Alternate Choices
By H.W.
Chapter 2
"Evasive maneuver Gamma six!"
Janeway gripped the armrests of her chair even tighter as another impact shook the ship with so much force that Harry couldn't keep standing anymore and was violently thrown to the floor. This was lucky for him, considering that a second later his instrument panel exploded with a force that would have killed him if he had still been standing there.
"Bring those torpedo launchers back online!" Janeway commanded.
"Hull breaches on deck six through eight." Under the onslaught they were suffering even Tuvok couldn't keep his voice as calm as it normally was. "Shields down to thirty percent."
Chakotay had quickly taken over monitoring the information that would have normally gone to Harry's station. "They're coming around for another pass."
"Janeway to Engineering, B'Elanna I need those launchers now! Janeway to Torres, answer me!"
"Carey here Captain, the launchers will be back online in five seconds."
"Where's B'Elanna?" The few seconds before Carey answered told Janeway that his news would not be good.
"She was caught in an explosion; she's been beamed to sickbay. Captain... I... I think she was dead at the point of beam out. The launchers are now online."
"Incoming!" Chakotay shouted. There would be time to mourn the loss of his friend later, now there was a ship to save.
Where before this had been just another attack, Carey's news had made this personal for Janeway, and she ordered with a voice filled with venom, "Fire at will."
They came straight for them; it was the oldest and deadliest game in the book. They assumed that Voyager would be the chicken and run, but they didn't know that Voyager had some very convenient Borg enhancements. The damaged shields that would normally have been destroyed within seconds, now held long enough for Voyager to fire a deadly mix of phaser and torpedo fire.
Finally, Tuvok spoke the words they were all hoping to hear. "Direct hit. The second Klingon Bird of Prey has been destroyed."
It was an incredible feat, but they had pulled it off. The Intrepid class spaceships had been designed to be able to take on a Klingon Bird of Prey in a one on one battle, but a one on two battle should have been lost. It would have been if it hadn't been for the Borg enhancements to the shields.
It was a bitter pill to swallow for Janeway, that they were basically only still alive because of the run-ins they'd had with the Borg.
"Janeway to Engineering, how fast can we get out of here?"
"Captain, the engines have now cooled down enough to can take warp seven. But the rest of the ship... I would strongly suggest going no faster than warp four. And I would also suggest finding a place where we can land the ship to do external repairs. There are four places that really need the repair capabilities of a shipyard or space station."
While Janeway was listening to Carey, she wondered about the report B'Elanna would more than likely have given her. She could almost hear it now. The Klingon would simply have said. 'Warp four at the most, and we need to look for a place to land. We have four gaping holes in Voyager's hull'.
"I'm going to check in sickbay. Tom, set a course for Earth. Harry, send a message, I want to know why we were attacked by people who are supposed to be Federation allies."
"Captain..." Tom spoke up hesitantly, only to be silenced with the shake of a head.
"I know you want to go check on B'Elanna, Tom, but right now we need everyone at their post, especially our best pilot. I will let you know what's going on as soon as I know myself."
"Yes, ma'am. Thank you, Captain."
~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~
Once in the turbolift, Janeway let her thoughts go back to what had brought them to the Klingon border to begin with.
It had been a wormhole, yet again. They came across one at least once every year. It seemed that wormholes were a lot more common in the Delta Quadrant than they were in the Alpha Quadrant. But it was a wormhole nevertheless, so they had stopped and studied it.
At first nobody had believed the results. They had been disappointed so often already. It just couldn't be, but they had run the tests a second, and then a third time; every time with the same result. It was a steady wormhole. And though it didn't end in the Alpha Quadrant, it came damn close. The tests indicated that it ended in the Beta Quadrant, inside Klingon territory, two days from the Federation border.
And that had made the Voyager crew suspicious.
If this truly was a fully functional wormhole, as the tests said, then why wasn't anyone using it? Why wasn't there someone making money off this stable wormhole? Especially one that was so close to Federation space. And why had nobody ever heard of this wormhole? Surely the Klingons should have known of its existence, since it was inside their own territory and so close to the Federation border. Even if the Klingons hadn't known about the wormhole, Federation ships should have picked up its readings long ago during border patrols.
But even if the Federation hadn't, the Klingons knew that Voyager was lost in the Delta Quadrant. Certainly they would have suggested traveling to the wormhole and going home from there. The honor of helping Voyager would have been tremendous. The boasting rights alone would have been worth it; that the Federation had needed the help of the Klingons to get its ship home. Things just didn't add up and none of the senior staff liked it. Not even the always positive Harry.
But in the end, they'd all decided that they couldn't let a chance like that pass them by. They had to try it. The journey through the wormhole had been an incredibly smooth ride and before anyone really had time to admire the beauty of the wormhole, they were already through it. They were in the Beta Quadrant, only a couple of days until they would be home. Janeway had agreed with B'Elanna's suggestion that it would be better to let the Klingons know how they got there. One never knew how... paranoid... the Klingons might be so shortly after the Dominion war.
But just when they were to make radio contact, all hell had broken loose. Suddenly, a ring of ninety-three Klingon weapon platforms decloaked around the mouth of the wormhole and started opening fire on Voyager. Voyager was hit three times before Janeway could order a warp jump. The ship went from zero to warp 8.5 in three seconds flat: A dangerous maneuver that Voyager only barely survived.
They had made it to just outside the reach of the unmanned weapon platforms before the computer initiated an emergency shutdown, which had left them without warp until the engines had time to cool down. B'Elanna had estimated that it would be two hours at least before they could go to warp again. Janeway was absolutely certain that they had only survived the situation because Voyager was amongst the fastest Federation ships ever built.
They had gotten out of there after only a few weapon platforms had fired. She thanked the gods that Klingon technology had to decloak before it could fire. Those ninety-three weapon platforms were enough to destroy an entire fleet of ships. Normally only one or two were used to protect strategic places.
But they didn't have long to celebrate that they were still alive. Six minutes before those two hours where up, two Klingon Birds of Prey decloaked and started opening fire. They never answered the hails or showed that they had any other intention than killing them all. Voyager had no other choice than to defend itself.
~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~
Janeway stepped out of the turbolift and walked to sickbay, nodding to the occasional crewmember she passed on the way to the Doctor's realm. When she entered, she was glad to see the Doctor treating relatively small wounds. A broken arm, some burns. And of course Neelix was there helping the Doctor; making up for the Doctor's bedside manners by taking good care of the patients with a gentle word or a comforting touch.
The Doctor saw her enter and after finishing with his patient he first made sure that the others could wait for a minute before he motioned her over to him.
She looked at the patient walking past her and out of sickbay before turning back to the Doctor. "I heard that B'Elanna had to be beamed out of engineering. How is she?"
"We have relatively few wounded, considering what we just went through."
A burden fell off Janeway's shoulders when the Doctor started speaking about wounded. It meant that this time nobody had died. But when he continued she soon understood that not all the news was good.
"I had to keep five people here because of severe wounds. Lieutenant Torres is one them. The other four should be alright in a couple of days; one of them will need a second operation in two days."
He moved to the only bed in sickbay that had been separated from the rest by a non-transparent force field. They both stepped through the low-level privacy field and Janeway could see B'Elanna lying on the bed, surrounded by machines that the Captain had never seen before.
"B'Elanna is another story. It's only because she’s partly Klingon that she lived long enough for me to work on her. I was able to repair most of the damage. But I had to remove one of her lungs, her primary heart, some of her intestines, both of her livers, her right eye, and part of her reproductive system. There was more damage to other organs, but as I said, I was able to repair that damage."
Janeway could not believe the list of damage that the Doctor was listing. "But she looks as if she's only sleeping."
"That’s because, thanks to my programming, you have the best doctor that Starfleet has to offer onboard... had to offer when we got stranded in the Delta Quadrant, that is."
For once the Doctor didn't sound as if he was boasting about his knowledge, but as if he was relieved that this knowledge had been at his disposal. "And also because most of her wounds are crush wounds, they’re mostly internal. From what I understand, part of the second deck of engineering came down and B'Elanna, who saw this, jumped and pushed Nicoleti out of the way. This means that she was lying on the floor when the second deck fell on her. Besides the damage I just told you, I also had to repair thirty-seven broken bones, some with more than six fractures in them."
Janeway pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Ok, now tell me the good news."
"Um, Captain... that was the good news."
When Janeway's eyes shot from B'Elanna to him, he started to explain in more detail. "The organs I mentioned are fully Klingon. Because of that her heart, lung, and livers can easily be replaced with cloned organs. This is a standard Klingon procedure, and every major Klingon hospital usually has some cloned organs in stock. And since this is the Beta Quadrant, we should be able to get some. But even if we could not get cloned organs, I would be able to build some artificial ones, given some time."
He gestured to B'Elanna's head before continuing. "Her eye will have to be replaced with an artificial one. But as Seven can tell you, once replaced, the artificial eye functions just as a regular eye and over time the recipient of the implant forgets that it’s not their real eye. The damage to her reproductive system is such that she will need some medical help if she ever wants to get pregnant, but once she is, there should be no problem with her carrying and giving birth to her child. She’ll never notice the loss of part of her intestines, so that really isn't a problem either."
"Do I want to know the bad news then?" The question had been voiced in not much more than a whisper. Janeway didn't trust her voice to function at that point.
The Doctor knew that the Captain had to be told, but that didn't make telling it any easier. "The bad news is that I could declare her dead at any moment. At this point, she’s only being kept alive by those machines. The really bad news is that there’s also been brain damage, but not the kind everyone is familiar with."
"What do you mean?" Janeway asked confused.
"What I mean is, that if I were able to fix this, then B'Elanna would wake up and be the same B'Elanna she was yesterday, so to speak. Of course, her other wounds would still need time to heal. Unfortunately a metal splinter has penetrated her skull and brain, destroying the organ that produces stem cells. No production of stem cells means no healing what so ever in the Human body. The Human body simply does not know what to do, how to heal without the unspecified stem cells giving rise to specified cells like muscle cells, blood cells, or nerve cells which do not normally replicate themselves."
"But you were able to heal the damage. You just said so," Janeway objected.
The Doctor sighed. Trying to make a novice understand things, that some doctors even had trouble understanding, sure wasn't easy. "I healed the damage, but nothing else is happening. Captain, you’re a healthy person. If you suddenly had no more stem cells, your body would no longer be able to repair itself, just like B'Elanna's can't now."
"I'm afraid I'm still not following, Doctor."
The Doctor hesitated before thinking of a different approach. "Alright, Captain. Have you ever heard of the disease hemophilia? How a person can bleed to death from a little scratch if they don't take their medication?"
"Sure."
"Well, this is different, but the same, in the fact that basically the body doesn't know how to heal itself. People with the disease need medication to do the work that the body can't. But with B'Elanna there is no medication. She needs the stem cell organ to heal her. I healed B'Elanna's body for the most part, but the body doesn't know what to do with those healings. Her body is simply not healing itself. At this moment there are thousands of cells that are dying off in your body, Captain, and they are being replaced by new cells at the same time. With B'Elanna, those cells are still dying off, but they’re not being replaced unless I do it with a dermal regenerator. But I can't replace the cells dying off deeper inside her body."
Janeway nodded her head thoughtfully. "Ok, I think I understand what you're trying to tell me, so what can we do about this?"
The Doctor moved over to one of the machines, clearly stalling for time. "Nothing, I'm sorry to say. Her being part Klingon makes sure of that. It was that Klingon part that kept her alive long enough for me to heal her wounds, but that same part is preventing me from finishing my job. Had she been fully Human or fully Klingon, then it would have been a relatively simple procedure of finding someone that was a close enough match and then clone the organ from that person."
"And this is different now... how?" Janeway prompted.
"But because B'Elanna is a mixture of the two," the Doctor explained, "there’s nobody genetically close enough, not even another Klingon/Human hybrid. The only way to get a donor would be to clone B'Elanna - make a second B'Elanna. But beside the fact that this is highly illegal, it’s also no longer possible now because you need some stem cells of a person to clone that person entirely. Understand the problem? I need a healthy B'Elanna to clone her stem cell organ, but I first need a stem cell organ that is cloned from B'Elanna before B'Elanna will be healthy enough to have the organ cloned. It's the famous 'chicken and egg' dilemma. I need the one to get the other, but I can't have the one without first having the other."
"How... how long before you have to pronounce her dead?" Janeway tried to swallow, but her dry throat would not allow it.
The Doctor thought about that for a moment. "Well, I can keep her like this and use a dermal regenerator to reproduce cells that are close to the surface of her skin, but because no new cells are being made inside her body... I would say that in about two weeks to a month, the damage would be too great to be repaired, even if the organ were to be replaced at that point."
An idea came to Janeway. "Can't you put her in a stasis field? Prolong that time indefinitely?"
"Sorry, Captain. I can't. Remember when we had to put the whole crew in stasis to get through the void? Remember how weak you felt when Seven and I woke you again? The reason for that is that stasis does damage to the body, but a normal healthy person recovers from that damage in a few hours. But if I were to do that to B'Elanna, in the state she’s in even now, she would die as soon as we take her out of stasis."
"Okay, so that means that we have less than a month." Janeway took B'Elanna's hand between her own and squeezed softly. "We will find a way to save you, B'Elanna."
"You have an idea?" The Doctor knew that there was no real way to save B'Elanna, but that didn't mean that he couldn't hope.
"We’ve been gone from the Federation for a number of years," Janeway pointed out. "The first thing we’re going to do is see what kind of advances there have been in stem cell research while we were gone."
The Doctor followed Janeway out of the privacy force field. "Captain, I wish it was so easy. But stem cell research has been done since the late twentieth century. I really don't think that suddenly after almost four hundred years they will have come up with a way to clone a living stem cell organ from a dead one."
Janeway looked around sickbay at the other patients still there before turning back to the Doctor. "As I said, it's a first step. All I can tell you now is that I'm not just giving up on B'Elanna. I will find a way of helping her."
Without another word, she turned around and left sickbay, now even more convinced that she had to get Voyager home as soon as possible.
~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~
Janeway went back to the bridge and called a senior staff meeting before anyone could ask how B'Elanna was doing. Once the senior staff was in the conference room, Janeway gave the meeting over to the Doctor, who once again grimly told about B'Elanna's situation.
Once the doctor was finished, and all the obvious questions had been asked and answered, Janeway spoke up, "As you can see, our returning to the Federation has become top priority. Repairs will just have to be made on the run; I'm not stopping until we’re in orbit around Earth. Harry, what did the Federation have to say about us being attacked by the Klingons?"
"Nothing, Captain," Harry answered uncomfortably.
"What do you mean nothing? Who have you spoken to?"
"That's just it, Captain. I didn't speak to anyone. There was no reaction whatsoever to our hail. And I also couldn't hear any Federation messages whatsoever."
Chakotay decided to help poor Harry out a little and spoke up, drawing that force ten glare towards himself. "We picked up something else though. Something that makes no sense at all. Klingon and Cardassian messages; a lot of them."
"Given where we are I don't think that’s that strange. The absence of any Federation messages is more disturbing," Janeway pointed out.
Chakotay shook his head a little. "It isn't so much the messages that are strange. It's the things they’re talking about. They’re talking about places, planets we never heard of and other planets we know of, but the messages just don't make any sense. For instance, subspace was filled with messages talking about how the Bajoran Intendant has been killed and that nobody is sad to see the bitch go. Um... those are their words, Captain."
"What has Bajor to do with this? Hmm, maybe something happened at DS9,"
Janeway was interrupted by a hail over the comm. system. "Captain, sensors are picking up a Ferengi ship that will cross our path."
"Ferengi? Maybe they’re friendlier than the Klingons in this part of space. At the very least they might be willing to sell us some information. Set an intercept course. We’re on our way. Janeway out."
She took a quick look around the table to see if someone had something they desperately needed to say, but nobody spoke up. "Alright, let's get some information."
~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~
Two hours later they were once again sitting in the conference room, this time trying to digest the information the Ferengi had sold them. They were indeed in Klingon space in the Beta Quadrant, but there was no Federation. They were so close, and yet so far from home. The wormhole had led them into an alternate universe. Of course, for the Ferengi it was Voyager that came from an alternate universe. In this universe things were so different.
There was some kind of Coalition that ruled over everything that the Voyager crew had known in their Alpha and Beta Quadrant, and then some. The way the Ferengi had mostly been talking about Klingons and Cardassians, it was clear that they were the major powers that pretty much ruled all and that their word was law... literally.
In Janeway's mind that combination meant nothing good. Cardassian deviousness combined with the Klingon's willingness to fight everyone. In her mind a picture of the Coalition governing had formed, and the more the Ferengi told them, the more solid and dooming that picture had become.
"Clearly we have to get back to our universe," Chakotay said, "but we have two problems with that. The only way back that we know of is guarded by Klingon weapon platforms. There’s no way that we can go back through that wormhole. But even if there was, that would not save B'Elanna. The only chance we have of saving her, is if we could get the help of the Klingons."
"Why would they help us?" Harry asked. "Those two Birds of Prey made it pretty clear that they wouldn't help us."
Tom could only agree. "Right, especially since we destroyed those ships. I don't think the Klingons will take that very lightly. A bunch of Humans, who are normally slaves here, destroying not one, but two Birds of Prey."
The Doctor was the third person to object. "And as I just pointed out, the Klingons can't really do any more for B'Elanna than I can."
Janeway let the arguing go on for a moment, wondering what kind of points would be made. But when no new points were forthcoming she spoke up. "Ok, calm down everyone. Chakotay didn't actually say that we should ask the Klingons for help or that they would help us. He just said that it would be B'Elanna's best chance. And on that point I have to agree with him. We were about to go to the Federation to see if they could help us. But here there is no Federation. The Klingons and Cardassians have ruled for the last one and a half centuries, so it stands to reason that the Klingons would also have the most advanced medical science. Who knows? Maybe the Klingons here were not hampered in their research by the moral rules the Federation normally abides by."
Then she shifted focus a little. "But beside B'Elanna we also have another problem, the state that Voyager is in. We simply can't go on like this for much longer. We have to make some major repairs at some point. So for now I think it would be best if we try to find a smugglers hole somewhere. They might have some things we need to repair Voyager, and they should be able to tell us just what the standard of Klingon medical science is. Once we know whether or not they would be able to help B'Elanna, we can then make a plan dealing with that situation. I would like some plans within the hour. Carey, I want to know what’s needed to put Voyager back in the state she was yesterday. The rest of you concentrate on thinking of how we can find some smugglers. Questions anyone?"
"I do not have a question," Seven said, speaking up for the first time, "but I would like to point something out. The Ferengi are known for trying to make a profit on everything. It is very conceivable that they would first make a profit from doing business with us, and then make an extra profit from selling what they know about us to the Klingons. The Klingons might already know our present course and that our ship is damaged. I would strongly suggest changing course."
Janeway nodded her agreement. "Good point, Seven. We'll do that. I want plans in one hour, dismissed."
~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~
Two hours later, they were on their way to some of the old Maquis hideouts. Of course they knew that there wouldn't be any Maquis there, but the only real plan that they had been able to come up with, was to go to these places and hope that some smugglers had found them to be just as convenient as the Maquis had.
~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~
The Doctor didn't try to stop the steady flow of visitors. It wasn't as if B'Elanna needed to rest from having too many visitors. How he only wished that this was the problem; that B'Elanna was healing and needed rest to do so. Instead, he let them all be, hoping that this way at least the visitors would be able to handle this tragedy.
Seven came into sickbay just when the Captain was leaving. "Captain."
"Seven, how are you?"
"I am functioning within acceptable parameters," Seven gave the standard reply.
"And how are you really doing?"
Even though it forced her to talk about feelings, Seven was glad to see that the Captain knew there was something wrong, "I am severely worried about Lieutenant Torres. She has to get better."
"We will find a way." Janeway stepped past Seven and patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Seven. If it takes too long, then we’ll find someone else to help you with the repairs. You shouldn't have to work that hard for much longer."
When Janeway left sickbay, Seven felt sick to the stomach. After all this time everyone still thought that she didn't have any real emotions, not even the Captain.
"Hi, Seven. I'm glad you came. B'Elanna will be happy."
Well, almost everyone. "Tom, do you think she will know that we are here?"
Seven and the pilot were well on to their way to becoming friends. After he and B'Elanna had broken off their engagement, he had tried to date Seven to get back at B'Elanna, by showing the Klingon that he didn't need her; that he could have everyone, including the woman that always made B'Elanna's blood boil. But Seven had been smart enough to see right through that plan. She had told him that his chances of copulating with her were zero, and not likely to ever improve. He had given up on his plan, but during the time that he had tried, he had discovered that he did indeed like Seven and slowly a friendship was starting to form between them. Luckily for him, shortly after that incident, he was also able to call a truce with B'Elanna and they had gone back to being the friends they were before they got involved.
"The Doctor says no, but I like to think that she does. It makes me feel better to know that I'm really talking to her, you know?"
Seven moved closer until she was standing beside B'Elanna, "I believe I do. It is... hard seeing her like this, knowing that my last words to her were me telling her that I thought that she was a mediocre engineer, at best. Now, I might never have the chance to tell her that this is not really how I feel. That in reality, I like her very much."
Tom smiled weakly at her. "Don't worry, she will get through this. And she also knows that you like her. She told me so."
"She did?" Seven was astonished to hear this.
"Come now, Seven. You know that B'Elanna is a smart woman. She discovered long ago that you like the fights just as much as she does. Hell she... um, this was going to be a little surprise for you, but seeing the circumstances I think I can tell you. She was going to invite you to her birthday party. Only five other people were invited, her five closest friends."
"She was going to," Seven repeated softly.
"As close as she can ever come to asking you to be her friend without actually saying the words. Don't you think?"
"Indeed," Seven agreed, making a vow to herself at that moment, and voicing it to make it more... real. "I will not say that she will get well, since the odds against it are phenomenal, but I will do everything I can to make sure she gets better. I give you my word. She will get better; she has to get better."
The voice of the Captain interrupted them before Tom could ask what she was planning to do, which was a good thing since Seven didn't have any plans, just a rock steady resolve.
"Red alert, all hands to battle stations."
~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~
Seven and Tom arrived on the bridge just in time to hear the demand.
"Surrender or be destroyed. You have five minutes."
Their eyes went to the viewscreen where the face of a Klingon was replaced by a huge Klingon ship.
"I'm not even going to suggest fighting that," Janeway said while Seven and Tom took their places, "but can we outrun them?"
Knowing that time was limited, Seven gave the answers that others would have to look up. "It is a Klingon Negh'var class ship. If Voyager was in good condition, we would be able to outrun them on speed, and also outmaneuver their weapons which retarget relatively slowly. But what they lack in speed is made up in force. Their weapon strength is four times that of the Federation Galaxy class, and their hull armor is three times as strong. In the Federation universe, the original Negh'var is, to the last of my knowledge, currently serving as the Klingon Flagship. In our present state, we are no match for them."
"They are hailing us again," Harry informed.
"Short five minutes," Janeway mumbled before saying in a louder voice, "On screen."
The view screen changed once again to show the Klingon Captain. "If it was up to me, I would destroy you right now, but the Intendant wants to see the slaves that were able to destroy our ships. Surrender now, or die... now."
For a moment Janeway was thinking of initiating the self-destruct, but if this Intendant wanted to see them they still had a chance. "This is the Captain to all hands, prepare to be boarded. Cooperate and do not resist."
She looked over to Tuvok and sighed before giving the final order. "Tuvok, lower the shields."
Tuvok had barely done as he was told when the sound of transporters could be heard and ten heavily armed Klingons appeared on the bridge, making the bridge suddenly seem a lot less spacious, and a lot more crowded.
One Klingon had appeared close to Chakotay's chair and he barked at the first officer. "Get up."
Chakotay looked at Janeway for a moment and slowly started to get up, but this was apparently not fast enough for the Klingon. He gripped Chakotay and pulled him out of his chair.
In reflex, Chakotay took hold of the arm that was doing the pulling. "Hey, easy."
The Klingon brought his second hand up and slammed his fist in Chakotay's face with enough force to break his nose.
Tom had turned around at the commotion behind him and when he saw how Chakotay was being treated, he jumped up from his chair and moved to the Klingon to intervene. "Hey, come on. There's no need for that."
But Tom had hardly taken a step when another Klingon took hold of him. He was spun around and a fist hit his face, breaking his jaw. But the Klingon wasn't done yet. The Klingons were clearly pissed, and they were taking it out on them. The Klingon took hold of Tom's arm, twisting it behind Tom's back with enough force to dislocate his shoulder. He pushed Tom forward, sending him flying six feet through the air. This was followed by a powerful kick to the crumpled man's stomach.
Seven started to move, wanting to interrupt Tom's treatment, but when she had almost reached him, a voice stopped all movement of the Klingons on the bridge.
"Stop it, you fools. The Intendant wants to see them. Do you want to stand in front of the Intendant and explain why the prisoners look like they do now? The Intendant will decide what happens to them, not you."
As he spoke, Seven looked at the man who had just beamed onto the ship. She saw that it was the same Klingon that had been on the viewscreen a moment before.
Janeway had already stood up to help Tom, now she turned to the Klingon who had just spoken. "Do you always treat your prisoners like this?" Janeway asked, wanting to radiate enough superiority to make the Klingons back down a little.
The Klingon stepped in front of Janeway and looked down at the woman he towered above. "You’re damn lucky that the Intendant wants to see you first, that the Intendant wants to be the one to decide what should be done with you. If it was up to me, you would all die a slow and painful death. You destroyed our ships. You killed Klingons. You deserve to die by torture."
"They attacked us," Janeway objected. "We had to defend ourselves. What would you have us do? Sit and wait to be destroyed?"
"Yes." The Klingon took hold of Janeway's uniform and lifted her of the ground. "You are slaves. You shouldn't have a ship, and you do whatever you are told. And if we decide to kill you, then you as slaves should sit, wait and be happy to be killed. Don't speak to me again."
He let her drop back onto the deck and turned to the other Klingons. "The Intendant wants to see the senior staff of this... scrapheap. Round them up and clean them. It should not be visible that they have... fallen down. Bring them to a doctor if you need to. But the ones that aren't part of the senior staff..." the Klingon grinned, "...well, the Intendant didn't say anything about them."
"What about the blonde?" Another Klingon asked while looking at Seven, giving the impression of licking his lips without actually doing it.
"Since she is on the bridge, I assume that she is part of the senior staff."
"Damn."
The other Klingon laughed. "You really didn't think that you would get her, did you? If the Intendant is willing to part with her, I'll take her. Now, time to get going."
The Klingon pointed at Tom and Chakotay. " Clean those two up and take inventory of all the slaves onboard."
~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~