A War For The Death of A Boy

Eri examined the cracked TPM she held in her hand.

"That wasn't the smoothest transfer we've ever had," Saran said to no one in particular, "but at least we came through hidden behind all the engine equipment."

"Saran, take Tinka and Corde and begin searching the lower levels of the ship. We'll meet back here in one hour, unless one of us happens to find the rest of the team before that."

Saran, Tinka and Corde made their way across the Raptor's engineering room, and out of sight. Eri knew the Amazons could move quickly throughout the ship without being detected; but their presence would not remain a secret forever. They would need to find the Queen soon, or things were going to become very complicated.

"Stud Boy," Eri said as she turned to face the warrior, "find the communications room, or what ever you can, and see if you can get this TPM working. We have to regain contact with Cyan and Matt, or we may all spend a VERY long time on the Starship Raptor."

Stud Boy took the TPM from Eri's extended hand, and disappeared without even a sound. She never ceased to be amazed by his speed and agility. Even though Stud Boy had come to the Quest never being born of Amazon blood, there was no doubt that his warrior skills were as impressive and equal a match as any they would find. Eri produced her holo-map of the Starship Raptor and slowly rotated it in her hand. She would need to find the quickest way to the boy's room, and make note of everything that might interfere with his isolation. If they did not find the Queen or regain communication with Matt, Eri would carry out Cyan's orders.

Eri stopped to look out the window before she left for the upper decks.

"Where could Cyan be?" she asked herself. Eri was not concerned about having to eliminate the boy without talking to the Queen first; she was only concerned with what it might mean if Cyan could not be contacted at all. Her green eyes widened as she took in the magnitude of what she was thinking, and what she was seeing....

.....Even after all these years, she had never tired of staring out into the stars....

Cyan turned from the window to look into Eponie's green eyes.

"We need to talk Eponie."

"I thought that's what we were doing" Eponie replied sarcastically.

Captain Janeway had been talking with the Amazons for a short time, but had excused herself to get Voyager's guests some coffee to go with their meals. The Enforcer was busy going head to head with Seven of Nine, each trying to best the other in the gathering of information. Cyan never tired of watching Olympia's determination, she was truly an amazing Amazon and warrior.

"Matt has been unable to reach Eri or the rest of the team by TPM; but they are on the Starship Raptor." Cyan began...

"Well, at least some of us made it to the right place, and now we know they're safe."

Cyan continued, "Eponie, before we left, I instructed Eri to insure the elimination of the boy if something were to go wrong."

The Queen allowed the weight of what she had just said to sink in, but before either of them could speak, Captain Janeway returned with their feast.

"Well, the food is finally here. Let's eat!" Janeway said.

Matt dropped onto the sand beside Ashana, Labris, and Larc.

"Man! You look beat Matt. What's wrong?" Labris asked.

"Realm nightmares" Matt grumbled.

"Can we help?" Labris asked, instantly concerned. Matt very seldom worried about anything, and always had a confidence in being able to solve most problems. "Anything you need, we'll help, just tell us."

"Well, you could go over there to Princess Vicky and explain to her how the Queen got sent to the wrong part of space!"

The attention of the three Amazons quickly went from curiosity to completely undivided.

"I'm sorry" Matt said "I'm tired and I've been up all night pouring over data and trying to contact Eri."

"Eri?" Ashana said with surprise "Where's Eri?"

Matt explained all that had happened in the last 24 hours concerning the away team. Just as he was finishing, Princess Marissa flopped down onto Larc's lap, as Vicky laid out her towel.

"Hiya guys!" Marissa said with so much enthusiasm that the hearts of the Quest all but melted.

"Hey Larc, you wanna come play with me, Avalanche and Abyss?"

Larc smiled. The Queen always left the little Princess in charge of her tiger and panther when away.

"Maybe in a bit honey. We're going to talk with your Mom for a while, okay?"

Princess Vicky took no time to recognize the tone in Larc's voice.

"Why don't you go feed them first Rissa, you know how they are when they're hungry... A lot like the Queen" Vicky smiled.

"Okay Mom" Marissa yelled as she ran off down the beach. Matt quickly re-told his story to the Princess who's own thoughts were already racing through her mind. "The Queen and Eri separated? With Eri not knowing Cyan was okay.... This was not good, for either of them. Eri was Cyan's only family, and nothing else came first, nothing."

"Matt," Vicky finally said, "we need to re-assess all the data and go over it again and again until we come up with something. I'm going to get Marissa settled with Visioness and then none of us leave until they're back." Vicky rose from her towel and headed down the beach. Each of the Amazons had risen in unison as soon as the Princess had finished speaking. Vicky was both royalty and wise, but there was no doubt she had just switched to warrior mode. The four remaining warriors began making their way towards the conference room with not even a thought of the previous sun and fun. There was nothing this Tribe could not do, and they were going to prove it soon enough.

Stud Boy examined the damaged piece of the transmitter he had been able to remove from the TPM. If all went well, he could alter one of the component pieces he had found to function well enough to act as a substitute. Stud cocked his head at the slightest sound of the out of place noise. Grabbing his Saber and component pieces he flipped effortlessly into the metal rafters of the communications room.

"Queen Amadala," one voice said, "we were advised not to make contact with Naboo. The Jedi Knights feel that the communications are being monitored."

Stud Boy arched an eyebrow in approval as two young girls came into his line of vision.

"I understand your concern Padme, but I must know the fate of my people."

"Queen?" Stud Boy thought.... "Not an Amazon one, but he could do worse." Stud Boy's smile faded as he wondered where his own Queenie was. Things were not going smoothly.

Tinka and Corde continued to stare at the two Jedi Knights sparring in the middle of the Raptor's cargo deck.

"They're good" Corde said, "but the Enforcer would be screaming about all the extravagant, yet useless flips they keep doing."

"I like them," Saran said as she knelt down beside the two Amazons.

"Still think your tooth pick weapons could take the light sabers?" Tinka smiled.

"Maybe not just yet," Saran replied "but I do have a few enhancements currently in production, so give it some time."

The three Amazon sisters silently exited the cargo deck and headed back towards the engineering room. Each knew that the Jedi Knights possessed almost magical like powers, but when the time came for confrontation, as it always did, the Jedi would be no match for their Amazon skills.

There was a wisp of air that made its way down the hallway as the three Amazons had already begun to hide. Soon the Jedi passed the Warriors who had blended effortlessly into their surroundings.

".... The boy is the chosen one. You have seen the readings yourself, they are off the charts. He will be the one to bring a balance to be Force, I'm sure of it." The two Jedi glided down the hallway and out of sight as the three Amazons emerged from their positions.

"The chosen one?" Saran repeated, as they stared after the Knights... "There is definitely a lot more to this boy than we thought" Corde remarked as she signaled for the two Amazons to get moving, "... A lot more."

Eri peered down through the hole in the ventilation shaft. The boy continued to stare out the window and into the darkness of space. Every now and then he would shiver from the cold, or maybe from something else. The boy's sense of awareness had alarmed Eri at first, but now she just watched with growing interest. The two Jedi Knights had asked the boy many questions, and then even more tasks to be performed. His skills overshadowed even that of the fully trained Jedi. One boy with so much power, born into the chance to change so much for so many. A boy that would eventually dictate the paths of so many lives......so many wars.........

Eri found herself shivering along with the boy, but not from the coldness of space, but from its irony.

Cyan, Eponie, and the Enforcer stood at the entrance of Voyager's holo-deck. Captain Janeway had offered the Amazons a chance to take a break, and make use of Voyager's recreational facilities.

"Until we are able to locate the whereabouts of your vessel, you are welcome aboard my ship. I think you'll find the holo-deck one of our more popular spots." Janeway smiled, "everything you need for each program will already be provided. We'll start it as soon as you're ready."

The three Amazons thanked the Captain and entered the holo-deck. After the door closed, Seven turned to face the Captain "I am unsure as to your intentions for allowing the intruders access to our holo-deck or other parts of the ship."

"Well Seven, I always like to be sure what we're up against, and I'm thinking that maybe our guests are alot more than what they appear."

"You do not believe their story then Captain?"

"Oh, I believe they are looking for their ship Seven, I'm just not convinced they are as passive as they appear. So, that's what we're going to find out. Run the Marquis Massacre program; safety feature off."

"Captain?" Seven asked incredulously.

"Relax Seven, if my hunch is right, they're not going to need it."

"The first thing we need to work on is getting contact with the other team" Matt said "if we don't, the entire mission will be a failure. The Queen will not allow Voyager to destroy the Raptor until our team is safe, and if we don't extract them, history will repeat itself and Voyager will be destroyed."

Ashana quickly stepped in, "Larc and I will work on boosting the TPM capabilities and pin-pointing exact extraction sites for all positions on Raptor's present course." Ashana turned and walked to a large computer panel located at one end of the room. She and Larc immediately began physical altercations to the TPM communications board.

Labris walked over to a large research desk cluttered with all kinds of statistical data and printouts the team had used during briefing. "I'm going to reorganize every piece of data we have into two sections, one for each ship."

Vicky continued, "Matt and I will reconstruct an exact timeline of events both for the past encounter and for now. Then we will run a new simulation of projections............."

Labris finished the statement, "with the re-compiled information from both our data."

It was obvious that every one of the Amazons were in full no-nonsense warrior mode. Now with a little luck of the Greek, they might even salvage this mission.

The five Amazons had been discussing all that they had learned in their scouting around the ship, and one thing was for sure, the rest of the team was not on board. Saran was the first to speak after a long pause in conversation, "I know we're not exactly in the right place at the right time here, but there is alot we could do until we finally get a hold of Matt and figure out how to get off this ship and onto Voyager."

Saran had always been very perceptive and she had not missed Eri's reaction when the boy had been mentioned. "We know what the initial reason was for being here, and even though Eponie is not with us, I think we should go through with it anyway. But, Eri will be in charge."

Eri's head snapped around to face Saran as the others nodded in agreement. She saw the kindness in Saran's eyes, and knew the warrior was only trying to show her support without giving anything away.

"Agreed" Eri finally managed. "I will handle the boy while the rest of you monitor the ship. Watch for anything that may help us. If we can't get Matt soon, we may have to go this alone."

Each of the remaining Amazons divided parts of the vessel equally for their responsibilities. It would be almost five days before they heard a voice from their island, and the whereabouts of the rest of their team.

The holo-deck was quite dark when the door finally closed behind them.

"Charming game environment!" The Enforcer said sarcastically.

A man's figure suddenly appeared out of the shadows and stood before the Queen. His first kick sent Cyan flying backwards into Eponie, knocking them both onto the ground.

"Somehow I don't think we're in Crete anymore!" Cyan muttered.

"It's Kansas, Cyan; Kansas! Not Crete!" Eponie said in her most exasperated tone, "And what the hell was that?"

The Enforcer had already made quick work of the man who now laid motionless on his back. "My Queen, are you all right?" Olympia asked as she held out her arms to help both Cyan and the Princess out.

"Yes, I'm fine Olympia; but somehow I think our dear Captain Janeway has more than a relaxing game simulation in mind."

Eponie and the Enforcer turned to look where Cyan had subtly indicated. Figure after figure continued to appear as their eyes adjusted to the dark.

"It seems Captain Janeway is curious of our fighting skills my Queen" Olympia paused, "What should we do?"

"Oh, let's not disappoint her ladies" Cyan said with a gleam in her eyes, "wipe them out!"

In a flash, Eponie was flipping through the air and knocking one of the figures onto their back. With one quick movement the Princess had taken his weapon and snapped his neck. The Enforcer and Cyan stared in disbelief.

"Eponie?" They said in unison.

"Well, afterall....." Eponie said with a smile " they are just holo-images."

The Enforcer and Queen looked at one another, "Remind me to get one of these for the island will ya?" Cyan said.

Captain Janeway, Tuvok, and Seven of Nine stared at the camera display being relayed from the holo-deck simulation.

"It seems your instincts were correct Captain. It took them less than 20 minutes to wipe out the entire program."

"Get them out of there!" Janeway said as she slammed her fist on the table. "I had at least thought we would have to halt the program partially through it."

"It is most improbable" Tuvok began, "that only three individuals could complete the program without injury."

"Well they did Tuvok, and without much effort either!"

Why are they really here? Janeway wondered. If they did mean us harm, there was no doubt they certainly could inflict it.

Just then the three Amazons entered the room led by Seven. Eponie and Olympia glanced at the holo-deck camera and smiled discretely at the piles of bodies they had left.

"Seems your game puts up quite a fight Captain," Cyan walked over to stand directly in front of Janeway, "or was there something else you had in mind?"

"Yes, you were all quite impressive Cyan, but it is afterall, just a simulation" Janeway responded.

Cyan leaned closer and dropped her voice very low while staring hard at the Captain, " Yes, and we're not breathing heavy."

The two commanders stood silently for a moment toe to toe, until Janeway finally spoke, " Why are you really here Cyan?"

"I promise you Captain" the Queen took a step backwards and softened her tone, "we do not mean Voyager any harm. As a matter of fact, until we can reunite with the rest of our team, we would like to use our knowledge to enhance all of your vessel's systems."

Janeway thought for a moment. She had seen these women fight, and each of the leaders knew that even the entire crew of Voyager would be no match for their skills. The Captain had also seen their eyes, some were haunted, but all were honest.

"Very well" Janeway finally said, "we here on Voyager would be most grateful for any technology you could pass along. You will be watched, but allowed full ship's access."

"Even to the holo-deck?" Eponie said with a smile.

The Captain chuckled as Cyan welcomed Eponie's ability to lighten the mood. It would be five days of hard work aboard Voyager before Matt had news of her warriors.

"I got them!" Ashana yelled the length of the room, "it's Stud Boy!"

The entire room converged with activity as they surrounded the communications panel.

"Stud Boy, its Matt. Are you guys alright?"

"We're find" Eri responded "it's me; but we have lost the Queen, Eponie and the Enforcer."

"We know, we know. They are on Voyager already" Matt answered.

Over the next several minutes the Island Amazons filled the away team in on as many details as they had. Vicky was the last to speak.

"We need to open the portal and get you off there now. The extraction site will be the same as when you came through. Once off, we'll open a portal onto Voyager. Did you get all that?"

"Yes my Princess. We are leaving now." Eri affirmed.

Matt began the sequencing for the portal coordinates, while the five Amazons aboard Raptor immediately began making their way towards the engine room. Eri rounded the corner and held up her hand to stop the warriors. The entire group came to a halt, just as they spotted the two Jedi outside engineering deep in conversation.

"Get Matt back" Stud Boy said, "and have him change the extraction site."

Eri tried hailing Matt again on her TPM, but got no response. The five Amazons stood motionless as they continued to wait for the Jedi to leave; all the while precious moments ticking away.

"I can't hold the portal much longer" Larc said, "and I can't get them on the TPM either."

Vicky turned from the panel as the portal door to the Raptor finally closed. What had happened to them, she wondered?

"Matt, get the Queen" she finally said, "Tell her we still don't have them."