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Episode Synopsis
Seska's newborn son goes missing so Voyager goes to rescue him not knowing it's really a trap.

Written
30th & 31st December 2003

Episode Based In
May 2372 (late season 2)

The Ready Room:
Kathryn carefully placed a final piece on top of a model that looked mostly completed. She placed it on a little wrong so she moved it slightly. The door chimed just then, her hand jumped. Of course the whole model fell down. "What!?"

Tuvok walked into the room, "Captain I need to talk to you about Crewman Suder."

"Who the hell is that like I care?" Kathryn snapped.

"The man who murdered somebody," Tuvok replied.

Kathryn frowned, "James?"

If Vulcans would groan because of being annoyed he would have groaned by now. "No, he nearly killed somebody."

Kathryn nodded her head, "right, who was killed?"

"I don't know, some unknown crewmember," Tuvok replied.

"Ok nice talk, let's not do it again," Kathryn grumbled.

"Captain, were you building a model?" Tuvok asked.

Kathryn looked up at him with a stone cold glare on her face, "now you're pushing your luck Mister."

Tuvok backed away until he got to the door, he quickly stepped out of sight.

In: "Chakotay to Janeway."

Kathryn slapped her commbadge, she cringed afterwards, "what now!"

In: "We're getting a probe on short range sensors, you'd better get here, um please."

"Well you asked politely I guess," Kathryn sighed as she stood up. "But if that pointy eared prick bothers me..." she walked onto the bridge, "I'll pull them off."

Tuvok swallowed hard, "uhoh."

"The message is on the viewscreen," Harry said as he keyed in some commands. "Now."

The screen changed, the picture however was like BBC or ITV on a little TV with a cheap aerial, in a bad hilly area that is. Everyone heard a familiar voice started speaking, "Voyager?"

Chakotay turned to the viewscreen, "Seska?"

"I need your help, they're going to take him away. Cullah saw the baby, he knew he wasn't his," Seska's voice said, actually sounding panicky. "Please there's not much time, help us."

The sound started to get as bad as the picture, "not for... your son..."

Everyone heard Cullah's voice, "I told you.... ing out of here."

"No... don't," Seska's voice stuttered. The picture got worse so nobody could see anything at all expect speckles and lines. "dont take him... please no, no!" The message cut out, it changed to show the usual space view.

Everyone looked at Chakotay, except Jessie who muttered to herself, "god she has some nerve, the manipulative b**ch." Everyone looked at her instead. "What?"

"Give her a break guys. It's hard when ex-friend of your boyfriend's steals some of..." Danny stopped mid sentence when she noticed everyone was staring at her instead. She smiled innocently, "boy that's just a friend, right Jess?"

Jessie rolled her eyes, "ugh."

Holodeck Two:
Jessie walked through the main doors, she appeared to be in what looked like a doctor's surgery. The Doctor turned the corner, "ah Miss Rex, what are you doing here?"

"Visit James, I need to tell him something," Jessie replied.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" the Doctor questioned.

"No, but he has to know," Jessie replied.

"Know what?" the Doctor asked. Jessie groaned, she walked straight through him. The Doctor turned around looking annoyed, "I hate it when people do that!"

Jessie opened up a door, and closed it behind her. She found James sitting in a large brig, sitting on the bed. She walked over to him, "hey."

He looked up at her, "Jessie."

"How are you doing?" she asked carefully.

"I'm not killing people, if that's what you mean," James muttered.

"Then why hasn't the doc let you out?" Jessie asked.

"Because I'm not ready to leave yet," James replied in the Doctor's accent.

The Ready Room:
"This is not my responsibility, she has no right to expect me to..." Chakotay exclaimed as he pulled himself out of one of the chairs.

Kathryn walked away from the replicator, she leaned on the banister, "she knows you Chakotay. She knows how you'd react if you knew your son was in danger."

"I have a duty to this crew, I can't just leave and go looking for the child," Chakotay said, he walked up to her.

"And I have no intention on letting you or anyone else go into Kazon Nistrim space on by yourself. If we do this, we do it together," Kathryn said. She sighed, "that's something else she knows."

Chakotay placed his hand on the banister, "do you think it's a trap?"

"Do you think Seska is capable of manipulating you and me with this, oh yes," Kathryn replied.

Chakotay walked over to the desk, "it wasn't really time for her to deliver, unless Cardassians are different. The baby we partially saw looked half Cardassian and half Human though."

"And knowing Cullah his pride was probably wounded if he found out the child wasn't his. It makes sense Chakotay," Kathryn said as she headed up to him. "It might all be true."

Holodeck Two:
"Look there's something you need to know," Jessie said. She took a deep breath before speaking, "Seska's had the baby early."

James stared at her, "that's great, what did you want to tell me?"

Jessie raised her eyebrow, "aren't you bothered?"

"Why should I care about Chakotay's brat?" James replied.

"I don't like the idea either, but he could be yours. There's an equal chance, well ok I don't know the chances as I'm crap at biology," Jessie muttered.

"She only put a needle in him, I don't remember her doing that to me," James said.

"Was he unconscious when she did it?" Jessie asked.

"Yes," James replied, not looking too sure about it.

Jessie nodded her head head, "were you unconscious at any time?"

James looked down at the ground, "what's your point?"

The Ready Room:
"Still the safest thing to do would be to ignore this message, and resume course," Chakotay muttered.

Kathryn glanced at him, "I'm not going to resume our course just yet. I want you to think about it Chakotay. It has to be your decision." She stood behind the desk, "and the other potential father's, I suggest you and him discuss it. If you both choose to go after him, I know I speak for the entire crew, Marquis and Starfleet alike, when I say we will stand behind you."

Chakotay stared at her, "ok but you do realise that the Doctor isn't letting anybody see the other potential father."

Kathryn frowned, "who is it again?"

Chakotay raised his eyebrow, "we're going backwards on our course to cure him, remember?"

Kathryn turned pale, "oh right." She fainted.

Holodeck Two:
"Lets just pretend it's his, that's what I've been doing for so many months. I've got enough crap to deal with," James said.

Jessie sat down nearby him, "well you're cured so what crap?"

"Of course, you have no idea," James grumbled as he stood up.

Jessie looked up at him nervously, "noo, no I don't."

"I heard you and Danny talking about me," James said.

"Ok when, where and what?" Jessie muttered.

James folded his arms, "not long before I attempted to kill Tom, Mess Hall, and you know what."

"Mess Hall? No I didn't talk to Danny at dinner time that day," Jessie said.

"Yes you were talking to her, I saw you and heard you talking about me," James said.

"All right, what were we talking about?" Jessie asked.

The Ready Room:
Chakotay placed a wet small towel on Kathryn's forehead. "Are you ok?"

Kathryn sat up, "uh huh. I'm too young to be a grandma, yet I don't want my new boyfriend to have a newborn son."

Chakotay's eyes shifted nervously, "boyfriend?"

Kathryn rolled her eyes, "or as Danny would put it, boy who's just a friend."

"Right," Chakotay nodded his head, not looking too sure. "Should I discuss this with James after all?"

"No way, he's too young, it's most likely you," Kathryn replied.

Chakotay looked confused, "I'm pretty sure people can have kids at the age of twenty two Kathryn."

"Oh yeah, that's right he's kind of an adult," Kathryn muttered. "Damn it!"

"I like the way you emphasised the kind of part there," Chakotay said.

Holodeck Two:
Jessie was standing up again, she had her hand on James' right shoulder. "I promise you, I never talked to Danny in the Mess Hall. Are you sure you didn't overhear someone else's conversation?"

"No, I saw you and her. You didn't, I mean you don't think this is weird?" James stuttered.

"It is now," Jessie said as she put a hand on her forehead.

"I did feel kind of funny afterwards, you know the Leda incident, oh and not long ago when I collapsed," James said.

"You fell unconscious each time, you didn't that time?" Jessie questioned, looking even more confused than before.

James groaned, "damn it, I didn't. Maybe it's something else."

"Well it doesn't matter as much, the important thing is, is that you're not mad at me anymore. Right?" Jessie said, she made her cute smile.

"No I'm not, but I don't like being confused either," James replied.

"Well don't kill Tom because of it, he's too dumb to be causing it," Jessie said.

The Ready Room:
"I don't think you should talk to him, he is recovering from the... um, being psychopathic illness," Kathryn muttered.

Chakotay nodded his head, "good idea, but he won't be happy when he finds out."

Kathryn smiled, "by the time he finds out about this incident, we will have proved the baby is yours."

"What else makes you so sure the father is me? Think about it like this, he's younger and since he's a Slayer my um, DNA sample might have gotten beaten up along the way," Chakotay muttered.

Kathryn glared in his direction, she pointed at the door, "get the hell out of my office! You are not allowed to disturb me like that!"

Chakotay stared blankly, "ok but just because he's Kathryn Janeway's son, doesn't mean he's anymore unique than he is already."

"Ok ok, what about this. When the sample was taken from him, he was a virgin, so virgins can't have kids," Kathryn meekly said.

Chakotay glanced behind him, "um ok. Firstly he's not now, hence all of the bother we had on New Earth, remember? Secondly, do I even want to know how you know that fact?"

"I don't, I just guessed. So what are you going to name your son?" Kathryn asked.

"I give up," Chakotay muttered, he stepped out of the room.

Kathryn sat down in her chair, "and people wonder why this episode is rated 12. Sample gotten beaten up along the way, what an idiot."

Holodeck Two:
The Doctor headed down the corridor humming some opera song, he spotted Jessie and James coming his way. "What's going on, he's not allowed out," he grumbled.

"Sorry doc, he's on vacation," Jessie muttered.

"But you've only been in here for a few days," the Doctor moaned. "I was going to perform one of my new songs."

Jessie and James stopped, they looked at each other and then the Doctor with the same 'what the hell' look on their faces. "Wouldn't that make the most gentlest person go on a killing spree?" Jessie said.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," James muttered.

"They have nice lyrics, I thought it would calm him down. I'm not going to sing an angry rock song," the Doctor grumbled.

"The joke wasn't about the song, it was aimed at the so called singer," James said.

"I can sing, I'll show you," the Doctor snapped.

"Oh my god, I can almost hear the Pop Idol judges putting in their ear plugs," James commented.

"Pop what?" the Doctor muttered, looking confused.

Jessie rolled her eyes, "just walk through him, I did that earlier."

"No not again," the Doctor grumbled. He stepped out of the way, James and Jessie headed for the holodeck doors, he then noticed what he just did. "Oh man!"

Chakotay's Quarters:
For the first time in a long while Chakotay was sitting cross legged on the floor, with his medicine bundle. He started chanting the usual words while holding the stone.

He heard his father's voice in his head, "I've never seen you so troubled Chakotay."

He then appeared in a dark forest, his father was sitting on the ground sorting out sticks. Chakotay sat down next to him, the smiled at each other. Out of the blue Chakotay said, "I have a son, father."

His father glanced at him, "a son Chakotay? This is the reason for your despair. Was he born with two arms, and two legs, and a heart that beats?"

"Yes but," Chakotay replied.

"Then it's a cause for celebration," his father said. He smiled, "you will make a fine father, you needn't worry."

"I'm not sure if I'm willing to be a father to him," Chakotay said.

His father frowned, "not willing?"

"For one thing there's a chance his father is this younger, cockier lad that's also my new girlfriend's son. Secondly, he was born without my consent. I had no part in it," Chakotay responded.

"No part in it? It's been a long time so forgive me, but it seemed that I had to play a part before your mother could conceive," his father said.

"My DNA, and the other one's DNA, was taken from us. Used to impregnate herself without my permission. I don't think even she knows who the father is now," Chakotay said.

His father sighed, "I see, you are trying to decide whether you should accept the child into your heart."

Chakotay shook his head, "it's more than that."

"Then it must begin with that!" his father snapped.

"How do you take a child into your heart who was forced upon you, by his mothers deception? And for one could be somebody elses," Chakotay questioned.

"He knows nothing of deception, he is innocent," his father replied. "Centuries ago when the women of our tribe were raped by white conquerors. Many gave birth to their children, they weren't rejected. They were accepted by the tribe. One was a direct ancestor of ours Chakotay, his name was Seáto. He became a great leader of our people. He was a man that was given life without his mothers consent. Are you so different? Is your child so different from Seáto?"

"No," Chakotay replied.

"He is your son Chakotay, and he is a child or our people," his father said.

Later, the Conference Room:
The senior staff were in the middle of a meeting, the only ones who weren't there were the Doctor, he was on the screen, also James and Jessie.

"It's nice to know we have friends in the area, thank you Neelix," Kathryn said.

"I recommend a full diagnostic of our tactical array, prior to the start of the mission, Captain," Tuvok said.

"Agreed but I want more from Tactical Lieutenant, and I want to anticipate a trap, and I want a few tricks up our sleeve if we need them," Kathryn said.

One of the doors opened, Tom looked towards it, his eyes widened. "Um, bye!" he muttered, he ran out of the other door.

"What was his problem?" Neelix asked.

"Yeah was it something I said?" James questioned.

Everyone glanced at him, "oh." Some of the guys moved their chairs closer to the window.

Harry tried to ignore what just happened, "uh Captain. I can program the deflector grid to make it look like we have help on the way. I'll show you what I mean." He pressed a few buttons on the wall panel, "excuse me Doctor." The Doctor's screen changed to show a starchart with a small white light in the middle of it.

"Echo displacement," B'Elanna said.

"And white, pretty," Danny commented.

"Uh exactly. This is how we'd look to the enemy sensors," Harry said. He pressed a few more buttons, "if we generate multiple decoy images, the Kazon would think we have ships coming towards us. We can create as many as we'd like."

"That's a good start Harry, but what else can we do if we're encountered by a superior force," Kathryn said.

"If you don't mind, I do have a suggestion," the Doctor's voice muttered. Harry put his screen back on. "Thank you. I suggest we could try and make a holographic illusion of friendly ships."

"With all due respect Doctor, we can't even figure out how to project you into this room. How can we project holographic images in space?" B'Elanna questioned.

"Can I just point out that my program is far more sophisticated than your run of a mill hologram. In fact projecting the illusion of a large three dimensional object has been a trick of magicians for centuries," the Doctor replied.

"To make it simpler why don't we do Borg Cubes. They're easier to project that an awkward shape," Jessie suggested.

"Yeah why don't we, that would be cool," Ian said.

"Because we have to be realistic, the Borg wouldn't be on our side plus the holographic ships wouldn't do much damage to the Kazon ships as the Borg would," Chakotay said.

"Plus they are pretty big," Danny muttered.

"I think we should have just stuck to Tom's crappy mirror joke," the Doctor commented.

"Well he couldn't joke, he was too busy looking for his mummy or wetting his pants," Danny said.

"Too much information," Jessie muttered.

"I'm so glad he didn't do that the other day," James said.

"We're going off track," B'Elanna said in a sing song voice.

"Right whatever. Installing holographic emitters on the hull, with parabolic mirrors to enlarge the images as they're reflected into space," the Doctor said.

Danny giggled, "did you hear the way he said mirrors?"

Everyone ignored her. Kathryn glanced at Harry. "We could use up a lot of our power reserve trying to pull it off."

"If these ships could fool the Kazon, it's worth it," Chakotay pointed out.

"But can they? If the Kazon scan the holograms they will immediately realise there are no lifesigns on board, no power signatures," Tuvok said.

"Ok, we can't fool them for long but maybe long enough, it's an advantage. We'll need every advantage we can get on this mission," Kathryn said. "Work with the Doctor on this B'Elanna. Mr Kim, cut power to all systems to minimum requirements. I don't want us to appear on any Kazon long range scanners. Miss Scott, locate the warp trail of Cullah's ship and set a course. Dismissed."

Everyone but Chakotay and B'Elanna headed out. "Er excuse me, there is one more thing," Chakotay called out. Everyone stopped and turned to him. "Thank you." They all headed back out again. "Uh James, can I speak to you please?"

"He's boned, run," Harry whispered. Everyone left the room as quickly as they could.

"Sit, please," Chakotay said as politely as he could. James rolled his eyes, he sat down in the nearest chair. "I take it Jessie told you what this is all about?"

"Yeah, it's probably the only way I could have gotten out of that prison the doc made for me," James replied.

The Doctor frowned, "hey hey, I'm still here and you're going back in there later. Remember the lesson plan?" Chakotay switched the monitor off, he sat down opposite James.

"Hey, it's a suicide mission right?" he asked.

Chakotay cleared his throat, "depends on a few things."

"Like who's kid it is?" James said.

"Yes and no, but basically yes," Chakotay muttered.

James narrowed his eyes, "uh can I ask you something?" Chakotay nodded his head. "Why do people not look at me when they're talking to me anymore. They just look at a table or a wall."

Chakotay turned to look at the wall but quickly decided against it, "I don't know."

"Well you're doing it so if you're not going to give me a good reason, then you should pack it in," James muttered.

Chakotay looked at him, "yes you're right, I'm sorry. I think."

"So, what is it you wanted to talk about exactly?" James asked.

Chakotay sighed, "right. I want to know what you plan to do."

James looked around, "uh wasn't that just a meeting about you know, the plan?"

"No that's not what I meant. If we manage to rescue the boy, we will probably do a DNA test," Chakotay replied.

"Ok but can I just say one thing before we go into that topic?" James said. Chakotay shrugged his shoulders. "I'm twenty two, you're what, fifty?" Chakotay glared at him, he was about to say something but James continued talking. "I just recently been put in a holographic mini nut house for trying to murder somebody, I'm only out because of this whole thing."

Chakotay cleared his throat, "I see where you're going with this."

"Ok then, what was I going to say?" James questioned.

"You feel that whatever the DNA result, you shouldn't be involved," Chakotay replied.

"Yeah well I'm going to be away for a while. Besides he's got Seska blood in him and that's going to make him psycho enough, let alone having me as an extra influence," James said.

Chakotay sighed, "I don't think you've thought this through properly. If he is yours you will regret not taking him and..."

Kathryn stormed into the room, "wait a minute!"

Chakotay and James stared at her. "Uh, what?" Chakotay stuttered.

"I think I should talk to him about that," Kathryn said, folding her arms.

"And what would you know about kids and stuff?" James muttered.

Chakotay sighed, "oh brother."

Kathryn ignored him, "James you can't just abandon the child if it turns out he is yours. Chakotay's right, about oh I don't know, nineteen or twenty years down the road you'll meet him er, somewhere and he'll have no idea, he may treat you like dirt and you'll want to tell him, but you know that it'll make things worse."

"Uh huh, is this copied story from your past?" James questioned.

Kathryn's eyes widened, "no, no, no!"

James raised his eyebrow, "sorry it just sounded like you were comparing my situation to one of yours."

"Our situation," Chakotay muttered.

"I know that," James said.

"I'm sorry but if it turns out he's mine, I will raise him, but I won't raise somebody else's son if he is capable of raising him himself," Chakotay said.

James just laughed, "ok are you listening to this guy? Even Faye would be a better parent than me right now, no offense to her. I just don't see her with kids."

Kathryn sat down in a nearby chair, "oh come on, you may be a very good dad, you don't know it."

"Ever heard the phrase, like father like son?" James mumbled.

"Yes I'm familiar with it," Chakotay replied.

"Doesn't mean it's true, all the time. What was your point?" Kathryn said.

"Oh come on, did my dad get arrested for trying to murder someone? No," James said. "I have been arrested several times, ok twice. If somebody who didn't get into trouble with the law beat the crap out of his own three year old son, how do you think I'm going to be?"

"When I asked to talk to you, I wasn't planning on a conversation like this," Chakotay muttered.

"Sorry I do that a lot to people. But I am right, and so are you. If that makes any sense," James said. "I don't think we should bother with the DNA test."

"That sounds sensible. I mean there's more to being a dad than, no I mean the dad isn't always the one that started it, if you get my meaning," Chakotay said. He noticed Kathryn glaring at him. "But when it comes to the mum it's an entirely different story." She got up and stormed out of the room, it's a good thing that Voyager doesn't have slammable doors.

"What's up with her?" James asked.

Chakotay pretended to be confused, "beats me."

The Bridge:
Chakotay was standing beside Danny at the helm as Kathryn stepped out of her Ready Room. "It's not Cullah's ship, looks more like a shuttle."

"Slow to impulse, set an intercept course Miss Scott," Kathryn commanded.

"Yes ma'am," Danny said.

"Have they told you what's wrong?" Kathryn walked over to opps.

"Just a distress call, no answer to our hails," Harry replied.

"Lets go to Red Alert," Kathryn said. The red lights started flashing on and off, the alert siren went off several times.

"We're in visual range," Danny said.

Kathryn walked to the centre of the bridge, she turned to face the viewscreen, "on screen."

"One lifesign, adult Kazon male. He's in critical condition," Harry said.

Danny glanced back at him, "how do you know that he's male from his basic lifesigns?"

"I don't know. Oh come on, it's not as if we've seen any girls," Harry replied.

"I know you haven't," Danny muttered.

Tom groaned from the station behind the command chairs, "the helm badly needs some jokes and puns that are funny." Danny pulled a face once she turned her back to him.

Kathryn ignored them all, "Janeway to Sickbay, prepare to receive an emergency transport."

In: "Standing by."

Sickbay:
Lee leaned on the biobed which a Kazon was lying on, "he looks sick, doesn't he?"

Kes shook her head, "no he just visited to use the uncomfortable beds."

Chakotay sighed, "I know this Kazon, his name's Teirna, he's one of Seska's aids. She had him work me over while I was on their ship."

Teirna grabbed his shoulder, "Seska is dead."

Later:
The usual security team; James, Thompson and Foster but not Tom, were standing around in different areas of the room. Chakotay was just pacing the room.

Teirna was busy telling a story which was obviously boring the guest stars, "Seska thought she could manipulate the Maj, she bragged about it one to many times before but this time she was wrong. She had just launched the probe with the message for you, then they came for her. They cut her throat as Cullah watched. He ordered them to execute me but I bribed one of the guards to get me to a shuttle. As soon as he saw it leaving, Cullah opened fire. Destroyed my life support systems, he left me in space to die."

"What about the baby?" James questioned.

"Taken to the Geena Four colony to be raised as a servant," Teirna replied.

Chakotay stopped pacing and stood beside James, "we're going to need your help to get there."

"You're going back for him? This ship alone?" He tried to sit up but failed miserably, "I want no part in this, I'm not taking you into Nistrim space."

"Under the circumstances I say you don't have much of a choice," Chakotay muttered. He made his way into the Doctor's office. "What's his prognosis?"

The Doctor turned around to face him, "he'll be on his feet in a day or two, but there's still a few things we need to keep an eye on. He's had a nasty concussion, spinal cord trauma, and a polysaphemia, the cause of which I have yet to discover."

James stood at the doorway, "what's that?"

The Doctor sat down behind his desk, "an abnormal increase in the number of red blood cells."

Chakotay glanced through the glass wall. James took a step closer to the desk, "why don't you just do a lie detector test?"

"That won't work. An ARA only works on known responses for a given species. Any Tom, Dick or Harry from the Alpha Quadrant I can probably help you, but not anyone from the Delta Quadrant," the Doctor replied.

"Hmm, Tom and Harry have a new friend called Dick? How long was I away?" James muttered.

Chakotay rolled his eyes as he headed out of the room.

The Conference Room:
"So you're saying there is nothing that goes against his story?" Chakotay muttered in disbelief.

Harry and B'Elanna glanced briefly at each other. "No," Harry replied.

"I don't trust him," Chakotay shook his head.

"It's probably cos he doesn't have a trustworthy face," Tom commented. Everyone glared in his direction.

Teirna, James, Thompson and Foster walked into the room. Tom muttered something under his breath before rushing out in a panic fit.

"I could get used to that, just not today," James commented. He looked back at Thompson and Foster, they were backing towards the door.

Kathryn sighed, "Mr Teirna, you created a flight plan?"

Teirna stared at her, "yes."

Harry punched in some commands on the wall panel, "it's all yours."

Teirna headed over, after he keyed in a few commands a flight path appeared on the starchart. "This'll take you six days at warp two."

"Four days if you took a better route. We could just go through the Taneras cluster," Neelix said with a suspicious look on his face.

"You would encounter the Nistrim fleet before a single day passed. Anyone who knows this part of space will tell you the same thing," Teirna said.

"It just so happens I do know this area well, I just wanted to check if you were telling the truth. The route he suggests is safer Captain," Neelix said.

Teirna walked back to his seat, "of course it's safer, I don't want to run into Cullah anymore than you do."

"We may have more success avoiding him if you have us the command codes for the Nistrim defence net," Chakotay said.

"Computer, display tactical overview of our current course," Tuvok said.

A straight line went through the starchart to indicate the current course. "Enter code sequence 491170 Cullah," Teirna muttered, with glancing at the wall panel.

Kathryn stood up to eye the starchart, "Miss Scott, change course to avoid the defence net." Danny nodded her head before getting up and leaving the room.

"That is not the end to the danger. We are heading into an area of space populated by sects who are loyal to no one. They will attack without provocation," Teirna said coldly.

Later, the Bridge:
"We've got company," Danny said as she glanced behind her.

"Signature is Kazon," Harry added on.

"Red Alert," Kathryn commanded. "Class of ship Mr Tuvok?"

"Small freighter Captain, it does not pose a threat. It is however powering up it's weapon systems," Tuvok responded.

Everyone waited for the usual ship shaking, consoles exploding and lights flickering battle scenes, but none of that happened. "Shields are holding," Harry said smugly.

"Isn't that my department," Tuvok grumbled.

Kathryn ignored him, "return the favour."

"The freighter is breaking off pursuit," Tuvok said.

Kathryn smiled, "good I need a coffee."

"Captain, what about Suder?" Tuvok said.

Kathryn's eyes shifted, "um who?"

"The guy who killed some guy!" Tuvok groaned.

"Tom?" Kathryn raised her eyebrow.

"Intentionally killed some guy," Tuvok muttered.

"James?" Kathryn folded her arms.

Jessie cleared her throat, "evil, not intentional."

Kathryn glanced at Tuvok, "are you sure you don't have an invisible friend?"

"The sissy plant obsessed guy?" Danny commented.

"I hardly call him sissy," Harry said with a raised eyebrow.

"Alright the plant obsessed guy," Danny rolled her eyes.

Kathryn pulled her thinking face, "Neelix?"

"His name is Suder, I mentioned that first," Tuvok replied.

Kathryn giggled nervously, "oh dear, I've been calling him Neelix all this time."

"Ok the Betazoid, and don't say the name Faye!" Tuvok grumbled.

"Troi is on this ship, she'd better stay the hell away from me," Kathryn snapped. She walked into her Ready Room muttering to herself.

Tuvok groaned, "fine, I give up."

Danny's eyes widened, "wait, Troi is a guy?" Everyone groaned.

Sickbay:
Teirna sat up as the scanner opened up. The Doctor opened up a tricorder, "you're making an adequate recovery Mr Teirna. But the only matter I cannot understand is this lingering polysaphemia."

"I feel fine," Teirna groaned. He headed towards the door but Thompson and Foster were standing in his way.

The Doctor followed him, "the medical record you gave us does not indicate any prior blood disorders. Might it have been an inherited trait? Do you know if your parents..."

"My parents were killed in the Trabe attack shortly after I was born," Teirna said.

"I see, well we'll need to monitor this condition for a while. It maybe due to some chemical imbalance possibly the result of the toxins you inhaled while on the shuttle," the Doctor said. Teirna walked around him. He sighed in his annoyed way, "you're welcome."

Teirna headed towards the door, he bumped into James as he walked through the door. "Off somewhere?"

"I wanted to escape from this hell hole of a room before the Nistrim hunt us down and kill us all," Teirna grumbled.

"You don't think we can do this? We're kicking a** so far," James said.

Teirna smirked, "oh please, they were hardly attacks. I barely felt the ship shake, if it were a Nistrim attack there wouldn't be a floor to stand on."

"For someone who's betraying the Nistrim, you seem to love them a little too much," James said.

"I don't, I'm just being realistic," Teirna muttered matter of factly.

"Realistic isn't a word we use around here," James commented.

"That explains why there's a wussy looking blonde bimbo, with freak like strength standing in my way," Teirna mumbled.

James groaned, "you guys don't learn do you?" Teirna smiled as he attempted to leave the room. James grabbed his arm, pushed him into the side of the door and held him there with his other arm. "I know you're not telling us the truth so there's no point in asking but, why is every rogue ship that's attacked us focused on one place?"

"I wouldn't know," Teirna replied as he tried to fidget his way out of his hold on him.

"Do I have to hit you for information, cos I've always wanted to do that," James threatened.

Lee, who was standing nearby looked a bit uncomfortable, "that's not how Starfleet does it."

"Just as I thought, Starfleet are a bunch of cowards," Teirna smirked.

"Did Seska not mention that I'm not Starfleet?" James said.

The Doctor walked back into the main room, "hey not in my Sickbay, please."

"I'll take it outside if you want," James said.

The Doctor frowned as he walked up to the scene, he placed a hand on James' arm. "Remember what we talked about?"

James stepped away from Teirna, "well Security wasn't doing it's job, he was going to escape."

Thompson turned to Foster, "I hate it when people give us guilt trips."

"Speaking of trips," Foster giggled. "I took painkillers just in case James tries to kill us or something." He then collapsed. Thompson and another Security guy stepped over him and guided Teirna out of the room.

"Is there no getting through to you Mr Taylor?" the Doctor snapped.

James groaned as he rolled his eyes, "I wasn't going to kill him!"

"Nevertheless, I think you should go back to the Holodeck," the Doctor said.

"I can't, Voyager needs all the spare power it can get for that little holographic trick," James said.

The Doctor sighed, "I'll think of something."

Later, Suder's Quarters:
The Suder guy was walking around the quarters, James was following him looking bored. "And this is my room, you're not allowed in here unless something is going on and I'm asleep," Suder said.

"Uh huh, why is there so many plants in the living room?" James questioned.

Suder stared at him with those big creepy black eyes, he stepped backwards looking a bit worried. "It's not a gay thing before you say it, I'm not gay."

"I didn't say you were, do people call you gay all the time or something?" James muttered.

The Bridge:
Kathryn walked across the bridge, "damage report."

"The secondary subprocessors are totally fried now ma'am," Harry responded.

"I don't like this, why are they all focusing there?" Chakotay said.

"It does seem a bit of a coincidence, change our course," Kathryn ordered.

Danny nodded her head nervously, "uh yes ma'am."

"Somebody contact Security, tell them Mr Teirna should be confined to quarters until further notice," Chakotay ordered.

"Aye sir," Tuvok said.

"Captain, as soon as we changed a course a bunch of Kazon ships appeared in sensor range," Danny said.

"Convenient," Jessie muttered.

"All hands to battlestations," Kathryn commanded as she sat down in her chair.

Meanwhile:
Thompson and that other unknown Security guy guided Teirna into some quarters. Next door however Suder and James were getting on quite well.

"You'd think that you'd only be called gay if you started dating guys, but I didn't. I never showed any interest," Suder was saying.

"Yeah I know what you mean, I didn't even have any male friends let alone like any," James said.

Suder nodded his head, "I bet that's one of the 'reasons' they used on you."

"Good guess," James said.

The door chimed, Neelix walked in with a large tray. "I um, er, brought you two some dinner if you're hungry."

"I'm not," Suder grumbled.

"Ok, you'll be hungry later," Neelix stuttered. He stepped backwards towards the door, "you two aren't planning a killing spree are you?"

James and Suder glanced at each other, then glanced back at Neelix. "Wouldn't you like to know," James replied with an evil glint in his eye, not the literal kind of evil in the eye of course.

Neelix smiled nervously, "I was joking, bye." He disappeared out of the room.

The Bridge:
"Mr Kim, activate the sensor ghosts," Kathryn commanded.

Harry keyed in a few commands, "it's working Captain, four are retreating."

"That's still a lot of ships to handle," Jessie commented.

"Four against one? I like those odds better than eight against one," Chakotay said.

Kathryn tapped her commbadge, "Janeway to Torres, are your holoships ready?"

Engineering:
"We're ready when you are Captain," B'Elanna replied.

In: "We'll need them in a few minutes B'Elanna, stand by."

The Doctor on the little monitor looked uncomfortable, "maybe we should perform one last system check."

B'Elanna rolled her eyes, "we've already done it twice."

"I know that, but we've never done this before. We should boost the power input," the Doctor said.

"The defence systems are going to need all the power they can get," B'Elanna muttered, ignoring the screen.

"Perhaps we should try a low..." the Doctor said.

B'Elanna leaned on the console and stared right at him, "Doctor!"

The Doctor backed away, "um everything will be okay, no worries."

B'Elanna nodded her head, she turned her back on him.

Teirna's Quarters:
Teirna knelt down in the centre of the living room, he started to do some sort of prayer.

The Bridge:
Kathryn joined Harry at opps, "B'Elanna, activate the first one."

"It's working, it's drawing fire," Harry said.

"Continue B'Elanna," Kathryn ordered.

Engineering:
"Activating ship number two," B'Elanna muttered as she worked at the console. She turned her back to the monitor, "firing number three." She heard a strange noise come from the monitor, she turned around and saw the Doctor wasn't on the screen.

The Bridge:
"Uh Captain, since when do Talaxian ships look like the Doc?" Danny questioned looking worried.

Everyone turned to the viewscreen, they saw the Doctor flying towards a Kazon ship, obviously trying to yell but there's no sound in space. The ship fired at him, but luckily he got out of the way in time.

"Oh well, at least we can't hear any of his singing now," Jessie commented.

Danny's eyes widened, "singing, oh god."

The Doctor shimmered out of sight much to everyone's disappointment.

Engineering:
"Doctor, are you all right?" B'Elanna asked.

The Doctor appeared back on the monitor screen, "I told you we should have done one last system check."

B'Elanna rolled her eyes, "that wouldn't have been as fun."

Suder's Quarters:
Suder was sitting on his now on the sofa, James was meanwhile watching the battle from the window. "I'm telling you, the Doctor floated passed the window."

Suder shook his head, "yeah right."

"Well he's a hologram and we're playing around with holograms, why not?" James said.

Some strange noises coming from next door diverted their attention away from the window. The start of an explosion blew a hole in the wall.

Suder jumped to his feet, James just backed off a mile, if a room was a mile long of course. The rest of the explosion took out the entire room, and of course the nearby corridor, killing the unknown crewmember.

Thompson turned the corner, he stared blankly at the now black corridor, "woah, taking up smoking was a big mistake."

The Bridge:
"Oh my god, a huge explosion just took out parts of Deck Eight," Harry stuttered.

Chakotay glanced back, "Teirna's quarters are there."

"Damage control teams to Deck Eight," Tuvok ordered.

The lights started to flicker, consoles started to power down. "I'm reading power fluctuations all over the ship," Harry said.

"That's our holograms gone, we're boned," Jessie commented.

"I was going to say something like that," Tom grumbled from behind the command chairs.

Danny started to panic, "I can't hold all of these off."

"I have a suggestion," Tom said.

Danny groaned, "fine take the helm you moaning g**!"

"No, I can take a shuttle to the commrange of the Talaxian colony. They could come and help us," Tom said.

"Oh yeah, by the time they get here we'll probably be floating pieces of metal," Danny muttered.

Kathryn looked back at Tom, "go on, good luck."

Tom nodded, he rushed out of the room.

"Shuttle's leaving," Harry said.

"Huh, he's just left the bridge," Jessie muttered.

"I couldn't wait for him to leave," Harry sheepishly said.

"Obviously neither could the writers," Chakotay grumbled.

"Uhoh," Harry stuttered.

Kathryn glanced at him, "please tell me that uhoh is not what I think it is."

"Yes it is," Harry stuttered.

Kathryn screamed and ran into the Ready Room.

Chakotay rolled his eyes, "I think she thought the uhoh was about her coffee."

Harry turned pale, "oh."

"Shields are down," Tuvok said.

Kathryn stepped back out of her Ready Room glaring in the scariest way possible, "you're toast Kim. Janeway to Paris?" She got no response. "Paris, please respond."

"I think we're too far away from France for them to hear us ma'am," Danny said with a giggle.

Jessie's eyes widened, "uh Danny, not a good time to joke."

Danny turned pale herself, "oops."

"Um shields are down, hello?" Tuvok snapped. He groaned, "now there is intruders."

Kathryn glared at him, "fine. Computer initiate self destruct sequence..."

"Unable to comply, the secondary subprocessor is not functioning."

"Oh it makes sense now," Chakotay muttered.

Right on cue several Kazon stepped off the turbolift. Phaser firing went off on both sides, of course an unknown crewmember got killed. "Hold your fire!" Kathryn commanded.

The Kazon started to force everyone to the centre of the room, they were all forced to sit or kneel down.

"This is part of the plan right, please tell me now," Danny whispered.

"Yes getting captured was the plan for getting a baby off another planet," Chakotay muttered.

"Hello everyone," a familiar voice greeted everybody. They all looked towards the turbolift.

Danny smiled, "ha I knew it, it was the plan."

"Danny, please shut up," Jessie groaned.

Seska and Cullah made their way over to their prisoners, Seska was holding a baby. "So what do you think of your son then?" she asked nobody in particular.

"For crying out loud, who's is it!?" Danny asked like she was going to cry.

Seska stared at her, "ok ok, I forgot to mention that." Everyone stared at her, waiting for her to tell them.

****TO BE CONTINUED****

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