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mandragoraEnormous sighs of relief all round...
Chakotay paced the length of his Ready Room. Up and down, up and down. He'd left the bridge because he knew that he wouldn't be able to prevent his apprehension from showing. Although the crew would expect him to be anxious of course, but he figured that it wasn't very captainly to react the way he was, the way he couldn't help but reacting. He'd wanted nothing more than to go rescue his crewmembers, but, Tom was right. Duty had to take priority. Much though he *hated* it. "Captain..."
"Yes Harry?" He felt sick with anxiety.
"Rollins reports he's got them." Thank the creator!
"Are they..."
"Not all of them, but," Harry lowered his voice, "Tom's wounded but alive."
Chakotay closed his eyes, tears pricking at the lids. Thank all the gods of the universe. But, who hadn't made it? "So, who's missing?"
"I'm not sure. Rollins said that Tom suggested that it wait until they got back. Jon didn't say, but I think there's been some sort of trouble."
Chakotay sighed. Trouble. What could be worse than dead crewmembers? "What's their ETA?"
"Twenty three minutes, Captain."
"Thanks Harry. I'll come to the bridge."
~~~~
They were some of the longest twenty-three minutes of Chakotay's life, but, at last, they heard Rollins' voice from the Hock'emn ship, requesting that they be beamed aboard. He suggested that Paris' group all be beamed directly to sickbay, with which Chakotay concurred. He immediately left the bridge to Harry, but arrived at a scene of controlled chaos. The Doctor had called in all his assistants in training, with all the landing party on biobeds. Chakotay's heart lifted at the sight of Tom, even a Tom who was filthy, tired and ill. He gazed around. Only nine had made it. There was no sign of Hamilton, Nicoletti or Ayala.
"Tom."
Paris lifted his head and smiled at him wearily. Chakotay had seen him look worse, in the Akritirian prison, for example, but not much. "Chakotay," he said softly. "It's...good to see you."
Chakotay wanted nothing more than to draw Tom close, wrap his arms round him, never let him go, but, as they were in public, he couldn't, had to settle for letting Tom know by his smile how happy, how very happy he was to see him.
"I'm glad that for once you took my advice," Tom continued. "Left it to Rollins to come get us."
"Oh, that was advice, was it," Chakotay teased. "Sounded more like an order to me."
For a brief instant, Tom smiled at him, then the light in his eyes died. "I have to tell you that Hamilton, Ayala and Nicoletti..."
"They didn't make it." Tom nodded morosely. "What happened?"
From an adjacent biobed, Grimes called out loudly, "I'll tell you what happened Captain. Paris killed Hamilton, that's what happened!"
Shocked, Chakotay's gaze swung back to Tom, who refused to meet his eyes. "Is this true?" he breathed.
"No, it isn't!" It was Chang. Tom stared at the man in surprise, he thought the guy couldn't stand him. "I mean," Chang stammered, "technically, maybe it is, but in the circumstances--"
"I was the one who gave her the hypospray." That was Kes. Confused, Chakotay stared at the diminutive Ocampan.
"Would someone tell me what happened." Chakotay said, exasperated now.
A babble of voices broke out. Chakotay opened his mouth to call for quiet, but Paris beat him to it. "Silence!" There was an unanswerable note of authority in his voice. Chakotay had never seen Tom quite like this before, but found that he rather liked it. Paris looked at him grimly. "What happened is that Margaret was badly wounded when we were on our way to a more safe place, shortly after we landed. We lost Nicoletti then as well. Hamilton's condition deteriorated, she was dying when you contacted us. I determined that if we attempted to bring her with us, it would slow us down to such an extent that we'd not manage to meet up with the rescue party. So, I asked Kes to prepare a hypospray..." Here his voice faltered for a moment, then he continued, "I didn't want to leave her there for the Gr'tig to capture. We lost Ayala on the way to meet Rollins and the others. A phaser blast hit him, he died instantly."
There was a moment of silence. Then Chang spoke again, golden skin flushing in embarrassment at being the centre of attention. "I think Mr Paris did the right thing, Captain. It was pretty tough, after we left to meet the rescue party. He was right, we'd never have made it if we'd had to carry Hamilton. As it is, we lost Ayala, and Grimes wouldn't have made it either, if not for Neelix."
Chakotay turned to look at a still unconscious Neelix, who was being attended to by the Doctor; at no point had the hologram ceased his medical attentions.
"Chang's right in what he said, Captain." That was Ramirez. There was a general chorus of agreement from the others in the landing party, with the exception of Grimes, who looked away, sulkily. Chakotay looked back at Tom, who was flushed red, but even as he watched, the colour faded from his face, leaving him extremely pale.
"Thank you everyone," Chakotay said. "We'll have a full debriefing when you're all well again." He looked around sickbay, at which point, those who'd been frozen, moved. Chakotay moved closer to Tom. "That must've been hard," he said softly.
Tom sighed. "It wasn't easy," he said reluctantly.
"Want to talk about it?"
"Not just at the moment. Maybe later. I'm not feeling too good right now."
Chakotay's eyes went to Tom's swollen hand. "Of course. Sorry. If it's any consolation, it sounds like you made the right decision."
"Yeah. So why doesn't it feel like I did?" With that Tom lay back on the biobed and closed his eyes, effectively signalling the end of the conversation. Chakotay gave him one last, lingering look, then went to talk to Kes, who had said that she'd administered the hypospray.
~~~
The Captain spent some time in sickbay, talking to the band of dirty, demoralised survivors. This had been one of the worst tragedies the ship had suffered since it had first been flung into the Delta Quadrant, certainly since the loss of Janeway, Tuvok and Batehart, and Chakotay was unhappily aware that morale generally was likely to suffer. He would have to go and talk to those who had been close to the dead crewmembers, Ai-Ling Lo, for one. She and Ayala had been together for quite a while now. And then there was Tom, from what Chakotay could see, he'd done an admirable job, holding the landing party together in extreme circumstances, but, this was bound to have an effect on him, not least because of what he'd ordered in respect of Hamilton.
Chakotay frowned. The nine survivors seemed to be taking a long time to treat. Even as he was thinking that, the Doctor approached him and asked to have a word with him in his office.
Once there, Chakotay looked at the hologram questioningly. "What is it?"
"We have a problem, Captain." The Doctor's expression was grave. Chakotay felt his heart begin to race within him.
"What?"
"All of the landing party are infected with some sort of virus. Its effects are such that even a small wound becomes infected and refuses to heal. Any attempt to heal the wound results in the infection actually spreading. I don't as yet know how to counteract it."
For a moment, all Chakotay could hear was his own heartbeat thumping in his ears. "And if you can't counteract it?"
The Doctor's face looked pinched. "They'll die."
For a moment, Chakotay could only stare at him. Then in a rusty, disused voice, he asked, "All of them?"
The Doctor nodded. "I'm afraid so." He hesitated. "Whilst I have no doubt that I will eventually find a counter to the virus, time is something we don't have, the infection in all of them is worsening. And it's not just the landing party; there are several members of the rescue party who have the beginnings of the virus."
Chakotay felt unreal. This couldn't be happening. Then the Doctor continued," However, what is clear is that this is not a natural virus, it's been engineered."
The Captain's gaze lifted, sharpened. "As a weapon perhaps?"
"Precisely. And since it is unlikely that the Gr'tig inflicted it on themselves..."
"The Hock'emn!"
"I suspect so Captain. The virus is extremely effective. It will, eventually, I believe, prove to be 100% fatal."
Chakotay swallowed hard. "So what you're saying is...is genocide?"
The Doctor nodded sombrely. "However, given the efficacy of the virus and that Hock'emn troops have, I understand, been exposed to it--"
"The Hock'emn are likely to have a cure!"
~~~~
[SYNPOSIS OF REST OF SECTION - turns out the Hock'emn are trying to commit genocide on the Gr'tig, but initially won't admit it, until Chakotay threatens to broadcast it to the rest of the Delta Quadrant. They threaten to fire on Voyager - but Chakotay points out that he can let loose a message buoy, it'll look suspicious if Voyager destroyed etc. Plus, the Hock'emn aren't naturally a warlike race, they've had to be to fight against the Gr'tig.
The Hock'emn do have the cure, will only hand it over if all knowledge of the virus is purged from Voyager's systems, so that if Voyager does tell other races what they've done, there's no evidence. The Gr'tig are a really nasty race, with few redeeming features, but if Chakotay agrees to this, he is turning the other cheek to genocide. Although, what about the Prime Directive - non-interference etc. OTOH, if he doesn't make a deal with the Hock'emn, several of his crew, including Tom, will die.
Chakotay agrees to the deal, but, tells Harry to, as soon as they get the cure, transmit details to the Gr'tig, before the database is purged. The crew is saved, but Chakotay has broken the Prime Directive, all to save a thoroughly horrible race who get their kicks from killing others. Cue much soul searching.
Tom goes back to his cabin, breaks down, guilt over Hamilton's death etc. Chakotay comes to find him, but it's after he's composed himself, although Chak can tell he's been crying. They have a discussion about what Chak did, Tom says he doesn't know if he would have done the same thing, but can't condemn Chak for doing it.
Chak tries to talk about what happened on the planet, Tom reluctant, but they do talk a bit. Chak tells him he did the right thing, Tom gets defensive, accuses Chak of patronising him, cue a bit of an argument, then they realise it's because they're both so much on edge. Then, Chakotay asks if Tom wants him to leave, Tom asks him to stay. Chakotay sleeps, Tom doesn't, he's feeling guilty, not only about Hamilton, but also because he can't help brooding that when he ordered Hamilton's death, he was acting and sounding exactly like his father would have done. He hates that and hates himself for dwelling on this; it's so petty, when Hamilton, Nicoletti and Ayala are dead.
Then on to Unity. While still bearing the scars of this.]
That's all folks. And, I told you so. My only excuse is, I got better! (I hope).
Chakotay paced the length of his Ready Room. Up and down, up and down. He'd left the bridge because he knew that he wouldn't be able to prevent his apprehension from showing. Although the crew would expect him to be anxious of course, but he figured that it wasn't very captainly to react the way he was, the way he couldn't help but reacting. He'd wanted nothing more than to go rescue his crewmembers, but, Tom was right. Duty had to take priority. Much though he *hated* it. "Captain..."
"Yes Harry?" He felt sick with anxiety.
"Rollins reports he's got them." Thank the creator!
"Are they..."
"Not all of them, but," Harry lowered his voice, "Tom's wounded but alive."
Chakotay closed his eyes, tears pricking at the lids. Thank all the gods of the universe. But, who hadn't made it? "So, who's missing?"
"I'm not sure. Rollins said that Tom suggested that it wait until they got back. Jon didn't say, but I think there's been some sort of trouble."
Chakotay sighed. Trouble. What could be worse than dead crewmembers? "What's their ETA?"
"Twenty three minutes, Captain."
"Thanks Harry. I'll come to the bridge."
~~~~
They were some of the longest twenty-three minutes of Chakotay's life, but, at last, they heard Rollins' voice from the Hock'emn ship, requesting that they be beamed aboard. He suggested that Paris' group all be beamed directly to sickbay, with which Chakotay concurred. He immediately left the bridge to Harry, but arrived at a scene of controlled chaos. The Doctor had called in all his assistants in training, with all the landing party on biobeds. Chakotay's heart lifted at the sight of Tom, even a Tom who was filthy, tired and ill. He gazed around. Only nine had made it. There was no sign of Hamilton, Nicoletti or Ayala.
"Tom."
Paris lifted his head and smiled at him wearily. Chakotay had seen him look worse, in the Akritirian prison, for example, but not much. "Chakotay," he said softly. "It's...good to see you."
Chakotay wanted nothing more than to draw Tom close, wrap his arms round him, never let him go, but, as they were in public, he couldn't, had to settle for letting Tom know by his smile how happy, how very happy he was to see him.
"I'm glad that for once you took my advice," Tom continued. "Left it to Rollins to come get us."
"Oh, that was advice, was it," Chakotay teased. "Sounded more like an order to me."
For a brief instant, Tom smiled at him, then the light in his eyes died. "I have to tell you that Hamilton, Ayala and Nicoletti..."
"They didn't make it." Tom nodded morosely. "What happened?"
From an adjacent biobed, Grimes called out loudly, "I'll tell you what happened Captain. Paris killed Hamilton, that's what happened!"
Shocked, Chakotay's gaze swung back to Tom, who refused to meet his eyes. "Is this true?" he breathed.
"No, it isn't!" It was Chang. Tom stared at the man in surprise, he thought the guy couldn't stand him. "I mean," Chang stammered, "technically, maybe it is, but in the circumstances--"
"I was the one who gave her the hypospray." That was Kes. Confused, Chakotay stared at the diminutive Ocampan.
"Would someone tell me what happened." Chakotay said, exasperated now.
A babble of voices broke out. Chakotay opened his mouth to call for quiet, but Paris beat him to it. "Silence!" There was an unanswerable note of authority in his voice. Chakotay had never seen Tom quite like this before, but found that he rather liked it. Paris looked at him grimly. "What happened is that Margaret was badly wounded when we were on our way to a more safe place, shortly after we landed. We lost Nicoletti then as well. Hamilton's condition deteriorated, she was dying when you contacted us. I determined that if we attempted to bring her with us, it would slow us down to such an extent that we'd not manage to meet up with the rescue party. So, I asked Kes to prepare a hypospray..." Here his voice faltered for a moment, then he continued, "I didn't want to leave her there for the Gr'tig to capture. We lost Ayala on the way to meet Rollins and the others. A phaser blast hit him, he died instantly."
There was a moment of silence. Then Chang spoke again, golden skin flushing in embarrassment at being the centre of attention. "I think Mr Paris did the right thing, Captain. It was pretty tough, after we left to meet the rescue party. He was right, we'd never have made it if we'd had to carry Hamilton. As it is, we lost Ayala, and Grimes wouldn't have made it either, if not for Neelix."
Chakotay turned to look at a still unconscious Neelix, who was being attended to by the Doctor; at no point had the hologram ceased his medical attentions.
"Chang's right in what he said, Captain." That was Ramirez. There was a general chorus of agreement from the others in the landing party, with the exception of Grimes, who looked away, sulkily. Chakotay looked back at Tom, who was flushed red, but even as he watched, the colour faded from his face, leaving him extremely pale.
"Thank you everyone," Chakotay said. "We'll have a full debriefing when you're all well again." He looked around sickbay, at which point, those who'd been frozen, moved. Chakotay moved closer to Tom. "That must've been hard," he said softly.
Tom sighed. "It wasn't easy," he said reluctantly.
"Want to talk about it?"
"Not just at the moment. Maybe later. I'm not feeling too good right now."
Chakotay's eyes went to Tom's swollen hand. "Of course. Sorry. If it's any consolation, it sounds like you made the right decision."
"Yeah. So why doesn't it feel like I did?" With that Tom lay back on the biobed and closed his eyes, effectively signalling the end of the conversation. Chakotay gave him one last, lingering look, then went to talk to Kes, who had said that she'd administered the hypospray.
~~~
The Captain spent some time in sickbay, talking to the band of dirty, demoralised survivors. This had been one of the worst tragedies the ship had suffered since it had first been flung into the Delta Quadrant, certainly since the loss of Janeway, Tuvok and Batehart, and Chakotay was unhappily aware that morale generally was likely to suffer. He would have to go and talk to those who had been close to the dead crewmembers, Ai-Ling Lo, for one. She and Ayala had been together for quite a while now. And then there was Tom, from what Chakotay could see, he'd done an admirable job, holding the landing party together in extreme circumstances, but, this was bound to have an effect on him, not least because of what he'd ordered in respect of Hamilton.
Chakotay frowned. The nine survivors seemed to be taking a long time to treat. Even as he was thinking that, the Doctor approached him and asked to have a word with him in his office.
Once there, Chakotay looked at the hologram questioningly. "What is it?"
"We have a problem, Captain." The Doctor's expression was grave. Chakotay felt his heart begin to race within him.
"What?"
"All of the landing party are infected with some sort of virus. Its effects are such that even a small wound becomes infected and refuses to heal. Any attempt to heal the wound results in the infection actually spreading. I don't as yet know how to counteract it."
For a moment, all Chakotay could hear was his own heartbeat thumping in his ears. "And if you can't counteract it?"
The Doctor's face looked pinched. "They'll die."
For a moment, Chakotay could only stare at him. Then in a rusty, disused voice, he asked, "All of them?"
The Doctor nodded. "I'm afraid so." He hesitated. "Whilst I have no doubt that I will eventually find a counter to the virus, time is something we don't have, the infection in all of them is worsening. And it's not just the landing party; there are several members of the rescue party who have the beginnings of the virus."
Chakotay felt unreal. This couldn't be happening. Then the Doctor continued," However, what is clear is that this is not a natural virus, it's been engineered."
The Captain's gaze lifted, sharpened. "As a weapon perhaps?"
"Precisely. And since it is unlikely that the Gr'tig inflicted it on themselves..."
"The Hock'emn!"
"I suspect so Captain. The virus is extremely effective. It will, eventually, I believe, prove to be 100% fatal."
Chakotay swallowed hard. "So what you're saying is...is genocide?"
The Doctor nodded sombrely. "However, given the efficacy of the virus and that Hock'emn troops have, I understand, been exposed to it--"
"The Hock'emn are likely to have a cure!"
~~~~
[SYNPOSIS OF REST OF SECTION - turns out the Hock'emn are trying to commit genocide on the Gr'tig, but initially won't admit it, until Chakotay threatens to broadcast it to the rest of the Delta Quadrant. They threaten to fire on Voyager - but Chakotay points out that he can let loose a message buoy, it'll look suspicious if Voyager destroyed etc. Plus, the Hock'emn aren't naturally a warlike race, they've had to be to fight against the Gr'tig.
The Hock'emn do have the cure, will only hand it over if all knowledge of the virus is purged from Voyager's systems, so that if Voyager does tell other races what they've done, there's no evidence. The Gr'tig are a really nasty race, with few redeeming features, but if Chakotay agrees to this, he is turning the other cheek to genocide. Although, what about the Prime Directive - non-interference etc. OTOH, if he doesn't make a deal with the Hock'emn, several of his crew, including Tom, will die.
Chakotay agrees to the deal, but, tells Harry to, as soon as they get the cure, transmit details to the Gr'tig, before the database is purged. The crew is saved, but Chakotay has broken the Prime Directive, all to save a thoroughly horrible race who get their kicks from killing others. Cue much soul searching.
Tom goes back to his cabin, breaks down, guilt over Hamilton's death etc. Chakotay comes to find him, but it's after he's composed himself, although Chak can tell he's been crying. They have a discussion about what Chak did, Tom says he doesn't know if he would have done the same thing, but can't condemn Chak for doing it.
Chak tries to talk about what happened on the planet, Tom reluctant, but they do talk a bit. Chak tells him he did the right thing, Tom gets defensive, accuses Chak of patronising him, cue a bit of an argument, then they realise it's because they're both so much on edge. Then, Chakotay asks if Tom wants him to leave, Tom asks him to stay. Chakotay sleeps, Tom doesn't, he's feeling guilty, not only about Hamilton, but also because he can't help brooding that when he ordered Hamilton's death, he was acting and sounding exactly like his father would have done. He hates that and hates himself for dwelling on this; it's so petty, when Hamilton, Nicoletti and Ayala are dead.
Then on to Unity. While still bearing the scars of this.]
That's all folks. And, I told you so. My only excuse is, I got better! (I hope).
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Date: 13 February 2004 04:26 (UTC)Re:
Date: 13 February 2004 10:26 (UTC)Yeah, it's a real blast from the past. And I know exactly what you mean about no longer caring. 'Tis such a pity.
I confess I'd rather you spent your time on the newer projects.
The chances of me ever finishing the C/P are so slight as to be practically non-existent. I would like to get back to the other projects as well, but am v. v. tired atm. Boring.