Ghost of a Chance (4 page)

“Captain,” she said, still working, talking half over her shoulder.

“We have two photon torpedoes ready to launch; we’ll just have to do it manually. And I think the phasers are back on-line, but—” She finished working with her hands, then looked straight at Janeway. “But I haven’t tested anything yet. I’m just getting the plasma-distribution manifolds aligned now.”

“Good work!” Janeway exclaimed, allowing herself a brief lapse in composure. She glanced up in time to see another beam strike out through space just as Tuvok announced the fact. This time the beam struck a glancing blow, shaking the ship, though most of it seemed to miss Voyager.

“Minor damage to the outer hull,” Tuvok reported. “Three casualties, apparently none serious.”

The turbolift deposited Neelix on the bridge. He went immediately to Janeway’s right side, opposite Chakotay.

“Everything all right?” he said, his tone a combination of sarcasm and fright.

“That shot was too close,” Janeway remarked.

“I predict the next one will be a direct hit,” Tuvok informed her.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Paris said.

“I simply meant,” Tuvok began, “that—” “I know,” Paris said, grinning momentarily.

“Ready phasers,” Janeway said. “I want to discourage them from trying that again.”

“Was there something in particular you needed me for?” Neelix asked, obviously nervous. “You seem quite busy at the moment, and I really would like to be with my beloved—” “There,” Janeway said, pointing at the screen. The alien vessel was visible in some detail now, a great gray wedge shape with several long appendages. “Do you recognize them?”

“Ready, Captain,” Torres said, her head snapping around.

Janeway narrowed her gaze as if sighting down the barrel of a phaser rifle, something she simply couldn’t help. “Upper forward array, full burst. Fire.”

Voyager’s return fire was noticeably brighter than that of the alien vessel, and more precise, the captain was pleased to note, as Lieutenant Kim announced a direct hit. The words had barely left his lips when Voyager’s lights suddenly dimmed, followed by a bright flash that erupted from the engineering station.

Janeway saw Torres draw back, then wave a small waft of smoke away with her hand.

“The target’s rear shields have collapsed completely,” Tuvok reported.

“I am reading some apparent damage to their stern.”

“Torres, what happened?” Janeway asked, temporarily ignoring Tuvok’s good news.

B’Elanna looked outraged, as if her Klingon blood were about to boil over. She hammered the consoles with both fists, then seemed to regain control, though her chin did not rise. Her hair hung in her face, partially obscuring her expression. “We’ve lost the phasers again, Captain.” Her voice shook—too much adrenaline, worry, or pressure, Janeway couldn’t be sure.

“Can you get them back?”

“I… I don’t think so, Captain. It’s a little more serious this time. I’m sorry.”

“Do what you can,” Janeway said in response. “None of us are having a very good day.”

Janeway closed her eyes. She needed to think of something.

Their best option was to attempt a quiet retreat. Now that the aliens knew that Voyager was superior, there was at least a chance they would not attack again. If they did, and if nothing else changed, she could guess how this might end. She had to assume the other ship was capable of warp speeds.

“Captain, the alien vessel is hailing,” Kim announced, interrupting Janeway’s train of thought.

She looked up. “On screen,” she said.

“We have audio only,” Kim replied.

“That’s curious,” Chakotay said, stepping closer to Janeway, as if to lend further support. “And more than a little suspicious.”

“Perhaps,” Janeway said, seeing any contact as an opportunity.

They were in a tight spot, yet all of her crew members were doing their jobs, trusting in themselves, in their ship, in their captain and first officer. Things could be worse, she told herself, feeling the knot still there, though loosened just a bit. The aliens could have any number of reasons, from security to cultural taboos, for wanting to conceal their faces. “Maybe they’re just shy,” she said. Then she smiled just a bit. She could feel the slight release of tension in the room as the other officers blinked, then nodded to her.

“Proceed,” she said.

“Channel open,” Kim announced.

“This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager.

We mean you no—” “This is Third Director Gantel of the Televek.” The alien’s voice was low and dry, though quite humanoid by any measure.

“You are ordered to move away from this planet, or you will be destroyed.”

“We mean no harm,” Janeway finished.

“You do harm by being here.”

Janeway tipped her head. “How?”

“Why are you here?” the voice of the alien asked after a moment.

Janeway felt a slight but growing relief in this exchange of dialogue instead of phasers.

“One moment, please,” she said. She signaled Kim to mute the channel, and he quickly complied. “Torres,” she said, hardly turning her head, “get back to work on those shields and weapons systems. And the warp drive. Whatever you can do will certainly be appreciated. Keep Mr. Tuvok informed.”

“Yes, Captain,” B’Elanna answered. She shut down the bridge’s engineering station and headed back toward the lift. Janeway signaled, then accepted Kim’s nod once more.

“We are making numerous minor repairs to our ship,” she said to the alien, “and we intend to move on when they are completed.

They should not take long. Again, we have no quarrel with you, or with anyone in this quadrant. The repairs are necessary, however, and already under way.” She stopped short of apologizing for possible territorial infringement: she was fairly certain the alien vessel was not from the Drenar system, and never had been.

She waited as a long silence followed. After a moment she decided to try again, the other way around. “Why are you in orbit around this planet?” she asked the aliens. “And why have you fired on us?”

Yet another pause, then: “We are curious as to why you have chosen this planet in particular as the place to complete your repairs.”

“I won’t bore you with particulars, but in part we are interested in replenishing our organic supplies—foods, seeds perhaps, and several raw materials. We were also attempting to determine whether the population below is in any danger due to the extreme seismic activity our sensors have detected. But you haven’t answered my questions.”

It was worth a try, she thought. These aliens had to know something about what was going on down on that planet, and they had to know she was aware that they knew.

She waited for their reaction. The wait was a long one. Janeway began to pace a few steps away from Chakotay, followed closely by Neelix, whose continued silence was for him commendable. Then she turned, waited for Neelix to get out of her way, and walked back.

“Captain,” Neelix said softly, “I was going to say—” “It was just a matter of time, Mr. Neelix,” Janeway said. “Now, do you know anything about them?”

“I think so.”

“Captain,” the alien voice said at last. “You bring up an interesting point. That is, in fact, precisely what we are here for as well, to investigate the planet’s unusual geologic disturbances and possibly to offer aid to the planet’s inhabitants… if necessary. We only fired upon you because we thought you were going to attack us. We’ve never seen a ship like yours.”

“Understood,” Janeway said. “Please stand by.” Again she signaled the channel mute. “Finish what you were going to say, Mr. Neelix,” she told the short alien still beside her.

“I have been trying to do just that,” Neelix said with minor indignation. “They are a very old race, these Televek. A rather… hmm, unsavory lot, you might say.”

“Go on,” Chakotay urged him.

“Their past endeavors have included slave trading and piracy, and worse, I’m told. Though in more recent times they have become very well known in this quadrant as weapons brokers. Dealers in death.”

“Parasites that feed off hostilities among others,” Janeway said, characterizing them.

“And encouraging them, I believe,” Neelix added. “Good for business.”

“The truth is, their kind are often necessary,” Chakotay suggested.

“Where do you think outlaw resistance fighters like the Maquis got most of their weapons from?”

“These particular traders are not known for their scruples, Commander,” Neelix went on. “They frequently sell to both sides in a conflict, or to all sides, raising the level of weapons technology little by little, and usually escalating the death toll in the process.”

“Until their customers annihilate themselves completely,” Paris said, shaking his head.

“Those practices could indeed generate many enemies,” Tuvok suggested.

“Which might make them a little touchy,” Janeway agreed.

“They are known to be very secretive,” Neelix said. “I have never actually met one of their kind, or done business with them, I assure you. But as I understand it, they normally deal only through specially trained advocates.”

“Captain,” Tuvok said, “if I may make a suggestion.”

Janeway nodded.

“Lieutenant Torres has just informed me that an EPS submaster flow regulator will be needed to restore the phasers. It will be extremely difficult to fabricate one from scratch. Since the Televek are apparently arms and technology merchants, and since they obviously have phaser technology, it is possible they may be able to assist us.”

Captain Janeway had long relied on Tuvok for sage advice in all manner of situations. He had a knack for determining the most reasonable means to proceed, even when there seemed to be none.

Again she found herself looking at him with rapt regard. His idea was extraordinary at first take, but intriguing nonetheless.

“So you’re suggesting we try to do business with them?” Chakotay said, eyeing the Vulcan curiously.

“We need what they likely have,” Tuvok said. “It is logical, and possibly in everyone’s best interest, to assume a replacement valve could be procured from them and then modified to fit our systems.”

“I like it,” Janeway said, thumbing her chin as she considered it further. “But what would we have to trade?”

“Maybe they could think of something,” Chakotay suggested.

“From what I’ve heard, they are quite good at that, Captain,” Neelix said. “But I don’t recommend you bargain in good faith.”

“No?” Chakotay asked.

“No. How can you be sure that they will?”

Janeway nodded at this. “Point taken, Mr. Neelix.” She signaled Tuvok to open the channel once more. “Director Gantel, we may be able to work together,” she said. “Help each other. An exchange of some kind, a mutually beneficial trade. Would you be willing to discuss such an idea?”

Once again the wait was a long one.

“Perhaps,” came Gantel’s reply. “We are a reasonable people.

What do you suggest?”

“Captain, we have significant new data on the planet,” Tuvok said, leaving it at that, letting Janeway decide whether she wanted to hear it now.

“A moment, again, please,” she told Gantel. She made a slashing gesture with her hand, and Kim muted the communication link. “Go ahead,” she said to Tuvok.

“Drenar Four is coming apart,” Tuvok replied. “The seismic activity is increasing steadily. At the present rate Drenar Four probably will not survive as we know it, and the end will come relatively soon. I’ve noticed a considerable change in the stability of the planet’s magnetic fields as well. They appear to be reorienting themselves.”

“If the molten core of the planet is moving about, it would have that effect,” Janeway said. She nodded to Kim. The link opened again. “We should be able to agree on one thing at least,” Janeway told the Televek director. “The populations on Drenar Four are in grave danger, and we are both concerned about them.

That might be a starting point. What can you tell us about them?”

“Tell you?” Gantel’s voice came back.

“Yes. We are reading numerous primitive villages, some large enough to be cities, but we know nothing at all about the inhabitants. Have you made contact with them?”

“Why, no, Captain, we have not. We also know very little about them.”

“I see.” She paced a moment, then looked up, wishing she had a face to talk to.

“We would like to discuss terms,” Janeway told him. “We are hoping you can help us obtain some hardware we require. I’m sure that, in return, we can help you with any relief or rescue operations you are conducting here on Drenar Four.”

“Of course, Captain, we commend you for suggesting the idea. You seem a shrewd and reasonable people indeed. But we suggest a meeting to discuss this in more detail. On your own magnificent vessel, if you like. I’m sure there exists a variety of terms we can agree on. We can send a small team of representatives over in an unarmed pod. Will you agree to this? And will you guarantee their safety?”

Janeway looked to Chakotay, found her first officer looking back at her. They both shrugged at the same time.

“We aren’t getting anywhere just sitting here,” the commander whispered.

That was obvious. “Very well,” Janeway said. “We will be waiting, and you have my assurance that your people will not be harmed.”

“Mr. Chakotay, you have the bridge,” Janeway said as soon as the aliens had signed off.

“Captain,” Kim said, then waited for Janeway to look directly at him.

The ensign had not served with her very long, but she had no trouble reading the subtle concern in his expression.

“What is it?”

“There is something else, Captain. I ran it twice to be sure; the interference is pretty bad.”

“Go on,” Janeway said.

“We’ve detected a highly advanced stationary power source located several kilometers beneath the planet’s surface. It does not match any known configurations.”

Janeway quickly made her way to Kim’s station and began examining the data for herself. This time Neelix stayed put, apparently content to remain with Chakotay.

“Where?” she asked the ensign. “Display, please.”

“On the main continent, under a ridge of foothills just east of one of the largest villages.” He showed her the spot on the monitor. She turned to face the aft deck. “Mr. Tuvok, what do you make of that?”