I sat on the Bridge, reading a text on warp theory. While it was not the most interesting read, in fact, it was some of the driest material that I had ever read, but the information covered a lot of topics, so if I could understand a fraction of it, I could apply that knowledge to increasing my speed, and even speed up my attacks, as it was based off of matter/anti-matter explosions. Raven had already shown how powerful these concepts were when added to her magic during a couple of sparring sessions, so all of us were trying to replicate her success, except for Katye as she was confident in her own path.
"What's the topic today?" Janeway asked with a slightly amused smile.
"Still warp theory, I'm afraid," I replied. "Raven hasn't been back a month, but her speed is only second to Katye's when she is serious, and her spells can damage me even in my Dragon form. She claims most of her advancement was due to these principles, and with L'Naan already showing signs of improvement to her speed, I can't help but try to understand this... nonsense."
"Says the woman that can transform into a giant beast which is capable of taking on starships," she chuckled.
"Bah, instincts driven by my past life. This here is true science-fiction," I complained, waving the data pad and making her chuckle.
"If you need a tutor, I'm sure we can rearrange your duty shifts so that you can attend classes with Naomi," she teased, knowing how limited my understanding of twenty-fourth century technology was.
My brow twitched with annoyance, and I chose to turn my attention back to the data pad instead of dignifying her taunt... which, of course, made her chuckle again. As it was the start of our duty shift, she spent an hour or so with me on the Bridge before she headed to her Ready Room. Her excuse was that she was going to look over some reports, but I knew the truth, that she was sneaking off to mess with the puzzle box that Tom had brought onboard two weeks ago. Over half the crew was obsessed with trying to solve it and no one (aside from Katye) had solved it yet.
About ten minutes after Janeway disappeared into her Ready Room, Seven exited the turbo lift and glanced around the room. Her eyes narrowed on me as she walked around the railing and stood in front of me, holding out a data pad. Looking up from my pad, I sighed, tucking my own away, took hers, and glanced it over.
"A planetoid with high concentrations of dilithium crystals?" I mused, rubbing my chin, as the information reminded me of an episode that was due. "Tom, alter course... heading two-one-nine mark zero-seven-three. Keep the same speed."
"Acknowledged," Tom replied.
"Should I inform the captain?" Seven asked.
"Yes, but it doesn't need to be right now. Take your station on the Bridge, transfer Tom the coordinates, and wait until we are close. She's working on reports, so let her be until she's needed," I instructed.
Seven nodded and moved around to her normal position on the Bridge. No one questioned my decision as it was standard procedure to go after any fuel deposits at this point. There were still more than two hours' worth of flying before we would be in visual range, so it was better to let Janeway work on her own things for now.
During the travel time, I silently alerted Echo through our connection, who told Katye and L'Naan discreetly. When we drew close, I motioned to Seven to tell Janeway and tucked away my data pad as I was sure things would get interesting soon. A minute or two later, Janeway and Seven walked out of the Ready Room, and Janeway gave me a nod as she moved to her chair.
"Got it!" Harry exclaimed with one of the puzzle boxes in his hands. Unfortunately, it gave a disappointing chime, meaning that he had failed, and sighed, "False alarm."
Tom looked back at Harry, when he shouted excitedly, then chuckled as he turned back to his station, "Keep at it, Harry."
"We're within visual range," Seven announced.
"On screen," Janeway instructed with a smirk, shaking her head at Harry's antics.
"Initial scans revealed substantial dilithium deposits beneath the planetoid's crust," Tuvok said.
"Full sensor sweep," I ordered.
Harry's console chimed as he ran the scans and explained, "The deposits are in the upper mantle, about sixty kilometers down."
"We'll have to use phasers to cut through..." Tuvok added.
"Hold on," Harry cut-in, his console making more warning sounds.
"What is it?" Janeway asked.
"Some kind of resonance wave emanating from the core. It's building fast, Captain," Harry warned.
"Right after we ran our scans. That can't be a coincidence. Back us off, Tom."
"The planetoid is destabilizing," Seven stated.
"Shields!" I barked.
Tuvok barely had time to reinforce the shields before the planetoid exploded. The ship shook violently, but we had handled bigger impacts than this as we were not too close. At this point, there was no question of whether or not we were in the episode that I had guessed from Seven's report; the beginning events of 'Think Tank' were playing out right in front of me.
"Report," Janeway ordered.
Tapping on the small console between us, I read, "We're trapped in a cloud of metreon gas. It collapsed the warp field and knocked impulse engines off-line."
"A heavily armed vessel just dropped out of warp, off the port bow," Tuvok warned.
"Captain, I recognize it. It's Hazari. Species 4228. Technologically advanced, extremely violent. They make excellent tactical drones," Seven informed.
"What do they want with us?" Harry could not help but ask.
"The Hazari are hired to capture and deliver alien vessels," Seven explained.
"Bounty hunters," Tom remarked.
"Yes," she agreed.
"So, who hired them?" Harry asked.
"We've made our fair share of enemies throughout this journey, not to mention groups that covet the powers of my group," I retorted, knowing exactly who had placed the bounty on us.
"They're hailing," Harry commented as his console chimed.
Janeway gave him a nod, so he accepted the transmission, and the aliens appeared on the viewscreen.
"Surrender. No one need be hurt. My client would prefer your vessel intact," the alien demanded.
"Who hired you?" Janeway inquired as she stood up.
"That's not your concern," he replied.
"I'm only asking because I'm curious how much they're paying. Maybe we can do better," she countered.
"Doubtful," he scoffed.
"We're far from defenseless. Why don't you save yourself some trouble."
"It's no trouble," he smirked.
"Charge phaser banks to full power," Janeway instructed.
"Fire and you'll ignite the gas cloud. You'll be destroyed," the alien cautioned.
"You've left me no choice. I suggest you back off if you want to save your own ship. End transmission," Janeway said then turned back to her seat.
"They are moving closer," Tuvok stated. "They're locked on a tractor beam."
"Looks like they're calling your bluff, Captain. It was a bluff, wasn't it?" Tom asked.
Ignoring his question, Janeway looked at Seven and asked, "Seven, do we still have warp power?"
"Yes, but it's useless while we remain in the gas cloud," she replied.
"Maybe not. Reroute every spare gigawatt to the shields. Prepare to fire phasers." Janeway instructed.
"Our target?" Tuvok asked.
"The gas cloud."
"Do you believe the impact will throw us clear?" Seven questioned.
"If our shields hold."
"That's a big 'if'," Tom remarked.
"Go to warp one on my command... Fire," she ordered.
A moment later, the shockwave of the explosion hit the ship. The shields remained intact, but the whole ship shook violently, and sparks and smoke spewed into the bridge from a damaged circuit.
"We are approaching the perimeter of the gas cloud," Tuvok stated.
"We're out!" Tom said with a hint of relief.
"Warp speed," she ordered without hesitation.
"No sign of pursuit," Tuvok stated, checking his sensors.
"They weren't that heavily damaged. Why aren't they following us?" Janeway questioned as she gave me a pointed look.
I did my best to suppress my smirk and sent to her telepathically, [Now, now, Kathryn, the first pieces are only showing themselves. It's still too early to let you in on the game, and we still need to see the other tricks that our opponents are hiding.]
Her look turned annoyed, but she did not push me for an explanation and instead instructed, "Seven, Harry, Tuvok, go to Astrometrics and scan for any more of these bounty hunters."
"If you can spare me, I think my time would be better regenerating, in case of a long night," I requested.
"You're dismissed," she said, rolling her eyes, then tapped her badge, "Janeway to Chakotay, report to the Bridge."
"On my way," he replied immediately, likely already on his way after the small scuffle.
"Thank you, Captain," I said with a nod before standing up. [Call me when you are studying the data from Astrometrics after dinner. I'll bring along a thermos or two of coffee from our ship. That's when the most important piece ahould appear.]
Shaking her head, she dismissed me with a light wave, so I headed for the turbo lift. I made my way to Cargo Bay Two and stood in my normal alcove. With Raven separated from the Collective, Echo and I had lost our access to Unimatrix Zero, so my time regenerating was basically a dreamless sleep, which was a rare luxury for me.
Six hours later, I was roused from my 'sleep' by a page from Janeway. I acknowledged her call then paged my own ship to request the thermoses of coffee that I had promised. When I stopped by to pick them up, it was no surprise that Katye was waiting on me.
"'Think Tank'?" she questioned with a smirk.
"As if you didn't already know," I retorted, storing the thermoses into my ring with a wave of my hand. "Ready to show off your brilliance, my Queen?"
"You still need to figure out how much they know about 'us' before we know which plan we need," she reminded.
I chuckled, "Yeah, yeah... Easier said than done, but I'll do my best."
She gave me a soft kiss then sent me on my way. I walked off the Fae Dragon and straight for the turbo lift, directing it to Deck Two. As expected, Janeway was sitting on one of the couches with several data pads scattered across the short table in front of her and her focus on the computer screen, not even noticing my arrival. Neelix, with a thermos of coffee, rounded the counter to his cooking area, but I waved him off as I showed him that I had one for the captain.
"So, how bad does it look?" I asked as I poured her a fresh cup.
Janeway looked up at me with tired eyes and rubbed her temples. "It's these Hazari. They're like jackals. Circling... feinting to draw us out while they cut off every route of escape."
"They sound worse than the Borg. They at least come straight at what they want," I replied, dropping into the seat across the table from her.
"You're right. The Hazari wait, invite you to make mistakes. They've anticipated almost every move Voyager can make, and the few things they seem to have missed, I'm convinced, are traps. I'm not even sure we can make it through, even with the help of your ship. I hope... that you have better news for me," Janeway said, changing her wording at the last moment when she noticed a subtle gesture I made.
"I've got Katye and Raven looking into solutions, but nothing so far. The other two knuckleheads are ready for a fight; Klingon blood is hard to tame," I chuckled with the last of my words. [We're waiting for a guest. If he appears while I'm here, he will 'know' about my group. If he doesn't, I'll leave in a few minutes and the matter will be much simpler to handle.]
As if my silent message summoned him, a voice from the side remarked, "There is nothing like a good problem to spark the synapses, is there? To open the mind to new possibilities... new ways of seeing things. Of course, one must always confront self-doubt and fear, but that is a small price to pay for the... exhilaration of finding the perfect solution."
Janeway and I both turned to see the blonde-haired alien in a black robe. She gave me a questioning look, so I just shrugged.
"He isn't a Q, if that's what you're asking, and no, I have no idea how he got here," I replied to the unasked question, though I knew she knew I was lying.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Janeway questioned the alien.
"You both have a problem, Captains. I am the solution," he answered without faltering at the mention of Q.
"Security to the Mess Hall. Intruder alert," I said, tapping my badge.
"I deactivated both of your communication devices, Captains, but do not worry. I am not an intruder. In fact, I am not truly here," he said smugly as he sat down on the chair next to both of us.
"A hologram," Janeway remarked.
"Nothing so crude. An isomorphic projection," he corrected casually and picked up Janeway's cup then took a sip. "You actually enjoy this?"
"It's an acquired taste," Janeway retorted with an eyebrow raised in annoyance.
"It bears a resemblance to an Alkian confection we acquired several years ago."
"'We'?" Janeway asked.
"I am a member of a small group... explorers like you, but we seek out challenges, problems to be solved... technological, biological, social, even artistic."
"A think tank," she deduced.
"I like that. It's very... apt. Our 'Think Tank' is nearby. A modest vessel. I have come to offer our help with your Hazari paradox," he replied with a light smile.
"'Paradox'?"
"That is right. Is it an escape route or is it a trap? Do they know that you know that they know? It is the best kind of puzzle... pure tactics, psychology," he explained.
"Something tells me that your help comes with a price tag," I commented, crossing my arms.
"Whatever your cultures have to offer that is unique. Technology perhaps, or maybe something you would not even think to value. I would need a closer look at your databases."
"And how do we know you aren't an Hazari trap? Maybe they're trying to lure us into an ambush like before," I commented.
"You are wise to be suspicious, Captain, especially considering your identity as a Vazukuru. We have done some preliminary analysis on their maneuvers. It does suggest some more likely ambushes. I've downloaded the data onto your computer," he replied, reaching a hand towards Janeway's computer.
Janeway looked down at her screen then turned it to me. I simply gave her a smirk and a light nod. She shared a smirk and agreed, "Alright, you've got my attention, but I want to meet you face-to-face and the rest of your crew."
"Naturally. Our coordinates are in there, too, but we have our own security concerns, Captains. Please, bring only one crewman, from Voyager alone, and no scanning equipment," he replied.
"I've got no objections. Ultimately, Voyager is far more at risk than the Fae Dragon," I stated, giving Janeway no reason to refuse.
"Fair enough," she added.
"Then, I look forward to meeting you... in person," he replied with a confident smile before his projection dissolved.
[Katye has two plans that should work, but nothing can be spoken on Voyager. The Fae Dragon can block a Q's Domain so, if they can hack into Fae's systems, we're doomed anyways. The only difference between the two plans is how much you need to see before deciding to act on what I know from my vision.]
"Do you really think this has a chance?" Janeway asked.
"Everything that 'we' do is a gamble. No matter what, we have to roll the dice at some point to deal with the future," I replied.