Chapter Text
3 months of nothing had left Captain Janeway feeling unsettled. No attacks, no passing ships, no hails. An extended period of nothing usually meant a prolonged period of everything. And that was something that Kathryn Janeway was not looking forward too.
She didn't want to jinx it but, Voyager was operating as peak efficacy, something that it hadn't done for quite some time. The prolonged period of calm space meant that B'elanna and her team completed all the repairs the ship needed. Kathryn was sat in her ready room, a cup of coffee in hand, relishing in the quiet...
Until it was no longer quiet that is.
"Captain to the bridge" came the voice of young ensign Kim. Kathryn stood from behind her ready room desk and strolled out onto the bridge, choosing to ignore the jittery feeling that had settled at the base of her stomach . The first thing she noticed was the tension in Commander Chakotays shoulders. He was sat in his chair, back straight as a rod and hands gripping the arm rests. He looked ready for battle and the bridge around her was eerily quiet.
"What is it Ensign?"
"Upcoming ship ahead captain and they're charging weapons" replied Harry.
"On screen" stated the Captain.
Ahead of them was a large black ship travelling at full warp towards Voyager.
"Hail them"
As Captain it was important that she never showed fear, that she always had faith in her ability and the ability of her crew and no matter what, Kathryn always held onto that notion.
Standing from her command chair Captain Janeway walked to the centre of the bridge, hands on her hips and her chin lifted, defiant as always.
"This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the federation starship Voyager, please power down your weapons and identify yourself"
The channel opened to reveal a tall alien whom looked almost human if it wasn't for the ridge that travelled diagonally across his face. Immediately he sneered at the woman who appeared before him, displaying sharp pointy teeth that were anything but human. Kathryn involuntarily shuddered among seeing them.
"I am Leader Puri and you, Captain Janeway are trespassing in Peruntic space. I have every right to consider this an act of war"
"It's nice to meet you Leader Puri. Unfortunately we were not aware that this was Peruntic space. We're just passing through you see, we're a long way from home and are trying to get back there" stated Captain Janeway.
"We do not care why you are in our space. You have committed an act of war! Luckily for you, Captain Janeway, I am not as malicious as some of my colleagues you have had the privilege to not encounter. Unlike them I can appreciate a beautiful woman such as yourself. Prepare to be scanned and I will decide whether to permit your travel through our space"
Beside her Janeway felt Chakotay clench his fists and rise to stand behind her when Puri made a comment about her looks. Despite that the mere comment from him made her uncomfortable she knew that the best way to get through this was diplomacy. Going through there space would cut off 5 months from their journey and Janeway was not willing to extend their journey just because a few of Leader Puri's comments made her uncomfortable. Gently resting a hand upon Chakotays shoulder, silently communicating that he should stand down, she allowed the Leader to scan Voyager.
Everyone kept still as the blue beam passed through the bridge. Paris who passed through the beam first looked fine when he came out the other side. The rest of the crew only experienced a tingling sensation as it passed over them, however Janeway suppressed a wince as the beam crossed over her. Ignoring the fact that as it did, it burned her chest. Almost like her heart had caught fire. Once the beam stopped the pain in Kathryn chest subsided and taking a deep breath, she looked around her to find that her crew had clearly not experienced the same effects she had.
Without warning Voyager was thrown sideways, sending Kathryn hurtling to the floor and Chakotay landing heavily on top of her. The commander immediately stood, apologising to Kathryn as he did. Unfortunately it was not as easy for her to rise, she carefully rolled over using her hands to push herself up. Raising her hands to her face she winced as she felt the stickiness of blood oozing out of the gash above her right eyebrow.
Captain Janeway looked around, suverying the damage to both her ship and her crew. Fortunetly it seemed that only herself and the commander had fallen in the attack and Chakotay seemed relatively unharmed. Luckily for him he had a soft landing she thought. Leaping back into action the Captain begin barking out orders.
"Evasive manuevers Tom, Harry hail them" called the Captain.
Surprisingly Leader Puri answered the first hail, not giving her a chance to question his actions, he immediately started yelling. The crew of Voyager had expected this response, what they hadn't expected was that his yells would be directed at Kathryn personally.
"You, Captain Janeway are a threat to Peruntic space, you will be eliminated!"
"Hold on a second, Puri I can assure you that I am no threat to you or your people"
"I DID NOT ASK FOR YOUR INPUT JANEWAY. YOU WILL BE DESTROYED... Or better yet ... I will have you"
"What do yo ..." Janeway was unable to finish her sentence before she felt the familiar tingle of the transporters washing over her skin.
Before she disappeared completely she managed to lock eyes with Chakotay, seeing both fear and anger in his eyes.
Chakotays POV
If any other member of the crew had locked eyes with her before she disappeared they wouldn't have seen it. But it was me, and I knew her, maybe even better than she knew herself. I saw the carefully suppressed panic in her eyes as I instinctively reached out to grab her before she could fully dematerialise. It took me several seconds to realise I was grasping at thin air, she was no longer there. I couldn't bring myself to drag my eyes away from the area where she once stood. Intense anger, the kind I hadn't felt since my time in the Marquis, bubbled up inside of me.
Coming back to my senses I moved towards Harry and told him to get a lock on her. From his expression alone I could tell it was hopeless, she was gone. Another blow to the ship once again threw me over the railings, landing chest first on the floor. Pulling myself up I began to give the orders that Kathryn was never able to.
"Tuvok power phasers and target their weapons array, try to power them down but do not cause significant damage. The captain is on that ship"
"Weapons have been disabled however they are powering engines" and before Tuvok had finished his sentence, the ship had jumped to warp and disappeared from all sensors.
Captain Janeway POV
I rematerialised on the bridge of the Peruntic ship and immediately my fight or flight responses took over. Without hesitation I ran to the closest guard kneeing him in the gut as hard as I could. My blows became relentless as I began hitting as hard as I physically could, doing my best to ignore the fact that there were too many of them. I raised my knee ready to kick again when suddenly I was violently pulled back by my hair.
Turning I came face to face with Leader Puri. From the look in his eyes alone I could tell what was coming next. Raising his hand high above his head he backhanded me full force, sending me hurtling to the floor. Immediately I tucked in on myself as much as possible to protect myself from the upcoming blows, protecting my already throbbing head as much as possible.
Nothing could have prepared me for when Puri stopped his attack to step back and look at me.
"Oh Captain Janeway, what fun I am going to have doing what all those other couldn't. I'm going to break you" The last words barely had time to register before he clicked his fingers, initiating the attack again. Only this time he stood back and watched while 4 of his guards kicked me relentlessly with the heavy black boots. The one within my eyeline who curiously hand one red and one blue eye kicked me straight in the skull causing my eyes to flicker and the world to fade to black.