The Evil That Breeds Within

Chapter 8

"The Search"

Voyager's bridge was suffused by the gloomy red glow of the red alert lights. In the dim illumination, Harry Kim furiously worked the controls of his console at the Operations Station, pushing at buttons with an ever-deepening frown. He had been scanning the planet for close to eight hours but failed to discover any signs of Captain Janeway. He had started off with a wide range scan encompassing all of Cardassia Prime and then had refined his search to the capital city. However, despite all his efforts the scanners had failed to pick up any human life signs. Kim concluded that the Cardassian military must have been concealing the Captain at a heavily shielded site. Since Voyager's state of the art sensor systems were capable of penetrating shielding up to level 10, he reasoned that Janeway could only be kept at a site with shielding exceeding level 10. Harry narrowed his search to scans for military facilities with level 10 or above shielding. Although the sensors wouldn't be able to penetrate such sites, they would be able to detect such locations. He was certain that there couldn't be many! High capacity shielding was difficult to maintain and hence only used to hide top-secret military installations and the like.

He rubbed his tired eyes. He had been staring at the monitors on his console continuously for eight hours and his vision was beginning to blur. The search for the Captain had proved a lot more difficult than he had expected. The Cardassians were no fools. They had acted very promptly in concealing any trace of their prized prisoner. Harry stifled a yawn and quietly reprimanded himself for it. There was no time for sleepiness; he had to find the Captain. God knew what the Cardassians were doing to her down there on the planet; he didn't dare to think about it. Time was of the essence, and they were fast running out of it! Of course there was one other possible explanation for why the scans had not found any human life signs... What if Janeway was already dead?

The sudden sound of a beacon from his console shook Kim out of his glum thoughts. There it was! Level 16 shielding! A structure close to the Central Command Building where Janeway had been captured. According to the sensors this was a huge complex. Only about ten percent of the structure was located on the surface, the remaining ninety percent being situated underground. There even seemed to be a tunnel linking the Central Command Building with this massive structure and all of it was heavily shielded. This had to be it!

Tuvok sat very straight in the Captain's chair, studying the data that had been found in Marlow's quarters. Earlier Tuvok had gone to join his security team in Marlow's quarters in search for any further tactical information that might aid their rescue attempt. However, they had found nothing that would help them get the Captain back. On the other hand, their search had confirmed what Tuvok had already suspected. Marlow and Admiral Nechayev were operatives of Section 31, a secretive covert operations unit of Starfleet Intelligence that claimed to search out and destroy extraordinary threats to the Federation, often by employing extralegal tactics. The origins of Section 31 went all the way back to the beginnings of the Federation and the organization had operated under such extreme secrecy that no one really knew who was running it, or what they were up to. Section 31 seemed to answer to no one.

Tuvok and his security team had located encrypted subspace transmission logs from Marlow addressed to Admiral Nechayev. Tuvok, who many years ago had lectured decryption tactics at Starfleet Academy, had managed to break the multi-faceted codes within the space of a few hours. The senior officers and a few of the leading Maquis were briefed on the findings vis-à-vis Ross Marlow and Admiral Nechayev. But there were still a lot of unanswered questions. For one, what was the real reason behind the mission Nechayev had sent Voyager on? If they had not been sent here to help the rebel leaders to create a new Cardassia, then why had their presence been required? Did Section 31 see the Cardassian underground movement as a threat to the Federation and if so why? Was Captain Janeway's capture by the Cardassian Military an accident or had Section 31 a hand in this, too? If it had been Section 31's intention that the Cardassians captured Janeway, then what was their reasoning behind it?

Tuvok's attempt at logic was interrupted by a sudden outburst of excitement from Ensign Harry Kim,

"I've got it!"

B'Elanna and Carey had perfected the shuttle's cloaking device and instructed both Paris and Chakotay on how to operate it and how to avoid obvious hazards, which might render the device ineffective.

Paris was now sitting at the helm, running final system checks, while Chakotay had taken the co-pilot seat. There was an uneasy silence between the men. Neither knew what to expect from the other. Chakotay thought Paris a mercenary, a traitor who was willing to sell himself to any party for the right price. Paris on the other hand felt deeply wronged by Chakotay. It hadn't been his fault that Starfleet had caught him during his first week in the Maquis, but the older man wouldn't listen. Despite his usual display of cocky behaviour Tom Paris was a sensitive man, and Chakotay's mistrust deeply wounded him, although he would ever admit it.

The animosity that arose from these emotions mostly resulted in highly counter-productive behaviour, something they could definitely do without for the duration of this mission. Too many lives were at stake. However, although they tried to see past their differences, they were at best tolerating each other's presence. Now they would have to work closely together to get their Captain back. It would have to do.

The goal to get Janeway back was the one thing that united Paris & Chakotay. To Tom Paris Captain Janeway was the only person who had ever given him a chance to prove himself. She had believed in him from the start, even when she got him out of the prison compound in New Zealand. Fully aware of his past, she had only judged him on what she saw, not on his record. This meant more to Tom than anything in the world.

Chakotay was motivated by something else. He had fallen in love with Janeway and although she had hurt him deeply by ignoring him for the past six months, he still had strong feelings for her. Something told him that she still had feelings for him too, however well she was hiding them. He would give his life to save her from the claws of the Cardassians!

The shuttle's ramp closed and Tom brought the engines online. According to Kim's scans, Janeway could only be held in the heavily shielded building situated in close proximity to the Central Command Building. Voyager's scanners had been unable to penetrate the shielding around the complex, however, if the circumference of the shielding was anything to go by, they were dealing with an enormous structure, most of which was apparently hidden underground. Looking for Janeway would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack, however it was the only place where the Cardassians could have concealed the Captain from Voyager's sensors. Since the guards had escorted Janeway out of the Cardassian Museum of Art on foot, it was logical to assume that the place in which she was held captive was close by. Furthermore, since it was the only possible hiding place Harry had come up with it in his analysis of the planet, it was their only hope, so they might as well go for it.

How to get into the building once they had landed was another matter entirely, and Tom was almost grateful that this part of their away mission had been left to the Maquis leader. Chakotay hadn't discussed this part of the mission with him, probably because Tom wasn't going to accompany the Maquis captain into the structure anyway, but Tom suspected that Chakotay's distrust of him had also been a factor. Oh well, good luck to him!

"All systems check," Paris announced.

Chakotay activated the comm.

"Commander Tuvok, shuttlecraft 'Obscura' is ready to engage with your permission."

Tuvok's voice sounded calm through the speakers,

"Permission granted. I wish you success, Mr. Chakotay and Mr. Paris. Live long and prosper."

Now I'm really worried, Tom thought. The formal Vulcan 'good-bye' confirmed that this was indeed a suicide mission... He shook the feeling of unease and concentrated on manoeuvring the small craft out of the cargo bay doors. To the eye and to sensors the shuttle was invisible. Only the brief flash of the force field being penetrated, when the shuttle left the cargo bay for space, gave away its existence. Obscura's sensors, just like Voyager's scanners, had been modified so that they could still see Voyager despite the fact that the starship was now cloaked. Slowly the Obscura descended towards the planet. Soon they came to the network of mines that formed the Cardassian Planetary Defence Perimeter.

Although he knew that the defence perimeter could not possible detect the shuttle since it was cloaked, Chakotay felt his muscles tense at the sight of the mines, which outsized the small craft by a factor of 10. One of those things alone had the power to annihilate them in the blink of an eye. Tom cleverly manoeuvred the small craft between the mines. However, he was going way too fast for Chakotay's taste, and Chakotay allowed himself to take a deep breath as Tom stated with obvious relief,

"Mine field cleared."

Next was the difficult descent through the planet's atmosphere. Landing a craft on a planet was never easy, but in this case Tom had to manoeuver the shuttle at a precise angle of 2.3 degrees in order to evade Cardassian ground scanners. Even though the shuttle itself was cloaked, the scanners would be able to detect the disturbance of gases in the atmosphere, caused by the penetration of a foreign object such as a shuttlecraft. However, at a precise angle of 2.3 degrees the Obscura would appear on scanners as nothing more than a small blip of space-drifting debris burning up in the planet's atmosphere, which was not a rare occurrence and would not alarm the Cardassian ground forces.

When they finally broke through the atmosphere a magnificent site greeted them. The sun was just about to set over the capital, leaving a beautiful amber glow on the golden, arched and intricately crafted rooftops, a testament to the once rich mineral resources of the planet. For the first time in his life Chakotay allowed himself to take a good look at his enemies' homeworld, the people who had annihilated his homeworld and robbed him of everyone he had cared for. Despite the hatred he felt for them, he had to admit that the amber glow made Cardassia Prime's capital look spectacularly appealing, indeed breathtakingly beautiful. A city of pure gold!

Tom whistled through his teeth,

"Now there's a site for sore eyes! I had no idea it would be this beautiful... Wonder what the Ferengi would do with this place if they had the chance to get close to it…"

"Just a shame about the people," Chakotay dampened his pilot's enthusiasm.

The shuttle descended lower and lower, skimming the tips of arched rooftops until they were approaching the landing site. This was a small courtyard in the grounds of the Cardassian Central Command building. Paris had to be a very skilled pilot to land the shuttle in such a confined space. Chakotay was quite a skilled pilot himself, but he doubted he could pull off this stunt. Paris held the small craft just above the center of the grassy courtyard, and then killed the engines. Slowly, seemingly an inch at a time, he used the shuttle's thrusters to lower it further and further to the ground. When the craft finally touched down on the grass the landing was practically soundless. Now came the tough bit. Since they didn't have personal cloaks and there hadn't been time for the EMH to perform surgical alterations, Chakotay would have to leave the shuttle and look for the Captain without being noticed by anyone, however there was a Cardassian patrol guarding the courtyard. Since the sun was already setting, Chakotay's only option was to wait for the cover of night. He only hoped the courtyard was not too well illuminated.

Kressik's hands roamed the bare skin of her torso as he used the bulk of his body to crush Kathryn further into the wall, which he had cunningly backed her into. When she tried to push him off her, no longer trying to cover her chest with her arms, he took both her wrists into his left hand and restrained them above her head. Now thoroughly exposed to his gaze, she made desperate attempts to kick him, but her legs were trapped between the wall and Kressik. He began to trail a brutal line of kisses from her neck to her collarbone. Kathryn's body writhed in revulsion, trying to break free so that she could defend herself. She couldn't allow him to take her. There had to be something she could do to get him off her… But there wasn't. His violent embraces moved further down her body towards her chest. Kathryn tried to control her emotional responses as best as she could, attempting to show as little as possible of her revulsion and fear. However, the closer Kressik's mouth got to her chest the more she writhed beneath him in a desperate effort to break free. Her heart was beating wildly and when she started shouting abuse at Kressik to discourage him, he silenced her by pressing his mouth against hers. She gagged as his tongue snaked its way into her mouth. Panic was beginning to take control of her. She couldn't form any coherent thoughts. She couldn't breathe. She was certain she was going to suffocate any moment and was no longer aware of her reactions. She didn't even notice the tears that had begun to streak down her cheeks. Was this how it was all going to end? Was she going to die in a Cardassian prison, humiliated, tortured and raped?

The sudden sound of the doorbell made Kressik jump and release her. With an angry grunt he let go of Kathryn's wrists, shoved her none too gently to the ground and spun around to face the door. Air! She hungrily sucked it into her lungs. Then Kathryn made a dash for the remnants of her tunic, which lay in shreds on the floor and covered herself. She was shaking uncontrollably but her mind was alert again. She began to scan the vicinity for something that might be used as a weapon the next time he attacked her.

"Come!" Kressik shouted furiously in the direction of the door to his quarters. A guard entered and shakily announced,

"Madam Archon is here to see the human prisoner, Sir."

Kressik face turned a very pale shade of grey. He approached the door in order to block the doorway so the Archon would not see Janeway, who was crouching on the floor of his living area in a state that left no doubt as to what had just happened here.

Kressik immediately turned on the charm and smiled,

"Madam Archon, I am honoured by your visit. What can I do for you?"

The stern Cardassian woman gave him a condescending glance. She was not easily fooled.

"Where are your manners, Gul Kressik? Aren't you going to ask me to come in? Isn't it common courtesy to offer a guest at least a seat and some refreshments? What are you hiding in there?", she asked suspiciously, straining her neck to sneak a glance at his quarters. When Kressik did not move, she simply shoved him aside and entered, Kressik watching on with horror.

The Archon stopped dead in her tracks and beheld Janeway, who had now risen from her position on the ground. Her state of undress, tousled hair and the wild look in her eyes left her in no doubt as to what had just happened here. The Archon felt no pity for the human prisoner; however, she was deeply ashamed of Kressik, a Gul in the Cardassian military. A sense of honor was supposed to come with that title, however, in this case, and unfortunately Kressik was not the exception, lust, sadism, arrogance and a mistaken sense of self-importance were the more prominent characteristics. She had had a feeling that Kressik had been up to no good with the prisoner, which was exactly why she had taken it upon herself to pay him a personal visit so shortly after their last communication. She had intended to catch him unawares, and it appeared she had succeeded.

The Cardassian woman approached Janeway, who although clearly shaken by whatever had happened here a few minutes ago, was standing proudly, looking her straight in the eye. Janeway may have been physically overpowered, but her spirit was far from beaten, and although this human represented the enemy, the Archon admired that. She touched Janeway's camisole to examine the tears. Clearly Kressik had torn the garment off her.

"Did he succeed in his filthy intentions," the Archon demanded coldly.

Janeway simply shook her head. She didn't trust her voice yet.

"Kressik, you are very lucky that I interrupted you. Had I found you had violated this prisoner, I would have seen you stripped of all rank and honours. As it is, I am officially reprimanding you for your dishonourable behaviour. You will not come into personal contact with this prisoner again. You will donate one thousand lek to a charitable cause of my choice and I have a mind to have you demoted from first to second Order!"

Madam Archon was furious. Her Cardassian complexion had clearly taken on a shade of green, which was the Cardassian equivalent to flushing.

"Your behavior is outrageous. In order to guarantee that it will not happen again I am moving the trial of Kathryn Janeway forward. The trial will commence tomorrow. I will have the prisoner thoroughly examined beforehand. If I find that she has been indecently assaulted between now and tomorrow morning, I will have you arrested and charged with rape. Is that understood?"

Kressik couldn't believe what was happening. It was true. Janeway was jinxed. He was the third Cardassian Gul to have her in his captivity and he was the third to bear dire consequences. One thousand lek was a lot of money; he could have bought a small two-person shuttle for that. He had the money, and it wouldn't exactly cripple him financially, but it would be felt.

The Archon had two guards take Janeway back to her cell, making certain they too understood not to touch her. Then she threw one more disgusted glare at Kressik and said,

"I had hoped to be mistaken in my suspicions, but I see that my instincts were correct. You disgust me, Gul Kressik."

She stormed out of the prison facility.

Outside the prison, in the courtyard, Chakotay and Paris had watched the Archon come and go. They had observed the facility for almost two hours now, and there didn't seem to be a way into the place. All doors were guarded by at least two men on either side, access codes and retinal scans were required to open the doors, and a small group of eight soldiers paraded the courtyard every thirty minutes. The only reason for why they hadn't been spotted yet was because they had stayed put in the cloaked shuttle. They were never going to find the Captain this way. Paris impatiently paced the length of the small shuttlecraft. He wasn't one for long observations. This waiting around without doing anything was frustrating. Chakotay, although better at concealing his feelings, felt the same, and Paris' obvious agitation was doing nothing to calm his nerves.

"Paris, you're driving me nuts! If you need something to do then why don't you scan Cardassian official broadcasts? Maybe they will shine some light onto this matter."

"That's the first decent suggestion you have made all day, Chakotay. Maybe they'll have something on the Captain's trial. Maybe they'll even announce the date."

It didn't take long for Paris to discover that Janeway was held on suspicion of espionage and her trial was due to start the next day, the obvious punishment for her crimes being execution. Chakotay knew a little more than Paris about Cardassian jurisdiction, and he knew that Janeway was as good as dead unless they found a way to rescue her. A plan was forming in his mind

"Paris, are they saying anything about where the trial will be held?"

"As far as I can tell it will be held in the Cardassian Palace of Justice, the seat of the High Court, which according to our maps is just around the corner from here."

Chakotay frowned. If it was that close, they might just escort Kathryn there on foot and put on a good show for the people. According to Paris the execution had already been scheduled for the night of the trial and was due to take place at the High Security Prison where she was being held now. That meant that the soldiers had to escort Janeway back from the High Court to the prison facility.

Chakotay said,

"Do we have any maps of the area directly surrounding the Palace of Justice?"

Paris rummaged through the map library on the shuttle's computer.

"Here we are, that's it," Paris exclaimed and displayed the map on the shuttle's main viewer.

Chakotay studied it pensively. They might just about be able to pull this off. There was a small courtyard between the gate and the building itself. Chakotay pointed to the small area and asked,

"Tom, do you think you could land the shuttle here without alarming anyone to our presence?"

Tom studied the small courtyard closely. The courtyard itself was actually larger than the spot where they had landed here. However, there were quite a few trees in the way, confining the landing to just over the shuttle's own size. It would be tricky, but it was possible.

"I think I could pull it off, but it isn't going to be easy."

Chakotay began to explain his plan.

Meanwhile Kathryn Janeway was lying on the bunk in her cell, pondering over the events of the evening. She had barely escaped with her skin intact and only because the Archon had come to her rescue. However, she had not felt any sympathy from the stern Cardassian woman. Her trial had been moved forward by two days, which gave her only this night to prepare for it. She vaguely recalled reading about the trial of Chief O'Brien of Deep Space Nine who had been sentenced to death. The one thing that she remembered was that the Chief had already been found guilty before the trial had commenced. It was the way the Cardassian Justice System worked. If you had been arrested for a crime you were thought to have committed, then you were no doubt guilty. She also recalled that O'Brien's trial had been broadcast on all Cardassian frequencies. No doubt her trial would also be a show trial with a lot of publicity around it, a point that might work in her favor. She knew that no matter what evidence she brought to light during the trial, she was already doomed. There was no such thing as 'innocent until proven guilty' here. She had no illusions that unless a miracle happened and Voyager could somehow get her out of this, she would be dead by the end of tomorrow. But then there was Marlow. He obviously had not been captured, and by the looks of it, neither had Paris and Chakotay. Had they managed to make it back to Voyager? Were they in the process of devising a rescue plan? She hoped so, for there was nothing she could do from here. She would have to rely entirely on her crew and Chakotay's Maquis, and this feeling of helplessness was driving her crazy.

Chakotay had rescued her from the Cardassians once before, and not so long ago. But she was not sure that he had the same level of incentive as he did six months ago. Back then she had been his prisoner, his responsibility. A lot had happened since. They had been lovers for one night, and then she had cut all contact until this mission had once again forced them together. Their relationship was strained at best, and Chakotay obviously held a grudge against her now. Did he still care for her? She had hurt him deeply. Was he hurt enough to let her die?

Tuvok, her old Vulcan friend was also on board, but she fully realized that he lacked the ability to lead the crew in the same way she would. His logic was sometimes misguided. Sometimes you just had to forget about the rules of logic, about protocol and Starfleet training. Sometimes, the only way out of a sticky situation was to punch your way through. She had every confidence in him to get her crew home safely, but she doubted that he would risk all of them to attempt a rescue. It was against all Vulcan logic. You did not sacrifice the many to rescue the few.

As for Ross Marlow, she certainly did not expect him to come to her rescue anytime soon. If anything he would be selling tickets to her execution.

So, her only hope was Chakotay. She didn't like the odds much and would have preferred to come up with a plan B, however Kathryn Janeway was out of options. There was nothing she could do. Exhaustion finally took over and she fell into an uneasy sleep, plagued by nightmares, which circled around Ross Marlow, Kressik, a vengeful Chakotay and visions of her own execution.

Marek had been up since the small hours. He had been at the other end of the City to procure tickets for the "event of the year", if not the decade: the trial of Captain Kathryn Janeway of the United Federation of Planets. It had not been easy to get the tickets, but he, or rather Section 31, had connections in high places, moles in every department, including the High Court. In this case, the Section 31 agent who had arranged for the tickets was scheduled to be Kathryn Janeway's Nestor, her defence lawyer. His Cardassian cover name was Rughel. Just like Marlow he had been genetically altered to appear Cardassian. Rughel had been in his post for the past three years. He had killed the real Rughel and taken over his personality. Nestor Rughel had deliberately been chosen as a victim since he had few friends and no direct family. He had never been married and was childless. His parents had long been dead and he had no siblings. He was a loner. Hence it had been easy to take over his life without anyone noticing the difference.

The Nestor in the Cardassian Justice System was the Defendant's Counsel, however he was not allowed to address the Court. This was purely the privilege of the accused, and then only when called into the witness stand.

The only one who was allowed to address the Court was the Public Conservator who represented the State. It was his main task to make the trial as entertaining as possible. Hence he was supposed to make the crimes of the accused sound far more sinister than they had actually been. He was also to dwell on the worst possible punishment. In the case of Kathryn Janeway, Cardassia had brought out her finest. The Public Conservator was a popular choice. Kovat had more than thirty years' experience in the role, and was well known for reducing the Accused to tears, which was of course considered hugely entertaining. He was also well known for his rather colourful descriptions of crimes and their respective punishments such as torture and execution.

It was a beautiful morning. The sun had risen over the Capital and people were already crowding in front of the public broadcasting screens, which were scattered throughout the city. Some had chosen to watch the trial from the comfort of their own home, but watching with a crowd was considered to be more fun.

Marlow had just finished his shower when Marek entered the small antiquarian bookstore.

"Hey Ross, guess what I've got!"

Meanwhile Kathryn Janeway had been given the opportunity to take a sonic shower, she had had some grey slime that qualified as breakfast and she had been given a clean and more formal indigo coloured uniform to wear. The simple blue garment, although plainly tailored and made of a coarse fabric, actually suited her. It appeared that appearance was all-important at these trials.

She heard the heavy thump of the military boots long before the guards came to fetch her. Two guards escorted her out of the prison, followed by another eight who were to escort her from the prison to the High Court. The soldiers were there as much for her protection as for keeping her from escaping because both outside the prison and the Cardassian Palace of Justice huge crowds had gathered to watch the procession. Some were cheering, others shouting abuse as she passed them but it was clear that all of them wanted a piece of her. Kathryn held her head high. Her heart was beating wildly. She did not dare to hope for rescue, but in the back of her mind there was a small glimmer of hope that refused to be extinguished. If she were to plan a rescue, when and where would she make the attempt? Before the trial or after? Probably during the hours between the end of the trial and her execution, in the hope that no one would suspect anything too soon to cause them to detect Voyager. Was her ship even still in orbit of the planet?

Chakotay and Paris sat in the shuttle, watching as the procession left the prison for the High Court. She looked all right, however there was a haunted expression in her eyes that did not escape Chakotay. He fought the urge to run out to her right now and drag her into the shuttle, or to lower the cloak and simply beam her aboard. But it would be very foolhardy to do so. Of course he could have just alerted Tuvok and asked him to beam the Captain aboard, but that would have given away Voyager's position in orbit of the planet since transporter beams could be recorded and traced by sensors. He simply had to wait until the time had come. It would be soon enough.

As soon as the procession had left the trial, Paris opened the main Cardassian State channel and put it on screen. There they watched the small procession as they walked the few hundred yards from the prison to the High Court to the sound of hundreds of excited Cardassians cheering. Then the small group disappeared behind the large metal doors of the High Court building. This was their cue. The cloaked shuttle slowly took off and made its way to the small courtyard in front of the High Court, which had been sealed off so that the general public could not crowd here. Then Paris cut the engines and slowly landed the shuttle using the almost soundless thrusters to manoeuver it between the trees. It was a precision act and with the huge crowds cheering outside the building the small hiss of the thrusters got drowned out. Now they had to play the waiting game one last time.

Meanwhile on board Voyager a similar scene was set. On the bridge, Tuvok had ordered the trial to be put on the main viewer, and all around the ship people were watching the proceedings. Chakotay and Paris had not reported in since they had left Voyager but that had been part of the plan. Communications were only to be used in an absolute emergency. Meanwhile all anyone aboard Voyager could do was watch the proceedings in the High Court.

"At least it doesn't look like they used torture on her," Ensign Kim said.

"Ensign, if you were going to broadcast a show trial, would you leave marks on the accused? To my best knowledge of the Cardassian Justice System they have tortured her for information, but have erased any evidence before the start of the trial. However, it is fair to say that the Captain now appears in good health," Tuvok replied.

It grew very quiet on the bridge as everyone's thoughts went to what Captain Janeway had been put through during her stay in the prison.

The Archon entered the Court to the cheering of several hundred people in the audience. There had never been this much noise in her Courtroom. The cheers were deafening. She sat down in her chair behind her elevated desk and took the hammer into her hand, lowering it three times.

"Silence! The will be no unrest in this Court!" she barked.

The mob immediately grew quiet.

"Let the Accused rise," an orderly announced.

Nestor Rughel gave Kathryn a push, and stole a glance at a particular part of the audience. There, in the last row near the exit were Marek and Marlow.

Reluctantly Kathryn rose from her chair and stared defiantly at the Cardassian woman who held her fate in her hands.

"Do you plead guilty to your crimes?" the Archon demanded.

"And what crimes are these? How can I plead guilty if I don't even know what it is I stand accused of?"

The crowd grew wild, shouting abuse at Janeway.

"I will have silence in this Court!" the Archon ordered.

Immediately the audience grew quiet again.

"Kathryn Janeway, you are accused of espionage, of terrorist actions against Cardassian colonies in the DMZ and in particular of the murder of Gul Camet aboard the Tokar Zebok six months ago. I ask you again, how do you plead?"

Janeway steeled herself. There was no point in defending herself, she knew that, but she would be damned if she was going to take these accusations just like that.

"I have never spied on the Cardassian people, I have not committed any terrorist actions in the DMZ and as for Gul Camet, I killed him in self-defense. I plead not guilty."

Again the crowd grew wild.

"The audience will be quiet or I will have this room cleared!" the Archon ordered.

Silence fell.

"Make a record that the Accused is unrepentant and denies her crimes. Public Conservator Kovat, please make your case."

A Cardassian man, obviously in the final years of his office, stood up and walked into the centre of the courtroom so that the audience could get a good look at him. He was obviously in his element and about to put on a good show.

"Madam Archon, it is obvious that Kathryn Janeway is a spy, what other business could a Federation Captain possibly have on Cardassia, and in disguise, no less. She did not announce her presence to us as required by the agreement we have with the Federation. She entered our homeworld illegally, we do not know how, but it is assumed that she was smuggled in on a merchant vessel under the guise of a Delphidian monk's cloak. Now, why would someone who has nothing to hide go through so much trouble? Why would an innocent tourist want to deceive us in such a manner and stoop to such subterfuge?"

"As for the second accusation of being a terrorist, it is well documented in her official Starfleet record, yes, we indeed have confirmation from her own people, that she deserted Starfleet six months ago to join the Maquis in the Demilitarized Zone. We know from the late Gul Camet's crew that he, this great hero of the Cardassian Empire who had proved himself as a loyal servant to his people, who was a family man, whose widow and child have waited eagerly for this day, managed to capture the Accused on an Asteroid which turned out to be a secret Maquis hideout in the DMZ. My honoured friend Camet had called her into his quarters in order to interrogate her, and roughly an hour later he was found dead in his bed, brutally stabbed, murdered, lying in a puddle of his own blood, with no sign of Kathryn Janeway. She herself admits to killing him, but it was not self-defence as she says. If a terrorist, a ruthless criminal who has killed many times before, kills her captor in cold blood, I don't call it self-defence, I call it cold-blooded murder.

The crowd began to cheer again, however one stern glare from the Archon in the direction of the audience was enough to silence them. She didn't even have to use the hammer.

"Do you have witnesses to call, Conservator Kovat?"

"Madam Archon, I believe under the circumstances witnesses are not necessary. The facts speak for themselves. I don't believe it is necessary to artificially drag this trial out."

Madam Archon was pleased to hear it. This was exactly how Cardassian justice was supposed to work. The guilt of the Accused should be easily established so that justice could take its course as promptly and expediently as possible.

"Thank you, Conservator, you may sit down. Kathryn Janeway, I will give you two minutes to consult with your Nestor and then I will ask you to come into the witness stand," the Archon stated.

Nestor Rughel cleared his voice. Kathryn Janeway turned to look at her so called 'defence lawyer' and gave him a disapproving look.

"Captain Janeway, I strongly advise you to plead guilty and regret your crimes in public. When you walk into the witness stand you should tell them how much you regret killing Camet, apologize to his family..."

Janeway cut him off mid-sentence.

"Spare me your advice, Sir. I will tell the truth and if that doesn't fit into this perversion of justice, then that is your problem."

The Nestor protested,

"But it will shine a bad light on me if you don't do as I tell you. I am supposed to advise you as to how to behave in this Court. You cannot simply ignore my advice!"

A self-satisfied grin spread slowly over her face,

"My dear Sir, if you don't like it, then simply make a statement that you resign as my Nestor. You can blame it all on me."

Rughel flushed a deep red with the rising anger, which she somehow found odd in a Cardassian. The Archon the night before had flushed a shade of green with fury. Maybe he had a medical condition.

"Are you feeling quite well, Sir," she enquired carefully.

"I will be glad to be rid of you tonight," the Nestor hissed, but there was something in his inflection that was more human than Cardassian. Maybe the pressure was finally getting to her...

"Captain Janeway, your consultation time is over. Please step into the witness stand."

Kathryn Janeway rose from her seat and proceeded to the witness stand, which was to the right of the Archon, right between the Cardassian judge and the audience.

"Kathryn Janeway, do you plead guilty and do you regret your crimes?"

Janeway steeled herself one last time. It didn't really matter what she said anyway, the outcome would be the same. Her execution was scheduled for tonight.

"I plead not guilty to the crimes I am accused of but I would like to point out that Camet was not in the least the hero the Conservator made him out to be. As far as I know he and his wife had long been estranged, he was once stripped of all his honours roughly fifteen years ago, and he was known in the entire quadrant as a bloodthirsty sadistic animal. If you will have me executed for crimes I have not committed then at least let this be said."

The crowd roared with fury. The Archon lowered her hammer with such force that her desk almost shattered.

"I will have the last words of the Accused erased from the records. Kathryn Janeway, I declare you to be a spy, a terrorist and a murderer. I sentence you to death by execution. Your sentence will be carried out tonight at 20:00 hours and will be broadcast live over all Cardassian channels."

The crowd cheered. This time the Archon didn't stop them. Janeway watched the scene from the witness stand. It was as if she were dreaming. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, and her vision blurred slightly. She saw her Nestor clapping applause to the sentence and noticed that he seemed to be greeting someone in the audience. Her gaze followed his. There were two men, one of them an elderly Cardassian in ordinary clothes. The face of the other was hidden under a dark hood, but there was something about him that seemed familiar. Was this her rescue party? No, somehow the set of the man's shoulder s didn't comfort her at all. If anything it aroused fear and agitation in her. Then the man turned slightly to the side giving her a brief glimpse of his profile. He seemed Cardassian, but his nose, his mouth, the set of his eyes were familiar. And then it came to her. She was looking at Ross Marlow - in disguise. Had he come to get her out of here? She could not believe he would ever do anything to help her. But what other business could he possibly have here?

Suddenly Marlow's eyes locked with hers, and then she knew that he had come to gloat rather than to help her. He had the most evil grin on his features and his eyes held all the hatred of the world. No, he had come to gloat over her. Just then the guards came to escort her back to the prison. She was glad to get out of the courtroom, away from Marlow. It was as if he had planned her demise right from the start. The man was sick! Or was he? Was Nechayev in with this? Had this all been part of their master plan? She wouldn't put it past them.

The huge metal doors opened and Janeway exited the building flanked by four guards only. The other six were waiting at the gate, at the other end of the small courtyard. The audience was only a few seconds behind her, and the guards dragged her non-too gently out of the building in order to prevent a confrontation with the members of the audience. But the audience had other ideas. They ran to catch up with her so that they could shout abuse to her face. Damn sloppy, she thought. They should have planned it so the audience only followed after they had delivered her back to the prison. After all, it was only going to take them a couple of minutes. They had reached approximately the centre of the courtyard when suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, Chakotay and Paris appeared. Each of them fired at two of the guards who fell to the ground. The mob recoiled in horror. Chakotay ran towards Janeway and grabbed her by the arm.

"Come on, we don't have much time!"

Meanwhile the six guards at the gate had noticed that something was amiss, and they quickly approached. Rughel, Marlow and the elderly Cardassian man he had been with suddenly appeared behind her and Marlow aimed a Cardassian disruptor at her. Kathryn ducked and the blast hid a tree, completely vaporizing it within split seconds. He wasn't kidding.

Suddenly Marlow fell over, apparently stunned. Had Paris or Chakotay aimed at him? But then she saw a man in the mob with a disruptor in his hand, which was now aimed at Marlow's companion. She recognized the man with the weapon as none other than Dunar, the leader of the Cardassian underground movement they were supposed to have rendezvoused with the day before. Suddenly all hell broke loose as several members of the audience pulled their weapons and aimed at the six guards who were approaching from the gate. The Cardassian resistance had come to their aid.

Then a woman stormed towards Janeway, a knife pulled, clearly intending to stab the Captain.

Dunar saw Zarel running like a crazed wild animal, a blade in her hand. He didn't have to think. He set his disruptor to kill and aimed at her. Surprised, the woman fell to the ground, pain written on her features.

"No..." she stammered.

Janeway stared at Dunar.

"Why did you do that? You could have just stunned her!"

"She is the traitor. She has killed more members of the resistance then I would dare to count!"

Chakotay quickly pushed Janeway in the direction of the cloaked shuttle.

"We don't have time for this. Let's go!"

Janeway stared at the fallen body of the young Cardassian woman at her feet.

"Wait, I want to know why she tried to kill me!"

"We don't have time for that now, Kathryn," Chakotay urged.

"Then let's take her with us! Mr. Paris, help her into the shuttle. Dunar, get your people in there, too. How many are there?"

Dunar confirmed that there were only about ten of them, the others were hiding in the sewers on the outskirts of the city.

Within seconds they were all aboard the invisible shuttlecraft and Paris started the engines. A minute later they emerged from the planet's atmosphere and made their way towards the rendezvous coordinates where Voyager was waiting for them.

Janeway knelt next to the young Cardassian woman, stroking strains of damp hair out of her face. Such a waste of a young life.

"Why?" she asked quietly, her voice shaking a little.

The young woman was in a lot of pain. Dunar's disruptor shot had hit her in the chest. The area was black with burned skin and fabric; she had trouble breathing and was losing a lot of blood. Janeway took the bottom of her blue prison tunic and ribbed a stripe off it. Then she proceeded to soak up some of the green blood with it.

"Murderer," Zarel rasped through clenched teeth.

Janeway shook her head in shocked disbelief.

"I've never murdered anyone."

"Liar," Zarel replied.

"You killed my father," she had to stop for a few seconds, her body being rocked by spasms of sharp pain.

"Gul Camet," she continued.

Realization began to hit Janeway,

"You are Gul Camet's daughter? You must believe me when I tell you that I acted in self-defence..."

But it was too late. Zarel had taken and expelled her last breath.

Janeway felt tears begin to well in her eyes. Chakotay knelt next to her and said,

"Come on, you've been through hell the last few days, let me take a look at you."

When she looked at him he saw the tears that were ready to spill there, but they didn't. She took his hand and he helped her up.

"Thank you, Chakotay." The shaking of her voice did not go unnoticed but the Captain's mask was already moving back into place. She turned away from him and took a seat next to Tom Paris at the helm.

Chakotay shrugged. There would be plenty of time to talk once they were back on Voyager.

The shuttle docked on the cloaked Voyager without further incident and Janeway with Chakotay and Paris in tow walked onto the bridge, whilst Dunar and his people were shown to Cargo Bay II, which would have to double as temporary quarters for the renegades.

On the Bridge everyone stood to welcome the Captain back and Harry Kim announced "Captain on the Bridge!" The Ensign was relieved to have his Captain back on Voyager. Janeway was still wearing the Cardassian prison uniform but it didn't stand out since no one else on Voyager was in Starfleet uniform either. Even Kim could see though that the Captain was clearly shaken from her experience planet-side, although she was doing a damn good job at hiding it.

"Tom, take the helm! Let's get the hell out of here", Janeway ordered.

"Captain, there is a matter we need to discuss before we choose our next destination," Tuvok said.

Janeway looked a tad surprised, but she knew her Vulcan Security Officer better than to question him in this case.

"Alright, Mr. Tuvok, in my Ready Room!"

"Captain, with all due respect, this concerns my people, too."

Chakotay was of course correct, but Voyager was still her ship and ultimately this would be her decision. But he had a point, half of the crew were actually Maquis, and he, as their leader, should be involved in the decision making process. Ordinarily she would automatically have invited him to join her and Tuvok, but under the circumstances she was not particularly comfortable with being in the same room with him, and she wasn't sure they could discuss matters totally dispassionately, especially now that her nerves were still rather wound tight as a result of her recent ordeal on Cardassia Prime.

"Of course, Mr. Chakotay, please join us," she said quickly and swallowed.

As soon as the door closed behind them Janeway took a seat behind her desk and the two men sat in the chairs opposite her. Tuvok explained what he and the crew had discovered in the Captain's absence as to Marlow's and Nechayev's involvement with Section 31. No one doubted that Section 31 had rigged this mission, so that even if it failed, their involvement would never be discovered. Tuvok mentioned the sabotaged transporter system, which had obviously been devised to terminate any possible witnesses, in other words Marlow had planned to kill the entire away team in what would look like a tragic transporter accident, bar himself of course. According to the data that Tuvok had discovered in Marlow's cabin, Section 31 had planned to eventually terminate the entire crew, Starfleet and Maquis alike. And Starfleet would of course have played right into their hands. Suspecting the crew and their captain of being Maquis renegades, who had stolen a proto-type ship from the Federation, Nechayev would eventually have ordered the ship disabled, and of course there would have been another tragic incident whereby Voyager would of course not only have been disabled, but destroyed, possibly in Cardassian/Federation crossfire.

Janeway's head was spinning. She could no longer sit still in her chair. She felt the need to move - her best thinking was done pacing in her Ready Room, usually coming to a halt in front of the viewport and gazing out into the vastness of space. So she got up and did just that.

"As I understand the situation then, we have nowhere to run, or our routes of escape are, to say the least, extremely limited. Although the Cardassians haven't detected us yet, they just saw as disappear into thin air and it won't take them long to put two and two together and figure out that Voyager is cloaked. As a matter of fact they were extremely unconvinced when I told them I had arrived on the planet by way of a cargo vessel. So while we have been discussing the situation, they have no doubt started scanning the perimeter for cloaked ships. However, we can't head back home since the Federation is not aware that we are just pretending to be a ship of Maquis renegades and Starfleet defectors. Now that Marlow's mission has failed, Nechayev will no doubt have told Starfleet that Voyager may possess a cloaking device. We would never get past Deep Space Nine if we attempted to return home, even if Voyager is cloaked. We can't go back home, we can't go back to Cardassia Prime, the Badlands are probably the first place they would start looking for us, so that leaves us with only one place to go that I can think of, and that would probably be suicide, too.

"May I ask what place were you thinking of, Captain," Tuvok interrupted.

Janeway frowned, staring into the stars as if they might hold the solution to all her problems. Then she turned towards the two men in her company.

"The Neutral Zone." She let the words hang in the air for a few seconds. Both Tuvok and Chakotay had the same look of surprise and disbelief written on their faces, it was almost comical to see two men who were so different with such similar expressions.

"I do realize that it sounds preposterous at first but on second thoughts it may just work out. If the Tal Shiar have done their job, and I don't doubt for a moment that they have, then the Romulans must be aware that Voyager has been taken over by Maquis renegades and a group of ex-Starfleet personnel who have defected to the other side. Of course Starfleet can't enter the Neutral Zone but Voyager is officially no longer a Starfleet vessel and the Romulans may be willing to at least tolerate us in their territory."

Tuvok interrupted,

"Captain, the Romulans would no doubt welcome the opportunity to get their hands on a Starfleet prototype vessel, have you considered what repercussions there might be for the Federation if the Tal Shiar get their hands onto Federation technology, not to mention Voyager's databanks?"

Chakotay intervened at this stage,

"I would have to agree with Mr. Tuvok on this point. I certainly don't have any affiliation with Starfleet or the Federation but I would hate to think that I was partly responsible for a Romulan invasion of the Alpha Quadrant."

Janeway shook her head,

"Gentlemen, if it comes to that I won't hesitate to destroy Voyager, but as I see it, this is the only route of escape open to us at the moment and I'll be damned if I won't at least give it a shot. Consider the options. Number one, we all end up in the hands of the Cardassians, and I'll tell you from experience that this is not an option I favor, but to cut a long story short we all end up dead and the Cardassians get their hands onto Federation technology. Number two, we go crawling back to the Federation and let Nechayev take us out before we even reach DS9. In both cases we end up dead no matter what. Option three, however; we set a course for the Neutral Zone. Neither Federation nor Cardassian ships will dare follow us in there. We may be able to hide in the Neutral Zone until we come up with a better plan, we may even be able to hide for long enough to have Nechayev and the Cardassians give up on us. Of course we might alert the Romulans, who we don't know much about, and we may end up blowing up the ship anyway, but it's at least worth a try, don't you agree?"

"How do you intend to get there," Tuvok asked?

Janeway turned towards a large computer screen on behind her desk and commanded,

"Computer, display a map of the Alpha Quadrant including Cardassia Prime and the Neutral Zone".

The map showed their current position above Cardassia Prime on the south-west of the screen. Sector 001, the Sol system with Earth was located in the centre of the screen and the Neutral Zone ran down the length of the screen in the East. They would have to cross a considerable territory within the Alpha Quadrant in order to reach the Neutral Zone.

"Computer, program the most direct course from Cardassia Prime to the Neutral Zone, displaying all Federation Starbases and outposts along the way and including stellar phenomena such as nebulae and subspace anomalies."

The computer displayed a direct line leading from Cardassia Prime via Bajor and Deep Space 9, then past Trill, Vulcan and Andorra, virtually crossing the Sol System and then entering the Neutral Zone near the Devron System. They might as well light Voyager up like a Christmas Tree! This route was never going to get them there undetected. "Route calculated. Distance: 82 lightyears."

Janeway frowned at the map,

"Computer, go south through the Chin'Toka system instead, via the Briar Patch then to Onias and enter the Neutral Zone there."

The computer displayed the new route and announced, "Distance to destination is 104 lightyears."

"Captain", Chakotay intervened, "The Chin'toka system is riddled with Cardassian minefields. We will never get through it in one piece. Also, we would have to go through the Borderlands with the Klingon Empire, a still highly disputed region of space."

Tuvok agreed. "Indeed, the Klingons routinely scan this region of space for cloaked ships. We would be discovered instantly upon entering the region. Furthermore, passing through the Briar Patch would add years to our journey. This region of space is extremely volatile and the metreon gas within the nebula makes it impossible to cross it at more than half impulse speed."

Janeway frowned, "Of course, if we attempt to cross at warp speed, we'll blow the ship! I was hoping the nebula would give us a space to hide from sensors…"

"Captain," Chakotay began, "we can still avoid the sensors and DS9! May I?"

Janeway nodded her ascent.

"Computer," Chakotay continued, "display a course through the Badlands through Tzenkethi space and the Plexion Nebula, via the Orion system, past Celes, then through the Paulson Nebula, past Jouret and into the Neutral Zone."

The new course appeared on the screen and the computer announced, "Distance to destination is 118 lightyears".

The Captain interjected, "Computer, calculate time to destination at maximum warp!"

"Time to destination at maximum warp is 33.2 days"… just over a month.

Both men looked pensive, then Chakotay said,

"Kathryn, I think you may have found the only way out of this mess!"

"I don't quite share Mr. Chakotay's enthusiasm for your plan, Captain, however, it does seem to be the only viable option at this time." Tuvok admitted.

"Gentlemen, I believe time is of the essence here, so let's go and do it!"

Tuvok took his position behind the tactical station and Chakotay sat in the chair to the right of the Captain. The atmosphere on the Bridge was tingling with tension. The crew knew that something had obviously gone wrong, a few of them even knew that Marlow belonged to a rogue organization called Section 31 although not many knew what this entailed or who Section 31 were. The senior officers on the Bridge however were fully briefed on the current situation and had all pretty much worked out that there was no place left to run. They now looked towards the Captain as their last glimmer of hope, or in the Maquis crew's case, with great scepticisms.

"People, I would have liked to call a Senior Staff Meeting but there isn't any time for formalities right now. I have discussed our situation with Commander Tuvok and Mr. Chakotay and we have come to an agreement. Mr. Paris, I've transferred our new course to the Comm. We're heading towards the Neutral Zone, avoiding all Federation and Cardassian posts. Voyager will remain cloaked for the time being but I am aware that the cloaking device will be a great drain on our resources, and the cloaking device is unreliable to say the least, so Tom, let's make sure we get there fast. Warp 9! Engage!"

A gasp went around the Bridge. The Neutral Zone. It was the stuff that nightmares were made of. No one really knew very much about the Romulans except for the fact that they were extremely dangerous and not to be trusted, a calculating and and violent society with whom the Federation had at best a situation of armistice and at worst of war. The Romulans were possibly the Federation's most feared enemy aside from the Borg. Highly intelligent with a fleet that could easily rival the Federation's, they were best left alone. The Neutral Zone was in fact a region of space situated right between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire and neither force's ships were supposed to cross it; as a matter of fact breaking this rule was tantamount to a declaration of war. Although Voyager was now officially no longer a Federation vessel, it still bore the Starfleet registration number and it still carried on board species that were indigenous to the Federation. The Romulans were suspicious to the extreme of any outsiders, especially the Federation. The only halfway civil relationship had been between the Romulans and the Klingons, since the Romulans, due to their isolation, relied on the Klingons for the trade of weapons and other equipment. In return the Romulans had given the Klingons their cloaking devices, which was why the ships of both societies became known as Birds of Prey and both had cloaking devices, but the links between the two empires had long been broken and the one thing Voyager did not have enough of was Klingons. A half-Klingon, half human just wouldn't be the same. Also the Romulan Star Empire had been in self-imposed isolation for decades now, and it was certainly possible that they would simply shoot anything that entered the Neutral Zone without asking questions. Risky just wasn't quite the word for it, but this course was Voyager's only option and right now even getting there was anything but straight forward. They would have to avoid detection by the Cardassians in the first instance and then by every Federation Outpost and Starbase on the way. The nebulae they would be passing through were only partially mapped and largely unmapped and unexplored. Furthermore, they would be passing straight through Orion space, home of the Orion Syndicate, a dangerous criminal organisation to powerful that they were rumoured to have their hands in every government in the Alpha Quadrant. Voyager's path was riddled with danger.

Please review! I'd like to know what you think!

Chapter 9 "Enemy of my Enemy" is in the works!