Work Text:
In an otherwise uninhabited star system, Voyager’s crew had found an M-class moon, scans showing abundant dilithium deposits. With a particularly bad case of cabin fever, Captain Kathryn Janeway had made the impulsive decision to guide a couple of the junior engineers down to the moon’s surface to help them gain mining experience.
Chakotay had perceived the tension in her posture and the set of her jaw when she made her announcement. He wanted to protest but considering the cantankerous mood that she’d been in lately, he thought that getting off the ship for a while might do her some good. After a long look and shared nods with Tuvok, he agreed to her proposal.
The sector seemed quiet and safe enough for her to proceed.
=/\=
That lie was exposed when eight mid-sized spaceships dropped out of warp, surrounding Voyager in orbit, cutting her off from the Sally Ride as the shuttle headed for the M-class moon.
Chakotay immediately told Harry to hail the aliens.
“Yes, sir.” Harry silently tapped the comms signals. “They are responding…audio only,” he opened comms and a gravelly alien voice resounded over the bridge.
“This is Zha Duak territory. You will leave or be destroyed.”
Chakotay raised his voice to reply, “I am Commander Chakotay of—“
His introduction was interrupted by a loud beep, and Chakotay looked over to Harry.
“They’ve cut the line, Commander,” Harry informed him with a concerned look.
=/\=
The eight ships pulled into a formation and commenced rapidly circling Voyager, as if assessing prey. After a few moments, it appeared they decided they’d waited long enough for a response. They broke off and flew in a tight criss-crossing formation, taking shots at Voyager without dinging any of their own ships. In other circumstances, Chakotay might have been impressed by their discipline and practiced coordination.
But he was focused on protecting Voyager…and Sally Ride. If it was only a matter of protecting the former, he’d have called for Warp 8. But he couldn’t abandon his Captain and her crew. So he held tightly to his command chair as they traded phaser strikes with the Zha Duak, hoping that he was keeping the enemy’s attention on Voyager and that the small shuttle would slip away unnoticed.
Again, no such luck.
The attacking ships suddenly expanded their swirling circle to include the small shuttle in their attacks. Most of the shots were still focused on Voyager, but at the far apex of the ellipse of the ships’ flight paths, some of the shots landed on the small shuttle.
=/\=
“Damn,” Kathryn swore upon seeing that the attacking ships had taken notice of her small shuttle.
If it had been just her aboard the shuttle, she would have turned about and joined in the fray to protect Voyager. But she had three young engineers with her, and the Sally Ride simply didn’t have firepower equal to the Intrepid class ship. She knew that Starfleet battle scenarios called for smaller craft to retreat to safety until they could rejoin their larger mothership. Thus, she’d instructed the pilot to continue toward the moon’s surface.
But now they were getting shot at! She hailed her ship, asking for assistance, all the while managing to get off several defensive shots at the swirling attackers.
=/\=
“Help them!” Chakotay shouted in frustration. He felt singularly powerless as the rest of the bridge crew lent their skills to the task at hand. Tom maneuvered Voyager amongst the attacking ships, trying to get closer to the shuttle, hoping he could block the assault on the tiny vessel. Tuvok and Harry were both braced at their consoles as the inertial dampers tried to keep up with Tom, fingers flying over their respective controls.
“We are doing everything that we can, Commander,” Tuvok intoned calmly.
Chakotay growled internally at the Vulcan’s unperturbed demeanor. Didn’t anything cause that Vulcan some level of concern or get him upset, like an attack on his oldest human friend?
Chakotay’s thoughts were interrupted by more crackling audio from the Sally Ride.
“We…lost navigation...going down!”came the report from the shuttle.
The bridge crew watched in horror as the Sally Ride fell into a steep decline toward the moon’s surface.
“Brace!” They heard Janeway yell over the din, as she gave final instructions to her away team.
A thunderously loud sound of grinding metal was followed by the sudden buzz of static.
His heart in his throat, Chakotay spun on his heel to pace, turning his back to the main viewscreen as if to reject what had just happened. When he glanced around the bridge, he was met by frightened blank stares on the face of all the crew, except Tuvok, who looked mildly disturbed.
“Harry, try to get them back on comms,” Chakotay ground out through gritted teeth, fighting to not think about the conditions inside the crashed shuttle.
=/\=
Janeway came to consciousness. She noted that there was very little smoke. “That’s good,” she thought. She grimaced and pushed herself up from where she was crumpled against the tactical station. She stiffly crept over to each of the junior engineers to feel for their pulse, and breathed in relief when all three had steady heartbeats.
Her away team was alive, but unconscious.
=/\=
“Can you get any closer?”
“The other ships are blocking us, and two of them are chasing the shuttle’s descent.”
For now, the attacking ships seemed content to block Voyager from helping the Sally Ride, only shooting phasers enough to keep the Intrepid-class ship at bay, while two of their ships went in search of the shuttle. Chakotay supposed that they wanted to block any resource gathering in their declared territory, or perhaps to use the shuttle and its occupants as collateral to coerce Voyager’s cooperation.
“Can we pick her up on scanners?” It was left unsaid whether the pronoun referred to the shuttle or the captain.
“Working on it, Commander.”
=/\=
Janeway got sensors working, and watched as an enemy ship landed nearby and another one at a strategic distance away.
Glancing at the external climate conditions, she quickly shed her uniform jacket and T-shirt, switching her combadge to her tank top, on the off chance that Voyager might manage to restore comms. If nothing else, it could be used as a homing signal for Starfleet tricorders. Next, she raided the weapons locker in the aft section of the shuttle, outfitting herself with every type of weapon, but most importantly her favorite, the deadly phase rifle, which she had nicknamed Bessie. “Come along girl,” she said aloud as she strapped on the trusty rifle.
She glanced toward the front of the shuttle, hoping the engineers would come to consciousness and be able to repair some of the shuttle’s critical systems like comms while she bought them some time. For safety, she’d lock them in the shuttle under heavy encryption, but nothing that Chakotay’s security access couldn’t break, if the shuttle made it back to Voyager. The possibility that the Sally Ride might be going back to Voyager without her wasn’t something she was going to think about right now.
=/\=
After Harry projected the biosign sensor outputs onto the main viewscreen, the bridge crew watched with rapt attention. Different species were color-coded by the sensors. They could see ten red blips representing the enemy lifeforms from the alien ships creeping toward the shuttle. Before they reached it, a blue blip snuck out the back hatch, pausing at the lock mechanism.
The group of red blips split in half and spread out in a formation to surround the shuttle. But by the time the two arms of the enemy phalanx rejoined, the blue blip had escaped their trap.
Unable to pull his eyes away, Chakotay called out over his shoulder, “Harry, can you switch from biosigns to infrared?”
“Aye, Commander,” he replied, and Chakotay saw the blips replaced by the heat signatures of eleven humanoid shapes, projected in higher-resolution, with distinguishable limbs and body movements. Heavy vegetation on the M-class terrain was evident in the dense infrared background levels surrounding the humanoid shapes, as they bent and scooted around the obstructions of the plant life.
“Now combine that with the biosigns, so we can track which one is human.”
The humanoid shapes now took on their red and blue shading once again.
His jaw tightened as his suspicions were confirmed. Chakotay immediately recognized the familiar petite shape of the blue-shaded figure. It seemed so did the rest of the bridge crew, as he heard hushed whispers of “It’s the Captain!”
The enemy must have been given the order to fire, since heat flared from each of their weapons, pointed toward the shuttle. The bridge crew gasped.
“Tuvok?” Chakotay asked, without turning to his Security Chief.
“The shuttle’s shields appear to be holding, Commander,” intoned the Vulcan.
During this interchange, the blue shape of Janeway had crept up to the nearest of her red-shaded enemies. She used a sudden strike from behind, one hand slashing across their front. The red biosign dimmed as it fell, before blinking out. Janeway moved off.
Another spray of enemy fire peppered the shuttle–the shields still holding–as Janeway carefully approached the next nearest enemy. Apparently, she chose to use the cover of weapons firing to pull up her phase rifle and take out multiple attackers. Four red biosigns fell and dimmed, lying critically injured and immobile. Janeway quickly ducked away behind vegetation, before the enemy could triangulate her position.
Chakotay could just imagine the confused shouting from the attackers, as they tried to assess their tactical position against an unknown assailant. He felt his heart swell in his chest, realizing that his Kathryn had already reduced the enemy threat by half.
Next, they saw a flare of heat at Janeway’s location, before the hot flare arced toward two of the enemy figures. The flare, presumably a plasma grenade, flashed as it exploded, causing the bridge crew to blink and flinch away from the glaring white light on the viewscreen. The two attackers flew back from the locus of the explosion, falling terribly still as their biosigns weakened.
=/\=
When she confirmed that she had taken out the two aliens with the grenade explosion, Kathryn looked around and spotted another alien who was just standing up, with his weapon raised. Kathryn’s training kicked in and she raised her own phaser from its holster, firing as soon as it was level. He fell to his knees with a look of astonished awe, before rolling off onto his side.
=/\=
The next nearest attacker appeared to have spotted the phaser flare from the Captain’s location and the bridge crew watched as he turned to charge around the front of the shuttle toward her position. His scream of rage could practically be heard on the orbiting ship’s bridge.
The crew drew a collective inhale, holding their breath.
=/\=
Falling to a crouch just as the charging attacker reached her, Janeway swept one of her legs out to undercut his stride, then leaning back, lifted her leg to raise his feet in the air. As he fell, his legs were level with his startled eyes, and his torso hit the ground eliciting a pained grunt. He tried to recover and clamber to his feet, but Janeway was faster. She grabbed his cranium in two hands, slamming his head down as she brought her knee up to connect with his face. His body immediately went lax and he flopped to the side.
=/\=
The bridge crew gasped and tried their best to suppress snickers of quiet appreciation.
Chakotay turned toward Tactical, and shared raised eyebrows with his Security Chief. That move, though impressive, was frowned upon within Starfleet.
When Chakotay turned back to the viewscreen, he noticed that there was only one enemy remaining. The red-shaded figure was creeping around the back of the shuttle, approaching Janeway from behind. The tension on the bridge ratcheted as the alien crept closer to the Captain.
Chakotay found his breath growing short.
=/\=
Janeway had closed her eyes for a moment, using her mind’s eye to review the number of figures she’d seen on the sensor display in the shuttle. She heard the snap of a twig behind her and ducked to roll away, coming up into a crouched position to face the source of the sound.
Her eyes widened slightly upon seeing the size of her opponent. All of her attackers had been large—she’d practically had to jump on the back of the first one in order to incapacitate him with her knife at his neck—but this guy was huge. He reminded her of the Nausicaan that had been hired for the final exam in combat training at the academy.
Just as she did back then, she took a deep breath and reminded herself that she could do this.
The two of them appraised each other coldly, until the alien sneered at her, apparently confident that he could vanquish this puny female.
“Go ahead and underestimate me, brute,” she thought, keeping her face impassive.
Janeway knew that she was lighter and probably faster than the big guy. She quickly stepped forward, knowing she could nullify his height advantage by staying close and swarming him with rapid hits, landing blistering body blows to his torso, which was at her eye level. The dense musculature of her Irish heritage served her well in the moment, letting her fists fly. She was thankful for the bareknuckle lessons that Chakotay and B’Elanna had shared with her.
His longer arms left him at a disadvantage as he tried to punch down on her. The most he managed when she was so close-in to him was a couple hard blows to the sides of her head, which made her ears buzz like the cicadas in Indiana. She started to watch for his swing and dodged the hits.
She used a right cross to his chin to distract him from her left jab to what she hoped was the same spot as the liver in most Alpha Quadrant species. Her opponent didn’t so much as grunt. “Delta Quadrant species must be different,” she mused. So she switched up her sequence, ending in a right jab with all her weight behind her dominant hand. He cried out and staggered back to clutch his left side briefly. He angrily snarled at her before stepping forward again with his left elbow tucked protectively close to his side.
“Good,” thought Janeway with a satisfied grimace, “that’ll shorten his range on that side.”
She immediately followed up with a roundhouse kick to his left side, which he was unable to block in time, her foot doubling down on the damage to his weak spot. He staggered back, heaving in pain. She lunged for his left hand, grabbing it tightly as she swung to the right and behind him. His center of gravity was pulled backward. It was just a matter of physics to pull him back as the two of them fell to the ground with a thump.
Her slender right arm easily slipped under the alien’s chin, and her hand reached to grip her left bicep. That accomplished, she used her left hand to push the back of his head into the crook of her right elbow, cutting into both breath and blood flow. Sensing the threat, the alien tried to dislodge her from his shoulders, but she quickly wrapped her legs around his torso to maintain her position behind him. His writhing slowed until he eventually succumbed to unconsciousness.
When she was confident he was out, Janeway released her hold and fell back with widespread arms, gasping for air.
=/\=
Almost as if they too had been watching the culmination of the battle on the moon’s surface, the enemy ships ceased firing and backed away from Voyager. Sharp-eyed and nimble-fingered Tom Paris swooped the ship forward to fly close to the moon’s surface.
Chakotay immediately recognized the opportunity that Tom was creating. “Harry, do you have a lock on the Captain?” he asked urgently, trying to hide his concern for Kathryn remaining on the surface one more minute than necessary. The away team was protected by the mostly intact Sally Ride, but his Captain was exposed to possible retaliation by the Zha Duak.
Harry triumphantly replied, “I’ve got her! Sending her to Transporter Room One.”
Chakotay could feel, more than hear, a collective sigh of relief that their Captain was safe aboard. Tension on the bridge loosened a notch.
Moments later, Janeway walked onto the bridge without taking the time to change into a clean uniform. Her muscled arms and tank top were streaked with sweat and dirt. Her jaw was set and her hair disheveled. Those seated among the bridge crew immediately jumped to their feet, and all of them, excepting Tuvok and Chakotay, broke into hooting and intense applause. Chakotay shared a look with Tuvok, shrugged, and then both of them joined in the applause congratulating their Captain on a battle hard won.
Janeway’s focused stride stuttered on her way to the command deck. Surprised by their adulation, she looked around at her crew, smirked, then raised her hands and waved them to sit back down at their stations. “As you were.”
Chakotay realized just how relieved he was even to hear her distinctive voice again.
She strode to the center of the command deck, hands on her hips and bade Harry, “Hail them.”
“Aye, Captain,” he replied. Then after a moment, “We’re connected.”
She turned and stepped to her command chair, settling-in to cross her legs and grip the arm rests. “This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the United Federation Starship USS Voyager. I am the one who defeated your soldiers on the moon’s surface. What was the meaning of the attack on our small mining mission?” Her voice was strong and fierce.
There was a slight pause before they replied, and Janeway glanced back at Harry who shrugged, indicating the comm line was still open. Finally, the very same gravelly alien voice that issued the introductory threat came over comms.
“You are small but mighty”, Janeway winced at the universal translator,“a true warrior. We withdraw in honor of your prowess. Please take what you need and never come back.”
The comms cut with a beep again and the six remaining ships flew in formation to sweep low, collecting their dead and injured in a wide transporter beam, before leaving the atmosphere and disappearing in a flash of warp travel. Apparently they would retrieve their two grounded vessels later.
Captain and Commander simultaneously fell back in their command chairs, each expelling a loud sigh of relief. At this, they snapped to each other’s gaze, then broke out in relaxed smiles.
“Well, Captain, it appears you have bought us one dilithium shopping trip”, Chakotay said, waving toward the moon’s surface still visible on the viewscreen, “courtesy of the Zha Duak.” He grinned at her.
She shrugged modestly.
Chakotay’s smile grew serious. “You don’t still want to go down there to mine dilithium yourself, do you?”
Janeway leaned her head back into her headrest, tiredly raising a hand to rub her face. “No, I think I’ve gotten a vigorous enough outing for today. Let someone else have that fun for now.” Her head flopped to the left, and she grinned at the look of relief on Chakotay’s face.
Immediately her attention was pulled to her Ops Chief.
“Captain, the away team has managed to restore communications, but just audio so far,” Harry announced.
Janeway sat upright, “Go ahead,” she said with anticipation.
“Sally Ride to Voyager, we’re locked in the shuttle under a Level 9 security encryption.”
Janeway sensed Chakotay flinch next to her, and she knew that she was in for a fight about that decision.
The engineer on the Sally Ride continued, “Our scanners indicated there were almost a dozen injured aliens outside, scattered around the shuttle, but they’re gone now and there’s no sign of the Captain! Do your scanners pick her up anywhere?” She sounded quite anxious.
Janeway lifted her voice to be heard across the comm channel, “Ensign Sharr, this is the Captain, now safely aboard Voyager. The unlock code is Janeway-pi-alpha-1-2-3-5. Continue to repair your systems and we’ll send the Cochrane with B’Elanna, Harry, and Mike,” she motioned to the three officers who stood and moved to go, “to expedite the mining and tractor the Sally Ride back if necessary.”
She looked to her right at B’Elanna, who returned a nod in understanding of her orders, before striding up the ramp toward the turbolift.
The Captain smiled in relief, before looking to her left, taking in the stormy emotions on the face of her First Officer.
Chakotay was the only one close enough to clock the dimming of her smile and the infinitesimal widening in her eyes. “Captain, may I see you in your Ready Room?” he asked carefully.
Janeway sighed internally, “Might as well get this over with", she pushed up from her chair, “Very well.” She knew that he was following after her.
When the door hissed shut behind them, Janeway turned around, ready for his onslaught.
“You locked them in from coming to your assistance! And Level 9? Why not Level 10?” He narrowed his eyes and his voice dropped, “You weren’t planning on making it back, and you wanted me to be able to release them.” His heart clenched and his face thundered darkly, as his mind tossed between fear and anger.
“I had to protect my crew!” She waved her arm in the general direction of the moon, “They were unconscious and defenseless! If they’d been alert and mobile I could have used their help, but they were out cold and I had to act. There was no time for any other decision.”
Hands on his hips and stern-faced, Chakotay paced and thought about it, but he really couldn’t find fault with her reasoning. With a sigh his shoulders dropped some of their tension.
Still, he had one more thing to say.
He stopped, hands still on hips, evincing disapproval with a little shake of his head in spite of a slight smile. “Head slam to the knee?” He quirked an eyebrow. “Isn’t that an illegal move?”
She tilted her head and looked at him askance, “Really, Chakotay? Do you think they were abiding by the Starfleet rules of combat?” Her incredulous grimace soon morphed into her familiar tilted smirk.
He was warmed to see that her good humor persisted in spite of her recent battle. He couldn’t resist breaking out into a full-throated laugh, “No, I suppose not.”
Her eyes sparkled at the sight of his adorable dimples. "Damn, why is he so gorgeous?", she thought. “Come here,” she reached for him.
He gladly stepped into her embrace, wrapping his arms around her tightly with a sigh. “I’m so glad you’re safe. It was terrifying to watch ten attackers approach your position.”
She pulled back to tilt her head up to meet his gaze. “You know, I aced my combat training class.” She paused for effect, then grinned. “But it’s nice to know that I’ve still got it.”
“Indeed you do,” he rumbled, pulling her close again and squeezing her tightly in gratitude, “Indeed you do.”
She murmured into his chest, “Soooo, how long do you think it will take to live down that Small-but-Mighty thing?”