by Alys Landale
What was she going to tell Rune?
Paris tried to count the number of drones that were attacking them. So far their weapons were taking their toll on their numbers, but there were still too many.
*We have to find another way to take care of these things.* he thought. He was still berating himself on how he had allowed his group to be ambushed. He should have paid more attention, and then none of this would be happening.
These thoughts were playing havoc on his mind as something else caught his attention. A shrill hum resonated through the air around him. It cut through all of the shooting and caused everyone to stop what they were doing.
It took him a few seconds to finally realize what had just happened. All of the shooting had ceased. Drones began to fall from where they had previously stood. After less than twenty-second, not one drone was left standing.
The consul turned to Paris. “What...?”
Tom got to his feet and walked over to one of the bodies. The drone had been deactivated. Tom knew what had caused it, but who had done it was another matter.
B’Elanna walked over to where he stood. “That was just like what happened back on DS9.”
He nodded. “Now all we need to know is who issued the deactivation program.” He was silent as he reached out with his mind in search of the culprit.
His eyes widened as his mind brushed up against an all too familiar presence. B’Elanna put a hand on his shoulder as she saw his reaction.
“Tom, what is it?” she asked. The mixture of surprise and anger that had washed over Paris’s features alarmed her. Whatever he had just found out, had shocked the hell out of him.
He turned around and walked over towards one of the walls. He stopped and looked up towards the walkway above them.
Chakotay saw the icy features on Tom’s face. He had no idea what had caused this immediate change in the younger man’s mood. When he heard Paris’s words, he was even more bewildered.
“Xara get down here now.”
Danag’s brow furrowed as he walked over to Rune. “Captain, what are you...”
Tom paid no attention to the junior officer; he merely aimed his voice at the platform above. “Xara, now.”
B’Elanna was just as confused as the others around her; however when a small form appeared on the platform above, everyone was silent.
Xara looked down at the group below her. Everyone was silent as they stared at her. She lowered her head and began climbing the ladder down to the lower level.
Once she was on the ground, she let her eyes finally rest on Rune. His features were unimaginably cold. She’d never seen him look like that before. Shame rose in her as she regretted having to betray Rune’s trust.
Tom’s voice was as cold as his eyes as he asked. “Xara what are you doing here?”
The little girl turned her eyes back to the ground. “I...Rune, I had to come. I knew something was going to happen, so I snuck aboard your shuttle so that I could help too.”
Tom stared down at her. It was clear that she was sorry for what she had done, but that carried no weight in the matter. Xara had disobeyed him and now her life was in danger as a result. There was no way to beam her back to Voyager, so they had to take her with them, no matter what the danger.
“Xara, we don’t have time for a lecture now, but believe me, you’ll have one coming. But now, we have to continue with the mission. It looks like you’ll be coming with us.”
She nodded solemnly. “I’m sorry,” she said again.
He knelt down next to the child. “Come on,” he said as he picked her up in his arms. “We have a mission to complete.”
His last words were directed at the entire group as he took the lead once again. Xara saw the stern look that remained on his face. There were a few whispers behind them, but no one spoke to either her or Paris.
The corridors were empty as they made their way down them. Tom finally spoke to her. “About what you did back there,” he said in a low voice.
“Yes,” she replied. She had no idea what he was about to say. Probably that he was disappointed in her or something similar to that.
“You went against what I told you and came along anyway,” he paused as he saw her face look even more downcast. “But if it wasn’t for you, I doubt we’d be alive right now. We all owe you our lives.”
A small smile touched Xara’s lips. She wrapped her arms more tightly around Rune’s neck.
Despite himself, he smiled. One thing Xara had was courage, no matter how flawed her reasoning might be. He looked down at the little girl in his arms. She had come through for them when he had been unable to. Now he owed her even more for that.
He noticed the slight smile on her lips as well. In a slightly louder voice, he said. “But don’t think you’re not going to be punished.”
Janeway gripped the arms of her chair as Voyager rocked under another blast. The shots were beginning to get closer. Pretty soon, Voyager would be looking at some heavy damage.
“Ensign, report,” the captain ordered.
“Captain the Imperial ships are beginning to launch a heavier array of torpedoes. They’re using them like mines. If we don’t put our shields up, we could be destroyed.” Harry told her.
“And if we do they’ll be able to get a lock on us.” Janeway finished. *Either way we’re in trouble,* she thought. She turned to Baytart. “Can you keep Voyager in one piece a little while longer?”
He was so busy entering commands on his console, that he didn’t have time to look up at Janeway “I think so Captain.”
She nodded. “That’s what I wanted to hear. Just keep us together for five more minutes. We just need to wait until the away team can bring down the station. Then we’ll show the Empire just what we’re made of.”
The away team finally managed to make it to the main power array of the station. The room was anything but organized.
One small eight-foot wide area remained clear of all the other equipment. The room was twice as large as one of Voyager’s cargo bays and held a multitude of wires and cable that stretched like a giant cobweb around the room. The power couplings which they sought were hidden somewhere in this vast forest of wires.
The atmosphere was so congested that B’Elanna began to miss the organization of Engineering. Tom seemed to feel the same way as well. By just looking at the closely-knit wires, he could feel the claustrophobia slowly pulling its tendrils around him, but he pushed it away. They had work to do.
“There are seven major power couplings we need to disable five of them first, and then the final two will have to be deactivated at the same time, otherwise there will be an automatic security lockout.” Paris explained. He then looked at the area of wires once more. “It looks like we’ll have to crawl through to find them. Danag, you and Chakotay keep watch. There are at least three doors entering this room. Keep an eye on all of them.”
The others nodded. Each went in search of one of the many couplings. Danag and Chakotay remained back, however, and kept watch over the door. Paris then took Xara and walked into the mass of wires and Borg-like equipment. He sat her down just outside of the jungle.
“Stay here,” he told her.
She nodded and watched as he began to pick his way inside the wire web. He pulled back wire after wire as he began to half walk, half crawl through the midst of cables. There were occasional patches inside where the space would open up and a console or coupling would be hidden.
These were like an oasis to him. He disabled the first coupling and then went back into the wires to find the next.
Raken felt his vessel rock violently as one of the Imperial torpedoes hit the lower aft side of his hull.
“Damage!” he ordered.
“Sir we’ve lost cloaking ability. Decks three, four, and five have been ruptured. They’re being sealed off immediately.”
Raken wasn’t at all worried about the ruptured decks at the moment. What worried him was the fact that they had lost their cloak. Now they were an
open target for the Empire.
He looked out the viewscreen. The Imperial battleships were all powering their weapon arrays and locking onto his vessel.
“It looks like our cover is lost,” he said. “Power weapons. If we’re going down, we’re taking some with us.”
Takma and Kail had just entered the control room of the station. The Pretor immediately walked over to the officer in charge. “What’s going on?” She demanded. “Have the intruders been taken care of yet?”
The man was silent. “No Pretor. The drones were unable to destroy them.”
“Well, have them try again.” Kail told him.
The younger man looked even more scared. “None of the drones are responding. They have all been deactivated.”
“Well reactivate them!” Takma yelled. “What floor were the intruders on when the drones began their attack?”
“Level five.”
Takma searched her mind. There wasn’t much anything of any importance there. Nothing except...
“They’ve gone to the main power room. Bring those drones back online and solve this problem immediately.”
B’Elanna finished deactivating the fifth power coupling. It hadn’t been as hard as she had anticipated to find them. Now all they had to do was take the final two off-line simultaneously. But first she had to find Tom.
Paris emerged from a jungle of wires at her right. “I’ve found the last two. One is through here. The other is at the other side of the room.”
“I’ll get the other one,” B’Elanna volunteered. “I know my way around over there.”
Tom nodded and she left. He looked back at the closely-knit wires. *I suppose that means I’ll be going back in there.* he thought.
Taking a deep breath, he reentered the area he had just emerged from.
“Raken’s vessel has decloaked.” Harry said. “Imperial vessels are charging weapons.”
*So much for our cover.* thought Janeway. She had two options. One, stay cloaked and allow Raken’s vessel to fend for itself. Or two, decloak and try to aid her ally in battle.
*It looks like we’ll be going with number two.* she thought to herself.* “Tuvok, power the weapons. Ensign Kim decloak and hail the Dezorisians. We need them here now. Hopefully Tom will have control of that station soon. I don’t want to have to deal with it as well as these battle cruisers.”
“Alright, on the count of three.” Tom said.
B’Elanna gripped the coupling switch in her hand. They had to time this just right in order to bring down the station. She felt her muscles tense as Paris began to count down. For the first time, she realized just how far away she was from the rest of the group.
“Okay, one, two, three.” she threw the switch as ‘three’ crackled over her comm badge. That should have done it. She waited for confirmation. Pretty soon, they should be able to leave.
“That did it.” Paris told her. “Disassemble the coupling and destroy it. Then all we have to do is get the hell out of here.”
“I’ll be working on this end.” B’Elanna told him. “Tell me when you’re done.”
She ended the comm line. So far, no more drones had come, but B’Elanna didn’t let her guard down. She had this feeling building inside her that something was about to happen. She tried to tell herself that she was just being paranoid, but it wouldn’t go away.
*You’re turning into a coward Torres.* she told herself yet again. But even as she scolded herself, it only proved to feed the nervousness growing inside her.
“Fire five photon torpedoes,” Picard commanded. So far, all of the ships had been forced to decloak in a matter of minutes.
Now seeing the number of vessels present in the Resistance Armada, the Imperial battleships had quickly assumed attack formation. They formed a protective barrier around the station and their Pretor inside.
One of the Imperial battleships was finally destroyed. *That’s one,* thought Picard. *Only a few hundred more to go.*
But he thanked the heavens that the station hadn’t entered the battle yet. That must have meant that Paris’s team was successful. Now, if only they could get rid of these damn battleships.
Picard fell to the floor as one of the blasts cut through the Enterprise’s shields. These battleships meant business.
He got back to his feet. “Where are those Dezorisians?” he asked. “We need them here now.”
“Sir, we haven’t been able to locate the Dezorisians.”
“What?!” Picard asked. *They were supposed to back us up.*
“They aren’t at the designated area they agreed to wait at. We’ve tried hailing them, but there hasn’t been any reply.”
“So much for our cover.” thought Picard. Another shot rocked his ship. “It looks like it’s just us. Ready all weapons and fire.”
Takma paced up and down the station’s control room. “What do you mean you can’t access weapons?!”
“I’m sorry Pretor, but weapons aren’t responding.”
Kail was fuming as well. “Officer, you had best find a way to remedy the situation now. There is an entire Resistance Armada outside. We need weapons now.”
The young officer gulped. The information on his console was not at all what he had expected. “Sir, I can’t bring weapons back online. The power couplings have all been destroyed.”
Takma practically flew to where the younger man sat. “I thought the intruder problem had been solved.”
The man brought up all information on the drones in the building. Even worse news. “I’m sending the drones down to the power room now.”
“Well hurry up!” Takma yelled. “I want these intruders caught now!”
The young man nodded and went about his work. He prayed to the Spirit for guidance, but somehow he doubted that his prayers would be heard.
Janeway felt Voyager shake under another of the many hits it had taken. Shields were down to sixty percent already. They needed help now.
“Mr. Baytart, put us between the Imperial ships and the Resistance ones. They’re shields won’t be able to hold up against this type of fire-power.”
The ensign nodded though he wondered how Voyager could hope to hold up either. Janeway sighed. The viewscreen was a myriad of blasts. Five Resistance ships had already been destroyed. And that was only the five that she knew of. So far, only two Imperial Battle cruisers had been taken out. At this rate there was no way that they hoped to stand a chance in this battle.
She regretted not having Paris at the Helm. He and Tuvok shared a chemistry that few held. It was as if the two knew what one another were going to do. Paris could perform the most unbelievable maneuvers to give Tuvok the best position to fire. She wished Tom was back.
Another shot rocked Voyager. Janeway grabbed onto her chair to keep from falling to the floor. “Damage.” she asked.
Harry looked down at his console and frowned. “We’ve lost most of our weapons and our shields have been cut down to forty percent. Decks five through eight have all been ruptured. So far we haven’t had any casualties.”
Janeway leaned back in her chair. This battle was quickly becoming a disaster. She brought her eyes up to the front viewscreen. One of the Imperial ships had just unleashed an array of torpedoes. There was no way to out maneuver them.
She just stared at the viewscreen. There was no need in asking time to impact. That would be like asking how much longer they had left to live.
Her breath caught in her throat. This battle was going to be over very soon.
B’Elanna finished disassembling the coupling. She then took her phaser and destroyed the remaining pieces. So far that was one of the few ships that was still in relatively good shape.
She hit her comm badge. “I’m done here,” she said.
“I’m finishing up here as well. Report back as soon as you can. We’re out of here in five minutes.” Paris told her.
That was the best news she had heard in a long time. Pushing her way through a pile of coiled wires, she began making h
er way back to the rest of the group.
After only a few steps, a click behind her caught her attention. Her eyes widened as she recognized the sound. “We’ve got company!” she yelled just as a shot exploded next to her.
She was knocked to the ground as a power surge erupted next to her. Her breath was knocked out of her for a few seconds but she quickly regained herself. From her vantage point on the floor, she found herself looking up into the ocular implants of two drones.
She didn’t even register the surprise that they were back online. Instead, she instinctively went for her phaser. There was no telling how many others were beyond those two; she just prayed not all of them had come back online again.
Shots rang out over her head. They missed her by mere inches as even more were fired at her. Smoke clouded her eyes, as she began to fire wildly.
*Some time to be separated from the rest of the group,* she thought bitterly.
A single ship maneuvered it way through the battle outside the station. Its sole occupant looked out at his surroundings.
“And no one invited me to this party. I guess I’ll just have to crash,” he said to himself. He then activated the comm line. “I believe its time to move in now,” he told his compatriots. He smiled to himself. The Resistance was in for a big surprise.
Paris’s coat got caught on one of the wires, as he tried to make his way towards B’Elanna. He disregarded it and pushed even farther through the wall of wires and cables until he had finally gotten out. The rest of his group was already trying to hold back a group of drones as well.
Chakotay, Maris, and Danag were doing their best to take out as many as possible, but that just wasn’t good enough. Tom took his rifle and began firing as well. His anger was growing every time another drone surfaced. A wall of Borg separated him from B’Elanna.
*It looks like Takma was able to bring them back online faster than I thought.* Tom thought.
