Myriad Universes - Infinity's Prism Part 19

Soon enough, the city ship entered normal s.p.a.ce to find itself facing dozens of starships of many different types. Voyager was not among them; most likely it was attempting to escape. But it would wait. Now it was time to make an example of these local endotherms who had dared to side with the intruders.

"Activate the neutralizer field," Haluk ordered. It was almost too easy-the simple press of a b.u.t.ton would render this entire fleet powerless. But Haluk checked his thinking. He was not a carnivore like so many of these endotherms, taking pleasure in destruction for its own sake. No, he was a civilized herbivore, acting in the interests of his people's security. If there was pleasure to be taken, it should be in the knowledge that the just and proper order of the universe-an order that placed the Voth above all others-was preserved and reinforced once again.

Still, Haluk told himself, it would only support that goal if these endotherms were put in their place forcefully, and so painfully that they would never forget the lesson. Since that served Voth interests, surely he was ent.i.tled to derive satisfaction from it.

"Sanctioner!" his chief subordinate called out, his scales flushed with anxiety. "The field is...not working!"

"Whaat?"

"Their vessels are generating some kind of shielding that blocks the effect."

Haluk didn't bother to protest that none of these powers was known to have any such technology. He could guess where the innovation had come from. "Voyager," he growled. Leave it to outsiders to disrupt the natural order of things.

"The anti-damping shields are holding," Lieutenant Ayala reported from the rebuilt tactical station on Voyager's bridge. "Reports coming in...power loss is ranging from eight to seventeen percent and holding, except the Nezu, who are down twenty-nine percent."

Thank you, Tuvok, Janeway thought. In the wake of Voyager's first encounter with the Voth, the tireless security chief had spent months devising countermeasures to their energy-damping technology in case of future clashes. It comforted Janeway to know that she could still rely on Tuvok even after his death.

"Work with the Nezu," she told Ayala. "See if you can help them boost their shielding. Bridge to engineering. How soon, Lyndsay?"

"If we were doing it right, two weeks," came Ballard's ever-cheerful voice. "As it is, we're kind of making it up as we go, so I can't give you more than 'sometime soon.'"

"Just get us out there."

"The Voth are firing on the Nezu ships now," Chakotay reported, his voice heavy. The circ.u.mstances made her guilty at the joy she felt to have him back at her side again.

"Damage?"

He stared at her. "Totally vaporized. On the first shot."

"The Tarkan are moving in," Ayala said. "They're taking damage, but intact. They're returning fire."

The young Vostigye female at ops finally got the screen hooked in to an external feed. Janeway watched as the powerful Tarkan ships unleashed their full fury on the saurians' vessel. But it wasn't called a city ship for nothing; it was like firing a blowgun at a brachiosaur.

Still, there was damage being done. "Remind them that Neelix is aboard that ship somewhere. Have them scan for Talaxian biosigns."

But it was a moot point. Suddenly something rippled out of the Voth ship, a distortion in s.p.a.ce, and a moment later the Tarkan vessels found themselves thousands of kilometers away, suddenly strafing the Kosnelye s.p.a.ceport. Janeway felt a distant shudder, transmitted through the umbilicals that held Voyager.

Chakotay spoke for her ears only. "How do you win against an enemy with weapons you've never even imagined before?"

"Sheer cussedness," she replied. Privately, though, she was feeling a lot less confident. On the screen, the Ridion ships were firing their plasma torpedoes at the city ship. s.p.a.ce rippled again, and the torpedoes struck the ships that had fired them, blowing them to atoms.

How much longer do I let them fight for us? she wondered. At what point does being part of this community mean sacrificing ourselves for it?

But then a proximity alarm sounded at tactical. "New incursion!" Ayala called. "Three bioships."

A chill ran down Janeway's spine. "That's the last thing we need."

"Maybe not," Chakotay said, checking the telemetry. "They're aimed right at the city ship, not at us. That thing has a pretty strong transwarp signature-not unlike a Borg cube. Maybe that's what drew them here."

It didn't take the bioships long to make their intentions clear. Intense bolts of energy crackled from their prows, tearing into the city ship's hide and leaving deep gouges. The spatial-distortion field burst out toward them, but they shook it off, barely moved, and continued their a.s.sault.

Rosh came onto the viewscreen. "Their timing couldn't be better," the overminister said. "All we have to do is sit back and let them solve our problem for us."

"Neelix is still aboard that ship," she reminded him.

"We'll scan for his biosigns and try to beam him off. That's the best we can do."

"Is it?" She glanced at the screen on the arm of her chair, which still showed the city ship shaking under the a.s.sault from the bioships, fighting back as best it could but clearly outgunned. She reminded herself that what looked like small gouges in its sides were the result of explosions sufficient to destroy a Galaxy-cla.s.s starship. "Mister Ayala. What is the population of the Voth vessel?"

"Approximately...eight hundred thousand. And falling."

Janeway paused to absorb the number. "Eight hundred thousand," she repeated to Rosh. "I'm not willing to just stand by and let them all be killed if I can help it. That's not the Federation way-and if there's one thing you've shown me today, it's that it isn't the Vostigye way either."

"Captain, I admire your principles, but are you sure it's wise in this case?"

"Look at the power of those bioships, Overminister. Species 8472 is here, in your home system, endangering us and the Voth equally. Is it wise not to do everything we can to band together against that common threat?"

Rosh nodded. "I'll order the fleet to defend the city ship."

"They won't be alone," Janeway promised. He signed off, and she switched to engineering. "Lyndsay! It's now or never!"

"I can give you impulse-barely. But warp is out of the question."

"Not an issue. Just get us in the fight."

"We...aren't fully armed. I can give you phasers, but there are no torpedoes on board."

"We'll make do. You just hold us together." She turned to the pretty, young blond woman at the conn. "Ensign Jenkins, disengage docking clamps and take her out."

"Aye, Captain." A shudder-and Voyager was moving under her own power for the first time in months. She accelerated tentatively, in fits and starts, but soon was clear of the dock and back in open s.p.a.ce. Tricia Jenkins swung her around a bit erratically, but quickly got the hang of the rebuilt systems and had her on course toward the city ship.

Over a dozen other ships soon fell into formation around Voyager, protecting her. The ship shot forward faster, as if given confidence by the gesture, though it was really Ballard's team improving the engine performance. As soon as they were in range, Ayala cut loose with full phasers against the nearest bioship, firing in concert with the other ships of their battle group. Elsewhere, the rest of the fleet harried the other two bioships or ran interference between them and the city ship.

The Voth ship had been defending itself as well, but their weapons had little effect on the bioships, and now their efforts were diminishing. "The Voth are evacuating," Rosh informed them. "Thousands of them are materializing on our habitats."

The Voth transporters must have extraordinary range to reach that far. But evacuating a city of nearly a million would take time nonetheless-time this vessel didn't have, by the looks of it. The fleet was taking heavy losses, and only one bioship-the one Voyager and its companions had ganged up on-had taken significant damage. The way 8472 biotech scattered sensors, there was no way to target precision fire; Ayala and his counterparts on the other ships were having to rely on brute force and luck.

"All ships, fall back!" Rosh suddenly reported. "I've been informed by the Voth that they plan to self-destruct their vessel."

"Voyager to Rosh. Is there any sign of Mister Neelix among the evacuees?"

"We haven't found him yet."

"Then we're not going anywhere. Tricia, take us in closer. Ops, sensors to maximum." I won't lose any more of us to these monsters.

Jenkins dived on the city ship like a kamikaze pilot, ducking and weaving around enemy fire, and Janeway was reminded that the young helmswoman had trained under Tom Paris. Explosions from inside the city ship scorched Voyager's hull. But the bioships mostly ignored them, targeting the Voth leviathan and a.s.suming Voyager would get caught in the general destruction. Admittedly, that was a fair a.s.sumption.

"I've scanned the whole vessel," the Vostigye at ops reported. "No Talaxian biosigns." Janeway's heart sank. "Wait!" she said a moment later. "Escape pods have been launched. I'm reading...yes! Mister Neelix is aboard one of them."

"Janeway to all ships. Get those escape pods in tow or inside your shields and clear the area, best possible speed!"

The fleet hastened to comply, and Janeway just hoped their retreat didn't tip off the bioships. h.e.l.l, she hoped the Voth would be considerate enough to wait until their defenders were out of range. Because Voyager was pretty much the slowest ship out here right now.

The blast came, and s.p.a.ce itself was rocked as ma.s.sive transwarp engines destroyed themselves in a cataclysm of higher physics. Janeway saw the walls and floor ripple around her, felt her own innards squashed and stretched painfully, just before the more conventional impact hit and flung her to the deck. The groaning in the ship's superstructure gave her a nauseating sense of deja vu-or maybe that was just the s.p.a.cetime continuum playing cat's cradle with her digestive tract.

Finally she pulled herself together. "Ayala...report."

"The Voth ship...totally destroyed. The bioships...no sign of them. I think we won."

Then the other ships in the allied fleet began calling in, offering their a.s.sistance to Voyager. Janeway exchanged a look with Chakotay and smiled. "You're right, Mister Ayala. We won."

In the final a.n.a.lysis, the allies had lost over a dozen ships and over four hundred lives. The Voth had lost tens of thousands. But something new had been forged. There were no recriminations among the allies, no bickering over who had lost more or deserved more compensation. It would be overstating it to say the allies felt a sense of shared triumph, but there was a sense of new possibilities, a recognition of the strength that came from unity.

Even the Voth showed grudging grat.i.tude, in their way. Their sense of face would not let them admit it openly. But when another city ship came to collect the survivors, the Voth went on their way without making any further demand for Voyager's crew. When Overminister Rosh sent them a final message proposing an alliance against Species 8472 (for it was becoming increasingly clear that they were winning the war), Sanctioner Haluk responded, "If you should need our help defeating them again, you are free to attempt a pet.i.tion." But at least his response implied that they might respond positively to such an overture.

Voyager was returned to her familiar berth, but this time, Rosh informed Janeway that the ship's reconstruction would have full government funding. It seemed he'd discovered that he had more political capital than he'd realized, and he was taking advantage of it to push through some new policies. He suggested that a formalization of the alliance would not be long in coming.

"I was so blind," Janeway told Chakotay as they stood on the balcony of his Kosnelye residence, looking out at the spherical landscape beyond. She'd never appreciated until now just how beautiful it was. "For three and a half years, I've been h.e.l.l-bent on getting my crew back to the Federation. Maybe we haven't been getting any closer to it for a while...but maybe, in a way, we've been bringing the mountain to Mohammed. Or rather, you have. You, Neelix, Kes, Harry, the Doctor...thanks to your efforts, we may have the beginnings of a new Federation right here in the Delta Quadrant."

"You played your role too," he a.s.sured her. "It was you who decided, right from the start, that we would be a Federation crew. You who kept us dedicated to Federation values, even when expediency seemed to demand otherwise. If we've helped to promote those values here in the Delta Quadrant, it's because we've been following your example."

"But I should've been following yours as well. You understood that we could adapt without losing who we are." She moved closer. "I'm sorry I let my stubborn pride come between us. I should never have allowed that."

"You clung to what you believed was right. I've always admired that about you, even when I've disagreed with you."

"It was more than that. I resented you, I think. On some level, I believed that if you hadn't talked me out of my alliance with the Borg, Tom, Tuvok, and the others might not have been killed."

"More likely we all would've been."

"You're probably right. Allies with the Borg? What the h.e.l.l was I thinking?" They shared a laugh. "Especially when there are so many better allies to choose from. Instead of a deal with the devil, we've made true friends. Maybe even...a new home." She cleared her throat. "For some of us. Those who are willing to embrace it."

"You still have regrets," he divined.

"I still plan to take Voyager home someday, along with anyone else who'll come. I don't begrudge anyone else their right to stay here, in the new lives they've built." She shook her head. "I can't imagine asking Kes to settle for the limited role she'd have on Voyager. And Harry would never have the chance to rise through the ranks the way he has here.

"Still...all of you have been my family. And I regret that we've had to grow apart to fulfill our true potential."

"We've stayed in touch. We're still a family."

"But we're not as close as we were, and that's bound to continue." She shook off her melancholy and smiled. "Don't mind me. Just a case of empty nest syndrome."

"For what it's worth, Kathryn...I'm not going anywhere. I'll always be here if you need me."

"And I always will." She studied him for a moment, made a decision. "But not as my first officer."

He frowned. "Kathryn?"

"You've become more than you were on Voyager too. You've become a leader in the community, and not just to Voyager's crew. I think you should accept Dobrye's invitation to run for office."

He took a moment before responding. "I have been thinking it would be a good idea."

"In more ways than one," she said, her voice becoming soft, vulnerable. She spoke tentatively. "You told me recently...that we shouldn't let life pa.s.s us by while we're pursuing other plans. And you were right. There's an opportunity that's been staring me in the face for four years, and I've always let my sense of duty keep me from pursuing it. But I don't know if I'll ever find a better one." She was close to him now, gazing up at him. "I've lost so many people close to me. If I don't learn now to take my opportunities while I have them, I never will."

And she kissed him. And he returned the kiss as though it were the most natural thing in the galaxy.

Part Three June-September 2375

8.

Voyager shuddered as weapons fire strafed its shields. "Surt, can you identify them?" Janeway called.

"Not a known design, Captain," replied the stout, gray-brown humanoid at ops. His small eyes narrowed. "Wait, the computer has a record of it.... It belongs to a species called the Jem'Hadar."

Janeway turned to stare at Surt, as did Harry Kim beside her. "Are you certain?"

"The computer is."

"On-screen."

A magnified, enhanced image of the vessel appeared as it came around for another pa.s.s. "He's right, Captain," Harry said. "I recognize the design. We had to familiarize ourselves with them at the Academy, just after they were first encountered."

"Been a long time since then, eh, Lieutenant Commander?" she asked Harry.

Her first officer smiled and nodded. "And they're a long way from the Gamma Quadrant. Looks like we've found another member of the Caretaker Club."

"Now we just need to convince them of that. Hail them, Surt." The round-faced crewman nodded when the channel was open. "Jem'Hadar vessel. This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Delta Coalition starship Voyager. We bear you no hostile intentions-in fact, we have something in common, and we may be able to a.s.sist you. Please cease fire so we can discuss the situation."

A moment later, a face appeared on the screen-not a Jem'Hadar, but a more humanlike female with long, dark hair and backswept, scalloped ears. Janeway remembered the briefings she'd studied a few months before Voyager's abduction. She was a Vorta, a member species of the Dominion, as were the Jem'Hadar themselves. "Delta Coalition? What trickery is this? And how does a Federation starship come to be so far from home?" she added with frank suspicion.

"Probably the same way you did, Ms...."

"You may call me Kilana."

"Kilana. I'm pleased to meet you." Janeway spoke to her about the Caretaker, his abduction of ships from all over the galaxy, and Voyager's subsequent experiences leading to its membership in the newly formed Delta Coalition. It was a speech she had made more than once in recent months. Once she had committed Voyager-and herself-to the defense of this quadrant and its inhabitants, she had realized there was an obligation she had overlooked for years. Many ships had been brought here by the Caretaker, left to fend for themselves in hostile s.p.a.ce just as Voyager had. And yet she had never made more than a token effort to seek them out. In the first weeks following Voyager's arrival, she had ordered periodic scans and hails to see if any other abductees were in the vicinity; but upon finding none within range, she had essentially written them off and continued on course for home. In retrospect, that felt like a foolish decision; it would have been wiser to survey the region thoroughly first. Even just a few other ships could have helped with resource shortages and defense against local hostiles.

But once she had committed to staying in the region-at least until Species 8472 was dealt with and the Coalition's survival a.s.sured-Janeway had chosen to take Voyager back through the Nekrit Expanse and the perils of Swarm territory, back into the realm of the Kazon and Vidiians, in search of any remaining refugees who had managed to survive. It was a risk, taking Voyager away from the Coalition at a time when attack might be imminent; but the alliance was strong enough to spare one ship, and her search might bring back more allies who could make valuable contributions to the Coalition's defense.

Some had called it a fool's mission; what were the odds that any other Caretaker refugees were still alive, or still in the vicinity, after more than four years? And it would take years to track all the way back to the Ocampa system, while the Coalition was unwilling to let her extend the search past five months this first time out. At most, she could only find those who had traveled more or less toward the galactic core as Voyager had.

Truth be told, sometimes Janeway doubted her own motives for this mission. Despite her avowed commitment to joining Vostigye society and the Coalition that centered on it, was she perhaps still pulling away from that community by finding a new quixotic quest to pursue? She preferred to believe that she was making amends for a mistake, for her excessive haste to flee this quadrant rather than fulfilling her responsibilities to its occupants, indigenous or otherwise. Maybe that was compensation for her guilt at failing to get her crew home, but it was still a worthy goal. She owed it to her fellow abductees to search for them, at least; and the fledgling Coalition could use all the members it could get.