By Alex Voy
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer:
Paramount owns the characters, Voyager and the images. No infringement of copyright is intended. I make no profit from them, just enjoy writing about them.
Acknowledgements:
This story is set during Season 2 and is my version of the old 'alien takeover of humans' plot. It was written before 'Vis a Vis' was even a gleam in the scriptwriters' eyes.
Chapter 1
Captain Kathryn Janeway suppressed a smile of satisfaction as she walked briskly along the corridors of her ship. For once, things seemed to be going smoothly: Voyager was on course for the Alpha Quadrant at near maximum speed, stores and food stocks were at a most satisfactory level after a lucrative trading expedition, and crew morale was as high as it had ever been in the Delta Quadrant. She felt the satisfaction of a job well done and smiled a welcome when Neelix appeared from a side corridor and trotted beside her.
"Captain! There you are! I've been trying to catch up with you ever since you left Main Engineering."
"Here I am." Janeway continued her walk. "And what can I do for you, Neelix?"
"I was wondering, Captain... I mean, I thought... well, it's been sometime since we had a party on Voyager. And I thought perhaps, well, perhaps we could have a party to celebrate Lieutenant Tuvok's birthday next week."
"Tuvok?" Janeway stopped abruptly and turned in amazement. "You want to throw a party for Tuvok?"
"Yes, Captain." Neelix nodded eagerly. "Vulcans seem to have so little fun: I'll bet Lieutenant Tuvok hasn't had a party in years."
"I'd say that would be a safe bet." Janeway's mouth twitched with almost hidden amusement.
"I thought, if you could arrange his duties that day to somehow take him to the messhall at a prearranged time in the evening... well, he would have no excuse not to attend. Once you get him to the messhall, it will be up to me. And don't worry, Captain; I'll give Mr. Tuvok the best party he's ever had!"
"I'm sure you will, Neelix." Janeway continued towards the Bridge. "I think we could well have a security problem in the messhall that evening. Leave it with me."
Neelix beamed with delight as Janeway stepped into the turbolift with a nod of acknowledgement.
Once on the bridge, Janeway settled into her chair and looked around contentedly as her crew went about their tasks with quiet efficiency. She called up some sensor data on her computer console and was studying the readings, when Ensign Harry Kim interrupted her.
"Captain, I'm picking up a signal on a subspace distress frequency."
"Can you pinpoint the location?" Janeway asked.
"It's coming from a star system approximately one light year away."
"Put it on screen."
"The signal is audio only, Captain. It's a repeating signal, probably automatic."
Chakotay entered the bridge from the turbolift and looked enquiringly towards Janeway.
"We have to respond." She turned back to Kim. "Coordinates, Mr. Kim?"
"Three nine six, mark four point three, Captain."
"Mr. Paris, lay in a course along those coordinates and take us to warp factor eight point five."
"Aye, Captain."
Janeway exchanged a glance with Chakotay as he took his seat beside her. "We could be wasting our time with an automatic signal, but we have to check it out."
Chakotay nodded and looked up at Kim. "How long before we're within hailing range?"
"We are already within range, Commander. Whoever is sending the signal is not responding to our hail."
"Try repeating it over a range of different frequencies: they may not be able to receive our usual signal." Janeway frowned. "It doesn't look good."
"Captain, I'm getting a reply." Kim smiled with satisfaction. "It's weak, but I think I can put it on screen."
Janeway looked up expectantly at the viewscreen. The picture was distorted and partially obscured by interference. Only the vague outline of an obviously humanoid figure could be seen.
"Trying to improve reception, Captain." Kim worked briefly at his console and the screen image cleared to show a dignified old man leaning urgently towards them.
"We are travellers from the planet Bindorp. We are in desperate need of assistance. Can you help us?"
Janeway stood up and approached the viewscreen. "I am Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager. What is the nature of your emergency?"
"We are lost, our pilot has died and our ship is low on supplies. One of our number is weak and not expected to survive without medical attention."
Janeway looked towards the conn. "Mr.Paris, maximum warp." She turned back to the screen. "We will be with you in a few hours. I'll tell sickbay to expect an emergency medical transport as soon as we come within range."
"Thank you." The old alien bowed gravely. "We will try to inconvenience you as little as possible."
That evening, six aliens were transported on board Voyager; one directly to sickbay, the others to the transporter room where Janeway, Tuvok and Neelix were waiting to greet them. Janeway stepped forward, hiding the surprise she felt at their appearance. The old man she had spoken with over the comm link appeared to be the youngest member of the group. Three of the five were of obviously different racial origins, but the one thing they all had in common was their extreme old age.
"I am Hath Mindar. I thank you for your assistance, Captain." The alien leader bowed formally to Janeway, who gave a slight bow of acknowledgement and introduced Tuvok.
"Lieutenant Tuvok will show you to your quarters. I'm sure you must want to rest after your ordeal."
She watched them leave the transporter room and turned to Neelix. "What do you make of them, Mr. Neelix?"
"There's something very strange about them, Captain. Aside from their obvious extreme age, I mean."
"They certainly do appear to be a little old for unaccompanied space travel." Janeway mused.
"It's not just that. Two of them are Hertzars from the Lonayan system. One of the others is a Taleze: they are deadly enemies, Captain. I can't ever imagine a situation where the two races could exist together peacefully on the same ship."
"Humans and Klingons are traditional enemies, but B'Elanna Torres and I manage to rub along OK." Janeway smiled, but Neelix shook his head.
"It's more than just old enmities. Hertzars and Taleze are sworn to kill each other on sight. For hundreds of years, there was a series of terrible wars, but about a century ago, the fighting died out and the two sides began to evade confrontation by avoiding each other. These days, they rarely fight; but they never, ever meet without trying to kill one another."
"Maybe these old people have learned the folly of armed conflict." Janeway said hopefully. "Maybe they just don't want to fight any more."
"Maybe." But the doubt was very evident in Neelix' voice.
Janeway headed for the sickbay.
She looked down at the old alien on the couch, saddened that his life was obviously nearing its end.
"How is he, Doctor?" She asked, automatically speaking in the quiet tone of the sickroom.
"He's dying, Captain. He may survive the night, but I doubt it. He has quite simply worn out his body."
Janeway nodded. The alien's condition was obvious, even to her.
"I'll tell his companions. They may want to be with him." She turned to leave and caught sight of another occupied couch. A young crewman lay awkwardly on his side, watching her with an embarrassed smile.
The doctor followed her glance. "Crewman Salazar has ruptured a muscle in his back. He should be fit for duty tomorrow, but I want to keep him under observation until the morning; give the treatment a chance to heal the tissue over night."
Janeway spoke a few encouraging words to Salazar and returned to the bridge. She talked with the leader of the aliens over the comlink and informed him of the serious condition of his companion in sickbay.
"I am saddened to hear that, Captain. However, I fear our presence would be of no benefit to him, and we are all suffering from the strain of our ordeal. I will visit Amrax in the morning."
Janeway severed the comlink and looked enquiringly at Chakotay, who was seated in his customary chair beside her.
"They don't appear very concerned about their friend." Chakotay said.
"No;" Janeway said thoughtfully. "and Neelix thinks there is something odd about them. Tuvok, what were you able to learn about their ship?"
"Very little, Captain. It is a primitive shuttle craft, quite unsuitable for inter stellar travel. As the aliens informed us, their supplies were dangerously low and their propulsion system was almost out of anti-matter. They would not have survived for more than a few more days if we had not responded to their distress signal."
"I wonder what a bunch of people that old were doing out here anyway?" Tom Paris could rarely resist the impulse to add his unsolicited comments to any discussion by his senior officers. Tuvok frowned his displeasure at the breach of protocol. Janeway, more tolerant of her most brilliant pilot's rebellious nature, took his question seriously.
"I've been wondering that myself, Mr. Paris. I think our new friends have a few questions to answer in the morning."
In the sickbay, the doctor made one of his periodical checks on his two patients. The old alien lay immobile, his life signs faint but steady on the monitors. The doctor was pleased with his condition. He would not go so far as to call it an 'improvement', but the patient's condition seemed to have stabilized for the time being. The doctor checked on his other patient with equal care. His holographic programming ensured as much attention for even the most trivial injury as any life threatening condition. Crewman Salazar was asleep, snoring with a quietly rhythmic regularity. Satisfied with the condition of both his patients, the doctor returned to his office and sat down to continue checking the results of some blood tests.
Out in the main room, Salazar's snores continued their quiet rhythm. The old alien's monitors registered no change to alert the doctor in his office. Yet something stirred. The old man's eyes flickered open and gazed for a moment at the ceiling, then he silently disconnected his monitoring devices and slowly sat up, swinging his thin calves off the side of the couch. Without a sound, he walked slowly and painfully across the room to Salazar's couch. The young crewman slept on, unaware of the approaching, almost spectral figure.
The alien stood for a moment, silently watching the sleeping human, then he stretched out his hands and placed them lightly on either side of Salazar's face. Almost instantly, the snores stopped with startling abruptness. Salazar's eyes opened in wide surprise, but he remained totally immobile. The alien stared intently into the startled human eyes and then slowly, he closed his own eyes and collapsed soundlessly to the floor. The monitoring device on his couch emitted a high pitched warning buzz, and the doctor hurried from his office.
"What happened? How did he get over here without sounding the alarm?" The doctor snapped at the bewildered Salazar, who peered sleepily over the edge of his couch.
"I've no idea, Doctor. First I knew about it was the alarm going off."
"It should have sounded when he awoke, not when he'd wandered half way around the ship." The doctor was perturbed and angry that one of his medical systems had obviously malfunctioned. "Help me get him back to his couch."
"My back...."
"Your back is fine, crewman. You are only here for observation. Just take his legs."
The doctor and Salazar carried the unconscious alien back to his couch where the doctor reset the equipment and frowned unhappily at the resulting output from the monitors. He tapped his combadge.
"Sickbay to Captain Janeway. I think you should come down here, Captain. The alien's condition has deteriorated to a serious degree."
"On my way, Doctor." Janeway's distinctive voice replied.
She arrived a few minutes later, to find the Doctor working feverishly at his treatment machines. He looked up briefly when Janeway entered the room.
"His life signs are diminishing rapidly, Captain. I don't think he will survive for more than a few minutes."
"You've done everything you could, Doctor." She knew the doctor's programming caused him to run lengthy diagnostics on his computer systems whenever a patient died. She also knew that he had somehow acquired some genuine emotions during the course of their time in the Delta Quadrant. The death of a patient, no matter what the reason, was a cause for both personal and professional anxiety.
Janeway looked down at the dying man with compassion. She had witnessed too many deaths in the course of her career with StarFleet, some of them violent and painfully personal to her. By comparison, this alien was dying peacefully in the comfort of the best care that Voyager could provide. She knew this well enough, but still she felt that sense of sadness at the ending of a life, no matter how long it had lasted.
The alien's eyes flickered open, and she saw bewilderment and confusion before he focussed on her. A sudden expression of terror crossed his face and his mouth twisted and worked as he tried to speak.
"It's alright. You're among friends." Janeway took a stick-dry hand in hers and squeezed it reassuringly. The alien continued to stare at her in terror and began to struggle feebly, mouthing silent words of anguish. Janeway looked up at the doctor, distressed by the old man's struggle with his fear. "Can't you help him, Doctor?"
Before the doctor could reply, the alien suddenly found some hidden reserve of strength and grabbed Janeway's uniform, pulling her down towards his face.
"Help me, Captain." His voice was an almost inaudible croak. "Please help me!" His eyes bored briefly into hers and then his hand released her jacket and fell back limply onto the couch. The monitor whined its flat message of death.
Janeway stepped back from the couch, more shaken than she cared to admit, by the man's fear of his imminent death.
"I wonder how he knew I was the captain?" Her voice was not as steady as she would have liked and she straightened her uniform to gain time to compose herself.
"He was probably delirious: thought you were his own captain." The doctor said matter of factly.
Janeway looked down at the still contorted face of the old alien and felt a shiver of apprehension, premonition? She wasn't sure what she felt, but she knew it was a primal fear of the unknown. She turned away and caught the darkly intent gaze of Crewman Salazar staring unblinkingly at her from his couch. The shiver returned, stronger than before and she turned back to the doctor with a conscious effort of will.
"You'd better leave the autopsy until I've talked with his friends in the morning. Some races consider it a desecration to mutilate their dead."
"Of course, Captain."
Janeway spent a restless night. Insomnia held her in its grip for several hours, her mind constantly repeating the horror of the alien's death. And then, when she finally dozed into a fitful sleep, her dreams were dark and fearful, filled with nameless terrors. She woke in the morning, feeling drained, a dull headache pounding behind her eyes. She went straight to her ready room and enjoyed the usually self denied pleasure of two large cups of coffee.
Chakotay entered with a padd of reports and looked at her critically. "Are you alright, Captain?"
"Is it that obvious?" She grinned ruefully. "A bad night, that's all, Chakotay. The alien's death affected me more than I expected." She stood up and looked out at the streaking stars beyond the window. "He was so afraid. I don't think I've ever seen anyone so terrified before. I know most beings fear death to some degree, but this was beyond any normal reaction." Her voice dropped and Chakotay could barely hear her words. "He begged me to help him: and there was nothing I could do."
"He wasn't your responsibility, Captain. You did what you were able to do for him." Chakotay's dark eyes watched her with a sympathetic warmth that she could almost feel. She put an acknowledging hand on his arm as she sat at her desk.
"I suppose I'd better break the sad news to his friends."
"Before you do that, Captain, something's happened that I think you'll want to deal with."
"Oh?" It sounded like a crew related problem; something that was, strictly speaking, Chakotay's responsibility.
"I've had a complaint from Ensign Lutkar. She claims she woke up in the night to find one of the aliens in her quarters."
"Where is Lutkar now?"
"She's right outside. I thought you'd want to talk to her."
Lutkar entered the room nervously and stood at attention.
"Alright Ensign, this is not an inspection. You can stand easy. Tell me about your visitor." Janeway sat at her desk, Chakotay standing at her shoulder.
"It was weird, Captain. I woke up and had a strange feeling that someone was in the room with me. It was dark, but I could sense someone there. I called the lights on and there he was, standing over me, with the strangest expression on his face."
"What kind of expression?"
"I don't really know how to describe it. I've never seen anyone look like that before."
"Did he touch you?" Janeway asked. Lutkar was an attractive young woman, and although the alien's age would seem to rule out a sexual motive, Janeway wanted to be sure.
"No. He just turned and walked away when the light went on."
"Maybe nocturnal visiting is just a normal part of their culture.?" Chakotay suggested when Lutkar had left the room.
"Well, it's not a part they're going to indulge on board Voyager." Janeway said firmly. "I think it's about time they supplied us with a few answers. Let's pay our guests a visit."
The aliens had been given a suite of rooms normally reserved for diplomatic missions. When Janeway and Chakotay arrived, they were gathered together in the main living area, sitting silently in chairs scattered around the room. She was surprised to see Crewman Salazar carrying food to them from the replicator. Hath Mindar followed her gaze and smiled apologetically.
"I'm afraid I have enlisted the services of one of your crew, Captain. Salazar has been most helpful and has kindly agreed to assist us with the wonders of your technology." He indicated the replicator. "With your permission, of course."
"Of course." Janeway replied. "My crew will do all they can to make your stay on Voyager as pleasant as possible." She looked around at the four silent figures that sat watching her intently. "Unfortunately, that no longer applies to one of your number. I'm sorry to have to tell you that your companion died in sickbay last night."
"Yes, Salazar told us."
Janeway frowned and looked at Chakotay, whose gaze rested thoughtfully on the young crewman. Janeway guessed she'd have no need to make her own displeasure felt at Salazar's breach of security protocol.
"Please, do not blame the young man. He knew how concerned we were about our friend."
Not concerned enough to want to comfort him when he died, thought Janeway.
"Tell us how you came to be stranded in that shuttle craft." She decided it was time to get some answers.
"We are from Bindorp, a planet in a star system about thirty light years away. Our pilot became ill and died. None of us knew how to work the ship, so we just drifted helplessly until you came along and rescued us."
"Your shuttle couldn't travel thirty light years." Chakotay said bluntly.
"Of course not." Hath Mindar smiled at the idea. "We were on a star ship, bound for a system in another sector, when the crew marooned us on the shuttle craft. They said we were too old for inter stellar travel and were afraid we would die on board their ship."
"They abandoned you, because you're old?" Janeway found it difficult to believe.
"They were little better than pirates. They considered it bad luck to have a death on their ship." Hath Mindar looked at Janeway thoughtfully. "We would be most grateful if you would take us back to Bindorp."
Janeway shook her head firmly. "I'm sorry, that's not possible. It's just too far out of our way. The best we can do is to take you to a friendly planet where you can find another ship to take you home."
"As you wish, Captain." He inclined his head graciously as though bestowing a favour on her. Janeway's jaw clenched. Hath Mindar's relentlessly patronising politeness was getting on her nerves.
"There is one other thing, Hath Mindar. One of my female officers reported an intruder in her quarters last night. She claims one of your people got into her room while she was sleeping."
Hath Mindar smiled apologetically. "Tathat is becoming senile, I'm afraid. He gets lost easily. He means no harm, but it is not easy to watch him all the time. Please convey my apologies to your officer. I will try to see that it doesn't happen again."
Janeway asked for, and was given permission for an autopsy on the dead alien and then she and Chakotay returned to the bridge together.
"What do you think?" Janeway asked in the privacy of the turbolift.
"I think Hath Mindar is one smooth talker."
"You don't believe his story?"
"You might say, I have reservations." Chakotay smiled at her and Janeway groaned at the pun. "Didn't you think it a little eerie, the way the other four just sat and stared at us, with that strange expression on their faces?"
"Yes, I was thinking about what Lutkar said about the strange expression. She couldn't describe it, said she'd never seen it before. Well, I'd describe it as a hungry, almost predatory look. And I have seen it before. Salazar looked at me like that in sickbay last night after the alien had died."
"Salazar? I don't understand." Chakotay looked puzzled.
"I don't either." Janeway admitted. "But I think we should keep a close watch on our passengers. I'll have Tuvok keep a security detail outside their quarters. They're not prisoners, but I want to know when and where they go on this ship. They may look too old to give us problems, but I'm not going to take any chances."
"Where do you intend to take them?"
"I'll discuss that with Neelix: he's bound to know of a suitable planet that's not too far off our course."
For the rest of that day, Janeway continued her normal routine on Voyager. Neelix suggested a suitable planet as a destination for the aliens. Less than three days away and not too far from Voyager's course to the Alpha Quadrant. Tired after her previous restless night, Janeway retired early to her quarters. The ship settled quietly into the regular night-time watch.
Outside the diplomatic suite, Tuvok's two security men stifled their bored yawns and continued their desultory conversation about Harry Kim's latest holodeck programme. The aliens had remained in their quarters all day, giving no reason to confirm Janeway's suspicions.
Crewman Salazar appeared, running down the corridor, beckoning urgently to the security detail.
"One of the aliens is on deck two. They must have transported up there. Come on!" He turned and ran to the turbolift, followed by the startled guards.
Immediately the crewmen were out of sight, the door to the diplomatic suite slid open and four ancient figures walked slowly out into the corridor. Hath Mindar remained, standing in the doorway until they were out of sight, then he silently stepped backwards and closed the door. Once out in the corridors, the aliens moved purposefully, each taking a different route, but all heading in the same direction: towards the crew's sleeping quarters.
For once, Janeway had slept quickly after retiring to her bed. For some time, she relaxed in a deep, dreamless state that would recharge her vitality, allowing her to make up for the previous night's disturbing experience. But then, she began to move restlessly, her mind producing a dark, nameless dread that she tried to evade without success. In the dim silence of the night, one of the old aliens stood at her bedside, looking down intently as her head moved uneasily on the pillow. Slowly, he stretched out his hands and gently placed them on either side of her head. Janeway's eyes flew open, a mixture of confusion and alarm showed for a moment, and then she was still, transfixed by the old man's stare. For several seconds, there was no movement from either Janeway or the old man, until, with a gentle sigh, he collapsed at her bedside.
Janeway looked down without expression at the crumpled body and then spoke to the computer.
"Security: intruder alert in the Captain's quarters."
Tuvok arrived quickly with two members of his security team. They entered Janeway's quarters with drawn phasers, to find the captain wrapped in a robe and examining the comatose body of one of the aliens. She looked up as they put away their weapons.
"I awoke to find him standing over me. Then he just suddenly collapsed." She sounded puzzled.
"Is he dead?" Tuvok asked.
"No." Janeway stood up. "His pulse and breathing are weak, but regular."
"I will tell the doctor to expect an emergency medical transport to the sickbay." Tuvok raised his hand towards his comm badge, but was stopped by Janeway's hand on his arm.
"No, Tuvok. His condition is not serious. We'll transport him back to the diplomatic suite and let his friends take care of him. Hath Mindar has already explained the situation. If they need medical attention, they'll ask for it."
"Captain, in the circumstances, a check by the Doctor would seem advisable."
"I disagree, Lieutenant. You have your orders." Janeway's voice had taken on the hard edge that told Tuvok she was in no mood for discussion. He gave a slight nod of acknowledgement and sent one of his men to the aliens' quarters to inform them of the imminent arrival of one of their number.
"Captain, when you sounded the intruder alert, my team was searching deck three after a report that one of the aliens had been seen there. Yet, the guards on the diplomatic suite assure me that none of the aliens had left their quarters. The fact that one of them has in fact entered your quarters undetected, leads me to surmise they must have access to a transporter device." Tuvok watched impassively as Janeway shook her head.
"I don't think so. It was just an old man's wanderings. The guards probably left their post for a few minutes and refuse to admit it." She raised her hand in acknowledgement. "But, if it makes you feel any better, you can get the computer to do a security sweep of their quarters. Any alien power source will show up."
Janeway was interrupted by a voice over Tuvok's comm link, informing them the aliens were ready to receive their unconscious companion.
"Energize." Tuvok and Janeway watched his body disappear in the transporter beam.
"I will double the guard on the alien's quarters." Tuvok said. He was troubled by the slight smile on Janeway's lips when the transporter signal ceased.
The following morning, Janeway was on the bridge before the changeover from night to morning watch. Ensign Harry Kim too arrived early, allowing Janeway to give permission for the night watch operations officer to finish his duty shift almost an hour before the allotted time. Janeway prowled the bridge, studying the various stations, ending up at Kim's console and conferring quietly with him. When Tom Paris arrived to take his position at the conn, Janeway stood directly behind his chair.
"Mr. Paris, change course to ..?" She looked enquiringly at Kim, who replied instantly:
"Five nine three, mark two point four, Captain."
Paris began to enter the coordinates, then looked up at Janeway with a puzzled frown. "That's almost directly away from our present course, Captain."
"I'm well aware of that, Mr. Paris." Janeway stared coldly at Paris. He held her gaze for a moment and then turned back to the controls with a slight shrug and entered the new coordinates. Janeway returned to Kim's side and began a low conversation with him that was inaudible to the rest of the bridge crew, then abruptly left the bridge for her ready room.
"Phew!" Paris grinned at Kim. "I wonder who rattled the Captain's cage this morning?"
Kim looked puzzled.
"OK." Paris held up his hands in mock surrender. "If it's that secret, I don't want to know." He looked around the bridge, realising that he was the most senior officer present and left his post to stroll idly across to Kim's station. "Say, Harry. How's that new holodeck programme coming along?"
Kim looked at him without expression. "You'd better not let the Captain or Commander Chakotay find you away from your station." He said and continued some calculations.
"Hey, lighten up, Harry." Paris looked pained, but glanced around towards the doors almost instinctively. He caught the gaze of the other two crewmen on duty and felt momentarily disconcerted by the intensity of their stares, before strolling with exaggerated unconcern back to his station.
When Chakotay entered a few minutes later, Paris was deeply engrossed in trying to figure out exactly where the new course was taking them. Chakotay sat in his chair and began to study his console. Almost immediately, he frowned at the new course entered in the log.
"Lieutenant Paris, why have we changed course?"
"Captain's orders, Commander."
"Did she say why?"
"No. And before you ask; it just didn't seem the right time to try to find out."
Chakotay looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, then headed for the Captain's ready room. Janeway was sitting at her desk, studying a padd when Chakotay entered. She looked up enquiringly.
"Yes, Commander?"
If Chakotay was taken aback by her brusqueness, he showed no sign. "I was wondering why we've changed course."
"I've decided to take the aliens back to their home planet after all."
"I see." When Janeway continued reading the padd, Chakotay shuffled uncomfortably, but remained silent.
"Was there something else, Commander?"
"I just wonder why you've changed your mind. The journey to the Bindorp system will take us away from our course for nearly three weeks."
"These people are very old and too weak to withstand the trauma of trying to find another ship to take them home. Three weeks is little enough time to add onto a seventy year journey home."
"I guess I can't argue with that." Chakotay agreed. "I hear you had a visitor in your quarters last night."
"Just an old man's senile wandering." Janeway dismissed the subject with a wave of her hand.
Chakotay frowned. "Have you discovered how he got past the security detail?"
"I believe they left their post, but refuse to admit it."
"Tuvok says they are both reliable men and most unlikely to have been derelict in their duty."
"Security is Tuvok's responsibility. He doesn't want to admit his own failure in that area." Janeway's voice had a hard edge which Chakotay knew to be a warning not to pursue the matter, but he felt she was being grossly unfair to Tuvok, who took his responsibilities very seriously indeed.
"I think you should at least consider other possibilities, Captain. There is something strange about these aliens, and I'm not at all comfortable with the idea of them appearing mysteriously in your quarters while you're asleep."
Janeway stood up and faced him across the desk. "I've spoken to Hath Mindar and he assures me it won't happen again. He has promised they will all remain in their quarters until we reach the Bindorp system. You won't even see them again for the next ten days."
"If you say so, Captain." Chakotay agreed reluctantly and left the room feeling far from satisfied with the discussion.
On the bridge, Tom Paris had given up trying to persuade Kim to go to lunch with him and was making his way to the messhall in thoughtful mood. He was greeted by a cheerful Neelix, who tried to persuade him to try his latest culinary masterpiece.
"It's delicious, Tom. The favourite dish of the late emperor of the Maxovian system. Why, it's even rumoured he ate it for every meal during the last ten years of his life."
"Hmm." Paris sniffed at the pungent steam rising from the pan. "Didn't you once tell me the Maxovian emperor died at the age of twenty three?"
"He was killed by a runaway hunting sledge." Neelix was hurt by the inferred slur on his culinary expertise.
"Well, I don't suppose I'll meet many hunting sledges on Voyager." Paris gave a martyred sigh and held out a plate. Neelix grinned and piled the plate high.
After a few mouthsful, Paris had decided maybe the late emperor knew a thing or two after all. Neelix approached with a pot of coffee and sat down at the table while he refilled Paris' cup.
"Is Harry not joining you today?"
"No." Paris looked at Neelix thoughtfully. "There's something strange going on between Harry and the Captain. He won't tell me anything: just plays the 'inscrutable oriental' whenever I try to find out what it is. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the old aliens, though. The Captain ordered a course change this morning, to take them all the way back to their home planet."
"I don't think I like the sound of that, Tom." Neelix spilled some coffee on the table in his agitation. "I told the Captain there is something not at all right with those aliens. I must go and talk to her again."
"I'm not sure that's a very good idea, Neelix. The Captain wasn't exactly keen to discuss the subject this morning."
"Then I will just have to convince her." Neelix hurriedly removed his chef's hat and apron before making a rapid exit. Paris watched him leave with mild surprise and smiled at Chief Engineer B'Elanna Torres as she headed towards his table with her own tray of food.
"Do you mind if I join you?"
Paris gestured towards the seat lately occupied by Voyager's self appointed morale officer. Torres sat down and looked at him accusingly.
"I don't suppose you'll tell me what's going on either."
"Going on?" Paris affected an air of injured innocence. "As far as I can tell, I seem to be some kind of pariah. Neelix just poured half a pot of coffee over the table and then fled the room, Harry Kim isn't speaking to me and the Captain almost bit my head off this morning. Apart from that, I don't know what's 'going on' as you put it. Maybe I'm using the wrong aftershave."
Torres looked at him in surprise.
"You really don't know, do you?"
"No, B'Elanna. I really don't know."
"I just can't understand it. Captain Janeway always accepts my advice on engineering decisions; but this morning, she overrode my objections and ordered maximum speed for the rest of the trip to the Bindorp system. I told her the warp drive can't sustain that kind of output for more than a couple of days without causing long term damage to some of the components, but she just said we have to get there before the aliens die. She got really angry and ordered me to set maximum speed. When I tried to argue, she threatened to put me in the brig for insubordination." Torres' eyes flashed angrily at the memory.
Paris would have been amused if he hadn't felt so concerned at what was happening.
In Janeway's ready room, Neelix was walking up and down in front of the Captain, waving his arms in agitation.
"Captain, I beg you not to go to the aliens' home planet. There is something very wrong with them; I can feel it."
Janeway looked at him calmly from the seat at her desk. "If you have some tangible evidence, Mr. Neelix, I will be glad to consider your request."
"I have no 'evidence', Captain. I just know it will be a terrible mistake to go to their solar system."
"I'm sorry, but I have to balance the lives of five sick old people against your unsubstantiated 'feelings'. We go to the Bindorp system."
Neelix knew when he was beaten.
"Very well, Captain." He drew himself up and spoke with great dignity. "If you want hard evidence, then I'll just have to find it myself."
Janeway stood up. "Neelix, I forbid you to bother those old people. They are sick and confined to their quarters. Leave them alone. That is an order, Mr. Neelix."
Neelix blinked at the cold anger in Janeway's voice. For the first time since arriving on Voyager, he was afraid of the Captain's power. He left the ready room feeling confused and miserably unhappy, aware that he had somehow failed in his duty.
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