by Alys Landale
*
The Jihaid flew away at warp four with Voyager following behind in its wake. From his ship, Pretor Portus was informed of the Jihaid’s movements.
“Where are they going?” he asked one of his crewmen.
The man behind Ops was the first to reply. “If they follow their flight plan then they should end up in the outer boundaries of the Valish Sector near an unstable worm-hole.”
Portus smiled. His coal black eyes flickered with excitement. “Plot an intercept course. I want that ship.”
*
Takma watched the sensors. She was getting impatient. The Jihaid should have been here by now.
*What’s going on?* she wondered.
At that moment the man behind the Helm spoke up. “I’m picking up the Jihaid on sensors. It’s coming towards us.”
“Are any of its weapons on-line?” she asked. It was always best to be cautious.
“No,” was the only reply she received.
She smiled. This was going to be good. General Kail walked onto her bridge a few minutes later.
“Well, General, it appears that our little ‘surprise’ worked well.” she told him.
He sat down next to her. “I would wait to be so convinced until after we have the Jihaid in our possession. We’ve both seen how things can turn around from being in our favor one second to being disastrous the next.
She dismissed those thoughts. “Things will work out,” she told him. “They always do.”
*
Takma’s vessel came into view. Paris kept the weapons off-line as he approached it. To his port side there was another
Imperial vessel, the one he had disabled earlier. Somehow he doubted that Kail still remained on his own ship. The man was probably with Takma now.
On the Starboard side there was an unstable wormhole. The irregularities it produced around it prevented anyone from getting near it without inflicting heavy damage to their ship.
Takma’s vessel moved into position. This was what he had been hoping for. The battleship lowered its shields and prepared to tractor his ship in.
Janeway held Voyager at a safe distance out of the Imperial scans. So far no one had seen her yet. She held her ship back as she watched the Jihaid begin to be pulled towards the Imperial vessel by a tractor beam. So far, everything was going as planned.
“Keep us out here.” said Janeway. “Prepare to move in once the fighting starts.”
The radiation around the worm hole prevented anyone from detecting Voyager. No one was looking for her anyway.
Just as the captain sat back down in her chair, another ship passed by their port side. She jumped back up again.
“What was that?” she asked.
Harry was the first to speak. “It looks like another Imperial Battle Cruiser. It’s advancing towards the Jihaid.”
Janeway wondered where this new adversary had come from, but there was no time to think of such things. “Mr. Baytart take us in.”
Portus watched on screen as one of his own ship’s began to tractor in the Jihaid. Somehow he didn’t remember ever assigning a ship to this sector. That was because he hadn’t.
“Hail that vessel,” he ordered. “I want to know just who’s out here.”
Takma’s smile widened as the Jihaid was brought closer and closer to their ship. That same smile was completely eradicated as it heard the next phrase from her officer at Ops.
“Takma, the Pretor’s ship is in the sector. We are being hailed.”
Her heart began to race. How could she explain this. She had to stall; that was the only answer. Perhaps by some grace from the Divine Spirit, a distraction would come along. She didn’t have long to wait.
“The Jihaid is powering weapons,” said the man at Tacticianal. “They’re locked on us.”
*Not exactly what I was hoping for* thought Takma.
At that moment her ship was rocked to the port side as one of the Jihaid’s torpedoes sliced through her hull. Worrying with
Portus was far from her mind now.
Paris powered the weapons again. His mind was stretched out over the entirety of the ship. Every slice of information in the databases, every surge of power, ran through him. The strain on his body was excruciating. Under normal circumstances, he had been able to do this before. But now he was faced with an entire ship full of parasites to keep occupied not to mention that his body was growing weaker by the minute.
He was only slightly aware of the blood flowing down his torso, down his leg, and finally dripping onto the floor. His eyelids began to droop. He finally ceased his battle and let them fall. He didn’t have to see to be able to fight.
He charged the weapons once more. It was time for the kill.
“Sir, the Jihaid is preparing to destroy the other ship.”
Portus let out a groan. They hadn’t been able to raise the ship on the comm line. Now one of his own ships was about to be destroyed be its own stupidity.
“Target weapons on the Jihaid. Destroy it if necessary.” he said.
The tacticianal officer responded by tapping in the necessary commands on his console. That having been done, three torpedoes were fired at the Jihaid.”
“Fire three intercept shots.” Janeway ordered.
Voyager was positioned just behind the Imperial ships and had yet to be noticed.
Tuvok did as he was ordered. Two of the shots found their mark on the previously fired torpedoes, but the last one was a second too late. The Imperial torpedo sliced through the Jihaid’s shielding. Where once had been part of the Jihaid’s hull, there was now an ominous hole.
B’Elanna froze as she saw the damage. She thanked Kahless that the damage hadn’t occurred near the ship’s bridge.
Torres swore she would rip the Petaq’s apart when she saw them next.
Janeway was equally fuming. She turned to her security chief. “Tuvok target their weapons and fire at will.”
Paris had to stall on firing his next shot at Takma. He turned his concentration on installing containment fields around the ruptured decks. He just needed to keep the ship in one piece for only a little longer.
The tractor beam had been long since disabled so he pulled his ship away from Takma’s. Power surges continued to run through the ship’s systems from when Portus’s torpedoes had ruptured his hull. He pushed the pain away as heavily charged energy was shot through his body.
He took control of the situation and focused on the matter at hand. Takma’s vessel could wait. He could recognize the new Imperial ship as none other than Portus’s personal battle cruiser. And that ship was now targeting all its weapons on Voyager.
Tom prepared to target his weapons on Portus’s ship. He locked the weapons on it. Now all he had to do was fire.
Takma sighed in relief as the Jihaid pulled away from her vessel. Now the three ships were involved in an all out dogfight.
She thought about ordering Kail’s vessel to enter the fray as well.
*No* she decided. *Whomever the victor is, I’ll take care of that one later.*
Portus directed his weapon fire on Voyager. The torpedo was only barely reflected of the shielding.
“Shields are down to 80%,” Tuvok informed her.
“Target their primary systems and fire again.” she told him.
He did as he was told but none of his shots punctured Portus’s shields. “There is no damage.” He told her.
She was about to reply but from the corner of her eye she caught something on the viewscreen. The Jihaid was closing in on the Imperial ship. It fired two shots on Portus’s ship; each of which punctured the vessels shielding. Tom’s ship was then assaulted by four torpedoes. Each one created a series of explosions along the ship’s hull.
“Open a channel to the Jihaid.” she said.
“Sir, propulsion is down to 30%.”
Portus was beginning to get angry. “Fire all weapons on those ships. I want them destroyed now!”
The Tactician began to prepare his shots
. Soon the other ships would be nothing but dust.
The Jihaid’s bridge was assaulted by a series of explosions. Those last shots had caused a lot of damage, much more than Paris wished to acknowledge. He no longer had weapons, which was the major blow to his system. There was also only limited power to Communications and Propulsion. Shields were barely holding at 40%. He was wondering just how he was supposed to take out Portus’s ship when the edge of the wormhole caught his eye. During the fray the ships had ventured perilously close to the edge of the anomaly. That very anomaly might be his answer.
Voyager hailed him at that point. “Tom, what’s your status,” came Janeway’s voice.
It took him awhile to find his voice. “I’m fine.” He had to admit that his voice didn’t at all convey his message. It was barely a rasp but he was able to talk none the less. “I think I can take out Portus’s ship. Pull your vessel away.”
He turned off the comm system after that. It wouldn’t be long before he and Aria were reunited once again.
“Tom, Tom.” Janeway tried to raise Paris again. She didn’t know what he was up to, but she had a feeling it didn’t involve him getting out of this alive.
“He’s turned off his comm system.” Harry informed her.
Janeway cursed under her breath. “Pull us back for now. I want to see what he’s up to first.”
Xara didn’t wait to hear the next of the captain’s words. She had listened to the entire battle from her hiding place inside one of the vents. Now she decided to speak up. Kicking open the wall panel, she jumped out of her perch on the wall and ran onto the bridge.
“You can’t just abandon him!” she yelled.
All eyes turned to her. Xara just held her head up high and walked over to the captain. “You have to go get him. You can’t just leave him now.”
Janeway looked down at the little girl. “I don’t intend to. Harry lock a transporter beam on Tom and beam him out on my mark.”
“Aye Captain”
Janeway then turned back to the little girl. With half a smile on her face, the captain asked. “Now, what should I do with a stowaway?”
Paris saw his opening. It was now or never. Turning his ship to face Portus’s vessel, he rerouted all power to the Jihaid’s propulsion. Another console exploded in a brilliance of light next to him. He disregarded that though.
He disregarded the smoke filling the room. He disregarded the pain. He disregarded the blood flowing form his wounds. All his attention rested on one thing and one thing alone.
Aiming the Jihaid at Portus’s ship, he brought his vessel up to ramming speed.
“Captain he’s bringing the ship up to ramming speed.” Harry said.
Janeway averted her attention from Xara for the moment and concentrated it on her Ops officer.
“Beam him out now,” she said.
Harry began to fervently tap in commands on his console. “We’re too far away. The wormhole is emitting too much interference to get a lock on him.”
Janeway’s face turned to stone. She wasn’t about to lose him again. “Then take us closer.”
Paris rammed the Jihaid into the other ship. Pain tore through his body as energy surges raced through him. He let out a cough. Concentration was becoming harder by the second but he couldn’t stop now. He just needed a few more seconds. He had to keep the engines running long enough until they reached the wormhole. No ship could survive being sucked in there.
A powerful energy surge then caused the console Paris was working at to explode before him. Tom never had a chance to disconnect his link with the computer; he was thrown onto the ground before he could. Being torn from such a connection never gave his mind the chance to allow the information to fully download back into the computer. Now his mind was flooded with all the information that had ever been stored in the computers.
But that didn’t matter. What use would this be when at that moment Paris’s unconscious form lay crumpled on the floor? His head was matted in blood from the explosion; only a few strands of blond hair lacked the scarlet coloring. His clothes were charred with smoke and half burnt through.
But of all the damage done, the most distinguishable was at his hands. The Borg like tentacles were now exposed from where his gloves had been burnt off. Blood coated their silver surface and they hung loosely on the ground. They were still perfectly in tact, but the hands from which they belonged now lay motionless while the tentacles continued in a slight twisting movement.
Even though its captain was no longer in command, the Jihaid remained on its course for the wormhole. More explosions emanated from the walls as bolts of electricity shot forth from the wormhole and attacked the Jihaid.
And Paris just lay where he had fallen.
Radiation from the wormhole reacted with the shield’s matrix around Portus’s ship. Consoles blew up and hulls collapsed as Portus tried to contact the other remaining Imperial ships around them. His only chance was that they might provide him with the aid he required.
“Divert all power to communications,” he yelled. “Hail the other Battle ship.”
The order was followed and soon Portus was speechless as he saw who was on the other ship.
Takma received the hail. She saw just what condition Portus was in so allowed the message to be put through. She watched as her husband just stared open mouthed at her. Finally he spoke.
“Takma I don’t care what you’re doing here, but just beam me over to your ship now.”
She turned a conspiratorial smile to General Kail. He smiled right back at her. She then addressed her husband. “You know, I don’t think so. I could jeopardize my ship in this situation. After all what is one man compared to a whole ship of Imperial officers.”
He looked at her incredulously. “I am your husband and the Pretor of the Empire by Damn It! You will do what I say woman!,” he shouted at her. Another console exploded to the left of him to punctuate his statement.
She just smiled all the more. “Well it seems that I’m a widow now and the ‘new’ Pretor of the Empire. Good bye Portus.
I would like to say that I will miss you but I see no point to lie now.”
She cut off the message just before Portus had a chance to retort. The smile she held on her face grew even more deep if that was possible. This was a very good day indeed.
B’Elanna watched in horror as the Jihaid’s hull began to tear apart as it entered the wormhole. Voyager was now getting closer to the carnage, but she didn’t seem to notice that. All she could think of was how she was about to lose her mate again.
“Get a transporter lock on him now!” Janeway ordered.
Portus’s ship erupted in a blaze of fire as it hit one of the anomaly’s walls. The Jihaid looked as if it was about to share the same fate.
“Now Ensign,” Janeway said in her most stern voice.
Harry tapped in a serious of commands. He then yelled. “I’ve got him. I’m transporting him to sickbay now.”
Aboard the Jihaid the body of Tom Paris slowly began to disappear in the blue glow of Voyager’s transporter beam just as the ship crashed into the side of the wormhole and exploded instantly. Within a moment, he was lying on the floor of sickbay.
Samantha Wildman, who had become Voyager’s new medical assistant, stood beside one of the biobeds. Both she and Doc were caught off guard when they saw the severity of his wounds. Sam had to struggle to keep the contents of her stomach from resurfacing.
Doc held a holographic breath as he saw Tom’s bloody body. He then took control of the situation. “Sam help me get him to a biobed.”
Xara was impatient to get to sickbay. She wanted to see how Rune was doing but also she knew better than to leave the bridge right now. She realized that Captain Janeway would probably want to talk to her first.
B’Elanna had the same thoughts running through her head as Xara. She waited impatiently for Janeway to give her leave to go.
Janeway’s face had taken on a more relieved expression. Tom was in s
ickbay. He hadn’t been left behind again. “Mr.
Baytart take us out of here.”
Baytart fidgeted at the Helm. “I can’t sir.”
The Captain’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean you can’t?”
He began to work more rapidly at his controls. “The worm hole’s pulling us in. I can’t get Voyager clear of the hole.”
Harry looked down at his controls. “He’s right. Those explosions inside the hole have changed the atomic structure of the anomaly. We can’t break out of its gravitational field.”
The ship was then pulled closer to the hole as if to verify the others’ statements.
“Then we’ll have to go in I guess.” Janeway said. “Full power to shields. We’re going in.”
Everyone held their breath as Baytart guided Voyager in. The ship shook under the stress of the wormhole as it lurched through. By some grace of God, the remains of the two ships already inside distracted the energy emulsions of the anomaly from Voyager.
All they had to do was stand a few minutes more of this and they would be through. An ion wave hit them head on. B’Elanna along with a few others were knocked to the ground. She looked up from her position on the floor. Getting back up to her feet, she started working over her console. She had to keep this ship in one piece. Then she could go down to sickbay and see for herself that Tom was alright.
The ship took another ion hit. Sam struggled to keep on her feet. Meanwhile Doc was too busy to even look up. So fixed on sealing the hole through Paris’s torso, he didn’t even notice the Borg-like tentacles that began to move around Tom’s hands. He hadn’t even had time to go over the tricorder’s scans of him thoroughly.
