SEASON
ONE
CARETAKER
Part
5
Captains Log Supplemental: The Marquis ship and Voyager have entered a large debris field. We've found a ship, with one lifeform aboard
The Bridge
Kathryn
stepped out of the Ready Room and she stood in the centre of the
room. "Hail that ship," she ordered.
The viewscreen changed to show inside of a very messy ship. Somebody was moving some metal from in front of the viewer. A man with hair and spots all over his face stared at the screen.
"Whoever you are, I found this place first!" he said loudly.
"We're not interested in this debris, Mr?" Kathryn said questioningly.
"Neelix. Well if you're not interested in this debris, well I'm delighted to know you," the alien said cheerfully.
"Captain Janeway, of the Federation Starship Voyager."
"That's a very interesting title. I have no idea what it means, but it sounds very interesting," Neelix said.
"Do you know this part of space well, Mr Neelix?" Kathryn asked.
"I'm famous for knowing it well," Neelix replied.
Kathryn smiled. "Do you know anything about the fourth planet in the nearby system?"
"I know to stay as far away from it as possible," Neelix said. He thought for a few seconds. "Wait, let me guess. You were whisked away from whatever part in the galaxy and brought here against your will."
"Sounds like you've heard this story before," Kathryn said.
"Millions of times. Maybe a hundred times. Ok, maybe 50. The Caretaker has been sending ships here for a while now," Neelix said.
"The Caretaker?" Kathryn said questioningly.
"That's what thee Ocampa call him. They live on the fourth planet. Did he kidnap members of your crew?" Neelix asked.
"As a matter of a fact, he did," Kathryn replied.
"Always the story," Neelix said.
"Can you tell me how to get to these, Ocampa?" Kathryn asked.
"Well, er.. as you can see there's all this debris to investigate today.." Neelix stuttered.
"I'm sure we can give you something for your trouble," Kathryn said.
"Well... I.. there's very little you can offer me, unless.." Neelix said.
"Yes?" Kathryn said questioningly.
"Unless you have, water?" Neelix said.
"If you help us find our missing crewman, we'll give you as much water as you want," Kathryn said.
"Well, that's a very tempting offer," Neelix said.
"Good, we'll beam you to our transporter room. Mr Tuvok, go to Transporter Room 1 and greet our guest," Kathryn said.
Neelix was looking at her with a confused expression on his face. "Beam?"
"We have a technology that can transport you instantly from your ship to ours. It's quite safe, may we?" Kathryn said.
Neelix shrugged and he stepped further away from the viewer. He put his hands out.
Transporter
Room 1
Tuvok walked
in. "Energise," he said. He stood to face the pad. Neelix
dematerialised there. Neelix seemed shocked after the experience.
"Astonishing! You Federation must be an advanced culture," Neelix said.
"The Federation is made up of many cultures. I am Vulcan," Tuvok said.
"Neelix," Neelix said as he pointed to himself. He stepped off the PADD and he hugged Tuvok. "Good to meet you!"
He stepped away from Tuvok, and he started looking around the room. "Interesting. What does, what does all this do?"
"It would take several hours to explain it all. I suggest we proceed to your quarters," Tuvok said. Neelix headed for the door. Tuvok started to follow him. "Perhaps you would care for a bath."
Neelix turned around and he gave Tuvok a confused look. "A what?"
Meanwhile
Harry was
sitting on the bed he woke up on. He looked around the room, and he
saw Jessie waking up. He stood up, and he went over to her. She
quickly sat up and she looked at him.
"It's ok, ok," Harry said in a reassuring voice.
Jessie just stared at him. "Who are you?"
"Kim," Harry replied.
"Isn't that a girl's name?" Jessie asked.
Harry sighed. "Harry Kim. I'm an Ensign on the Starship Voyager, I was kidnapped from the Array just like you two were. I don't know where we are."
Jessie looked at the other bed. James was still unconscious. "Is he ok?"
Harry looked over, and he looked back at Jessie. "You should ask the Doctor he had a run in with that."
Jessie shook her head, and she sighed. "Typical."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
"James has been a bit edgy ever since his mother was killed a few months back. Can't blame him for being angry," Jessie replied.
"That's putting it mildly," Harry muttered.
Jessie looked oddly at Harry. "Was your ship coming to capture us?"
"Oh yeah, wanna see my phaser," Harry said sarcastically.
"Oh, very funny Kimmy boy," Jessie muttered. Harry shook his head.
Both of them heard something, and they looked at the remaining used bed. James was starting to wake up.
"I hope your friend is in a better mood," Harry muttered.
James sat up and he got off the bed. He went straight over to Jessie. "Are you ok?" he asked. Harry raised his eyebrow.
"Yeah, you?" Jessie replied.
"Just generally p***ed off, what are they doing to us in here?" James asked.
"Well, you're calmer than before," Harry muttered.
"Shut up," James said.
"My name is Harry, lovely to meet you," Harry said.
"Kim, you've got to excuse James. He's just.." Jessie said.
"Angry, I know," Harry muttered.
"You would be too if you had lost your entire family," James said.
"Yeah, I would be too, but don't take it out on us," Harry said.
"He wouldn't dare take it out on me," Jessie said, and she smiled slyly.
Harry raised his eyebrow again. "Why?"
"He knows I can hit him hard if I really wanted too," Jessie replied.
Harry shook his head. "Ok, I thought for a minute that you were friends."
"We are," James said.
"So as a friend you'd hit him to stop him from yelling at you," Harry said.
Jessie rolled her eyes. "Oh please, I said that he wouldn't dare take it out on me. I haven't hit him in ages."
Harry was about to respond when the group heard the door opening. The man that James had hit earlier was at the door.
"I hope you're feeling better. I brought you some clothes if you'd care to change," the man said.
Jessie placed her hand on James' shoulder to stop him doing anything. "Why are you holding us here?" she asked.
"You are not prisoners, we consider you honoured guests," the man replied.
"So why have you put these f***ing things on us?" James asked as he pointed to his own wrist.
"We don't know what they are, too be honest," the man said.
The group glanced at each other. They looked back at the man.
"You must be hungry, would you care to come to the court yard for a meal?" the man asked.
A few
minutes later
The man,
Harry, James and Jessie were standing by a banister that overlooked
the beautiful underground city.
"We're underground?" Harry said questioningly.
"No wonder I've felt claustrophobic ever since I woke up," Jessie muttered.
"Our ancestors dug a tunnel down here after the warming began," the man said.
"Warming?" Harry said questioningly. A group of the aliens were coming up behind the four. Jessie, James and Harry all noticed, and they looking around at them nervously.
"Our planet started getting hotter, we were forced to come here when our water started to run low. The Caretaker saved us," the man said. He looked around, he saw all the other aliens gathered around them. "Please forgive them. They know you've come from the Caretaker. None of us have ever seen him."
The four of them headed towards what looked like a food replicator. The man fiddled with the replicator, and he handed a bowl of slop to Jessie. He went back to the replicator.
Jessie looked at the bowl in disgust, she tried to hide the disgust in her voice. "I take it that Caretaker gives you the food, huh?"
"Indeed he does," the man replied as he handed a bowl to James and Harry each. "He created this entire city for us. Our young ones don't seem to care for the food that much, but it suits our needs."
They headed off again, and they passed what looked like monitors in the wall. They sat down in the available chairs.
"I'm curious to know what the Caretaker's reason was to send us here," Harry said.
"The Caretaker sent you here for your crew's protection," the man said.
"Protection, from what?" James asked.
"Your illness of course," the man replied.
"Hang on a mo, we weren't ill until we came here," Jessie said.
"The Caretaker asks us to care for people with this disease. It's the least we can do," the man said.
"We aren't the only ones?" James said questioningly.
"That's right," the man said.
"Where are they then?" James asked.
The man sighed. "Your condition is serious. We don't know how to treat it. I'm afraid the others did not recover."
Voyager
Tuvok walked
down the corridor, and he stopped at one of the doors. He pressed the
door chime, but he got no reply. He walked straight in. He was
greeted by a stuffy room, and lots of empty dishes on the table in
front of him.
What was worse was this awful sound coming from the bathroom. It sounded like a cat getting strangled. Tuvok slowly headed into the bathroom, he felt all the steam as he stepped inside. He looked around the room, and he quickly looked away from the bath.
Neelix was lying in a very bubbly bath, drinking a glass of water. "Ah, Mr Vulcan. Come in, come in, please. I can't hardly see you. I tell you, where I come from nobody waste's water like this. Good sand scrub is the best we can hope for," Neelix said. He laughed, he took some water into his mouth and spat it into the bath.
"I am pleased you are enjoying yourself, but we are in orbit of the fourth planet. We are in need of your assistance," Tuvok said.
"Oh, can you pass me the towel," Neelix said, and he started to climb out of the bath.
Tuvok picked up a white towel, and he passed it to Neelix. Neelix wrapped it around himself.
Neelix told Tuvok some directions (as you can tell, we can't remember what they are). "Do you think our missing crewmembers will be there?" Tuvok asked.
"It's not impossible.. maybe. Maybe not. But we'll find them. We'll need to bring along a few canisters of water for barter. Do these replicators do clothing as well?" Neelix asked.
"Yes," Tuvok replied.
Neelix grinned. "Will it make me a uniform like yours?"
"No, it certainly will not," Tuvok replied, and he walked out of the room.