“We will be ready to depart once Fife is aboard,” Chakotay continued. “I want both of you clear of the area by then.”
“Acknowledged,” Glenn said. “Safe travels, Captain. Galen out.”
“Chakotay,” O’Donnell said. “I want Atlee back in one piece when all this is done.”
“What about the rest of us?” Chakotay asked.
“Meh,” O’Donnell offered with a shrug and a knowing smile.
The gallows humor brought the same smile to Chakotay’s lips. “Voyager out.”
“Attention all hands. Red alert. Helm, set course to intercept the blockade. Ready all weapons and prepare full spread of phasers and torpedoes,” Paris ordered.
“Coordinate firing solutions with astrometrics,” Chakotay added. “Lasren, as soon as we can establish transporter lock, signal the away team.”
“Aye, sir,” Lasren said.
“Transmit a message to the nearest Rilnar and Zahl vessels,” Chakotay ordered. “Advise them that we are entering their secured no-fly zone on a rescue mission.”
“And when they order us not to proceed?” Paris asked.
“Advise them to stay back and close the channel,” Chakotay replied.
20
VESTA
It was incredibly difficult for Admiral Janeway to accept Agent Dayne’s story. Part of her problem was the dull, sickening ache that rose in her gut every time she thought of the logs she had heard, the sound of her voice itemizing damages, casualties, and the wanton destruction of multiple species by the Krenim. It would have been nice to believe that all Voyager had once suffered had not been in vain. If in this restored timeline the flutter of a butterfly’s wings had led Annorax down one path rather than another, one that opened his eyes to the dangers as well as the destructive power of temporal manipulation, it was almost worth it.
But the admiral’s understanding of multiple timelines gained through her experiences of them within normal space-time and beyond during her brief sojourn with the Q, made it hard for her to accept Annorax’s change of heart and the resulting wholesale changes in Krenim society.
Anything was possible. Probable was another story.
While it was true that multiple timelines existed, not all of them were created equal, nor did they all endure. What made the “prime” timeline so significant was the fact that even minor disruptions, intentional or natural, usually birthed alternate realities that eventually merged again with the original line. The anomalous ones rarely existed because of a simple choice or cause. The choice of coffee over tea for breakfast did not necessarily create a new reality—one for coffee, one for tea—that then led to a vastly changed version of history. Yes, some would argue that it could, but the preponderance of evidence suggested it did not. While with the Q, Janeway had witnessed the deaths of countless incarnations of herself. The vast majority had died under similar circumstances as those she suffered on the evolved Borg cube. Most of the others had still been Starfleet captains, many of whom had served on Voyager. The few whose deaths had been most shocking were those who died under clearly different circumstances. Those numbered no more than twenty. She would never know what temporal corruption or anomaly had given rise to these radically different paths—with the notable exception of Denzit Janeway. But there was something comforting in their scarcity. It suggested that there was a course to be followed and that major events, including the developmental trajectory of most individuals and species, were not meant to be subject to the whims of temporal fate.
If what Dayne had said was true, the Krenim might have to be considered an exception to that rule. Flattering as it might be to imagine that her struggle had resulted in a better life for billions over centuries, Janeway was hesitant to accept the credit, or the proposition at face value. Many of the choices the Krenim, and Dayne, had made didn’t make sense to her.
“Agent Dayne,” Janeway finally said, “even if I were willing to accept that Voyager’s previous encounter with the Krenim had resulted in a massive change for your people, I still don’t understand many of your present actions. Setting the conflict on Sormana aside just for the moment, why did you lie to Denzit Janeway? If the chroniton torpedo that the Zahl used to capture her was stolen from the Krenim, and you were dispatched to handle whatever circumstances arose from that torpedo’s use, why not simply tell her the truth when you recovered her?”
“The only way to rescue the woman who became Denzit Janeway without bringing the Krenim into a state of open war with the Zahl was to do it covertly, working through the Rilnar,” Dayne replied. “I had been posing as a Rilnar agent for months prior to her retrieval. When she was rescued, her unique situation made her an object of intense curiosity among them. Her species was unknown and she had clearly suffered cruelly at the hands of the Zahl. Everyone wanted to know who she was and why she had been targeted. Kathryn and I were able to convince them that her capture had been accidental. Her ship had ventured unknowingly into Zahl space and been badly damaged. Its technological advancement had made her a target for intense interrogation. The Zahl were willing to go to any lengths to acquire her technological expertise. The Rilnar were never told that she was taken from another quantum reality.”
“The Krenim Defense Force was backing you up, weren’t they?” Farkas interjected, “Why not transport both of you to safety once she was secured? Why not fake your deaths to cover for your absence? Why not let the Krenim military undertake a covert mission to rescue her?”
“We considered every option,” Dayne replied. “The path we chose was the one least likely to result in failure and most likely to return Kathryn Janeway to some semblance of a normal life. My hope was that we would find Voyager. I convinced my Rilnar superiors to allow us to search for her ship and we did, for months. I was aware that the chroniton device the Zahl used had the capacity to lock onto Voyager no matter where the ship was in space. The ship might be too far away for us to locate using conventional warp drives. Kathryn had no way of knowing what Voyager’s position was when the Zahl fired on her. I could not utilize any Krenim technology to aid our search, as it would have tipped our hand to the Rilnar.”
“But to this day you have allowed her to believe a lie,” Cambridge insisted. “Her continuing allegiance to the Rilnar is based primarily on the fact that they were her saviors, but they weren’t. The Krenim were.”
Dayne paused, dropping his head and briefly analyzing his folded hands. When he lifted his face to theirs again, his cheeks were flushed and his eyes glistened. “I didn’t plan on loving her, Counselor. It was the furthest thing from my mind when I began my mission. I have never felt for anyone what I shared with Kathryn. Her happiness became my only concern. It was wrong. It was unprofessional. It should have resulted in my termination from the Temporal Defense Agency. But it was also true. When I realized that I could not return Kathryn to her people, I tried to give her a life that was as close as possible to the one she knew best, a leader devoted to a cause where her skills and abilities would be appreciated and utilized. Too much time had passed, too much had happened between us for me to be able to tell her who I really was. I’m afraid I’m not that brave. She had already impressed the Rilnar. I helped her transition to their service, first to repay the debt she felt she owed them for her rescue and later to assist them in achieving victory over the Zahl on Sormana. It was the only choice that would not undo the progress she had made in recovering from the Zahl’s torture.
“I advised my Krenim superiors of my intention to continue indefinitely as a covert operative among the Rilnar. I cited the ability to continue to oversee Kathryn’s case and they agreed. But they also told me something I never expected to hear. A new analysis of the continuum had yielded a surprising finding. They understood Kathryn’s significance to the Krenim by then. They could not explain the calculations that also indicated that her death was imminent and fixed across multiple timelines. She was going to die. There was nothing I or anyone else could do to prevent it. I decided t
o make the final years of her life as happy and fulfilling as I possibly could.
“I don’t expect you to understand my choice. I don’t need you to agree with it. Had she not been the single most extraordinary woman I have ever known, things might have gone differently. But she was. She still is.”
Silence descended around the small table as everyone absorbed this revelation. Finally Janeway said, “So you abandoned her moments after her death, the death your own people told you was inevitable?”
Dayne nodded. “My evacuation was planned to coincide with the event. I watched her die. I left, certain I had made the right choice.”
“And what did you do when you found out she had somehow, miraculously survived?” Cambridge asked.
“My duty,” Dayne replied bitterly. “I couldn’t go back. I had to allow the charade of my capture to endure. I was given no choice in the matter.”
“Why not?” Janeway asked.
“Do you understand and agree with every order you receive from your superiors?” Dayne asked. When the admiral did not respond, he continued, “I didn’t think so. But you follow them anyway, don’t you?”
“Usually,” Janeway finally admitted.
VOYAGER
“Captain Chakotay, this is Ornzitar Rileez. Your vessel’s current course will take it into Sormana’s defensive field. Your ship will be destroyed. You must alter your course immediately. Please respond.”
“It almost sounds like he really cares,” Commander Paris noted.
“Maintain course and speed,” Chakotay ordered. “Commander Fife, are our firing solutions ready?”
“Aye, Captain,” Fife replied over the comm. Demeter’s XO had taken Aubrey’s place in astrometrics and quickly augmented the tactical officer’s research on the minefield. Aubrey had returned to the bridge to execute Fife’s plan.
“Captain,” Aubrey reported from the tactical station, “the Zahl vessel Tascara is on an intercept course.”
“Hail them,” Chakotay ordered.
“I have Shipmaster Pilusch,” Lasren reported seconds later.
“Onscreen.”
“Captain Chakotay, your vessel has been designated as a hostile agent acting to aid the Rilnar on Sormana and will not be permitted to continue to approach the planet. Voyager and the other Federation vessels are hereby ordered to leave and refrain from returning here or to Zahl space. Should you refuse to honor this request, you will be destroyed.”
“Shipmaster Pilusch, you are operating under faulty intelligence,” Chakotay said evenly. “We dispatched an away team to the surface with the Rilnar’s permission yesterday to investigate reports of possible misuse of temporal technology on Sormana. We have not nor will we take sides in this conflict. Our research is intended to safeguard the entire quadrant and falls under the mandate of the Federation’s goals of peaceful exploration.”
“I assure you, Captain, we are completely aware of your intentions and the dissembling you have done to hide your true allegiance. Had your goals been peaceful contact, you would not have sent spies to Zahlna II to infiltrate our germschled or to interrogate our scientists. The civilian pilot of the Celwinda you bribed has confirmed the actions of your officers while in our territory, as has Frem Albrec and the archivist Wichella. Your away team has not yet been identified, but early reports suggest that they have illegally accessed a Zahl settlement and breached the security of one of our prison camps. Several of your officers have been in constant contact with the Rilnar leadership on Sormana. These are not the actions of a neutral party. These are the actions of an aggressor and we will not permit them to continue. Fall back or I will open fire.”
“If you open fire on us, we will defend ourselves,” Chakotay said.
“So be it,” Pilusch said, and closed the channel.
“Captain, four other Zahl vessels are now moving to intercept as well.”
“Distance?”
“Two hundred to five hundred thousand kilometers. It will take them between ten and fifteen minutes to reach our position.”
“We’ll be in orbit by then,” Chakotay said. “Shields?”
“Already at maximum, sir. Ready to absorb the impact of the mines,” Aubrey replied.
At that moment, streaks of violet light shot forth from the Tascara, jolting the bridge officers without unseating them.
“Ensign Gwyn, evade what you can, but keep us on course to destroy the minefield,” Chakotay ordered the helm.
“Aye, sir,” Gwyn acknowledged.
Tascara’s second weapons volley was more intense, but did not reduce Voyager’s shield strength perceptibly.
“Are they just trying to annoy us?” Paris asked. “Because those weapons don’t have the power to put a dent in our shields. They have to know that already.”
“Return fire, sir?” Aubrey asked.
“Not unless it becomes absolutely necessary,” Chakotay replied.
Tascara’s response was to alter course with a burst of impulse speed and maneuver directly between Voyager and the minefield. Chakotay could not deviate too far from his current course without recalculating the firing solutions Fife had so painstakingly constructed. Given the report they had received of the prison breach, Chakotay now had a much better understanding of the danger the away team was facing. He had absolutely no intention of keeping them waiting.
“Lieutenant Aubrey, target the Tascara’s shield generators and fire,” Chakotay ordered.
Aubrey did so and while not seriously damaged, the Tascara veered off and a small explosion on their hull suggested the phasers had found their targets.
A thunderous boom rattled the deck despite the fact that the Zahl ship had yet to answer Voyager’s first shots.
“What was that?” Paris demanded.
“The Golant fired a torpedo at us,” Aubrey replied. “Aft shields are down to eighty-two percent.”
“Maintain maximum power to forward shields,” Chakotay ordered. “Distance to minefield?”
“Two thousand kilometers and closing, sir,” Gwyn reported.
“We need to pick up a thousand more without taking another shot,” Chakotay said.
“Understood,” Gwyn said. “Hang on.”
The bridge crew had grown accustomed to taking their pilot at her word when she made such statements. Chakotay gripped his armrests, stabilizing his torso against the back of his chair. Gwyn punched the impulse engines briefly to maximum, evading the Tascara’s next shot in the process and bringing Voyager in range of their true target.
“We are in position to destroy the minefield, Captain,” Aubrey reported.
“Fire at will,” Chakotay ordered.
On that command, every phaser Voyager possessed along with a full spread of photon torpedoes flew forward, each targeting an individual mine on the outskirts of the field. Anticipating what was to come, Gwyn immediately dropped the nose of the ship and executed a dive meant to avoid the impact of the nearest mines.
Chakotay watched a series of small explosions erupt almost simultaneously. Fife’s chain reaction, however, appeared to have failed. It was possible that the Rilnar and Zahl had not responded as anticipated to Voyager’s course and activated all of the mines.
Gwyn maintained her course keeping Voyager clear of the initial explosions but bringing the ship gently up in a slow curve meant to follow the trajectory of subsequent detonations.
The Golant and Tascara had broken off their attack momentarily in an effort to avoid impact from the mines Voyager had detonated.
“It didn’t work,” Paris said softly.
“Fife to the bridge. Our course corrections to avoid enemy fire rendered the first set of firing solutions obsolete. I have recalculated and am transmitting the revised data now. Maintain current course, fire when ready, and brace for impact,” Fife ordered over the comm.
“Aubrey?” Chakotay asked.
“Firing, sir.”
A second volley of torpedoes was launched, impacting a cluster of mines deeper into the
field and much more closely arrayed.
This time it was like watching a starfield burst into being. Dozens of small explosions became hundreds, then thousands. Just as Fife had intended, Sormana’s planetary defense system destroyed itself.
“Gwyn, get us in standard orbit,” Chakotay ordered.
“With pleasure, sir,” Gwyn said.
Voyager moved at low impulse into the detonated area, carefully timing its progress to avoid the wake of explosions that continued to erupt before them.
“Tascara is following us in,” Aubrey reported.
“The other Zahl vessels are altering course to intercept, moving through the areas we just detonated,” Lasren added.
“Maintain course and speed,” Chakotay ordered.
A few more phaser exchanges forced the Tascara to break off. Chakotay was relieved Pilusch had accepted the futility of her efforts without forcing him to destroy her ship.
The other Zahl vessels were about to become a problem when Chakotay noted an unexpected movement of ships on the main viewscreen. More than a dozen Rilnar vessels had responded to the attack on their minefield by entering it at full impulse. They were forming a line between Voyager and Sormana and within the next few minutes Chakotay would be forced to fight his way through it or abandon his away team.
“Lasren, hail Rileez again,” Chakotay ordered.
“No response,” the ops officer reported.
“As soon as we’re in range, target two or three of the closest ships simultaneously,” Chakotay said.
“We can’t take all twelve of them,” Paris noted.
“We just need to get close enough to the planet to lock onto our team and transport them out. Once that’s done we can do a quick jump to warp to extricate ourselves from this situation.”
“Inside the planetary system?” Paris asked.
“I’m pretty sure that even at full impulse we’ll be easy to pick off. The rest of the Zahl will have arrived by then. We’re only going to get one shot at this.”
Paris nodded. “Okay.”
SORMANA
A number of things had changed in the minutes that had passed since Seven and Kim exited the building that housed the shield generator, regrouped with Tuvok, and made their way as carefully as possible back to the central edifice. The first was that the intensity of fighting around the north face where the cargo door was located had decreased. The remaining free prisoners had fled, using the other structures as cover and continued to engage the Zahl one-on-one. A number of dead and injured were strewn on the ground between the center of the citadel and the prison barracks.
Star Trek: Voyager: A Pocket Full of Lies Page 27
