What Happens When You Make Other Plans
Disclaimer: Just borrowing a swing on Paramount's playground.
AN: This one is going to be a little different....please please please review! Also manythanks to monkee's superb "Gravity Well" and mochachill's outstanding "Shekan"...who at least helped inspire thegeneral theme of this story.
Part One: The Separation
Ensign Harry Kim strolled through the marketplace on the teeming technological center of Gentarra Prime. He had wandered from the high-traffic areas of the market, where they were selling things like transporter technology, holo-emitters, and dilithium matrices. Evidently, the Gentarrans had no qualms about selling technology, although it appeared that they had a kind of "members-only" policy, and did perform certain background checks. It had taken Voyager 3 weeks to get clearance to visit the planet's surface.
When they had, the crew had immediately seen that it was worth the wait. Gentarra Prime was a veritable smorgasboard of technological wonders. Species from all over the sector came to buy, sell, and trade. Frequently, gasps and murmurs of admiration were heard, as traders demonstrated their wares. Gentarra Prime had an open air market as well, not as highly sought after, but just as large and varied.
So Ensign Kim found himself among the more traditional market fare, fresh fruit and flowers, and was enjoying the outing immensely, taking in the cultural atmosphere and the bustle of the trade stalls.
He paused to look at a trade stall with beautiful sculpted and polished stones on display. There were even tiny tools and lengths of metal wire, with which you could set the stones into jewelry you created yourself. The salesman smiled at him toothily, as he noted the offworlder's interest.
"Here are some of my designs," the salesman gestured at a layout of empty ring and brooch settings. "Or you are welcome to set the stones yourself, if you'd like. A truly unique gift, anywhere in the galaxy."
"Are the stones found he-" Harry's question was cut short by screams, and the crescendos of a struggle. He dropped the pliers he'd been holding, and bolted in that direction, when he heard a cry in English… and recognized the voice.
He had seen her pass by, as she left the indoor arena housing the more expensive and advanced items available for sale. She had turned toward the left, and was not walking quickly or with destination in mind. She had entered the long rows of flower and jewelry stalls. They were always crowded… he smiled, and that badge she was wearing looked like it might fetch a pretty price.
He slipped from his stance, leaned against an alley wall, and began to walk casually down the lane, careful to keep her in sight.
"Do this correctly, Jorann, and you could be eating well for a month," he muttered to himself.
He caught up to her when she paused at a fruit and vegetable stand, and picked up a round, red corshna. She looked at it for a moment, and smiled, appearing to be far away. Jorann narrowed his eyes, wondering whether or not she was crazy, and if it was safe to try and relieve her of her valuables. She replaced the corshna, and continued walking. She was approaching a particularly crowded section of the market, and when she began to thread her way through the tightly compacted mass of people, he decided to make his move.
Jorann had not anticipated the violence of her reaction, when he reached his large hand around to her front, grasping for the jewelry she wore there. As the badge tore away from her clothing, she pulled away, and fell, fear in her eyes. He bent over her, intent on exploring her person for anything else that he could sell.
She kicked him in the face.
As the heel of her boot caused a crunching of Gentarran cartilage and a spurting of Gentarran blood, there were some snickers and cheers from the crowd, where people were watching warily. There were some catcalls too, and rage began to fill Jorann's thoughts, rage and wounded pride, at being bested by a woman.
She leapt to her feet as lightly as a cat, and instinctively reached up to activate her communicator, which unfortunately rested in the palm of her attacker's hand. She saw the rage make his eyes feral, and saw a glint of blade as he unsheathed a long crooked knife.
That's when she decided to scream. And run.
The other Gentarrans neither aided nor hindered her, seeming to think it all in good fun, like some sort of sporting event or floor show.
Her attacker was huge, and was taking one stride to every four of hers. And he had a knife. She opened her mouth to call for help again, as she careened around a corner, right into to the yellow material of Harry Kim's chest.
"Ha—Harry," she panted. He helped her up, and managed,
"Captain?" before she suggested, without so many words, that they run like hell. Jorann rounded the corner like a wounded bull.
Harry was running, holding on to the Captain's upper arm, as she struggled to keep up. Her lungs were burning from her panic and her flight, but she still managed to catch sight of a door with a passcode keypad next to it…and it was slightly ajar.
"Harry…there," she managed. He yanked the door open, and pulled her in, shutting it securely behind them.
The keypad glowed with a whirling light, as a Gentarran in a labcoat came up to it, and punched in a long code. There was a beep, and the door disappeared, leaving only a featureless wall. He did not notice the large Gentarran looking frantically around as if he had misplaced something.
"Klental, it is done," the second Gentarran called. "Deactivation sequence has been implemented. Countdown to recalibration has been initiated." Klental's reply was unintelligible and ignored, as Jorann was noticed.
"Sir, can I help you?" The scientist, whose name was Lurtak, asked politely. "Have you lost something?"
"Yes, a piece.. a piece of jewelry. Perhaps I dropped it in the marketplace." Jorann's palm was empty, and he was thoroughly disgusted with himself.
"Perhaps so. I hope you are able to locate it, but this is a restricted area." Lurtak replied, by way of dismissal.
"Did you see anyone come this way?"
"I assure you, that's quite impossible." Lurtak said firmly. "Good day, sir."
Harry blinked his eyes, and then shook his head, as if he did not believe what he was seeing. He turned around, and where the door they just entered should have been….
..there was only a beautiful green field. They were outdoors, in a gorgeous, serene pastoral setting. There was no city, no marketplace, nothing for at least a kilometer. He squinted, thinking he could make out the outlines of some small buildings in the distance. He turned again, but the view had not changed.
"What the hell?" he said. He turned, and helped Captain Janeway to her feet.
"Thank you, Ensign," she said, and began brushing off her uniform, before looking around.
"Where are we?" she asked.
"I thought we were inside a building in the capital city of Gentarra Prime." Harry shrugged, as if to say what do I know?
"Our scans showed no rural areas remaining on Gentarra Prime." She murmured, half to herself. "It's almost completely metropolitan." She mechanically reached for her commbadge, but stopped when her hand touched bare skin. Her uniform had a small tear, where her communicator had been ripped away.
"Try yours, Ensign," she ordered. Harry hit his commbadge, but was rewarded only with a click and the silence of dead air. They looked askance at each other for a moment, unsure of exactly what course of action to take.
"What is this?" Janeway asked, noticing that the field was not as empty as they had previously thought. A small signpost stood to their left, with a light atop it that was flashing. There was a small keypad on the post, and it looked familiar. "Is that the same one as on the door?"
"It looks like it." Harry reached out his hand, but before he could even touch any of the keys, an alarm sounded. He jerked back as if he'd been shocked.
"They've begun the deactivation sequence," came a voice just out of sight over a small rise. "I'm going to retract the beacon."
A humanoid looking vaguely Gentarran topped the rise, and hesitated when he saw them standing by the "beacon". He gestured over his shoulder at someone unseen, and approached them.
"How did you come to be here?" he asked, abruptly, but not quite rudely.
"We were being chased by someone with a knife, and came through a door. Can you tell us what is going on?" Janeway spoke in a fairly subdued manner, for her, Harry thought.
"A silver door, with a coded lock?" The man asked, getting visibly agitated.
"Yes, but wh-" He cut off the captain's next question, pacing and muttering to himself.
"And they're off-worlders too. How could they have left it open? Deactivation sequence has already begun. I suppose you have a ship?" The muttering stopped, and the last question was directed at them.
"Yes, we come from the Federation starship Voyager. This is Ensign Kim, and I'm Captain Janeway."
At the mention of her title, woe filled the man's face afresh, and he looked almost afraid. He shook his head.
"You cannot go back," he said simply. Harry glanced back and forth from the alien to the captain, and opened his mouth to protest. The captain held up her hand for silence.
"Why don't you tell us who you are, and where we are, for starters?"
"Certainly, Captain. I am Prastin, and I am the keeper of the Beacon. This is my wife, Kariva." He motioned for a slight woman, with long black hair, who had been standing unnoticed several meters away. She walked up to join them, and gave her husband a significant look.
"What has happened?" she asked. Kathryn recognized the urgency in her tone, although she tried to say it casually.
Prastin pushed a series of symbols on the keypad, which glowed, let out an obliging chirp, and then went dead. The beacon began to lower itself into the ground, until all sign of it was gone. The four of them stood in an empty meadow.
"What – why – that's our way back!!" Ensign Kim sputtered in barely intelligible outrage.
"That's enough, Mr. Kim," Janeway said. "We are understandably confused, and we need to get back to our ship. Can you please tell us what is going on?"
"Perhaps you would accompany us back to our home?" Kariva said pleasantly. "We can sit, have something to drink, and discuss what has happened." She murmured quietly to her husband, "The council is not going to like this."
"What do you mean they're gone?" Chakotay's face and tone were thunderous.
"Ensign Kim's commbadge signal has simply vanished. As far our scanners can tell, he is no longer on the planet." Tuvok spoke calmly, his superior's outburst notwithstanding.
"And Kathryn's?" Chakotay didn't even notice that her given name had slipped from his lips.
"Her signal disappeared less than half a kilometer away from Mr. Kim's. However, upon further investigation, the security team found this in an alleyway in the marketplace." Tuvok held up a container of crushed metal, some pebble-sized pieces, some powdered.
"Is that the Captain's?" Chakotay asked dully, already knowing the answer.
"It is, sir. We lost Captain Janeway's signal when her communicator was destroyed. However, Ensign Kim's signal merely disappeared. No trace of it has been found."
"Have you checked where it went off the grid?"
"It is a restricted area. We were denied access." Chakotay rubbed both of his hands over his face in fatigue. He could not allow himself to succumb to panic.
"All right. Get me the Chancellor of Gentarra Prime, and patch it through to the ready room."
"Aye, sir," Tuvok responded, and exited the ready room. A few moments later, the viewscreen on the desk chirped and lit up. A tall, austere Gentarran appeared there.
"I am Chancellor Yegran. What can I do for you, Commander?" He asked, without quite sneering. Chakotay instantly disliked him; the Chancellor had an oily, superior air that could be concealing almost anything.
"Two of my people are missing, Chancellor."
"Gentarra Prime offers many opportunities for people who wish to disappear. If they are of age, it is their choice to do so."
"And what if it was not of their choice?"
"Sadly, there is a criminal element on Gentarra Prime. With trade and prosperity inevitably come those of a more… unsavory character. I am sure it is the same on your world as well. Your people should have been more careful." Chakotay stared at him for a moment, barely concealing his rage.
"They lost communications with the ship in this area." He hit a keypad and sent the coordinates. "We'd like your permission to search in this area."
Chancellor Yegran studied the numbers for a moment. "I am sorry. That is a classified research area. Access is highly restricted. It is highly unlikely that your people were even in that area at all. It would not have been permitted."
"Our sensors indicated that – "
"Your sensors are obviously in error." The Chancellor's manner had been cold before, but was now positively icy. "Good day, Commander."
The viewscreen went dead.
Chakotay swore, and hit the desk with his fist. He sat motionless for a moment, his mind racing, and then opened a commlink to the bridge.
"Chakotay to Tuvok."
"Tuvok here."
"Call a meeting of the senior staff in the conference room immediately. Also, recall any remaining members of the crew from the surface. Make sure everyone is accounted for."
"Understood. Tuvok out."
Kariva placed four mugs of a steaming, spicy liquid on the roughhewn table, and sat next to her husband. Their home was more like a cabin, with a spartan quality and primitive furnishings. However, there were flashes of technology that Kathryn had seen: a computer terminal was over in the corner and appeared to be operational.
Kathryn took a sip of her drink, and found it to taste somewhat like spiced cider.
"Now, can you please explain where we are and how we got here?" she asked. Kariva and Prastin exchanged glances, and Prastin took a deep breath.
"Captain, you and your ensign are on Gentarra Prime." His statement seemed somewhat anticlimactic, considering how reluctant he'd been to say it.
"That's what we thought."
"In an alternate timeline." Harry looked like he might be sick. "I'm afraid it was a one way trip." Prastin finished.
"Explain," Captain Janeway said tersely. Prastin looked at a loss.
"Begin at the beginning, husband," Kariva suggested gently.
"Many years ago, there was great concern on Gentarra Prime – in your universe – because the entire planet was nearly covered in one large city. Everything was mechanized and covered in metal or synthetic materials… there were few farms and parks and natural places left. Some of the scientists became concerned, when the raw materials on the planet began to become scarce. They started doing research into alternate realities.
"People thought they were crazy, but they were finally able to create a link with an alternate reality where Gentarra Prime had remained agrarian. This is where you are.
"It was a huge technological undertaking for them, and it still is a very complicated process to undergo. But they managed to keep the link stable in both location and in time. Now, we send them foodstuffs and ores, and they send us what little technology we require. You can see," he gestured at his home with one hand, "we prefer a simpler life."
"Then, you can send us back." Harry said. "If the connection works two ways, then you can send us back."
"I told you the process was very complex. It is highly detailed and must be followed exactly. The time you entered the portal was the end of a cycle. They had just finished sending several thousand ropha of supplies. Now the machine has been deactivated."
"How long until a new cycle begins?" Captain Janeway asked, beginning to see how this was going, and not liking it.
"Deactivation takes 4 huri. Then recalibration takes 6 ½ huri. Then the machine must be recharged, and the settings reset and tested; that takes 9 huri. It will be nearly 20 huri before the portal will open again, and – "
"What is a huri?" Captain Janeway interrupted.
"It consists of 45 rotations of our planet on its axis. There are 5 huri in one starcycle."
"There are 18 hours in a Gentarran day," Captain Janeway told Harry. "Can you compute how much time that is for us?"
Without any tricorder, Ensign Kim was reduced to scribbling on a piece of paper, but he had come up with the answer in a relatively short amount of time. His eyes slid shut in denial as he looked at the answer.
"Ensign?" Janeway prodded.
"Nearly two years."
"That's not possible. There has got to be some way that we can begin the sequence early."
"I'm afraid not, Captain," Prastin shook his head, but there was sympathy in his eyes. "If we ended any part of the sequence prematurely, the machine would not have enough power to get you into the right place and time… you could end up anywhere. The settings have to be absolutely precise."
The two officers from Voyager slumped in their seats, looking utterly dejected.
"I haven't told you the worst part yet," Prastin offered, his brow creasing in concern.
"It gets worse?" Harry said dubiously.
"The portal only works one way. They just sent us supplies, and will send us supplies again at the end of the next cycle. The resetting procedure is slightly shorter that way. After they send us supplies again, it will take longer to recalibrate and reverse the portal, then it will be their turn to receive supplies for two cycles. It is a more efficient manner of doing it."
"So more than double our estimate, then?" Captain Janeway said, with a mirthless smile.
"Five…years?" was all Harry could utter. Captain Janeway pinched the bridge of her nose between her fingers, and looked tired.
"I hate to think of Commander Chakotay and Voyager waiting around for 4 years," she said wearily.
"They won't know you're here," Prastin said. "It's highly classified. Even if Gentarra Prime figures out you came here, they won't tell your Commander that."
Captain Janeway and Ensign Kim exchanged a long glance.
"So, they're going to leave without us?" Harry said; it wasn't really a question. He pushed his chair back, and it fell over. He didn't appear to notice. "I've got to… think. Excuse me, Captain." He exited the cabin without another word.
Prastin and Kariva looked away, uncomfortable with their obvious distress.
"I'm sorry, Prastin. This is going to take some getting used to." Kathryn's mind was whirling, belying her calm outward demeanor. They had nothing of Voyager with them, aside from Harry's communicator… no phasers or tricorders. They were at the mercy of alien technology that they had no knowledge of. Voyager had no idea where they were, and were unlikely to find out from Gentarran government… and even if they did, Kathryn would rather them continue home than wait 4 years for them.
A thought suddenly occurred to her. "Prastin, can we scan for Voyager? If this is just an alternate timeline, perhaps Voyager is nearby."
"There are infinite possibilities, Captain Janeway," Prastin said. "But even if your Voyager is close, she will-"
"Already have a Captain Janeway and Ensign Kim aboard," Kathryn finished for him glumly.
"We have an automated security system for safety reasons, but our sensors and communications are very limited. We are not interested in outsiders. It is possible we would not even be able to detect your ship."
"Kariva, you said something about a council. And you just mentioned your lack of interest in outsiders. Will we be welcomed here?" Kariva smiled.
"I was referring to the obvious lapses in security and mishandling of the machine at the other end of the portal. You should have never been allowed to get that close to the doorway. People are rarely sent through."
"But they have been sent through?" Kathryn asked.
"Only after extensive research," Prastin said. "You see, with you, it is not a problem, as your alternative selves are nowhere on Gentarra. With us, we have to check, as running into your wife with someone else, or seeing children that have never been born in your timeline, tends to be somewhat … awkward."
"Yes, I can see how it would be," Kathryn chuckled, but quickly grew serious again. "Will there be somewhere for us to stay?"
"There is a vacant house on the outskirts of the village… the closest one to our house. We live a little further away than most, to be closer to the beacon. Harana just moved out to get married; her parents died last year. With her permission, you could live there," Prastin offered. "I will call a council meeting. We will make some decisions." He stood to his feet. Kathryn did as well.
"We'd appreciate any help you can give us. I'm going to find Harry. Will we need to be present at the council meeting?"
"It might be wise," Prastin said, after considering her question for a moment. "I will come get you."
The atmosphere in the briefing room was tense and edgy. Chakotay's countenance was so dark that none of the senior staff wanted to meet his eyes. He didn't speak immediately, and the silence grew so strained that Tom was on the point of jumping up and making a wisecrack, even if the first officer killed him.
"Options, people." Chakotay finally said tersely. "I need options. We need to locate Captain Janeway and Ensign Kim, and retrieve them, or we need to be able to verify…their- the worst. How can we accomplish that?"
"Have we reconstructed their activities? There were thousands of people in that market. Someone had to have seen them." B'Elanna put in.
"I have a security detail on the surface asking questions," Tuvok replied. "However, the Gentarrans have so far been…less than forthcoming."
"If they're holding Harry and the captain somewhere, can't we just threaten them? Isn't this an act of war?" Tom asked, understandably upset.
"One Federation ship far away from home isn't exactly in the position to make a lot of threats," Chakotay countered. "We don't know that the Gentarrans have them. We don't know – we don't know damn near anything."
"It would seem that the course of action we are currently undertaking is the correct one," Seven stated. "Someone does know what happened, or some of what happened. Interrogation is the only way to figure out who has information and who is willing to share it."
"I agree. It doesn't seem like much, but it's all we've got." Chakotay said. "B'Elanna, I want you and Seven to work on the scanners and the sensor logs. Run any kind of test you can think of that might turn up some kind of information. Tuvok, we're going back down there with your team, to see if we can turn up anything. Paris, you have the conn." B'Elanna looked less than happy about being assigned to work with Seven, but Chakotay saw nothing less than the determination he was used to from the senior crewmembers.
"Dismissed."
Kathryn stood in Prastin's doorway, scanning the pastoral panorama in front of her for any sign of where Harry might have gone. A footpath to the west led to a wooden bridge over a creek, and presumably, to the village. Back to the south was the field where they were found. Then she saw him, sitting on the ground near the base of a large tree, not 100 meters away.
She sat down next to him. "It's beautiful here," she began neutrally.
"It's not home."
"Neither was Voyager."
"With all due respect, Captain, that's bullshit and you know it."
"Yes, I suppose you're right." She smiled at him then. "Voyager wasn't exactly home. But it was family and it was the promise of home, wasn't it?"
"You always made me hope, Captain… you were so positive that Voyager would make it back to Earth. I actually believed it. And now, stuck here on this planet… for years. We'll never catch back up to Voyager. It's like finding myself stranded in the Delta quadrant all over again." Harry's tone was bitter.
"Chakotay will exhaust every possible option, and some impossible ones, if I know him, before he gives up. This could be over tomorrow," Kathryn said, with more cheer than she actually felt.
Harry looked at her for the first time since she'd sat down next to him.
"Do you really believe that?"
"Are you going to make calling me on my shit a practice, Ensign?" Harry laughed then, a feeble one that ended in a kind of sigh.
"There are always possibilities. But I admit, I can't see any way out. If we had been stranded on the technological end of Gentarra Prime, maybe… but here? Highly unlikely."
"So what are we going to do, Captain?"
"The only thing we can do, Harry. We've got to live. We might as well make the most of it, for as long as we're here. At the least, in 5 years, we go back through the portal, get a ship, and try to find Voyager somehow."
"With a five year head-start?"
"I don't know. Perhaps there's a way communications can run two ways during a cycle. We might not be able to go through ourselves, but we can send word through. Who knows?
"Prastin's calling a council meeting. He thinks there will be an empty house available for us near the village."
"To live in together?" Harry blushed and looked uncomfortable.
"He only mentioned one house. I'm sorry, Harry. You probably wish that you'd been stranded with anyone but me." Kathryn looked stricken. "Am I that scary? Would you rather live separately?"
"Well, no, b-but you- you're the Captain…" Harry stammered.
"Not here. Just Kathryn." She interjected.
"And you're – you're…" he couldn't finish his thought… a woman. "What about you?" he said abruptly, changing the subject. "Isn't there someone else you'd rather be stranded with?"
Kathryn was silent for so long, Harry began to wonder if he'd overstepped his bounds.
"Yeah, maybe," she finally ventured. She draped an arm across his back, and patted him on the shoulder. "You're not such a bad alternate though. Beats the hell out of being alone."
Harry narrowed his eyes at her, but smiled. "So I'm better than nothing, is that it?" Kathryn gave him a look of surprise and amusement.
"Are you teasing me, Ensign Kim?"
Harry made a conciliatory gesture, and looked as if he would apologize, but she stopped him.
"It's all right, Harry." Her tone was wry. "You have my permission to continue." Her head turned suddenly, and her demeanor changed. "Here comes Prastin. It must be time for the council." She stood to her feet, and offered Harry a hand up. "Let's go."
"Commander, we are receiving a transmission from the surface," Ensign McKay, from her position at Harry's station, announced.
Hope leapt in Chakotay's eyes. They had spent a long fruitless afternoon in the marketplace on Gentarra Prime, among faces that either were blankly ignorant or shuttered once the Starfleet crew had disclosed what they were looking for. There were people down there that knew something, of that he had no doubt. But perhaps…perhaps this transmission was from Kathryn or Harry, and this whole crisis could be put behind them.
Elizabeth McKay saw his look, and said with a disappointed tone, "It's Chancellor Yegran."
Chakotay's shoulders slumped slightly, but he set his jaw.
"Onscreen." Chancellor Yegran appeared in front of him, his mouth turned up in some approximation of a smile, but no humor in his features.
"Commander Chakotay, it has come to my attention that you have been conducting an…investigation without authorization from the Gentarran government."
You mean, without authorization from you, Chakotay thought sourly.
"We are extremely concerned with the recovery of our missing people," Chakotay replied, as politely as he could.
"I certainly understand, Commander. However, it does not excuse conducting an unauthorized investigation on a sovereign world."
"It was not our intent to offend, Chancellor. Our thoughts are only on recovering our crewmen," Chakotay gritted his teeth. Kathryn was so much better at the diplomatic game than he was.
"Because I understand your concern, and to show the generous spirit of Gentarra Prime to all off-worlders, I will disclose to you that an arrest has been made with regard to the disappearance of your crew."
Chakotay felt his insides tie into knots.
"With what is he charged?" he ground out. The tension on the bridge was palpable. Tom Paris sat at the helm, his spine completely rigid. Nobody moved.
"He has been charged with two counts of homicide." Yegran gestured, and a very large Gentarran was brought forward in shackles. Chakotay was gripping the armrest so tightly that his knuckles were white.
"What..evidence do you have?" he managed.
"The criminal has confessed," Yegran said. "He faces death, but I regret to inform you that he has said there is nothing left of the bodies."
There was a strangled gasp from somewhere behind Chakotay, probably Ensign McKay. Something of Chakotay's agony must have showed on his face, because the shackled Gentarran spoke, his words tumbling over each other.
"I'm sorry, sir. I just wanted her pretty badge. I thought I could sell it. I didn't mean to hurt the other one, but when she screamed, he came to help her…"
"Silence!" The Chancellor snarled, and the accused was taken away. Chakotay had turned his head to one side, as if unwilling to physically face what was being said to him.
"We are sorry for your loss, Commander. In recompense, we will not ask payment for any supplies you have acquired during your visit to Gentarra Prime. We must ask that you break orbit by morning, however. We have done all we can do for you."
Chakotay's features were shuttered and grief-stricken.
"Thank you for your assistance, Chancellor," he said calmly. Ensign McKay closed the channel, trying not to openly cry.
"Make preparations to get underway, Tuvok. We'll leave orbit at 0800 tomorrow."
"Aye, sir."
Chakotay stood then, and walked wordlessly to the ready room, with a posture of defeat. The doors slid shut behind him.
TBCNext Chapter: Adjusting