Part fifteen of "Little blue world" - an AU series
by Jinny W
July 2001
Disclaimer: Paramount owns all. I'm just playing.
Summary: Back on the Liberty again, the crew devise a surprising rescue plan; and Chakotay works on mending his friendship with Kathryn.
~~~
Captain's personal log
It seems strange to realise that we have been in the Delta Quadrant for eight weeks now. Time has passed so quickly as we have lurched from one crisis to the next. This is not how I imagined our journey would be. Though, if I am honest with myself, I admit I didn't really know what to expect from this crew and from our odd quest itself.
Words can't express my profound sense of relief at our return to the Liberty, to our familiar cramped spaces and scuffed grey bulkheads. To our friends. I thought B'Elanna would break my spinal column, her welcoming hug was so fierce. She hugged Kathryn too and Kathryn seemed pleased by the gesture. I had not realised the two of them have become such great friends. Then again, the events that took place on Rexal's ship should remind me that I've been too carelessly oblivious of these people's feelings for each other.
My own feelings are once again a jumbled blur. The brief moment of clarity I reached on the Nistrum ship, when I swore to keep myself separate from the affections of the others now seems a foolish over reaction, a product of my capture and confinement rather than my real desires. To my great relief Kathryn and I have fallen comfortably back into the old rhythm of our friendship. We have begun to eat our meals together again. We speak often, both seriously and less so, although I suspect that her teasing of me is still somewhat tentative. As if by an unspoken agreement we have both refrained from mentioning again that awful conversation from the night after my rescue. Despite everything, my attraction to Kathryn remains strong, perhaps even stronger than it was in those early days when I tried to dismiss it as merely physical temptation. Given my previous behaviour, I feel it unlikely she would welcome any advances from me. In any case, I'm convinced that I still need to restore our friendship fully before I dare test those waters again. So I will do nothing.
But back to business. It's been five days since our return to the Liberty. B'Elanna's news about locating the wormhole was welcome. I sensed she felt that it did not nearly make up for her disappointment over the problems with the planned transwarp drive, but then, B'Elanna has always had high expectations of herself. It transpires that Kathryn's analysis was correct - B'Elanna too had concluded that the Liberty's structural integrity field could not withstand the leap to transwarp. It seems Kathryn's idea about a trade may not be so farfetched after all.
It took us four days to travel to the wormhole. Yesterday we stationed ourselves a safe distance from its opening, and we wait here for the arrival of Michael Jonas. Despite her optimistic words to the contrary, B'Elanna had calculated that even with his limited sector by sector scans he should have arrived at least three days before us. A scan of the wormhole revealed that no one has entered it recently. We have little idea what Jonas could be doing. Neelix suggested that his ship might merely have suffered one of its regular breakdowns and Jonas has not yet managed to repair the damage. Our fears for Sam's safety are growing. The wormhole beckons to us, a constant reminder that home may be nearer than we think.
So we wait here for Jonas, and we worry.
~~~
"You didn't bring back any of those Jarak berries, by any chance, did you?" B'Elanna asked, her eyes glinting hopefully. "They sounded very interesting. Maybe we could get Neelix to stop making his coffee substitutes."
Kathryn shook her head. "No, sorry. Rexal had a limited supply and she was understandably protective of it."
B'Elanna nodded. "I guess if I was her I wouldn't want to try and steal from your personal coffee bean supply either."
"She doesn't mind sharing with visitors", Kathryn said, "she just isn't so keen on you taking extra when you leave."
Chakotay rolled his eyes at them both. "I for one am glad to hear it", he said. "I had enough to last me for weeks."
"Never mind", Kathryn said to B'Elanna, ignoring him. "We could always pop over and visit her if you're desperate."
The three of them were cloistered comfortably in one corner of the mess hall, sharing a quiet drink while the room was almost deserted. Kathryn glanced around, the familiar view causing her to recall with pleasure Neelix's welcome home party the night they had returned. Celebrations had been somewhat subdued, due to Sam's absence, but the crew were understandably happy to see their commanding officers again. Neelix, she noted, had spent most of the evening talking with Rexal. The two of them seemed inseparable, and she wondered whether Neelix had decided yet whether to accept her offer. Thinking of the Talaxian woman drew her back to the present again.
"I'm glad Rexal decided to stay for a while", she said. "I feel a lot safer knowing her ship is here beside us."
"We are in an unusual situation", Chakotay agreed. "I don't know what we'd actually do if some other ship came along and demanded access to the wormhole."
"I wonder why the Kazon have never explored it," B'Elanna said. "It must intersect their space in a number of places."
"Superstition maybe?" Kathryn suggested. "Or maybe they have, and their ships couldn't travel though it without damage."
At the mention of the Kazon, a strange look came over Chakotay's face. B'Elanna glanced at him sharply. "What is it?" she said.
Chakotay drummed his fingers on the table, as if considering whether to tell them something. "Rexal told me some interesting gossip this morning", he said, after a moment's pause. "It might be nothing, but then again..."
B'Elanna frowned at him in annoyance. "Come on", she said, "what is it?"
"It's just something that she heard from a contact, so it's third hand news by now. I don't know how reliable it is."
B'Elanna glowered at him now. "Do I have to break your nose to make you talk?"
Chakotay smirked at Kathryn. "Look what you've started. Is this the way things are done around here now?"
Kathryn chuckled. "From what I hear, B'Elanna was breaking bones long before she met me."
"True", he conceded.
"Well?" B'Elanna said.
"Alright". He grinned at her, then settled back in his chair. "Apparently there's a Nistrum ship that has been seen behaving quite oddly lately."
It was Kathryn's turn to frown. "Oddly how?"
"Avoiding allied ships. Taking unusual routes. Making some unusual trading requests. Practicing maneuvers in odd places. A lot of small things. This contact wasn't sure which ship it was, so Rexal couldn't say if it was Jimiyu's or not."
"But?" Kathryn said, sensing it coming.
"But", Chakotay continued, "her contact said he thought it was all due to the power struggles that have been going on among the leaders of the Nistrum sect lately. Now we know that Jimiyu was involved in part of that. He deposed the leader of his ship while I was there."
"With Seska's help", Kathryn added.
Chakotay's eyes flashed with anger. "Yes", he said shortly. "Anyway, the contact said he'd talked to a friend who had some encounters with Jimiyu before. This friend told him that Jimiyu was a very dangerous man, often underrated by his enemies."
"And his Maj, apparently," B'Elanna put in.
Chakotay nodded, and went on talking. "He said he wouldn't be surprised if Jimiyu was up to something, maybe trying to take over one of the weaker sects, to gather more fighting men under his control."
"Fair enough", B'Elanna said, "but why is this of any interest to us? The Kazon can brawl amongst themselves all they like. Hopefully we'll be gone from their space sometime soon."
"Rexal's contact also said he's heard rumours that an outsider had been causing trouble for the Nistrum."
Kathryn straightened at that, but didn't interrupt him.
"And here's the interesting part," Chakotay said, "he heard that while all this unusual activity was going on, the Kazon managed to get rid of the stranger."
"Got rid of how?" B'Elanna said quickly. "Killing her?"
Chakotay shook his head. "He thinks they dumped her - this stranger I mean - at a trading station, just forced her - or him - to leave the ship with orders not to return, on the threat of death."
Kathryn let out a slow breath. "If this is Jimiyu they're talking about, he might have got rid of Seska."
"It sounds like it", Chakotay agreed.
They all fell silent, thinking over the story. Eventually B'Elanna spoke. "Well", she said, "I can't say I feel overly sorry for her. What's that old expression? 'You make your bed, then you have to lie in it'?"
Chakotay grunted. Kathryn eyed him curiously, as if measuring his reaction, but she too didn't speak. They were still sitting quietly minutes later when Harry rushed into the mess hall.
"There you all are", he said, hurrying over to their table, and sitting down breathlessly beside Kathryn.
"What's up?" Chakotay said, recognizing the intense look in the younger man's eyes.
"I was doing what you asked me to, making a detailed copy of the engine specs and notes on what we'd figured out about the theory, along with our own containment modifications."
Kathryn threw a sharp look at Chakotay, but he merely nodded at Harry.
"And I found a file that we hadn't noticed before. At least I hadn't", he said, glancing at B'Elanna. "It was among the files that we thought were damaged." When she nodded, he went on. "I had another look at it, and I don't think it is junk. It's heavily encrypted, for one thing." He was speaking quickly now, obviously excited.
B'Elanna frowned at him, interested now. "Why would it be encrypted? None of the other specs were."
"Maybe it's something secret. More recent research, maybe." His eyes gleamed with enthusiasm. "I think we didn't notice it before because we were concentrating on the transwarp theory. Whatever this is", he tapped the padd he'd carried in with him, "it's probably some kind of information that's not freely available among whoever the Kazon stole this from."
"Weapons?" she suggested.
"That's what I thought", he turned to Chakotay. "It might take a while to figure out the codes. I was hoping I could co-opt some more manpower to help me work on it."
"Go for it." He glanced at B'Elanna. "If you're not busy, why don't you help Harry put together a team." He thought for a moment, then added, "And get Hogan to join in. It might help him to have something to take his mind off Sam for a while."
As she was agreeing, a hail from Tuvok interrupted them. "Captain", he said. "I believe we were scheduled for a meeting."
Chakotay made a pained face but answered him placidly. "Yes, Mr. Tuvok, I'm sorry."
"Shall I summon the rest of the senior staff?"
"Call Neelix, Kes and Tom," Chakotay said, "the others are here. We'll join you shortly. Chakotay out. You two," he said, pointing to Harry and B'Elanna, "get to work on this file. There's no need for the three of you to rehash the arguments you've had already".
"I could kiss you", B'Elanna said happily, slipping out of her seat.
"Thanks", Harry added, as he joined her, "I won't promise to kiss you though, if that's alright."
Chakotay sighed and glanced across at Kathryn. "I can't say I've missed staff meetings."
"No one ever misses staff meetings", she said.
"No", he said wryly as they made their way to the door, "that's the problem."
"Why did you ask Harry to make a copy of the engine plans?" she asked, as they stepped out into the corridor.
He threw her a dimpled smile, a familiar and endearing gesture she had missed during his absence. "Because", he said with a shrug, "a very wise friend of mine has been telling me about thinking ahead. I thought it was about time I started listening to her."
~~~
"Maybe it's true", said Tom, who had been silent for the first ten minutes of the meeting. "The simplest ideas are the best."
Tuvok raised an eyebrow at him. "Your quotation not withstanding, Mr. Paris, I still see two problems with such a trade. One, how will we stop Jonas injuring Samantha as soon as he drops out of warp and sees us barring the way to the wormhole? Two, how do we guarantee that Jonas will not damage the wormhole once he has passed through it?"
Kathryn spoke up. "If Jonas took so long getting here, perhaps he won't be surprised to see that we beat him to it."
"There is of course," Tuvok added, "also the mystery of why he has been delayed."
"I don't think we can worry about that part right now", Chakotay said. "If he's been up to something, we'll find out when he gets here. What we need to do is be prepared to implement our plan instantly."
"What about a message?" Kes suggested. "If we prepared a recording offering our deal and began transmitting it as soon as he is within range, he'd quickly know what our intentions are."
"I think that's a good idea", Kathryn said. "But what about Tuvok's second question?" She turned to Neelix, who like Tom had been quiet throughout the discussion. "Is there any easy way to sabotage your weapons array from the bridge without Jonas knowing about it?"
He considered the question for a moment, then bobbed his head. "Quite easily, actually", he said. "There are several vital relay components it would be simple to remove. Without them, the weapons systems wouldn't work. It would take him some time to discover what the problem was, never mind to fix it." He scratched his whiskers thoughtfully. "In fact, if we took out the right piece, he might not be able to fix them at all." He smiled at the group. "All you'd have to do is get me on board."
Kathryn looked at Tuvok. "Would that solve your concerns?"
The Vulcan nodded. "Then how would we transport Mr. Neelix to his ship without arousing suspicion?"
The group fell silent, each considering the question. To Kathryn's surprise, Kes spoke up again. "What if we told him in the message that we were sending him an envoy?" She looked around the table as she spoke, her eyes serious. "Someone who would explain the deal to him in person, so he would know we're not trying to trick him. Someone who could see with their own eyes that Sam is alright."
"But if we could do that", Tom objected, "why not just send in someone to stun him and rescue Sam?"
If Vulcans rolled their eyes Tuvok would have done so. Instead he gave Tom a mild stare of disapproval. "We have already considered those options at length, Mr. Paris, and concluded they are too dangerous."
Chakotay nodded his agreement. "Too much could go wrong. If Jonas is wound up as tightly as I think he is, then he'll be ready to snap at any moment. If we sent an envoy," he rubbed his chin meditatively, "it would be unusual, but that person would be there with his permission. Not like a raid. That could give us an edge. And the idea of checking Sam isn't hurt... I think that could work."
"I'm sure I could distract Jonas for long enough to remove the part", Neelix said confidently.
Chakotay gazed at them each in turn while he thought about their comments. "Tuvok", he said, "you still look troubled."
"If you were to go ahead with such a plan, Captain, I'm not sure that Mr. Neelix is the most logical person to carry it out."
"But it's my ship," Neelix objected. "I know it better than anyone else."
"Mr. Jonas also knows that it is your ship", Tuvok pointed out. "Would he not be suspicious at our decision to send you aboard it?"
Chakotay nodded slowly. "I think you're right. He would be. He's already going to be extremely edgy about anything we do. He must already suspect we'd use your knowledge of the ship to rig the deal in our favour somehow."
"Then you should send me", Tom said. "Neelix could describe the systems to me. I could disable them just as easily."
"No", a soft voice said, and they all turned in surprise to Kes. The young Ocampan woman was staring at Tom with a determined look on her face. "You should send me. I am the logical choice."
The others remained silent, still gaping at her.
"I've already spent some time aboard Neelix's ship", she said calmly. "It isn't completely foreign territory for me. I have medical training - a fact that Jonas knows - which would make sending me to check Sam's health seem legitimate. And more importantly," she added, "he'll think I'm harmless."
After a moment more of silence Tom let out a short humourless laugh. "You're not serious."
"I'm very serious", she said, in her smooth voice. "Look at the way you're all looking at me, as though I'm crazy for even suggesting it. Why would Jonas suspect me if you don't even think I'm capable?"
"It's not that we don't think you're capable, Kes", Kathryn said, "but this mission is dangerous."
"I know."
"You're young and inexperienced."
Kes smiled at her. "That's the whole point, isn't it?"
Kathryn couldn't think of a response to that. Kes began looking at them all in turn. "I'm young", she said, "but I'm not a child. I know I can do this. I'm your best chance of disabling the weapons without Jonas suspecting anything. Think about it. Which one of you would he trust more than me?"
"He hates me," Kathryn admitted.
"Me too", Chakotay agreed. "And he doesn't care much for you, Tom either."
"What about Harry?" Tom said. "He looks innocent."
"Jonas will think he's after revenge", Kes pointed out. "He helped Seska to frame Harry, remember?"
"I don't like it", Neelix said, watching his young friend with concern.
"It would be a risk", Chakotay said, but his voice hinted that he was tempted to agree.
"I'm prepared to take a risk to help Sam. She's my friend. I am the most logical choice," she repeated.
"I agree", Tuvok said. The others stared at him.
"You never agree with anyone", Tom said.
Tuvok ignored him. "There will be a risk sending anyone over to meet with Jonas", he said, "but logically, that risk is lessened if he is placed off guard. Because of her youth, her medical coaching, and her appearance of innocence, Kes would be an unusual, but a sensible choice."
Chakotay watched them all carefully, weighing up their options. "I'll allow you to do this", he said eventually, "but only if you think it over carefully. If you still decide you're willing, I'll have Neelix and Kathryn coach you. We could minimize some of the risks, keep a transporter lock on you at all times, pull you out the second there's trouble. But I won't order you to do this."
"You don't have to", Kes replied, her voice firm. "My mind is already made up. I want to do it."
"Alright", Chakotay said. "Then meeting dismissed."
~~~
Kathryn fell into step beside Chakotay as they walked along the corridor. "Are you sure this is such a good idea? Sending Kes I mean?"
Chakotay wrinkled his forehead in concern. "It's risky", he conceded. "But if we're careful, Jonas won't be any the wiser. We can get Kes on board, she'll distract Jonas briefly, take out the weapons, then when Jonas agrees to the deal, we'll take back Kes and Sam together."
"Assuming Jonas agrees", she said.
"Why wouldn't he? He wants to get to the wormhole, and we're in the way. What choice does he have?"
"He might not be thinking rationally", she pointed out, as they rounded a corner. "He might think he has the advantage, holding Sam. What if he tells us to move out of the way, or he'll kill her?"
"I'm hoping he won't", Chakotay said grimly. When Kathryn shook her head in concern he paused and took her arm, forcing them both to stop. She looked up at his face, which was clearly troubled. Dark circles she hadn't noticed before were etched around his eyes.
"Kathryn," he said gently, "I'm trying to choose the solution which minimizes harm. Yes, we're putting Kes at risk by sending Jonas another potential hostage. But we're also offering him the chance of freedom. If he gives us Sam, we'll move out of the way. If we don't do this", he shrugged helplessly. "Assuming you're right, and he tries to force his way past us, what would we do?"
"Let him through", she admitted, "so that he didn't hurt Sam."
"So we have to hope he doesn't realise that", he said calmly. "Because once he gets through that wormhole I honestly think he'd happily shoot Sam and fire at the aperture, closing the wormhole with us stuck on this side."
"What would that gain him?"
"Revenge", Chakotay said quietly. "I don't think he's being irrational. I think he's following his own logic, the logic of revenge." Realising he was still pressing his palm tightly against her upper arm he let it drop. "Revenge against you and me both."
Kathryn swallowed heavily, acknowledging the truth of his words. She nodded slowly. "I just don't want to see Kes hurt", she said. "I care about her."
"So do I", Chakotay said. "I'm just sick and tired of playing all these stupid games."
Kathryn glanced up at him sharply. He was standing closely by her now, his eyes roaming over her face as he tried to read her expression.
"Kath", he said softly, taking both her hands in his own, "when I told you I wanted to share authority with you on this ship I was serious. Maybe I didn't realise exactly what that would mean." He shook his head with a wry smile. "Alright, I take that back, I definitely didn't realise what it would mean. But I've been thinking about it, thinking about the way you ran this ship when I wasn't here." He let out a low laugh. "I've even thought about what would have happened if we'd ended up stuck on your ship, instead of mine."
He ran one of his thumbs along her knuckles, still not letting go of her hands as he spoke. Kathryn suppressed a shiver that ran up her back at the warmth of his fingertips.
"You did a damn good job as Captain here and you know it. No stupid insult I could come up with in a selfish fit of anger can change that." Kathryn met his eyes, which were still flickering intently across her face. "We have our differences", he went on, "but we've chosen to do this together."
With some effort Kathryn forced her voice to remain steady. "What do you want from me?" she asked.
"I'm asking for your support. I don't want to do this without you."
To his surprise a quick smile flashed across Kathryn's face. "This is how you ask for your first officer's support?" she said, raising her eyebrows at him. Her smile was now tinged with a touch of sadness. "Using the influence you know perfectly well you have over me?" Her gaze swept over his face, lingering for a moment on his tattoo, then returned to meet his dark brown eyes.
Chakotay stared at her, unsure how serious she was being. They continued to stand together, their hands joined, their faces only centimeters apart. "I didn't mean..." he stammered.
"You have my support", she said softly, interrupting him. "For this plan, and for the next one. And for the next one."
"You don't even know what they are yet," he objected unthinkingly.
"I'm sure you'll explain them to me", she said. With those words Chakotay could see that the smile still lingered in her eyes. He released a breath he hadn't realised he had been holding. "The ideas that weren't already mine in the first place, anyway," she added, the corner of her mouth twitching. "Which does narrow the field considerably. And," she continued, her smile spreading now, "as long as they're all perfectly logical, of course. Not too risky. And no spontaneity either."
"Thankyou", he whispered, leaning almost imperceptibly towards her.
"You're welcome." Kathryn felt her eyes close of their own accord as Chakotay moved his face closer, and closer...
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Both of them whipped around in the direction of the angry voice and saw Tom Paris striding down the corridor towards them. Chakotay dropped Kathryn's hands as though they were heated plasma coils and turned to face him.
"Whatever you think is -"
"Kes is not one of your Maquis operatives", Tom said angrily, as he came to a halt before them. "You have no right to send her on this mission." He jabbed his finger in the air as he spoke, but Chakotay did not flinch.
"This is Kes' decision", he said mildly.
"You can't let her do it. It's crazy!" He moved towards Chakotay but Kathryn stepped in between them.
"Calm down, Tom", she said.
"He's giving Jonas another hostage", he said, his face now beet red.
"You volunteered to go yourself", she pointed out, "You'd be a hostage too by that logic."
He disregarded her remark. "How many more people are you going to put in danger to satisfy your ego?" he barked.
Another crewman rounding the corner stopped short at the sight of them. He hovered nervously where he was for a moment, before hurrying past with his eyes averted.
Chakotay held up his hand. "I don't think this is the right place to talk about this, Tom."
"Where is the right place, then?" the younger man demanded. "Where are you holding your private meetings these days?" He shot a petulant look at Kathryn, whose shoulder still physically separated the two men. "Still in your bedroom? Oh sorry, I mean your office."
"Tom", Kathryn said warningly.
Chakotay placed a hand on Kathryn's shoulder as if to move her out of the way, then stepped up beside her, his face glowering. "If you have something to say to me Paris, you come right out and say it", he said, his voice dangerously quiet. "Keep Kathryn out of this."
"As far as I can tell it's her choice to be in it", Tom hissed. He glared at Kathryn again, his voice now softer. "Isn't that right?"
Before she could respond he snorted, then pushed his way past them and stalked off down the corridor.
"Tom, wait!" she called out. She turned back to Chakotay. "I should go -"
"Captain", Tuvok's voice hailed them. "Please respond".
Chakotay swore under his breath. "What is it, Tuvok?"
"I thought you should know," Tuvok's calm voice floated back to them. "We now have Mr. Jonas' ship on sensors. He will be entering this system in six hours time."
Kathryn repressed her own desire to curse. They shared a troubled look. "Thankyou", said Chakotay. "I'll be right there." He sighed and ran a hand through his shortly cropped hair. "Alright", he said to her. "We need to get to work."
She nodded sharply. "I'll go and find Kes. She's probably in the hydroponics bay. That's where she goes to think about things."
As she strode away Chakotay called out after her. "Kathryn?" His voice seemed curiously unsteady. She turned back to him.
"What?"
"I -". He stared at her wordlessly, an unreadable expression in his eyes. "Be careful", he said lamely.
She held his gaze for a few seconds longer before nodding. "You too", she said.
And with a brief parting smile she was gone.
~~~
end of part fifteen
~ read part sixteen ~
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