The Fate Series 06 An Unexpected Reunion

by Alys Landale

  Checking to see that Rosin wasn’t looking, he silently grabbed the phaser on the corner of the table. Slipping it up his sleeve, he shut his eyes once more.

  Xara wiggled her way down the last vent she had been in. She had no idea where she was, but she needed to find a terminal fast.

  She opened a panel partially and looked through the crack. She was in a cargo bay by her guess. In the corner of the room she could see B’Elanna as well as some of the others from Voyager. On the opposite wall, she saw a computer terminal.

  Quietly slipping the wall panel to the ground she tried to jump down as silently as possible. That proved to be a futile attempt and she landed on the ground with a slight thud.

  B’Elanna looked up when she heard a noise from somewhere within the room. At first, she thought she had just been hearing things but then she noticed that the drones were looking around as well.

  “Did you hear that?” she whispered to Janeway.

  The older woman was busy conferring with the other captains on a plan to get out of their predicament. She paused at B’Elanna’s question. “No,” she said. “What did you hear?”

  B’Elanna was about to reply when she saw Xara’s head peep up from behind a box in the corner of the room. Torres’s breath caught in her throat as she watched the little girl run across the room to the computer terminal.

  Xara knew that no matter what she did, the drones would find her. So she decided that speed was more important.

  Clutching the Padd in her hand, she ran over to the terminal as fast as possible.

  Her insides cringed as she heard one of the drones say, “Halt intruder.”

  She didn’t say anything but began to load the Padd’s contents onto the terminal. She looked behind her and saw that the drones were getting closer. She only had a few seconds.

  “What is she doing?” Neelix murmured as he watched the little girl begin keying in commands on the terminal.

  The drones were getting extremely close to her. Everyone inside the cell held their breaths as they waited for her to be caught.

  Xara entered a final command just as the drone was about to grab her by the arm. At that instant, a loud resonant hum erupted throughout the Comm system. The two drones in the room suddenly fell to the ground as a seizure began to attack their bodies.

  Xara backed away as power surges erupted through their systems. After a few seconds, they were still.

  Janeway was the first to get her attention. “Xara, what did you do?”

  The little girl smiled proudly. “Rune made a virus to attack the drones. He said it should disable all of them on the station.”

  All of them welcomed such news. Chakotay was the next to speak. “Do you think you can get us out of here?”

  Xara looked a bit embarrassed. She quickly entered a few more commands and the force field fell down. B’Elanna was the first one to reach Xara.

  She bent down on Xara’s level and asked. “Are you alright?”

  The little girl nodded. “I’m fine. Rune told me to wait until he was on board the Imperial ship before I could load the program onto the computers though. That’s why it took me so long.”

  “He wanted to go onto the Imperial ship?” B’Elanna asked.

  Xara nodded. “I think he’s going to try to destroy it.”

  Harry walked over to the terminal where Xara had been working. “All the drones have been disabled,” he reported. “I’m deactivating all the force fields around the other cells now.” He entered a few commands then shook his head. “I can’t get through the decryption Tom put on the system.”

  Sisko bent down next to Xara as well. “Do you know how we can get control of the station again?”

  Xara handed him the Padd. “It’s all right there.”

  The older captain handed the Padd to Harry. “Get everyone out of those cells now, but don’t let our attackers know that we’ve taken control of the station again. I think a little surprise is in order.”

  Tom had fallen unconscious again by the time he was put inside the assimilation chamber. He could feel Borg implants and equipment being fixed to his body but he disregarded all of that. He had to get out of there.

  Rosin had just begun the assimilation process when he noticed Paris open his eye. He thought little of it since the man was secured within the chamber, but then he noticed Tom slip something out of his sleeve. Rosin’s face immediately turned white.

  Paris used the phaser to destroy the wires and cords that were beginning to attach themselves to him. He then set it on its maximum setting and blew open an exit.

  Rosin was busy trying to keep Paris inside the chamber. He was entering commands on the terminal in front of him at such a rate that not even he knew what he was doing. He hit his communicator.

  “Security we have a crisis down here, aughh!”

  Tom gritted his teeth as he made his way out of the chamber. He searched the room for Rosin but only found the man’s body lying on the floor. The console he had been working at had exploded. He was dead.

  Paris thought nothing of the man’s death. He clutched his side from where a wire had begun to wind through him. With one swift tug, he pulled the cord out and fell to the ground in pain.

  He remained there for a few minutes before he realized he needed to get moving. Getting back to his feet, he made his way out of the room. Security could clean up the mess.

  Deep Space Nine’s bridge was filled with an assortment of crewmen. They had finally managed to get everyone out of their cells and take control of the station once more. And with that control came weapons as well.

  Sisko sat in his seat on the bridge. Janeway and the Admiral stood next to him. Seven and Harry were busy at the science station. After a few minutes, they were finally successful.

  “We have attained a link to one of Ensign Paris’s neural implants. I believe we will be able to communicate with him.” She told the group.

  B’Elanna walked over to where Seven was working. So far, the plan was to transport Tom back to Deep Space Nine before they attacked the Imperial ship. Voyager’s EMH was on the bridge as well. They knew that Tom would be in rough shape, and so far Doc possessed the most knowledge in treating him. He approached Seven as well. Perhaps he could get an idea of what shape Tom was in by the readings Seven was getting from him.

  “Open a communication signal,” Sisko ordered.

  Tom stood silent as a group of drones walked past him. So far he hadn’t been found yet.

  He gripped his side as he limped towards one of the terminals present in the corridor. He needed to see just why Takma had opened a corridor into subspace in the first place. Now as he linked himself to the ship’s computer, he was beginning to understand why.

  *Janeway to Paris.*

  Tom shook his head as he heard the captain’s voice reverberating inside his mind. He was confused for a few moments but then realized what was going on. They had activated one of his neural implants.

  “Paris here.” he replied.

  Everyone on the bridge gave a sigh of relief as they heard Tom’s voice over the comm. Seven had managed to get a readout on all of Paris’s readouts as well, and now Doc was frowning. He needed to get Tom to sickbay now.

  “Tom,” B’Elanna said. “We need you to bring the ship’s shields down so we can transport you here.”

  After a few moments, Paris replied. “Just give... just give me a few minutes. I’m linked with their computer right now.”

  B’Elanna was getting even more worried. Tom’s voice didn’t convey any assurance. It sounded as if he was struggling to keep himself from passing out.

  Owen felt his jaw tighten as he heard his son’s voice. He had no idea what he would find when Tom transported back to the station.

  Janeway was about to ask what his status was when another voice sounded over the Comm. “Halt, intruder.” They heard a few curses from Paris and then a series of explosions as what they suspected to be gunfire erupted on the enemy ship.

  E
veryone on the bridge turned a shade paler than they had been.

  Tom knelt low to the ground as an onslaught of gunfire attacked him from the side. These weren’t just energy shots that were being fired upon him, these were projectile shots. Not even his Borg components could hope to adapt to them.

  Taking his phaser, he shot down three of the drones before they were able to adapt. One good thing about this collective was that these drones weren’t able to adapt very fast at all.

  Tom hadn’t even taken a bullet as he lifted himself up off the ground. Things were getting more blurred as he limped away down the corridor. The console he had been working from had been the first thing to be shot. Thankfully, he had disconnected before that had happened.

  Now he had to find another place to work from. He knew what Takma’s plans were now, and with this came the knowledge that he had to stop her no matter what. He also knew that there was another Resistance vessel stranded out there somewhere. And by the state Takma’s sensor’s had registered it in, he needed to find it fast.

  He rounded another corner slowly. His surroundings began to turn dark and then leveled out again. He needed to find another terminal before he passed out again.

  The sound of drone footsteps sounded behind him. He quickened his pace.

  Takma received the message that Paris was loose on the ship. Her face turned red at the thought. She wasn’t about to let him destroy this vessel as well. Not when they were so close to her goal.

  “Send all security teams to intercept him immediately,” she ordered. “I want him recaptured now!”

  She was fuming. How dare this happen now. Kail stood beside her. He finally decided to speak.

  “Takma, I believe we should enter subspace now, before he has a chance to bring our engines off line. We can deal with him once we’re in the rift.”

  She was silent for a moment but then nodded. “Alright, have the ship prepare for subspace now.”

  “They are preparing to enter subspace.” Seven said.

  “Get him back,” Admiral Paris ordered.

  Seven did her best, and after a few moments, had Paris back on the Comm line once more.

  Janeway was the first to speak with him. “Tom are you alright?”

  “Just fine... though I wouldn’t say the same for those drones.”

  She smiled. At least he still had his humor. “Can you disable their shields?”

  There was no response.

  Janeway repeated her question. “Tom, can you disable their shields?” She was beginning to get even more worried if that was possible.

  “Yeah...I’ve found another terminal.”

  She sighed in relief. Soon he would be back on the station.

  Tom linked himself up to the second terminal. Drones were getting closer, but he needed to work somewhere now. As he entered the ship’s data base, he found out that they were preparing to enter the rift once again.

  He had to work fast. There was no way to prevent them from entering subspace now, but maybe he could alter their course somewhat.

  His time was dwindling. The only thing he could do was shorten their flight path. Issuing a set of commands, he set their course back to the Empire. He then put them in an alternate current than the one they had intended. This would put them back in the Empire exactly one week from now.

  Now he disabled the shields. As he did so, drones rounded the corner. There was no warning before three shots were sent to where Paris stood.

  “Their shields have been disabled.” Seven stated.

  B’Elanna gave a sigh of relief.

  Seven’s brow then furrowed. “The subspace is affecting my ability to get a secure lock on Ensign Paris. I will only be able to transport him to the transporter room at best.”

  “Well, do it.” Janeway told her. The captain then turned to her crewmen. “B’Elanna, Doctor, you’re with me.”

  As the captain left towards the transporter room, more than just the two she had spoken to followed her. Admiral Paris along with Harry and Picard followed the group.

  Tom felt the slight tingle of the transporter beam just as the drones’ shots passed through the space he had recently occupied. His surroundings slowly faded from that of the Imperial vessel to the transporter room. He was able to catch a glimpse of those around him before he felt himself begin to sink to his knees.

  B’Elanna heard the gasps as they saw Tom slowly phase into existence. She couldn’t tell whether or not she had added to those gasps as well. All she knew was that one minute she was standing at the edge of the transporter room and the next she was knelt on the platform with her arms wrapped around Tom .

  She felt one of Tom’s arms pull her closer to him as well. He held her close to him and ran his fingers through her hair. She would have stayed that way forever had she not felt Tom’s hand fall from her hair and his body grow limp in her arms.

  She reluctantly pulled away from their embrace and laid him down on the floor. His sight was still trained on her as the doctor approached the couple.

  Doc ran the tricorder over Paris and frowned. There were Borg implants and wires running to and from different sections of Tom’s body as well as massive internal bleeding. He needed to get him to sickbay now.

  Owen couldn’t move as he stared at the inert mass on the transporter room floor. It was hard to believe that the body before him was actually his son.

  B’Elanna ran her hand over Tom’s forehead. “Tom,” she said in a soft voice. “Tom, can you hear me?”

  She didn’t receive any response from her mate. He just kept his gaze on B’Elanna the entire time she asked him these questions.

  “I need to get him to sickbay immediately.” Doc said.

  Everyone realized that was true, but Seven was still having a problem with the transporters. “Hold on,” Harry said. “It’ll take a few seconds to fix the problem.”

  He began working away at one of the consoles near him. It proved to distract him from his friend’s still form.

  “I need those transporters now!” Doc repeated.

  After a few more seconds, Harry responded. “Okay, I’ve got it. Transporting to sickbay now.”

  Janeway and Picard watched as the Doctor, B’Elanna, and Tom were transported away.

  “My God,” Picard finally muttered. He had seen a lot of things throughout his life, many of which he wished to forget. The events of this day were among those.

  Janeway just stared in silence at the spot where Tom had been lying. A large pool of blood had replaced his form and now it seemed that both she and the Admiral were fixated on that pool.

  After a few moments, she broke her gaze and walked over to the Admiral. She put a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Admiral, we need to go.”

  It took him a few minutes to respond, but he finally did. All those in the transporter room filed out. Not a word was spoken.

  Sisko was still on the bridge.

  He waited until he had confirmation that Paris was aboard the station before saying. “Power the weapons and fire at will.”

  Seven stepped in to stop him though. “They are beginning to open the corridor,” she stated.

  He sighed. “Belay that order.” If he fired while they were entering subspace, it might cause a reaction that would destroy not only the Imperial ship but DS9 as well. He watched as the Imperial vessel began to enter subspace. After a few moments, it was gone.

  Doc, Paris, and Torres were beamed to sickbay within seconds. Deep Space Nine’s original doctor and staff were waiting on them there.

  “We need to operate now!” Doc said and then began barking out orders. The medical crew ran around in search of the items he asked for. B’Elanna was forced to back away as they began to operate on Tom.

  Doc took the regenerator and began to stop as much of the internal bleeding as her could. He could feel his holographic stomach turn as he thought about what Paris had been through to cause these injuries.

  *

  “I need a new conduit over here n
ow!” Sargon yelled. He was still struggling to keep his ship in one piece. His crew knew that their chief engineer had never been very emotionally stable, but now they feared for their lives while in the presence of their superior. The Parvanian had already broken one of his officer’s arms when he questioned one of the older man’s methods. Now there was no telling what would happen.

  Maris worked at one of the consoles on the other side of engineering. Sargon leered at the man on the other side of the room. If it wasn’t for the consul, Meylin would still be alive. After all, it had been him who had ordered they follow Takma into the rift. Now it looked like that man’s decision would be the death of them all.

  “I’m still waiting on that conduit!” he yelled again. His temper was beginning to rise.

  One of the lower officers handed their superior the requested article then backed away quickly. Sargon took the conduit and began to reroute the shields power system through it.

  Maris watched the younger man. He could see the look of malice on the Engineer’s face. Sargon usually took out his anger while in battle but what was he supposed to do now? Maris was still regarding this as a crewman yelled out behind him.

  “Consul, get back!”

  Maris turned around just as the panel he had been working on began to surge with electricity. He didn’t even register the impact as the console exploded behind him.

  Sargon watched as the consul went flying backwards from the force of the explosion. Officers ran over to where the older man was lying.

  “We’ve got to get him to sickbay now,” one of them said. By the grace of the Spirit, the consul was still alive.

  Sargon averted his eyes as two of his crewmen carried Maris to sickbay. After a few more seconds, he felt his temper rising. “Well, don’t just stand there like idiots, get back to work.” In a quieter voice, he whispered. “People die all the time.”