direction. The phaser blast struck her squarely in the chest and she pitched backward to the floor of the cave. Kes kept her phaser trained on her as she hurried to untie Janeway. Janeway hurried over to the equipment, studying the console. She quickly keyed in commands to disable the field. Kes then slapped her commbadge.
"Commander," she said. "I've rendered Lt. Torres unconscious. The captain is all right," she added, raising her eyebrows at Janeway who nodded. "The c aptain has also disabled the dampening field and I'm getting ready to unseal the entrance." With another wary glance at Torres, who still lay motionless on the cave floor, she handed Janeway a phaser she'd picked up off Torres' console and Janeway trained it on the unconscious Klingon. Kes hurried over to blast the rocks sealing the cave entrance and in a few minutes, Tuvok, Chakotay, Paris and Kim rushed into the chamber. Tuvok took a pair of restraints and manacled Torres. Then he picked her up.
"Careful, Tuvok," Janeway said. "It's still B'Elanna. No rough stuff." Tuvok nodded tersely and carried her outside as the rest followed. Outside Janeway tapped her commbadge.
"Janeway to Voyager," she said. "Seven to beam up."
In Sickbay, Janeway explained what had happened during the shuttle flight as Kes ran the dermal regenerator over her injuries. The Doctor listened intently and then he studied the readouts on B'Elanna who lay on the bio-bed, still out, restrained by a stasis field.
"It would appear," he said, "that the gas that hit Lt. Torres in the face, reacted psychoactively with her Klingon physiology. The effects can be safely reversed and Lt. Torres back to her normal self. If," he said, with a heavy attempt at humor, "you're sure that's what you want." Janeway smiled obligingly.
"Yes, Doctor," she replied. "That's what we want. B'Elanna back exactly as she was." She turned to Chakotay.
"It was scary, Chakotay," she said. "I had no tricorder, no phaser, and she was out to kill me."
"B'Elanna would be scary enough coming after you as herself. I can't imagine having her after me mentally unbalanced." Chakotay remarked. Janeway nodded. "As I said," she replied. "It was scary." They turned at the sound of B'Elanna's confused murmur as she regained consciousness. Janeway and Chakotay came to stand by the biobed. B'Elanna blinked, dazed, looking around in confusion. As she tried to move and found herself restrained, she looked alarmed, her eyes going from Janeway to the Doctor.
"B'Elanna," Janeway said, gently, bending to speak to he "How are you feeling?"
"I--I--don't know," B'Elanna replied uncertainly. "Shaky,"
"No doubt," Janeway. "You've just been through quite an experience."
"You've both been through quite an experience," Chakotay interjected.
"I--I can't remember much," B'Elanna said. She tried to raise a hand reflexively and the stasis field held her. "Wh--why am I---?"
"Doctor," Janeway said, "Remove the stasis field." The Doctor did so. Janeway helped B'Elanna sit up. B'Elanna looked down at her mutilated uniform, her features perplexed, and then looked back up at Janeway, taking in the captain's dishevelment. She shook her head, rubbing her eyes.
"I just remember snatches....of things...." she said hesitantly. Janeway gave her a brief summary of what had happened on the planet. Torres listened unhappily, wincing now and then.
"God," she muttered. Janeway put her hand on B'Elanna's shoulder.
"As I was just telling Chakotay," she said, smiling, "it was scary." "I suppose it was," B'Elanna said, ."I'm afraid I don't remember much about it." She shifted on the bed. "All I can say is, I'm sorry, Captain," she added apologetically. Janeway waved that away.
"No apology is necessary," she said. "I'm just glad we're both all right." Torres nodded, still uncomfortable. Chakotay reached out an put his hand over her tensely clasped ones.
"B'Elanna, you can't blame yourself for what happened," he told her. "You weren't responsible." B'Elanna appeared to take small comfort from this. She looked up at Janeway. "Captain," she said earnestly, "I don't want to kill you, and I have no desire to take over the ship."
"I knew that, B'Elanna," Janeway said, "without your having to tell me." Torres' smile was wavery.
"Just so you know," she said. "Just so you know."
The End