Chapter 48: Back to the Grind
A/N: Second bonus chapter as promised. 😄
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It had been a few weeks since Pedira and Syrala left the Voyager. We kept in touch over subspace and, so far, her journey back had been quiet. The Voyager kept on course, back to the Alpha Quadrant, and we stopped by a planet known as Akritiri for some shore leave while we traded for some supplies. Instead of taking shore leave, my group and I volunteered to stay on the ship and work a few extra shifts, but we were only there a day before something happened.
A chime woke me up from a deep sleep, panting and drenched in sweat. I had been reliving a dangerous period of time from Dystina's past life, when she had been pursued by another True Dragon. He had been intent on claiming her for his own, while she would have rather killed herself than submit to anyone. He chased her for years and badly wounded her numerous times, but she always managed to escape his clutches, though the fight I awoke from was looking grim.
::Janeway is paging you, Rebecca. The matter is urgent.::
"Thanks, Fae," I replied, sitting up, then tapped my badge and asked, "Yes, Captain?"
"There has been an explosion on the planet. The Akritirians are refusing our assistance and we've recalled our teams, but there are two people missing, Tom and Harry. Our sensor logs placed them in the vicinity of the explosion, but their comm badges were destroyed, it seems. I was hoping that that you might be able to give me some better news than Tuvok's report," Janeway sighed.
"Actually, I might... If you can give me a few minutes to freshen up, I can look over his report and see if it matches a vision that I had some time ago," I replied.
"Of course; come to my Ready Room when you are done."
"Yes, Captain."
"You okay?" Katye asked, lying next to me in the bed.
"Yeah, just a bad 'dream'," I replied as I swung my legs off the other side of the bed.
"Want to talk about it?" she offered.
"Not really; her memories are hers, mine are mine... If anything, it makes me thankful that this is my beginning versus hers. It took her over six hundred years to meet you."
"Charmer," she chuckled. "Should I get dressed as well?"
"No, if this is the episode that I think it is, Janeway won't make any moves until the Akritirians prove that they aren't going to be reasonable about this which took a few days in the episode. Tom and Harry will get a little roughed up, but we should be able to get them out of the prison before Tom's life is in serious danger, if we let the events play out until then," I answered, standing up and walking to the bathroom.
"Then I'll follow your orders, Captain," she teased.
I shot her a smirk before I stepped into the next room and headed for the shower. I made this one quick then changed into my uniform and hurried off to Janeway's office. She was sitting behind her desk, looking at her computer and drinking a cup of coffee, when I walked in.
"Rebecca, thank you for coming," Janeway said and turned the monitor around. "This is the information that we have about the Akritirians as well as Tuvok's report."
"It's no trouble, Captain," I replied, scrolling through the data on the screen. When the picture of the ambassador appeared, I recognized his face and nodded my head with a sigh. "I recognize the 'good' ambassador. He won't be any help, but Tom and Harry are alive. They will be arrested for the bombing, if they haven't been already, and sent to a prison off world, then the ambassador will come for Voyager. The only way that we'll be able to get them back is by breaking into the prison."
"How confident are you?"
"Fairly, but we can wait until the Akritirians attack Voyager before we have to get Tom and Harry. The prison conditions aren't great, but Tom knows his way around one, so he can take care of Harry, and we won't have to delay by finding the true bomb makers since Echo will be able to track our people."
"Can't we just trade the bomb makers for Tom and Harry?"
"You tried that and the Akritirians didn't care. Once judgments are handed out, there is no reversal of the decision, even if the trial is nothing more than a sham. The Akritirian prison is a space station where they drop their prisoners into various 'pits' with other convicts, tagged with some kind of device that makes them more agitated, there are no guards inside, only outside the space station. It's too dangerous for them to regularly open the chute, so they just leave them there to rot."
Janeway let out a sigh, and then took a drink from her cup as she turned the screen back to her. "It makes no sense," she complained, "but that is along the lines of what Tuvok's research has said."
"At least we aren't tied to this problem; that alone reduces the difficulty of this problem," I remarked.
"Does that mean I shouldn't allow your group shore leave then?" she asked with a teasing smile.
I chuckled, "If you don't mind seeing what mischief an incredibly bored Dragon can get into then sure, go for it. I promise that no one would be physically harmed, at least."
She smirked and shook her head, retorting, "I would rather not."
"Is there anything else that I can help you with for now?"
"Not at the moment; thank you for your help, Rebecca," she replied.
"Have a good morning, Kathryn," I said before leaving her Ready Room.
I headed back to the Shuttle Bay, but not back to bed. Katye was dressed and down in Engineering, working on a violet mana crystal which meant that she had created it with her own mana. There were benefits for using a self-made mana crystal, but only Katye and I could create them without Fae's assistance, and my efficiency was on par with Fae's exchange rate for artificial ones. She noticed me walking in, but she was in the middle of tracing out runes in the air so she could not stop, or it would ruin the enchanting that she was doing.
Sitting silently to the side, I watched her work. The fingertips holding the spherical crystal were glowing with violet mana, just like the pointer finger of her other hand that was forming the enchantments with a blur of movement around her body. The spell felt constricting and dizzying, but that was how a lot of her magic felt like to me since it was opposing my own affinity. When she finished the last symbol, she twisted her hand in the air and then tapped the crystal, turning all of her work into a streak of violet light that shot into the crystal. The natural glow of the crystal flashed a few times before it dimmed.
"So, how did it go?" Katye asked as she put the crystal into one of the drawers at the workstation she was at.
"It's the episode that I thought, and Janeway is most likely waiting until the Akritirians move against Voyager, as I recommended. What were you working on?"
"The base for a stun grenade. I figured that if we are going to be doing a prison break having a few of these would be helpful," Katye explained.
"Good idea. Have you told Raven and Echo yet?" I asked.
"No, I figured it could wait until you confirmed everything."
"If you start breakfast, I'll tell them what's going on."
"Deal."
Closing the distance between us, I pulled her into a kiss that she returned happily. After the kiss, we walked upstairs and I had Fae wake Raven and Echo from their training. Neither were too concerned about Tom and Harry since I told them that we were just waiting for Janeway to send us out, which would happen sooner than it did in the episode.
The next couple of days were quiet for us, though Janeway argued with the Akritirian ambassador multiple times, getting nowhere with him. Katye and Raven created a few stun grenades, and other non-lethal surprises, since the prison was hell enough for those inside. On the third day, I had a duty shift on the Bridge, covering the conn station, despite the fact that we were just orbiting the planet.
"Captain, Ambassador Liria is hailing us," Chakotay said.
"On screen," Janeway replied, before walking to the center of the room when the viewscreen changed to show the ambassador. "I'm only in the mood for good news today, Ambassador."
"I'm afraid I can't oblige," Liria said with a gravelly voice.
"Are you saying they're dead?"
"No, they're very much alive."
"Then where are they?" Janeway asked, her patience waning.
"Your men have been convicted of the terrorist bombing at the Laktivia recreational facility, which resulted in the death of forty-seven off-duty patrollers," Liria explained.
Janeway shot me a subtle look as she turned back to her chair, then said, "I assure you, Ambassador, my people had nothing to do with this attack."
"We found chemical traces of the explosive used in the bombing on their hands and clothing."
"I'm sure the same could be said of anyone who was near the explosion. It's hardly enough evidence for a conviction," Chakotay retorted.
"The explosive was trilithium based. There is no source of trilithium anywhere in our system. So, you can imagine our surprise when our investigation revealed that your ship is powered by dilithium, which our scientists tell us is convertible into trilithium. We have long suspected that the so-called Open Sky terrorists had off-world collaborators. Now we know who they are," Liria replied.
Tuvok's console started beeping and he said, "Captain, two Akritirian ships are approaching at bearing two-seven-one, mark six-four."
"Prepare your ship for inspection, Captain."
"If it will help confirm our innocence, I'll consider it. But first, I want to know where my people are being held, and I want to talk to them immediately," Janeway replied.
"Communication with inmates is not permitted."
"If you want my cooperation, Ambassador, you're going to have to do better than that," she retorted.
"Perhaps you've misunderstood me. Let me clarify our position. Your vessel is being impounded. You and your crew are under arrest. Prepare to be boarded," Liria threatened.
"Captain, their ships are powering weapons," Tuvok warned.
"Mister Tuvok, raise shields. I'd like to resolve this situation peacefully, Ambassador, but let me clarify my position. I will not allow this ship to be boarded," Janeway said.
"That, Captain, is an error in judgement!" Liria snapped before shutting off communication with us.
A moment later, the two Akritirian ships opened fire on the Voyager, though our shields only dropped to eighty-two percent with the initial volley.
"Captain, should I return fire?" Tuvok asked.
"That's not going to help us get Tom and Harry back. We need to regroup. Get us out of here, Rebecca," Janeway ordered.
"Aye, Captain," I replied, tapping in a few commands into the console.
I flew the Voyager out of the Akritirian star system at maximum impulse. Once we were out of their space, the two ships chasing us dropped back and stayed within their own borders. Janeway had me travel a few light-years away from the border, then stop and hold position.
"Janeway to Katye, Raven, and Echo. Report to the Shuttle Bay for an away mission," Janeway said as she stood up. "Commander, I'm leaving the Voyager in your care. Rebecca, Tuvok, with me."
I stood up and followed Janeway to the turbo lift with Tuvok. We took it down to Deck Ten and stopped by a small armory to get phaser rifles for Janeway and Tuvok, then headed for my ship. Raven and Katye were already onboard, and Echo met up with us as we walked into the Shuttle Bay. Echo took the conn and activated her 'Eye of the Hunt' before taking off.
"What do you know about the prison?" Janeway asked.
"Fae, bring up the model I created on the Science station screen," I said, leading them over to it. "I don't know much about their systems or defense capabilities, but this is what the station looks like vaguely; unfortunately, minor details of my visions fade quickly. We'll need to dock at one of the hatches, which leads to a chute where the Akritirians drop off new prisoners and food, but opening it sounds an alarm within the holding area." I tapped a button and the screen changed to show the holding area, including some prisoners. "When they hear the alarm, they will gather around the end of the chute, so Katye and Raven prepared a couple of stun grenades. They simply release a bright flash of light and a shrill sound to distract and disorient. My plan is simple, drop a few down the chute then Echo and I will be the first ones to go and suppress any resistance."
"Mister Tuvok?"
"A simple plan, but I do believe that Captain Cox and Ensign Echo can handle the situation while we recover Lieutenant Paris and Ensign Kim," Tuvok replied dryly.
"High praise, I'm sure," I chuckled.
Janeway smirked and said, "From him, it is. Thank you, Rebecca, for your assistance."
"All a part of the job, Captain," I replied with a smile.
The trip took roughly four hours, but thanks to our cloaking technology, it was a quiet journey. Katye had to transfer a portion of her mana to Echo so that she could keep using her power to hunt down Tom and Harry. When we were in position around the space station, Raven stealthily connected to their systems to ensure that they could not call in reinforcements, and then we docked with the hatch that Echo's power directed us to.
Echo and I ducked into the small access room that led to the chute. We both charged a grenade each, and then tossed them down the slide. I gave her a smirk before sliding down the pipe, with Echo and Nyka following right behind me. We missed the flashes of light, thankfully, but the shrill shriek was still sounding as we planted our feet on the ground. With a thrust of my hands, I knocked everyone around us off their feet since I did not see Tom or Harry.
{I'll keep these ones here while you find them. Tom might be injured by now, so Harry will need help.} I sent telepathically to Echo.
She nodded her head as she pulled out her phaser and walked deeper into the holding area. Janeway and Tuvok were the next ones to slide down with their rifles in hand. Between the three of us, no one was able to stand up before Echo and Harry, carrying Tom between them, walked up. I placed a hand over his gut wound and channeled my healing spell into him.
"Thanks," Tom said weakly.
"No problem, Tom. Thank you for holding on until we could get here, both of you," I replied.
Janeway walked over to us and gave the two men a nod of approval. Once Tom was no longer bleeding, I paged the ship and had Katye start beaming everyone back up in pairs of two, with Echo and I the last to leave. The prison did pick up traces of the transporter activity, but due to Raven's meddling, they could not call on any patrol before we had recloaked, and were already on our way back to the Voyager. Since it would take a few hours to get back, I let Tom and Harry get cleaned up in our bathroom, and then order as much food as they wanted, since it had been nearly a week since they had a proper meal. With a full stomach and a safe place, the two of them passed out on the couches before we were halfway back.
After we returned to the Voyager, Tom and Harry went to Sick Bay with Katye. There was a small device implanted into their heads by the Akritirians, which the Doctor was able to remove safely. His report about the devices proved just how messed up the prison was, as they were designed to encourage aggressiveness and violence among the prisoners. Both men were treated by the Doctor to reverse the effects of the clamp, and would be able to go back to duty by the next day. Overall, things had played out similarly to the episode, but slightly better, so I could not complain.
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