Gateway of Ruin

Star Trek Voyager: Gateway of Ruin

by: Ed Reilly

Author's note

The events of this story parallel the events that occur at the end of the TNG novel
The Dominion War Book III: Tunnel Through the Stars by John Vornholt. Though this story can be enjoyed on its own, it is intended to be read in addition to the novel.

The approximate stardate of the story is 51227. It takes place two days after the
DS9 episode "The Sacrifice of Angels", and between Voyager episodes "Revulsion" and
"The Raven".

If you are a fanfic enthusiast, and stumbled upon my story, please feel free to e-mail me with your feedback (whether positive or negative). I would like to improve on my writing, and can only do so with honest input from fellow fans. You can reach me at, hogan1iron@hotmail.com

Thank you for reading, and enjoy!

*****************************

"Out!" yelled the line judge.

"Ms. Navratalova leads 1-4 1st set," said the chair umpire.

Kathryn Janeway started giggling to herself as she shuffled across the grass surface of

center court, "I do not think I'm ready for an opponent this tough," she said to herself.

"Computer, decrease opponents ability by 15%."

Before the match started, the Captain had already reduced her legendary opponents

ability down to 80%, but she was here to get a workout, and losing 6-1 6-1 in forty

minutes wasn't what she had in mind.

By the urging of Chekotay, her first officer, and the ships holographic Doctor, Janeway

decided to spend more of her all to short free time exercising. Upon hearing this, Neelix,

the ship's self appointed morale officer, reviewed the Captain's personnel file, and saw she

had put down tennis as one of her hobbies. With the help of the ship's computer he

created this holo-program especially for her. Complete with all the great tennis venues and

players, both men and women, of Earth's past. Today Janeway had chosen center court

Wimbledon and Martina Navratalova, circa 1984.

During the change over, the Captain sat on her chair and toweled the sweat off her

brow. For the moment Neelix' program had its desired effect. Not only was Janeway

getting a nice workout, she had forgotten about ship's business. Instead her mind had

turned to her youth in Indiana. How she resented her parents for making her take tennis

lessons, then finally growing to respect and enjoy the sport as an adolescent. Once she

enrolled in Starfleet Academy she had less and less time to play. Then after becoming an

officer she stopped all together. This program allowed her to get back into the sport. She

was glad Neelix had created it for her, and made a mental note to thank the Talaxian.

Today though, it seems Janeway has bitten off more than she can chew. Only one week

after she started using the program, she decided to take on the greatest female grass court

player of all time.

"Time," said the female umpire into the microphone, signaling the players to begin

playing again. Kathryn quickly got up and walked to the end of the court. She could hear

the crowd taking their seats and hushing one another. Usually Janeway found the crowds

rather daunting, and had the computer delete them. Polite and quiet English fans though,

Janeway could handle. She made her way to the end of the court, received two balls from

the ballboy, and prepared to serve. "Put this wide out to her backhand, and come in right

behind it," murmured Janeway quietly to herself. The only way she was going to get back

in this match was to be aggressive.

Gracefully, Janeway tossed the ball in the air, concentrating on nothing else. Just as she

was about to make her strike, from the Royal Box behind her, she heard, "My dear

Kathryn, seeing you in that short skirt almost makes me forget that I'm a family man." The

voice was unmistakable. Janeway turned around and let the ball fall to the ground as she

heard the gasps and groans of the shocked crowd. In the box she saw her sometimes

nemesis, sometimes friend, Q, along with the very surprised faces of the Duke and

Duchess of York.

"What brings you to twentieth century England, Q?" she shouted to the powerful,

arrogant, and arguably higher life form. With a flash of white light Q was now down on

the court. He was tastefully dressed in a white turtle neck sweater, blue blazer, tan slacks,

and brown loafers. In his hands was a bowl of the classic Wimbledon snack, strawberries

and cream.

"Does the most powerful force in the universe need a reason to drop in on his favorite

lower life forms ?" Q asked sarcastically, as stadium security rushed to subdue the

intruder.

"Computer pause program," Janeway said to, what seemed like, the thin air. "No, you

don't need a reason. I'm willing to bet you have one though?" said the Captain quizzically,

as everything around the two of them froze. "What is it this time? Has the continuum

kicked you out again? Or do you need my help to spawn another messiah?" Janeway

asked, not at all intimidated by Q's demeanor as she was the first time the two had met.

"By the way, how is my Godson?" referring to the child Q and his wife, Q, had produced

the last time he had graced Voyager with his presence.

"Both wife and mother seem to have the insatiable goal of driving me crazy!" he said to

Janeway, while holding his hands out in a mock choking gesture.

Janeway could see that there was still a lot left of the old Q, "Well that is family life for

you. But how is he physically? emotionally?"

"Kathryn, he is a Q, and my son. He is perfect of course," he answered, "And he is also

having the desired effect on the Continuum. We are, if not reluctantly, united," he then

leaned in close and whispered, "It is what's best for the child."

"Mmm hmm," replied the Captain.

"I would love to make small talk with you all day Kathy, but I must let you know why

I am here," and with a wave of his hand they were both transported across the galaxy and

onto the small, gray, bleak bridge of another ship.

"Where are we?" she demanded to know.

"You tell me, Captain."

Janeway looked around the bridge. At first she couldn't place the species of aliens she

was now surrounded by. The pale skinned man, with the dark hair, and long ridged ears,

was wearing some sort of strange headgear with a small eyepiece held a few centimeters in

front of his face. He was the only one of his species on the bridge. He seemed to be in

charge, and was ordering around a bunch of large, gray creatures that had extremely ugly

exoskeletons, and a tube pumping a white substance into their necks.

As Janeway began to wonder why the crew was not acknowledging the two intruders,

she suddenly realized who they were, "The Dominion!"

"Very good Kathryn," replied Q as he put down his cup of Strawberries and cream on

some sort of computer panel.

Captain Janeway did not know much about the Dominion. First contact had been made

with them only a few months prior to Voyager's first mission. What she did know is

that they were a powerful and tyrannical force in the gamma quadrant who were bent on

controlling the Bajoran wormhole, and the entire alpha quadrant.

As Jem'Hadar scurried about the bridge, not regarding Q or herself, Janeway asked, "I

take it they can not see us?"

"Correct," replied Q as he searched the bridge for a viewscreen, but couldn't find one.

Finally he gave up and transported both the Captain and himself into the empty vacuum of

space.

For a moment Janeway was disoriented. She had suddenly found herself standing on

the bow of the Dominion vessel with nothing but infinity surrounding her. She should not

have been able to survive out there with only a blouse, a skirt, her sneakers, and a tennis

racquet, but she quickly remembered that, with Q,anything is possible. Looking around

she saw an extremely large fleet of Dominion ships gathered around a seemingly empty

point in the middle of space.

Seeing the confusion in her eyes, Q spoke up, "We are in the gamma quadrant. In the

heart of Dominion territory," he said softly as he walked behind her and placed his head

directly over her right shoulder. "You don't know about the war, do you?"

"No, I don't." Janeway was unable to take her eyes off the overwhelming sight of

hundreds of enemy vessels in one area, "I take it the Federation's plan of diplomacy did

not work?" she asked, remembering where things had stood with these beings when she

had left the alpha quadrant.

"No, it failed, and miserably."

Janeway got a sick feeling in her gut. Not because of the fact the Federation was

fighting a war in her absence, but because she knew that they were losing. She had always

feared that Voyager would be destroyed before they could reach home, but she never

considered the fact that there could be no "home" to return to.

Q's voice suddenly turned very somber, "I'm not going to lie to you Kathryn. It is

bad."

Janeway tried to take the news stoically, but her face betrayed the concern she felt for

her friends and loved ones, and her anger over the fact that she could not play a part in the

war effort.

Q continued on, "But there is hope Kathryn. Two days ago the Federation scored

their biggest victory to date." He then walked over and placed his head over her left

shoulder, "A Cardassian and Dominion alliance had taken over Deep Space Nine. Only a

simple minefield, placed in front of the Bajoran wormhole before the Federation

evacuated, prevented these Jem'Hadar ships from entering the alpha quadrant, and

crushing their opposition."

Janeway then turned and looked Q in the eyes, "What happened?"

"The Cardassians finally found a way to dismantle the minefield. But as Dominion ships

flooded the wormhole, Ben Sisko convinced, whoever they are in that... thing," secretly Q

found the "Prophets", as the Bajorans called them, threatening, "to keep it closed until

further notice. Then an armada of Federation forces, took back DS9, and for the first

time, momentum shifted towards your friends."

Janeway listened intently to Q's recap of the events. She was pleased to here that

things were finally looking up for the good guys. Then she realized she was brought here

for a reason, and interjected the word that she knew Q was about to say, "But?"

Q nodded, "Yes Kathy, there is a but," he then pointed to the large empty space that

was surrounded by the Dominion vessels, "A Trill scientist has found a way to create a

stable artificial wormhole, and, unfortunately, he is not working for the Federation."

Janeway eyed the dark empty point in space and asked simply, "How?"

"The specifics are not important, Kathryn. Just know that in twenty short minutes these

Dominion ships will enter the alpha quadrant, and supply your enemy with much needed

reinforcements."

Immediately the Captain's mind began racing. Will the Federation survive? How can I

stop this? Can I stop this? These were a few of the questions she was asking herself. Then

her mind turned to the most logical question, "Does the Federation have any idea about

this?"

"No, they don't," answered Q, "In the alpha quadrant, they have constructed the

wormhole well behind enemy lines. Also it is hidden by the 'Badlands'."

"Damn," remarked Janeway. "What does this have to do with you Q?"

Q flashed her a quizzical look, "Why Kathy, what exactly do you mean?"

Janeway raised her voice in response, "You know what I mean. You don't get yourself

out of bed in the morning unless it benefits you somehow."

"I don't sleep, Kathryn, but I believe I can explain," Q then produced a small purple

couch, and the two were suddenly sitting very close together. "It is needless to say,

Captain, that in a relatively short period of time, the Continuum has been greatly affected

by both humans and the Federation."

"I would agree," said Janeway.

Q then placed his hand on her knee, "I don't want to see humanity perish anymore than

you. I've tried to convince the Continuum to simply destroy the Dominion, and put an end

to this thing," he then paused for a second, hoping that he was giving a moving

performance, and smiled, "but they seem to be enamored by your 'Prime Directive', and

refused to get involved. I then reminded them that you are the Godmother of the future of

the Continuum. That, and the pulling of a lot of strings, finally got them to compromise on

this plan."

"What plan, Q?" yelled Janeway.

"You are going to destroy the wormhole, Kathryn," he plainly replied.

"With what? My tennis racquet?"

Q's smile broadened as he gave Janeway a wink of his right eye, and in an instant, they

were on the bridge of Voyager, along with its very confused senior staff.

Like the Captain, the bridge crew had been suddenly plucked away from their daily

routines. Tom had been working on a 1967 Chevy Camaro, that he was using his

replicator rations to build. He appeared wearing a blue jumpsuit that was covered in

grease and oil. B'Elanna was enjoying a quiet breakfast in her quarters, and had on only a

bathrobe. Both Tuvok and Chekotay had been the most fortunate. They were on bridge

duty at the time, and were the only two in uniform. Last, and in this case least, was Harry,

who had just finished the graveyard shift, and was yanked from his sleep. When he

removed his night mask, he found himself standing behind his ops console wearing nothing

but a pair of boxer shorts.

Chekotay bolted upright from the Captain's chair, and was the first to speak, "What's

happening, Captain?"

Before Janeway could answer, Q interjected, "I have temporarily brought you and your

ship to the gamma quadrant. You have been given an opportunity to help your comrades

that are fighting a war without you." Q then turned towards Janeway and spoke only to

her, "I have hidden you behind a moon, near the wormhole. You are on your own from

here."

For a moment Janeway gave in to a selfish thought, and asked, "If there is a way we

could get thr-"

Q cut her off in mid sentence, "Absolutely not. The Continuum would...how does Will

Riker say it?...ah yes, have my ass in a sling. Don't even attempt to send a transmission

threw. I can't allow it. When this is over I will place you back in the delta quadrant."

Janeway simply nodded her head. Though she truly did not believe his motives, she

was grateful for the opportunity they had been given, and intended to make the most of it.

Q turned to regard the rest of the bridge crew, "Your captain will fill you in on the

particulars. I have an errand to run, but don't worry. I will be back to check on your

progress." Then he was gone.

Janeway took a second to observe her crew, and couldn't help but laugh at how silly

they all looked. Then the gravity of the situation engulfed her as she realized they had less

than twenty minutes to save their homes.

******************************

If she was still bound by the same rules of time, it would have been about two months

since she left her adopted home, and she was still getting used to living on this "higher

plane of existence." An artist, and the whole universe is her canvas, is how she began to

think of herself. But even though she was faced with limitless possibilities, her thoughts

kept turning back to them, her loved ones, her family, her Voyager.

She had already given them one gift, but she realized that was simply not enough to

express her gratitude. It had been Neelix, and Captain Janeway, and the whole crew, that

unconditionally took in an unknown and naive young women-child, and because of them,

she had been able to transform into what she is now. So once she learned that Voyager

might lose the very home they are so desperately trying to return to, she attempted to

help them even further. But she quickly learned that, even on higher plains of existence,

there are obstacles.

"O.K., the plan is in place," she heard a voice say, "Don't forget the rules of our deal,

missy."

Kes hated the way he talked down to her, and the way he would appear unexpectedly,

but as the new omnipotent being on the block, she figured it would take some time to be

accepted.

"I know," she replied.

Kes had planned to use her new talents to put an end to the war between the

Federation and the Dominion, but before she could make it so she was stopped by the

entity she had come to know as Q. He told her that the Continuum had been monitoring

her progress, and were impressed. Unfortunately though, they would not allow her to

carry off her plan. The Continuum's own version of the Prime Directive he told her. Even

though she was not a "Q", the Continuum had declared themselves as sort of an

"omnipotent police". Although disappointed, Kes understood their reasoning, but did not

give up. She retained the soft spoken confidence she had in her past existence, and used it

to the best of her ability by pulling on the strings of Q's heart (Yes, Q does have one, she

discovered). It resulted in a compromise where the Continuum would give Voyager an

opportunity to help their comrades, and hand the Dominion a crushing defeat.

Part of the compromise, in regards to this one matter, was that she could not help her

old friends, or somehow let them know that she is involved. It was not the best solution,

but she knew she could not take on the entire Continuum and win, so she agreed.

"Our friends are resilient," stated Q, "but I think that they are overmatched here."

"They will do it," responded Kes, "I have faith."

"Yes, I suppose you do," he said sarcastically. "You will soon find that faith is useless

here."

Kes' voice held a slight sense of shock, "I don't believe that."

"Tell you what," said Q, "The misses and I have been meaning to get away to the

mountains of Pocanus II, for some rest and relaxation. If I am right, and they don't pull

this off, you have to baby-sit."

"Q!" exclaimed Kes, with an astonished look on her face, "You just called these people

your friends, and now you are willing to place a wager on whether they live or die.

How can you be so cold?"

"If you are going to exist for eternity, you better get used to seeing friends die, young

lady." answered Q, condescendingly.

Though still appalled, she could see Q's logic, "And if they do succeed?" she asked.

Q pondered the question for a few seconds, "If they do...When I put them back in the

delta quadrant, I'll...make a slight error."

"How slight?"

"Say, five years closer."

Kes jumped at the opportunity, "Deal."

******************************

After Q's departure from the bridge, Janeway brought her senior staff up to speed on

the situation at hand. Despite experiencing many of the same emotions that she had,

they quickly turned their thoughts to devising a plan.

"Ideas anyone?" asked the Captain.

Logically, Tuvok was the first to speak up, "Given the delicate nature of a wormhole, a

couple of well placed photon torpedoes would render it ineffective."

Janeway shook her head from side to side, "There are hundreds of Dominion ships out

there. We would not be able to get close enough."

"Captain," interjected Tom Paris, "If we use Voyager as a decoy, I could get a

shuttle close en-"

Janeway cut him off before he could finish, "It would be a suicide mission, Tom. Even

if you could get close enough, we probably would not be able to get you back." She then

placed her hand on his shoulder, "I'm not willing to take that risk." And as she pulled her

hand away she silently added, At least not yet.

Before the Captain could walk away, Tom took hold of her arm, "Captain!" he yelled,

and then quickly took down the tone of his voice one level. "I am willing to take the

risk."

Janeway smiled, she could see the sincerity in his eyes. It was enough to make even a

Klingon proud, "I know Tom," was all she said, as she slowly pulled her arm away.

Not knowing what to say, Tom simply remained silent, and frustrated.

"Is there anyway we can get a view of the enemy?" Chekotay asked of Ensign Kim.

"Not without revealing ourselves to the Jem'Hadar," he answered.

"I took a pretty good mental image of the situation," said Janeway. "It will have to do

for now."

Then B'Elanna voiced an idea, "One of their own ships could get close enough without

causing suspicion. The problem would be getting control of one."

"How could we do that," asked Tom, "without the whole enemy fleet knowing we're

here?"

"The key is luring only one vessel towards us. Then hijack the ship without destroying

it," thought the captain out loud. She then sarcastically added, "Easy enough."

Chekotay already had a plan working in his head, "If we sent a probe to the planets

surface that sent out a subspace signal, nothing fancy, just a few beeps every few seconds,

one of them might come over to check it out."

The idea energized the crew, that is all except Tuvok, "We would have to assume that

they would be able to detect that it is a Starfleet probe," said the Vulcan. "Fearing some

sort of sabotage, they would then send numerous vessels to investigate." And with that he

took the air out of everyone's proverbial sails.

And then the resourceful Harry Kim gave it right back, "Neelix' shuttle has some

probes."

"Yes," replied Chekotay, "but by Tuvok's theory, won't a probe of unknown origin

arouse the same suspicion as one from Starfleet?"

Janeway quickly put an end to the debate, "That may be, but it's the best chance we've

got. Harry, alert shuttlebay two. Tell them to prepare one of Neelix' probes."

"Yes captain."

Janeway then turned her mind to the next problem, "Now, once they are here, then

what?"

At first the crew responded only with silence, but within a few seconds Chekotay had

an idea, "Somehow we get them to lower their shields. Hopefully we will then be able to

beam them off their ship."

The idea was good, but incomplete, thought Janeway, "O.K., but how do we get them

to lower their shields?" Everyone knew the use of weapons would give them away, so that

was not an option. Then the captain remembered an important piece of information,

"Harry, scan the moons surface for silicon."

Harry's fingers quickly went to work, "Nothing, Captain."

"Good," responded Janeway, "any silicon at all down there would stick out like a sore

thumb," she said to nobody in particular.

"What is your theory, Captain?" asked Tuvok.

"Before we departed on our first mission from DS9, I had an opportunity to speak

with then Commander Sisko. He told me that both the Jem'Hadar and the other ones..." it

took her a few seconds to remember their names, "the Vorta. They regard those silicon

shapeshifters, like the constable on t, as Gods."

Tuvok then finished her thought, "And if they believe that one of their 'Gods' is in

peril, they will do whatever they can to save it."

"Exactly!" exclaimed Janeway.

"Logical," Tuvok then said, with one eyebrow raised.

"Harry," said Janeway as she briskly walked over to his ops station, "along with the

Talaxian probe, have a container of liquid silicon prepared to be beamed down to the

moon's surface."

"Aye, Captain," replied Kim, who then began to notify the appropriate people.

Janeway then turned and moved on to the next problem, "Once we have lured an

enemy ship over, how can we hide ourselves?"

"I have an answer for that one, Captain," answered Tom. "There are high levels of

gamma radiation in the planet's stratosphere. If we hide in there, they won't be able to

pick us up on their sensors."

"Yes, but our sensors will be useless as well," said B'Elanna, "Not to mention the

transporters."

"Not exactly," responded Tom quickly and confidently, "the improvements Seven of

Nine has made to the sensors, along with the advantage of knowing exactly what we are

looking for, should be enough."

Just then, "Seven of Nine to the Captain," came across the comm.

"Go ahead, Seven." ordered Janeway.

"I have been monitoring the situation from astronomics. Lieutenant Paris is correct. I

can operate the sensors from here."

"Do it!" exclaimed Janeway.

"And captain," interjected Seven before the Captain could end the conversation, "I

suggest rerouting the transporter through the deflector array. That should boost its power

enough to cut through the gamma radiation."

"Excellent idea Seven," said the Captain, "Tell us the second they lower their shields.

Janeway out."

She then turned her attention to Ensign Kim, "Harry, do you have those things I asked

you for?"

"Yes, Captain, both the probe and the silicon are ready to go."

"Perfect! We will hide ourselves in the atmosphere first, then Harry, you beam down

the bait." Janeway then paused for a moment and added, "Then we wait....Tom, take us

down."

***************************

The tension was thick on the bridge. It had been six minutes since they placed the

"bait" on the moon's surface, and so far nothing.

"We'll give it five more minutes," said the Captain, "Then we go to plan B."

But then their prayers were answered, "Captain, a Jem'Hadar vessel has just entered

orbit," said Seven from the astronomics lab.

"Red alert!" yelled Janeway, "Can you get a reading on how many life signs aboard?"

"Not yet Cap-" Seven stopped in mid thought, and remained silent for a few seconds.

Concern then filled her strong voice. "I am reading a second enemy ship."

"Damn," said Janeway softly.

"Hold on," ordered Seven, as her voice relaxed slightly. "The second ship is

retreating."

Janeway then breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "We'll take some good luck anyway

we can get it," she then asked. "Life signs, Seven, how many?"

"Fifty two Jem'Hadar and two Vorta."

"Seven, as soon as they drop shields, you are to beam them all to cargobay two." She

then turned to Harry, "Transfer transporter controls to astronomics. Tuv-"

There was no need for the Captain to finish her thought, Tuvok knew what to do.

"Once the enemy is aboard, I will erect a level ten force field around the cargobay," stated

the Vulcan.

Only silence filled the bridge for the next minute. The fish was circling the hook, now if

it would only bite.

*******************************

Seven of Nine's confident voice replaced the silence of the bridge, "The Dominion ship

has dropped shields, and are beaming up the silicon."

"Do it!" yelled Janeway.

"Activating transport," said Seven calmly, followed by a few moments of silence.

"Seven, report!" ordered the Captain.

"Transport complete. I got them all, Captain."

Janeway allowed herself to relax, and slouched back into her chair. Looking around the

bridge, she saw looks of relief on the faces of the rest of the crew as well, "Tuvok, are the

prisoners secure?" she asked.

"The Jem'Hadar are rather upset, but it seems that the two Vorta are attempting to

calm-" Tuvok then stopped to read a message that was coming over his terminal,

"Captain, one of the Vorta are demanding to speak with you."

"Let'em rot!" exclaimed the Captain, "and I want security posted by every possible exit

of that shuttlebay. Even the jefferies tubes."

"Yes, Captain."

One problem solved, and now on to the next for Janeway. "I need someone to

accompany me on the enemy vessel," she proclaimed.

"Captain," said Chekotay, "you shouldn't go. You are needed here."

Janeway appreciated the sentiment, but could not oblige, "I am needed out there more,

Chekotay. I'm the only one who has seen what is going on out there. That makes me the

logical choice."

Tuvok could not help but respond, "That is correct, Captain."

Chekotay said nothing. All he could do was lower his eyes and hastily shook his head

up and down. He did have confidence in her abilities, but he realized the grave danger

involved. A first officers top priority is to protect his captain. Janeway would expect

nothing less from him.

Tom turned his chair around and spoke up, "You'll need a good pilot, Captain. I'll

go."

Janeway pondered his request, then quickly came to a decision, "Sorry Tom, Seven has

the most experience assimilating alien technology. I'm taking her."

"Can she be trusted?" asked B'Elanna from her engineering station.

It was a fair question. The former Borg had only been on board for a few weeks, and

her loyalty was still very much in question.

"I'm willing to gamble that she does not want to die any more than I do," answered

the Captain as she walked towards the turbolift and struck her comm badge. "Janeway to

Seven, I have a treat for you."

*****************************

Both the Captain, who was still dressed in her tennis outfit, and Seven materialized on

the bridge of the Dominion vessel with phaser rifles in hand. Even though all the

Jem'Hadar and Vorta had been beamed off the ship, something about the rifles made

Janeway feel safer.

"Janeway to Voyager."

"Chekotay here, Captain."

"We are on the bridge," said Janeway as she began to study the many computer screens

that surrounded her. "Those other Jem'Hadar ships are going to expect their friends to

return soon, so we have to get out of here now, if not sooner."

"Captain," responded Chekotay, "Tuvok has dug up a video of Constable Odo in the

computer's data banks. It is some sort of training manual he made for Federation security

personnel that had been transferred to DS9. We thought it might be helpful."

"I don't understand what you are getting at, Commander," proclaimed Janeway,

quizzically.

"Those Dominion vessels are going to expect you to report back something," replied

Chekotay. "We figured the visual of the shapeshifter would confuse them. It might buy

you a minute or two."

"Good thinking, Commander, send it over. I hadn't thought of that, but I'm glad you

did. They will be less likely to fire on us if they think there is a Founder on board."

As they spoke, Seven found what seemed to be the helm. She laid her rifle on the

terminal next to her, and then realized something, "There is a problem, Captain."

"What is it, Seven?"

Seven had a befuddled look on her face that reminded Janeway of the look she had

when she was first severed from the collective.

"There is no viewscreen," answered Seven.

"I saw the Vorta wearing some sort of headset. That must have been what they use

instead of a viewscreen. I'm afraid it got beamed over with them," said Janeway as she

searched the bridge for one. "There must be another one around here somewhere."

"I do not see one." Seven told her.

Janeway then walked over to the helm station and placed her hand on Seven's

shoulder, "When humans began to fly airplanes, in the twentieth century, they would

sometimes be blinded by fog or dead of night." Then her voice grew a little stronger as she

continued, "In that situation they were told to do one thing. Trust your instruments!"

"Yes captain."

"You'll be fine, Seven," Janeway told her as she walked over to another terminal.

"How are you coming with the controls?"

"They are quite simple, Captain. I do not think the Jem'Hadar are very intelligent."

"Good!" responded Janeway as she placed her rifle on an empty terminal. "I think I've

found weapons control over here. Chekotay, are you still there?"

"Yes, Captain, I'm here."

"This is the plan," she said in her usual confident tone. "Seven and I are going to head

out. From what Q told me, I estimate the wormhole will open in five minutes. We will fire

a round of photon torpedoes in exactly five minutes from my mark. You're job will be to

somehow get close enough to beam us out after we have fired the weapons."

"Understood," responded Chekotay.

"As soon as you have us, jump to warp. Hopefully by then Q will have gotten us out of

here," It caused Janeway actual physical pain to say that last part. She did not like having

to rely on Q for assistance.

"What about our prisoners, Captain?"

Janeway had forgotten about the unwanted visitors, "Is the air breathable on that

moon?"

"Barely," answered Tuvok, "they will only be able to survive for at most two hours."

"That's good enough. Someone should be able to rescue them by then." As she said

this, Janeway did consider the fact that they might not survive, but then she remembered

that this is war, and there is no room for compassion.

"Are we ready, Seven?" she asked.

Seven answered in her usual icy cold tone, "I am prepared."

Janeway wished she could be so sure of herself. There are plenty of negatives that

come with being a Borg, but at this moment she found herself envying Seven, "Take us

out, slowly," she ordered in almost a whisper. Her attention then turned back to

Voyager, "Chekotay, start the countdown...now!"

"Good luck you two," said Chekotay. "We will see you in five minutes."

Janeway was about to ask, is that a promise? But instead said simply, "Janeway out."

**********************************

Seven guided the Jem'Hadar vessel skillfully out of orbit, and proceeded to where the

sensors told her the other Dominion vessels were located, "All the enemy ships seem to be

congregating around one point in space."

"Then get us as close to that spot as possible," Janeway told her. "I'm broadcasting the

visual of the shapeshifter, or at least I think I am," she said, confused by the alien

technology.

What neither off them had noticed was that a silver liquid substance had creeped up

from a heating duct, located on the on the floor of the bridge, and quietly slid its way

towards Seven. Once it was close enough, the fluid creature promptly took the form of a

humanoid, and grabbed Seven's rifle. Before either of the humans could react, the

Founder fired and struck Seven directly in the chest.

Janeway instinctively reached for her own rifle, but the shapeshifter quickly turned and

had its weapon pointed directly at her before Seven hit the ground.

"Don't move," calmly said the shapeshifter to the strangely dressed human.

Janeway did not respond verbally. All she could do was stand there silent with her

hands in the air as the Founder slowly walked over and picked up the other rifle. Janeway

was glad that they were only set on heavy stun, something that this "person" did not

know. It was something Janeway might be able to use to her advantage.

"Why don't you just kill me?" she asked the gender neutral look a like with the straight

dark black hair.

"Don't be silly." said the shapeshifter. "First you will watch your vessel be destroyed.

Then you will be interrogated on how and why you arrived here in the gamma quadrant."

It then began tapping commands into the helm, while being careful to keep one eye on the

Captain.

Suddenly Janeway heard a familiar voice behind her, "Kathy, if this was an

action-adventure novel I would have seen this plot twist coming two chapters ago."

Janeway did not have to turn around to know who it was.

******************************

"How much longer?" barked Chekotay, impatiently.

"Two minutes twelve seconds, Commander." Tuvok answered.

Every person on Voyager's bridge was about to jump out of their skin. The thought

of standing still for even just another two minutes seemed unbearable.

Even Tuvok was not immune to the tension, though his extraordinary mental discipline

allowed him to keep his apprehension under control. He was busy checking and

rechecking the weapons system in preparation for battle, when all of a sudden he felt a

presence, a familiar presence, a strong presence. Tuvok relaxed and opened his mind to

whatever was attempting to contact him. Normally, in a situation like this, he would

proceed with caution, but there was something about this entity that made him feel safe.

He felt that someone, or something, was attempting to alert him of something urgent,

and as he received the message it became clear to Tuvok exactly who was sending it.

"Commander!" yelled Tuvok with a sense of urgency, "the Captain and Seven are in

trouble. We must retrieve them now!"

"How do you know this, Tuvok?"

The Vulcan's face appeared as hard as steel as he glared directly at the first officer, "I

can not explain the logic behind my knowledge, but if we do not leave now they will be

killed."

B'Elanna couldn't help but put in her two cents, "Do you expect us to go simply on

your intuition?"

"Yes." he told B'Elanna. Then he turned back to Chekotay, "It would be illogical for

me to put the mission and the crew in jeopardy if I were not certain, Commander. We

have to get them out of there now," he said in a slightly elevated tone.

Chekotay considered it for a second, put aside the resentment that he still felt for the

Vulcan, and decided to take a leap of faith, "Tom, break orbit. Harry beam down the

prisoners. Tuvok, bring weapons on line. I think we're going to have a fight on our

hands."

"Transport complete," shouted Kim.

"Good," replied Chekotay. "Harry, your job is to find Seven and the Captain's ship, get

a lock on them, and beam them out."

At that moment the ship cleared the moon, and for the first time, they saw exactly what

they were up against. To their credit, there were no emotional responses. Only an eerie

silence.

"I am reading increased natrino emissions ahead," proclaimed Tuvok. He did not have

to say anything else. Everyone knew that the wormhole was about to open.

*****************************

The shapeshifter fired the phaser at the new intruder, but to its dismay, the beam went

directly through him, doing no harm.

"That will not work against me," proclaimed Q, rather sadly. "Don't worry though, I'm

not here to stop you."

The Founder was unsuccessful in keeping the shock out of its voice, "Who are you?

What do you want?"

Janeway spoke before Q could respond, "Get us out of here Q!" she pleaded.

The sad look on Q's face only increased, "I am sorry Kathryn. I should not have

gotten you involved in this, but there is nothing I can do now."

"Damn you Q!" screamed the Captain. "You could end th-"

Janeway was then interrupted by the Founder who was staring at a computer screen,

"It does not matter why you are here. It is too late. The wormhole is open."

The Captain could only imagine the sight of the Dominion vessels entering the

gateway, on a path of death.

"How is this?" asked Q. "No, it can't be!"

The Founder responded to Q by saying, "You can not stop the Dominion." What it, or

Janeway for that matter, did not know was that was not what Q was talking about.

Then, without explanation, Q vanished.

The shapeshifter quickly disregarded the man's mysterious disappearance, and then

turned to give its full attention to its prisoners, only to see both of them dematerialize.

Frantically it fired the rifle at Janeway, but it was too late. They were gone.

***************************

As Janeway and the unconscious Seven materialized on the bridge of Voyager, they

were met by enemy torpedo blasts that almost knocked the ship upright, tossing everyone

about.

As the Captain pulled herself to her feet, she eyed the viewscreen through the smoke

and sparks being given off by the damaged instruments. What she saw was the

disheartening sight of Dominion vessels entering the awesome creation that was the

wormhole. "Are we close enough to fire torpedoes?" she shouted.

At first there was no response from Tuvok, who was struggling to get to his feet. The

left side of his face was badly burned, but that did not stop him from performing his duty.

"No, we are not," he uttered as more enemy fire rocked the ship.

"Propulsion off line!" proclaimed Paris, taking away the possibility of getting

themselves any closer.

Janeway was out of ideas. She was about to ask the crew for suggestions when

Chekotay yelled, "Look! The wormhole!"

Everyone turned their attention to the viewscreen, and caught a glimpse of the

wormhole closing in on itself, leaving hundreds of enemy vessels behind in the gamma

quadrant.

As everyone attempted to figure out exactly what had just happened, Tuvok received

another message from presence that had contacted him earlier. A faint smile appeared on

his burnt face.

At that moment, with the flash of a bright white light, they were removed from their

dangerous situation, and reappeared somewhere else, with nothing but distant stars

surrounding them.

"What just happened?" whispered Janeway.

Harry was the first to respond, "According to the computer, we are back in the delta

quadrant. Exactly where we were before Q transported us." He again looked down at his

terminal and said, "Injured reported on all decks, no fatalities."

"Sensors indicate no other vessels in the vicinity, Captain," added Tuvok.

"Harry, transport Seven directly to sickbay," ordered Janeway. "Tuvok, get yourself to

sickbay as well." She then turned to the rest of the crew, "Nobody answered my question.

What the hell happened?"

"I'll tell you what happened, Kathy," said Q, as he suddenly appeared sitting in the

Captain's chair. "With nothing more than a pea-shooter, Jean-luc Picard was able to

destroy the wormhole from the other side."

Janeway walked up to him and peered directly into his eyes, "So the bottom line is,

those Dominion ships are still stuck in the gamma quadrant?"

"Yes, Kathryn."

"I'm glad you didn't leave us out there to die, Q." said Chekotay.

"After all we've been through," mockingly replied Q to the entire bridge crew. He

then stood and left everyone with one final thought, "Don't thank me. It was really

nothing." And with a snap of his fingers he was gone.

****************************

Afraid of retaliation, Kes tried to "lay low" until the anger of Q, and the Continuum,

subsided. But as she quickly learned, eternity is a very small place.

"In a very short time, you have managed to make quite a few enemies for yourself,

young lady."

Kes was not surprised to hear Q's patronizing voice. She knew he would find her

eventually. "I simply followed my heart," she announced to him.

Q was unable to hide the contempt in his voice, "You are not prepared for

omnipotence. You could not even destroy a simple wormhole and save your beloved

Captain without soliciting help from that Vulcan. If it were up to me I would send you

back to your leola roots in the hydroponics bay. But you are not part of the Continuum,

and therefore not my responsibility."

To Q's surprise, Kes responded, "I don't think so, Q! Drop the phony attitude," in a

manner that betrayed the sweet and soft spoken Kes of her other life. "I am aware of what

you did. You could have easily undone what I had caused, but instead you went back and

manipulated events in the alpha quadrant so your friend would get the credit! And do you

want to know why?"

"No." answered Q, in an attempt to end her rant, but was unsuccessful.

"I will tell you. You like humans! You like Captain Janeway! You do not want to see

them crushed by those liquid creatures anymore than I do!"

Everything she said was true, and Q knew it. Secretly he was impressed with Kes. She

had come a long way from the meek child she had been in her previous existence. But Q

had a reputation to uphold, "Do me, the Continuum, and yourself a favor. Find a nice little

corner of eternity and keep a low profile for a bit. At least until you mature a little more,"

Q's voice then softened a bit, "because next time that you take on more than you can

handle, I can not promise I'll be there to clean up your mess."

Kes calmed herself as she realized what Q was doing for her, "I will, I promise," she

said in barely above a whisper.

****************************

As Tuvok lit his meditation candle, he heard the familiar chirp that told him that

someone was at the door. "Come," he yelled.

The doors to his quarters slid open and revealed the smiling face of Captain Janeway.

"I hope I am not interrupting."

"No, Captain, please come in." As Janeway walked over and knelt by the small table

beside him, Tuvok asked, "Has Seven of Nine's condition improved any?"

"She is fully recovered, and regenerating in her alcove," she answered. "But I came

here to see how you are doing. Your face has healed nicely."

Tuvok raised his right eyebrow and said, "You could have gotten that information from

the Doctor's medical logs. I assume then you are actually here for another purpose."

Janeway could not contain her giggle. "Yes, I suppose I am." She then gently placed

her hand on his right arm, "Chekotay told me that Seven and I have you to thank for