"This is Captain Ransom of the Federation Starship Equinox. We're under attack. We need assistance. This is Captain Ransom of the Federation Starship Equinox. We're under attack. We need assistance..." Captain Ransom's static-y, desperate plea for help repeated on the large screen in Astrometrics until Janeway had Seven cut it off.
"I wonder if this counts as assignment complete, as long as we make it there in time, of course," I remarked, crossing my arms.
"His distress call was transmitted approximately fourteen hours ago," Seven said.
"Distance?" Janeway asked.
"Three point two light-years," Seven replied.
"Try to get a fix on their location," Janeway instructed.
"It's amazing that they've lasted so long. The Equinox is only a Nova-type starship, a planetary research vessel," I commented.
"I've got their coordinates. Heading two-five-eight, mark one-two," Seven stated.
"Set a course, maximum warp. Go to Red Alert," Janeway told Chakotay.
Chakotay nodded and rushed out of the room without hesitation.
Looking up at the screen, Janeway said softly as she shut off the screen, "Hang on, Captain."
"Did either of you know this individual?" Seven asked.
"Searching for the Equinox is what led to my ship getting pulled into the Delta Quadrant, but that's about all I know about him," I replied, using my established lie.
"I only know him by reputation," Janeway said as she led Seven and me out of the room. "He was an exobiologist, promoted to Captain after he made first contact with the Yridians."
"Species 6291. The Collective determined that they were extinct," Seven replied, confused.
"So did the Federation. Ransom proved otherwise," Janeway said with a smirk. "I always wanted to meet him. Too bad it won't be under better circumstances."
"I look forward to meeting him as well, and his crew. I wish to expand my knowledge of humanity," Seven agreed.
"I'm just shocked that I might actually complete my original mission from Starfleet," I added since I truly was not looking forward to this two-parter episode.
"Let's hope we get the chance," Janeway said.
We took the turbo lift to the Bridge and moved to our positions. Janeway in her chair, Seven at the Astrometric console, and I was on the bench to the right of Janeway. Most of the Senior Staff were already in their own spots, with the Doctor and Neelix even joining us on the Bridge shortly after I was seated. It took nearly five hours to close in, once again making me annoyed by television timelapses, but it gave Echo plenty of time to alert the rest of my group about the episode.
"We're approaching their coordinates," Tom announced.
"Take us out of warp," Janeway instructed.
"I've got them. Two thousand kilometers off the port bow. They're moving at low impulse," Harry said.
"Intercept. Can you get a visual?" Janeway asked.
The screen changed to a Federation starship, the shields of which were crackling visibly, like they were under constant assault... which they were. They had kicked a hornet's nest, so to speak, and since I was sure that the aliens were some kind of elemental creatures, I planned to take action personally. Even if Ransom made a last minute attempt to redeem himself by stopping his rogue first officer and go down with his ship in order to save Voyager in the episode, he still killed dozens of those aliens to harvest their bodies as fuel, and had Seven tortured by their ship's Doctor to retrieve an encryption code from her brain after she sabotaged their ship in an effort to stop them. While I was not going to claim a chiporofita vision, it would not be difficult for me to dig up all the proof I needed to prevent them from having any chance to double cross Voyager or hurt Seven.
"They are heavily damaged. Multiple hull breaches. Warp drive is off-line," Tuvok reported.
"What's happening to their shields?" Neelix asked.
"They're being disrupted by some kind of energy surges. The Vazukuru sensors are detecting high concentrations of Space mana in a sporadic manner as if appearing and disappearing in different locations, dozens of them. I believe it might be an elemental creature," B'Elanna theorized.
"It would make sense. There are numerous Space dwelling elemental creatures in my ship's records. I can jump out and probably scare them off with my aura unless it's a personal grudge with the ship and its crew," I suggested.
"Unless it is necessary, I would prefer to tell the Captain and his crew about your crew before you 'show-off'," Janeway chuckled, getting a few more from some of the Senior Officers.
"As you wish, Captain," I replied with a shrug.
"We're in hailing range," Harry said.
"Open a channel," Janeway instructed as she stood up. "This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager. We're responding to your..."
"Voyager! You've got to extend your shields around our ship," Ransom shouted frantically. "Match our frequency! Shields! Quickly!"
"Do it," Janeway told Tuvok with a glance back at him.
It took another minute, but Tom announced, "We're in position."
"I'm attempting to match their shield frequency," Tuvok said as he typed away at his console.
Due to our proximity to the Equinox, the elemental creatures turned their attention towards us on Voyager. An eerie whirring whine came from the Void itself that everyone could hear as they glanced around, but I could feel the psionic wave that accompanied the sound. Pain, sorrow, anger, hatred, death... I could not help but clutch my head as the emotions were almost overwhelming.
"Do you hear something?" the Doctor asked.
As the sound grew louder, I could sense that the Space around me was destabilizing at an alarming rate. Janeway noticed my discomfort as I was shaking off the feeling and gave me a look, silently asking if things were okay. I waved it off with a nod and stood up as well.
"Interspatial fissures are opening on Decks Eleven, Ten, Five, and One," Seven reported.
"Tuvok," Janeway questioned.
"Stand by," he replied, typing quickly, and then, the shields shifted making the sound stop and Space to stabilize. "Shields are holding."
"The fissures?" Chakotay asked.
"No sign of them," Seven confirmed.
"Voyager to Ransom. Captain!" Janeway said, looking at the screen, but was only met with static. "Assemble rescue teams. Secure the Equinox. Rebecca, Tuvok, you're with me."
"Chakotay, use my crew and tell them 'no flash'. They will just rely on their enhanced senses and strength, which is easy enough to explain away," I suggested as I followed Janeway to the turbo lift.
"Understood," he agreed with a nod.
Janeway entered the turbo lift with Tuvok and I right behind her. "Transporter Room One," she ordered then gave it a moment before giving me a look.
"It wasn't a vision," I sighed. "That sound came with a psionic wave that brought a lot of feelings of pain and anger, similar to those flashes of light that the Yang Sprites gave off. I don't know what's going on, but those elemental creatures are furious. I'm sorry, but I want to use my authority as a Vazukuru Captain to search their data banks and I hope you will support my decision as well as keep it to yourselves. Our first priority is the crew of the Equinox and, once they are secured, Echo can probe their computer core quickly with her implants."
Janeway sighed as well, and the doors opened. As she stepped out of lift, she agreed, "Understood. We'll go with your suggestions."
She led us into the transporter room and joined the crewman at the console. We could not directly transport to the bridge, so she picked the closest place, two decks down, but with a clear path through the jefferies tubes, and then joined us on the platform. Tuvok passed her a wrist light, which she strapped into place, before we were teleported over to the ship.
The air was thick with smoke, curling lazily beneath the flickering emergency lights, casting erratic shadows across the walls. Cracks spider-webbed through the reinforced glass of the viewing panels, and scorch marks lined the walls—old wounds from past struggles layered over fresh destruction. The hum of the ship's failing systems echoed faintly, a rhythmic pulse of distress that seeped into every corner of the room.
A low, pained groan barely audible over the hum of a half-broken console. From beneath a heap of twisted metal and debris, a hand emerged... fingers trembling, reaching. Janeway and Tuvok were using their tricorders to scan and search, but I had already found the person and could sense that they were about to die.
I rushed forward and knelt by a large panel that was pinned down under a heavy beam. Under the panel was a table that had broken because of the beam, which had pinned a young woman that barely looked twenty-one, but the pointed ears made it understandable as she was likely Vulcan. Shining my light down, the pool of green blood confirmed it.
"Captain, her condition is serious. I need to stabilize her first; it won't take long," I announced as I stealthily retrieved a hypospray from storage ring; Katye always had a plan for everything.
Seeing the hypospray, she could guess my idea and agreed, "Understood."
"We're here with the Federation Starship Voyager to help you. You're not alone anymore," I said, turning back to the Vulcan.
She was barely conscious, but her eyes stared at me as I knocked her out with the hypospray. With a wave of my hand, I conjured up my Chaos Storm and wrapped the gray clouds around everything between me and the Vulcan. Instead of my normal brute force method, I used a trick from Wanda's book and warped the metal out of the way, and out of her body. A moment later, I pulled her out carefully before I placed a hand on her wound and started channeling my healing spell.
While I worked, Janeway and Tuvok looked around, either for more survivors or the access hatch to the jefferies tubes. Tuvok found the hatch by the time I had her stabilized, so we reported her location to Voyager to beam over to the ship, then made our way up. The bridge was not in any better condition than the mess hall with broken beams and panels, and hanging piping and wires.
There were several dead bodies laying across the ground and consoles. Most because of an explosion, but there was one man that looked like it had been mummified, drained of all the moisture. The process had been caused by the 'aliens' as its form of attacking, which also left behind traces of mana that had a familiar 'feeling'.
While I was looking over the unfortunate ensign, Janeway and Tuvok continued on. Tuvok found the First Officer alive across the conn station, but with a head injury, and Janeway found Captain Ransom in his chair and in a similar state as the First Officer.
"My crew," Ransom mumbled as he came to; Janeway shining her flashlight in his face.
"You took heavy casualties. We're treating the survivors. Who attacked you?" Janeway asked as I made my way over to the two Captains.
"We don't know. We can't communicate with them. They've been attacking us for weeks," Ransom explained before attempting to get out of his chair.
Janeway held him down as she said, trying to soothe him, "Easy. Easy."
"I've got to secure the ship," he argued.
"Leave that to us," Janeway replied, pulling out a transponder which would allow Voyager to lock onto him easier.
"No," he fought back, ripping it off his neck. "Treat me here. I'm not leaving my Bridge."
"I can't pull rank on you, Captain," Janeway retorted.
"But you are outnumbered," I butted in.
He looked at me and his eyes got wide as he muttered, "Maybe my head is worse than I thought."
"Heh, you wish," I smirked and crossed my arms.
He gave a light chuckle and sighed with relief, then asked, "So... how's Earth?"
"I wish I could say," Janeway sighed.
The mental gut punch of the meaning of her words was written all over his face, yet he still asked, "You weren't sent here to find us?"
"I was, but..." I replied, and then let my words die off as I gestured towards Janeway.
"Voyager was on a mission in the Badlands. We've been stranded in the Delta Quadrant for five years and joined up fairly early with Captain Rebecca Cox of the USS Fae Dragon. We were pulled here against our will by an alien called the Caretaker," Janeway explained.
"The Caretaker," Ransom said in unison with Janeway.
"We'll compare notes later on. Let's get you to Voyager," Janeway said with her usual authority and then helped him out of his chair.
"Captain, I'll stay here to assist with the rescue operation," I offered.
"Sounds good," Janeway agreed, passing me her pack in case I needed extra transponders.
I would not need them, as my ring had a few packs worth, along with other simple medical supplies that Katye had taught me and the rest of our group. Still, the case would be a good cover for anything that I needed to pull out. Janeway paged Voyager and had them beam her, Ransom, Tuvok, and the First Officer away.
[Location and partner?] I sent to Echo through our connection as I headed off the bridge.
[Deck Three and Harry.] she replied.
[Perfect. I'm overriding your orders. Meet up with me. Harry and I will go back to searching, you keep going to the bridge and find the evidence of the engine experiments. I want Janeway locked on our side as soon as possible, so I can end this.]
[Good... I felt it too. That anger, desperation, hopelessness... it was like what I felt when you left me behind for the Final War.]
[We'll see how we can help them.] I promised.
[And when they want blood like their instincts tell them? What's Janeway going to do? Lock them up for the trip while we do all the work? Such a terrible punishment.] she mocked.
[I get it, Echo, but Janeway isn't going to agree an execution even if the assholes have it coming. Some are worth redeeming and the rest can live under an extra watchful eye if I give Tuvok the details of what 'could' have happened.] I sighed.
Echo dampened our connection with her annoyance flaring, done with the conversation. It was a never-ending argument about Janeway and her principles with Echo. Thankfully, recruiting Janeway was something that I knew was impossible; she would never leave Starfleet.
I switched out with Echo a few minutes later and helped Harry search the ship. We found two more people while the other teams altogether gathered over a dozen more. Echo was able to work unobstructed, while the rest of us moved around, and got everything I needed, uploading the files to the Fae Dragon. All that was left was to show them to Janeway and confront Ransom, and then figuring out how to reason with the elemental creatures.