fenriz275

As Voyager entered the nebula the Elusive shimmered out of existence. Once inside the nebula Voyager's sensors were severely limited. While Belanna and her team went to work repairing the warp core Voyager spent the time exploring the nebula as best as they could.

"Commander?" Harry Kim said. Harry had been monitoring all subspace channels for any kind of communications. "I'm picking up some kind of a signal. It's very faint."

"Can you enhance the signal." Tuvok replied.

"I'll try." Harry spent several minutes working at his station. "There."

The signal was a beacon of some kind, intended for ships in the nebula follow to whatever was at it's source. Tuvok decided to investigate. Whoever was sending the signal might be able to assist in repairs.

Voyager followed the signal. They emerged from a dense part of the nebula into a large pocket of empty space deep inside. At the center of the pocket was a large space station of some kind. Docked at the station and holding position around it were dozens of ships from different species. Most of them were unknown to Voyager. Tuvok called Neelix to the bridge. Neelix was able to identify some of them. Malon, Qomar, Ledosian, Entharan, the others were unknown to even him. "From what our scans can tell the station appears to be a patched together from all kinds of different materials. There's no uniformity to it's design." Harry Kim reported.

"It's most likely a smugglers base or something else 'unofficial.' " Tom added.

"Nonetheless, they may be able to assist us." Tuvok said. "Hail them."

The face that appeared on the viewscreen was an unfamiliar species. She identified herself as Alus. "I am the administrator of this station. What do you want?" She asked abruptly. The alien had pale skin and large silver eyes that held your attention. Her voice was soft but had a hard edge to it, and a hint of impatience.

"Greetings. I am Commander Tuvok of the Federation Starship Voyager." Tuvok began.

"Good for you. Now what do you want Toovik?"

"It's Tuvok, Ma'am. We are in need of repairs and supplies."

"There will be someone on the station that can help you. We run a free enterprise zone here. I take a fee for providing this station as a base for various merchants to do business from. I'll need to see a complete account of all the transactions you want to make before you go to access your fee. One other thing, no weapons. If anyone from your ship beams over with a weapon, they'll be thrown out of the nearest airlock."

"Understood." Tuvok agreed.

Tuvok said to Admiral Jeanway "Where did you come from? You didn't show up on our sensors?" Admiral Jeanway answered.

"We came from the future. We saw your little problem here and wanted to help, actually we are on patrol right now, between missions." she answered. "We patrol the timelines."

At that Jeanway was met with a raised eyebrow that only a Vulcan could pull off.

"If you patrol the timelines I don't suppose you could give us a few hints?" Tom Paris asked. "Just to make the trip home a little easier?"

Captain Fenriz of the HT 01 stood next to the Admiral on the viewscreen. He asked Tuvok how he liked the "Evaiders" little dance on the Vidiians.

"They were most effective. Lt Paris does have a point. Is there any way you could assist us without altering the timeline?" Tuvok asked.

"In the Prime Directive we are not allowed to interfere with such things. Since you would have escaped the Vidiians assault anyway but with great difficulty and loss of crew I had to make a judgement call. As for helping you get back to the Alpha Quadrant, we just don't have THAT particular capability. Sorry, I wish we did." Admiral Jeanway answered. A silence hung in the air for a few moments.

"I see. Then we will have to continue with our present course of action. Lt Paris take us into the nebula."

Torpedos impacted on Voyager's shields. Systems on the ship began to fail. ODN conduits overloaded and exploded while the crew fought fires all over the ship

Smoke filled the bridge. Tuvok resisted the urge to cough, he looked at the readouts on the command chair but all they displayed were static.

"Report"

"Our shields are down to 20 percent. We have hull breaches on decks 4, 6, and 9. We're also venting plasma." Harry Kim reported just as weapons fire from the Vidiian ships rocked Voyager again. The station behind Harry Kim exploded and knocked him to the deck. A crewmen knelt over him.

"Take him to sickbay." Tuvok ordered. The crewman helped Harry Kim to the turbolift.

"That last shot knocked out our shields. They're coming around for another pass." Tom Paris said.

"Prepare to repel boarders." Tuvok ordered.

As the Vidiian ships closed in on Voyager for the kill a massive black triangular ship, four times the size of Voyager, decloaked in between them and their target. Their weapons shot out at the newcomer but were absorbed by it's powerful shields. They started to move away from this new ship and back towards Voyager when a swarm of tiny ships, smaller than shuttlepods emerged from several bays that opened on a second triangular ship that was tucked into formation with the larger one. They buzzed around the Vidiian ships as their weapons stung at the larger vessels. Within moments both of them were dead in space. On board Voyager the bridge was silent as they watched this unfold. Tom Paris recovered first. "I don't recognize that design but I'm reading a Federation signature from that ship."

"Hail them." Tuvok said.

On the viewscreen a woman appeared. "Hello Commander. I am Admiral Jeanway of the USS Elusive, Starfleet Security. Do you require further assistance?"

I like Lizards too. Heck I'll even let one of those big monitors pin me down and slobber all over me.

I think I'm losing it. I went and found this and then forgot to post it.

Gale Gordon aka Mr. Mooney aka Theodore J. Mooney, The Lucy Show (1963-1968)

He was also Mr Wilson on the old Dennis the Menace show. :unsure:

...ahem( Moony? Monnie? Exactly where are the Grammar police now? :cops: )

Monnie? I mean Moonie. They're after me, that's where.

~~~The Nebula~~~

Several of the plasma injectors on Voyager's warp core had been damaged in their 'rendezvous' with the Vidiian ship some days earlier. Under normal circumstances they could have been replaced while the ship was underway at the cost of a reduced warp speed. That was now a luxury that Voyager didn't have. To stay ahead of her enemies the crew had been pushing the remaining injectors beyond their limits. It was only a matter of time before they stopped functioning at all. Four million kilometers from the outer edge of the nebula the Voyager lost warp capability.

"Torres to the Bridge. That's it. We have one injector that's barely hanging on. If we don't drop out of warp we could lose containment. If it goes we won't have any warning."

"Very well. Lt Paris bring the ship out of warp and maintain course for the nebula. Divert all available power to the weapons and shields." Tuvok commanded. Voyager dropped back into normal space with a flash. Seconds later the three Vidiian ships entered normal space.

The first volley of torpedoes from the Vidiians were hastily fired and they narrowly missed Voyager. The crew of Voyager wasn't as impatient. "Ensign Kim. Target the lead Vidiian vessel's engines. Lock phasers and ready a full spread of torpedoes." Tuvok ordered.

"Target locked."

Tuvok touched the controls on the command chair. The Vidiian ship that was now locked appeared on the main view screen. It was the same one that had offered Voyager a cure for the virus and it had now put itself directly between Voyager and the nebula.

"Fire."

The phasers lanced out from Voyager and struck the other ships shields a nanosecond later the photon torpedoes slammed into the same spot. The last one in the spread punched through the hole now in the Vidiian ship's shields and exploded. The vessel rocked and a large hole was now blown in it's hull.

"They're moving away. They've suffered heavy damage." Ensign Kim reported.

"Maintain course." Tuvok ordered.

The two remaining Vidiian ship's chased after Voyager, hammering away at her shields as she made her way towards the nebula.

~~~back on Voyager~~~

...Voyager is racing for the dark matter nebula at best possible speed. Still suffering from damage suffered at it's last encounter with the Vidiians the ship is limited to a top speed of warp 7.5. Lt Torres has managed to coax the engines into giving a little more with her usual 'gentle' touch. The Vidiians are closing and will be in weapon's range several million kilometers before Voyager and her crew can reach the safety of the nebula...

"Ensign Kim?" Tuvok asked. "How long until the Vidiians are in weapons range?" Harry Kim checked the readings on his screen. He hoped that by some act of good fortune Voyagers pursuers had given up the chase, he wasn't surprised to see they hadn't.

"Approximately 2 hours 43 minutes." He answered.

"Bridge to Engineering." Tuvok commed.

"Engineering here. I don't suppose I could talk you into slowing down?" Belanna spoke over the com.

"I'm afraid I cannot. In fact I need you to increase our speed if that is at all possible Lt." Tuvok replied.

Everyone on the bridge could hear the whine of the warp reactor as Lt Torres and her team did their best to keep it online while at the same time pushing it well beyond it's limits, especially while it was desperately in need of major repairs. "That's not recommended Commander. If we push the engines any harder we could lose warp capability completely."

Tuvok paused for just a second before he replied. "We have no other choice Lt. We must get to that nebula ahead of the Vidiians."

"Understood. Torres out."

"Lt Paris. Increase our speed to warp 8.1" As a Vulcan Tuvok found little interest in games of chance but right now he had no choice but to make a gamble. He hoped the crew of Voyager didn't have pay as a result.

It's been a while since I've had any Kool-Aid but I do have some of the packets in the cupboard. I think I'll make a pitcher today. I don't remember which flavors I like so this should be a sugar-fueled flavor adventure. :koolaid:

The Bynar

You can only buy them in pairs.

The Yridian

The Centaur in that episode may have been trying to disable the attack ship instead of destroy it. It was behind Federation lines so they might have assumed it had useful information onboard.

During a lot of those battle scenes the ships that were destroyed easily might have been targeted by multiple enemy ships. That would explain why their shields failed so quickly.

I try to get at least 4 to 6 hours a night. Sometimes it's hard to fall asleep. I do try to get a quick power nap sometimes, especially during my lunch break at work. I usually feel better if I can doze off for 10 or 15 minutes.

The Dinaal

It almost identical to the Human.

The Nezu

I liked the one about the proton power pack and fuel cells too, and the one on string theory. I almost understood that one. :unsure:

You think that some day instead of changing the oil in your car you'll have to let it defrag?

The Botha

It's the car that keeps you occupied with hallucinations to keep your mind off all of that pesky "driving." :unsure:

The Kolaran

The Tak Tak

It refuses to start if it gets the slightest scratch on it.

The Reman.

Back in camp, they scanned and scratched and ground up the specimens.Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. Sam and his little family were reluctant to leave and decided they wanted to stay close to Janeway and Chakotay. Janeway not sure what the problem was decided that was acceptable. Sam decided to bed his family down inside Janeway's module at the foot of her cot, they all huddled together as the sun went down and went to sleep there for the night. Janeway and Chakotay sat at the table and ate until they both felt sleepy, then they went to their respective modules.

Early next morning Sam and his brood wandered quietly back into the forest. Janeway and Chakotay decide it was time for another trip to the lagoon for water and baths and headed out shortly after breakfast. Janeway put a tricorder in her pocket as they headed off. Chakotay made sure he had his phaser.

When they arrived at the Waterfall they were surprised to see that the entire area surrounding the lagoon looked as if there were a torrential rain there recently. Areas that had been dry were now soaked with water.well away from the waterfall.

There had been no storm the night before so this puzzled the both of them.

"I could understand this if we had a plasma storm, but the last one was weeks ago." Janeway said.

They decided with all this unusual activity going on they'd better stay closer together while they bathed. They didn't split up this time.

"O.K. now, turn your back, and don't peek." Janeway said to Chakotay. "You can turn around when I'm in the water, up to my neck." Janeway began to undress quickly, keeping an eye on Chakotay. He was an honorable man and didn't move a muscle.

"Alright, you can turn around." She yelled from the water.

The leaves on the trees above Chakotay were rustling, like they would if there was a strong breeze, but there was very little wind. To convince himself that he wasn't crazy he pulled his tricorder out of his pocket and scanned the area. His scans confirmed what he already knew. He reached up a plucked a leaf from one of the lower hanging branches and scanned it. There was nothing special about it, nothing to explain what was happening. He made detailed scans of the entire area. The trees, the ground, everything. Whatever was happening it was going to take some time to solve.

As he was taking a final scan he noticed that the leaves were no longer rustling and the animals had calmed down. A few birds had even begun to return to their perches over head. He watched them.

"I don't suppose you could explain to me what's going on?" he asked them. One of them just cocked it's head towards Chakotay and looked at him.

Thinking the incident was isolated and over with Chakotay turned around to walk back to camp, when pieces of brush and small bushes began to fall all around him. He looked up again and could see they had somehow risen to the high tree branches and were now falling. This could very well be what scared the monkeys out of their nest in the trees where they sleep. Small stones were also falling and pelting Chakotay on his head and shoulders.

Chakotay rushed back to camp to tell Janeway what he saw, and to get out from under the assault. Janeway and Chakotay went back into the forest together to gather some samples for analysis. "There seems to be one mystery after another on this planet." Chakotay remarked. He picked up a few small stones and put them in a small knapsack slung over his shoulder.

"I love a good mystery." Janeway said

Later that day Janeway was examining the blood samples she had taken. She had her samples and a microscope on the table Chakotay had made along with a tricorder. Occasionally she made a note or two on her PADD. Chakotay came over to her carrying two cups. "I thought you'd like a cup of tea." He said as he set the cup by her left hand and sat down across from her. He sipped on the second cup of tea as he made notes on a PADD that he took out of his pocket.

Janeway took a sip of her tea. She noticed that Chakotay was working on something that was on his PADD. Despite her curiosity she didn't ask him about it. Occasionally Chakotay would make a comment to himself, quietly. She tried to ignore this but at the same time she listened carefully, trying to make out what he was saying. It was only a few moments before she lost patience.

"Chakotay?" she said as she set her own PADD aside. "Yes?" he answered. "May I ask what you're working on?"

"Of course. I was actually hoping you would. I need your opinion on a few things." Chakotay slid his PADD across the table. Janeway picked it up. On it was a diagram of her module, except there was another structure built onto it. "What's this?" she asked.

"A labratory." Chakotay began. "I thought you'd like somewhere to conduct your experiments."

Janeway cycled through a few more diagrams on the PADD. They showed the interior and a few details of what would be her new laboratory. "I love it." she said. "You can really build this?" "It shouldn't be too hard." Chakotay answered.

"Yes, it is getting sort of cramped in my module lately what with all the specimens I bring in everyday. When could you start on this?" she asked him as she handed his PADD back to him.

"As soon as you'd like." Chakotay smiled at Janeway . Their fingers touched as he took his PADD from her. Janeway hoped she wasn't blushing.

As Voyager sped towards 'New Earth' Tuvok made certain that they kept the Vidiian ship on sensors as long as it was in range. There was no sign of pursuit when the Vidiian passed beyond the limit of Voyager's sensors. Tuvok wasn't convinced that the Vidiians would give up that easily. "Ensign Kim. Keep scanning for any sign of pursuit." Tuvok was in his quarters meditating when his suspicions were confirmed.

"Paris to Tuvok." Tuvok's com chimed.

"Tuvok here."

"We're reading two Vidiian ships on long range sensors." It was Lt Paris reporting.

"Have they detected us?" Tuvok asked as he stepped into the turbolift.

"I'm afraid so. They altered course as soon as we detected them. I think it's the same ship we ran into earlier. Apparently they've brought friends."

While Voyager was still capable of warp speeds the damage had restricted it to a maximum speed of warp 6.8. Not fast enough to outrun the Vidiians. Tuvok tapped his com-badge again.

"Tuvok to Lt Torres."

"Torres here."

"Lt Torres. Can you increase our warp speed? We are currently being pursued by two Vidiian vessels." Tuvok asked.

"I'll see what I can do but it's still a mess down here."

"I understand Lt, but we must stay ahead of those Vidiian vessels until we can find somewhere to make repairs."

"Understood. Torres out."

Tuvok stepped out of the turbolift onto the bridge. Lt Paris got up from the Captain's chair and took his usual seat at the helm.

"Put the two Vidiian vessels on the main screen." Tuvok commanded as he sat down. The two ships appeared on the viewscreen. "What is their current speed and distance?" he asked.

"They're currently 1.3 light years away and closing. They're current velocity is warp 7.5." Harry Kim answered.

The pursuing Vidiian ships were still some distance away. That bought the crew some time. Tuvok had called a command meeting to discuss the current situation. Belanna was reporting on the state of Voyager's repairs. "The weapons and shields are fully operational. Harry and I have even managed to boost shield strength by about 10 percent. As for the bad news, we're not going to get anymore speed out of the engines." Lt Torres had managed to increase Voyager's speed to warp 8. "I've squeezed all I can out of them without dropping out of warp for a while." Torres reported.

"We can turn and fight." Tom Paris suggested. Even he didn't think that was a good idea.

"If their was a single Vidiian ship, I might concur. But against two our odds of success are reduced." Tuvok explained. "Ensign Kim has also detected a third Vidiian vessel on long range sensors. The best course of action for us to take is to outrun them as long as we can."

Neelix felt compelled to ask the question they all had in mind. "But if our top speed is reduced can we stay ahead of the Vidiians? I mean they'll catch up to us eventually, won't they?"

"Not if we can hide from them." Tuvok said. "We've found a dark matter nebula on the edge of our sensor range." Harry said. On the viewscreen at the end of the room he pulled up the information that they had on the nebula. "Once inside the nebula we'll be undetectable to sensors. The Vidiians might follow us inside but they'll be just as blind as we will."

"And since we'll have to drop out of warp, we can get the engines repaired." Lt Torres added.

Tuvok considered the options for a brief moment but it was clear what the choice was. "Very well. Lt Paris set a course for the nebula. Lt Torres anything you can do to increase our speed would greatly increase our chances of reaching the nebula ahead of the Vidiians. Ensign Kim please assist her in engineering. Dismissed." As everyone filed out of the briefing room Neelix walked with Belanna and Harry to the turbolift.

"What happens if the Vidiians catch up to us before we reach the nebula.?" he asked. "It means will have a running fight on our hands." Belanna said. Neelix gulped. "I think I'll go see the doctor in sickbay. He might need a hand."

As the evening turned to night, they both were getting sleepy. "Well, I'm going to bed now Chakotay." She told him as she cleared the table quickly and retreated to her module. Securing the door from the inside as she usually did. Chakotay said. "Good night, Catherine, Sweet Dreams". As she disappeared into her module.

The following morning Janeway was awake before dawn. She drank some water, heated some for a tea she made from leaves she found growing in the forest, strangely similar to mint on Earth. She dressed, made two cups and brought them out to the table. Chakotay was still sleeping. She could hear him snoring in his module. She laughed as she sat there and drank her tea and listened to that distinctive male serenade.

As she sat there she noticed that the usual achy back she had from her rock hard cot wasn't hurting. Every morning she struggles with it and does stretching exercises to alleviate the muscle knots. But today there were no such knots and no pain.She wondered why. She could hear Chakotay's snoring stop and him moving around in his module.

"Good Morning." She said in a loud voice.

"Morning Catherine." He answered from inside his module.

"Tea is ready here for you." She said.

"I'll be right out." He answered

Janeway watched the small birds that were abundant in this part of 'New Earth.' They spent every morning flying around the clearing where Janeway and Chakotay had made their home. The birds divided their time between pecking and scratching at the ground for insects and worms and sitting in the trees tweeting at one another. Their chirps and the sounds of Chakotay getting dressed in his module created an unusual symphony that made Janeway smile as she sipped her tea.

Janeway threw bits of cooked rice out for them as they landed one by one in front of her on the ground.Until a sort of "Gang" had collected there. As Chakotay opened the door of his module and stepped out it startled them and they all flew off.

Chakotay had another surprise for Catherine. He had fashioned out of a small stone he found in the forest a candle of sorts for the table. He collected pitch from the trees' bark and had set it on the table before they left earlier that evening. The sun was going down now behind the trees, Chakotay lit the candle as Janeway went to the kitchen to get the hot bowls of stew.

She came back to see him sitting there waiting for her. The light from the candle flickered in his eyes. She set the bowls down and said to him. "I hope you like this."

"It smells wonderful, Catherine."

Chakotay stood up as she was sitting the bowls down on the table. He pulled Catherine's chair out for her. As she sat down she brushed Chakotay's arm with her hand and let it linger there for a second. After Catherine sat down Chakotay took his seat across from her. The candle gave off a light, pleasant smell as it burned. It mixed with the aroma from the stew and filled the small room of the module.

They ate slowly and talked of days back when they were both children. The relationships they had in the past and what they had planned out their respective lives were to be like. After they had both had enough stew, Chakotay had requested a second bowl, which Janeway got for him and she also brought back another bowl, filled with berries and set it down in the center of the table.

Catherine ate the berries, one by one as Chakotay finished his stew. Then he began to eat the berries as well. They watched each other, being careful not to reach for one at the same time. "I could see myself living here. It's not such a bad place to end up Catherine. A simple life. It's something I thought about a lot when I was fighting with the Maquis." Chakotay said. "Have you ever wanted to be something other than a starship captain?" he asked her.

"Not really." She answered. "The days I spend as a child watching the sky and longing to know what it would be like living out there. Then I met Michael and that tempted me to forget about it. But the desire was too strong and Michael understood and he said he would wait for me to be ready to settle down."

"But being here with you now, I am having second thoughts." She continued. Chakotay reached across the table and took her hand as she reached for a berry. When his hand touched hers she didn't pull away. "I'm glad this has happened Catherine. It's given us some time alone together."

As the Vidiian struggled to regain it's systems Voyager went to warp. Tuvok had informed Janeway of the damage to Voyager during their exchange and how they had disabled the Vidiian vessel which had given them a chance to escape. The damage to Voyager was more than they expected and may mean they wouldn't get back to "New Earth" in the time they had agreed upon earlier. Janeway and Chakotay receive this news on the tricorder at the lagoon.

"Well, they have the antidote for the virus Catherine, that's one good thing. They'll be back, I'm sure of it. It just will take them a little longer than we thought." Chakotay said assuringly. "I know, your probably right. But I am still the Captain and that's a role hard to shake off your bones you know?" Janeway answered. "Tuvok can take care of Voyager. He has been in Starfleet longer than you or I have." Chakotay reasoned. "You're right." Janeway answered. Chakotay could tell from her tone that she wanted to be on her ship.

As they walked through the forest the sound of falling water filled the air. A nearby waterfall which they frequently visited to bathe and wash clothes in the lagoon at the bottom of a small mountain. "I sure could use a bath." She said to him. "Yea, me too, it's been what three days now?" They both laughed as they changed their direction in the forest and headed for the mountain.

Chakotay pushed aside a low hanging branch and then held it back for Catherine, she smiled at him as she passed. "Thank you." she said.

"I've been meaning to ask you how your experiments were coming along?" Chakotay asked as they walked.

"I lost a lot of the equipment in the plasma storm but I do still have the data I've gathered." she explained. "Maybe some of it can be repaired." Chakotay suggested.

"Well, you know the lab I have here is very limited and my research on this virus we've contracted is in it's most elementary stage. I'm trying to determine what type of chemical environment this virus finds the most difficult to reproduce in. A sort of alkaline/acid based controlled environment. To see if perhaps there is something you and I can do to speed up our incubation period. I'm afraid we may spread this thing to the chimps now, they are as you know basically the same as we are, biologically. We MUST think of the children Chakotay." She said jokingly.