Chapter Text
Premonition
Chakotay woke up with a start and looked around. He was still in his quarters. The stars were just streaks past the window and it was obviously still the middle of the night. A look at his chronometer confirmed it.
He took a deep breath and then sank back into the pillow.
He hadn't had a dream like this one for a long time.
No, not a dream. It was more like a vision, he thought. His dreams were different, not as structured and clear. The last time he had had a similar experience was when Voyager was trapped in the chaotic space and he suffered from hallucinations, which had, however, allowed him to communicate with the beings there.
This time he was suddenly surrounded by nothing but white. He could no longer see himself, nor could he move. Everything around him was just white. The feeling of being trapped there, of not being able to find a way out, almost drove him mad. And then he woke up.
He ran his hand over his face and massaged his forehead.
Sleep is probably out of the question, he thought, after trying to calm down for several minutes. But whatever this dream or vision meant, it had upset him. Sighing, he stood up and decided to look through a few reports that had been left lying around.
Maybe there was a particularly boring one and he could still get some sleep that way.
Captain Kathryn Janeway entered the bridge in a good mood.
And another new day in the Delta Quadrant, she thought and threw a general "Good morning" around.
The bridge officers returned the greeting and when Janeway had taken her seat she immediately noticed that the seat to her left was still unoccupied.
Curious, she wondered, Chakotay is usually there before me.
A look at the chronometer told her that there were still 6 minutes until the start of the shift.
He'll be here soon, she thought, and started about getting an overview of the ship's status, as per her morning routine.
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It was two minutes into the shift when Chakotay finally stepped out of the turbolift.
Kathryn actually wanted to tease him a little about being late, but when she saw him she quickly put that aside. Her first officer looked pretty worn out, to say the least.
The other officers didn't seem to notice, but Kathryn knew him too well.
"Sorry for the delay, Captain," he said, sitting down in his seat. He was just about to start getting an overview of things when he heard Kathryn's quiet question, "Are you okay, Chakotay?"
He looked to his right. She had leaned as close to him as possible and was looking at him with concern.
Chakotay was touched. He had tried so hard that no one would notice. But he couldn't fool Kathryn. He also leaned a little closer to her and whispered back, "To be honest, I had a very strange dream last night. No, not a dream, it was more like a vision. I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep."
Kathryn listened. "Would you like to talk about it?" she offered.
The Indian shook his head and smiled. "No, thank you very much. It wasn't bad, just a little strange. Don't worry, I'm just lacking a few hours of sleep."
Kathryn nodded and said: "Would you rather take the day off? There's nothing going on anyway."
"That's not necessary. But thank you, Captain."
"As you wish," said Kathryn and sat back up straight in her chair.
After a few minutes, during which Chakotay had yawned at least three times, she said a little louder, "Commander, have you finished looking through the reports yet?"
"Yes, Captain."
"Good, then follow me to the ready room. Mr. Ayala, you have the bridge."
"Yes, Ma'am," replied the security officer and watched the two officers until they had disappeared.
Chakotay dutifully headed for the chair opposite the Captain's table, but Janeway put a hand on his shoulder.
"Chakotay," she said with a smile. "The couch is more comfortable and you really look like you could use a cup of coffee for once. May I?"
Chakotay couldn't help but smile.
"You're saving me again, Kathryn." He stood up and sat on the couch while Kathryn fetched the coffee.
"Two sugars?" she asked.
"Three would be better," he replied.
"Three?" she said, feigning surprise. "You must be terribly tired."
Chakotay laughed quietly. "You know very well that coffee is not my first choice. I have to add a little extra flavor."
"Coffee with three sugars. Here you go," Kathryn said with a smile and handed him the cup.
"Thank you." Chakotay took a cautious sip and twisted the corners of his mouth a little.
"With that much sugar, I'd find it disgusting too," Kathryn commented, taking a sip from her cup as well.
"At least it works," he replied, drinking more. Then he turned to the Padds he had brought with him.
"Shall we start?"
"Yes, if you can stay awake while you do it," she teased him a little.
Chakotay just gave her a mock-indignant look and handed her the first Padd.
At some point Ayala's voice came from the combadge.
"Captain, the sensors have picked up something quite unusual, perhaps you should come to the bridge and take a look yourself."
"Understood Lieutenant, I'll be right there."
She looked at Chakotay and said, "Come on Chakotay, we've earned a little break. Let's see what Tarik found."
"Yes, Captain."
He followed her out of the Ready Room and sat down in his chair. His gaze wandered to the screen, which now showed a cluster of stars with a completely white nebula in the middle.
Chakotay leaned forward a little. He immediately thought of his dream from last night. Could this be a coincidence? He dreamed of being surrounded by white and a few hours later they came across a white nebula?
But it's just a nebula, a common phenomenon in space. Why should I be worried? he thought. He looked eagerly at Ensign Lang, who was standing at the OPS and had made a little space for the Captain, who was now standing next to her.
"I now understand what you meant by 'quite unusual', Lieutenant," Kathryn said to Ayala after a few minutes.
"The sensors can't provide any data. This nebula is just... there."
The Lieutenant nodded in confirmation.
"Then it is indeed worth a closer look. Tom, set a course for the nebula but don't get us in yet."
"Aye, Captain," replied the helmsman.
"Perhaps Seven has been able to find out a little more. Would you like to accompany me, Commander?" Kathryn looked at the Indian.
"With pleasure, Captain."
He stood up and together they made their way to astrometrics.
Seven, who was standing at the large console in astrometrics, did not turn around when she heard the door opening behind her. She knew that the Captain would come to her because of this new phenomenon.
"Seven," Janeway greeted her briefly. "I hope you can at least tell us something about this mysterious nebula?" she then asked.
"Unfortunately not at this point," even the Borg had to admit.
"The Borg have never encountered such a phenomenon and our sensors are not providing any data."
"But you must be able to tell us something about this nebula?" Chakotay asked.
The Borg now turned to the two of them, folded her arms behind her back and raised both eyebrows.
"It is not made of any solid mass. A ship could fly into it to take a sample."
From the look on her First Officer's face, Janeway could tell he didn't think it was a good idea to just fly in there, but her curiosity as a scientist was definitely piqued.
"Any indication that it would be harmful to fly a shuttle in there?" Kathryn asked.
Seven turned back to the large wall screen and put her hands in front of her.
The view changed, the nebula was now visible in the center as a large, white spot.
"No, not yet. However, there is a zone around the nebula that could potentially be dangerous for a small ship. I have no explanation for this phenomenon either, but it could be the reason why our sensors are blocked."
Kathryn looked at Chakotay. "What do you think, Commander, shall we take a look at it? Perhaps this protective zone did not arise naturally."
"In fact, it is very likely," Seven interjected. "The zone is exactly a hundred thousand kilometers away from any edge point. It even follows the nebula. It is very unlikely that such a phenomenon could arise naturally."
Kathryn smiled. "Then we will take a closer look at it. Seven, you stay here and keep in touch with the bridge. Inform us immediately of any divergence or news."
"Understood, Captain," replied the Borg and went back to work. Kathryn left astrometrics and Chakotay followed her.
On the way to the turbolift he spoke to her quietly.
"Captain, if this nebula is actually artificial, then we shouldn't just enter it. This barrier is certainly there for a reason."
"I know, Chakotay. And if you have any concerns about the Prime Directive, I can assure you that I certainly don't intend to just enter it. Perhaps 'carefully peek in' would be a better expression. Besides, I'm curious what someone is hiding in there. And someone who can surround a nebula with a disturbance ring might be able to help us get home faster. I think it’s worth the risk."
Chakotay kept quiet. What was there could he say to stop her? Kathryn, I had a strange dream and I'm worried about it?
He sighed imperceptibly. Maybe he should just stop worrying and take the dream as a dream.
When they returned to the bridge a short time later, Janeway gave her helmsman the order to head for the nebula.
It didn't take long until they were close to it.
"Keep a distance of at least 100,000 km to the barrier, Mr. Paris," Janeway said and Voyager stopped.
"Ensign Lang, can you tell us anything useful in the meantime?" she then turned to the OPS officer.
"No Captain, we still don't know what awaits us there."
Kathryn looked at Chakotay again and he nodded. "Then we'll look for ourselves. Mr. Paris, take us in. A quarter impulse."
"Aye, Captain," Tom replied and navigated the ship into the barrier.
Chakotay unconsciously held his breath for a few seconds as Voyager passed the border. He exhaled in relief when nothing happened and was thrown out of his seat the next second.
"Tom! Reverse thrusters, full impulse! Get us out of here!" shouted Janeway, who had also landed on the floor somewhere next to Chakotay.
The ship was thrown around and Chakotay could only assume that the inertial dampers couldn't cope or had perhaps already failed.
Tom had also been thrown out of his chair and was trying to get back to his seat as quickly as possible.
"Captain, I've lost control of the navigation," shouted Tom as he pulled himself back into his seat. "The engines have also failed, we're drifting," he added.
"Chakotay to Engineering, what's going on with the navigation system and the engines?"
"I don't know, we're losing one system after the other. I can't stop it!" B'Elanna's excited voice sounded.
"The inertial dampers have failed, everyone hold on!" shouted Ayala from somewhere behind and shortly afterwards the ship tilted to the side.
Chakotay slid along the floor towards the engineering console and was able to grab hold of the railing at the last moment. Kathryn suffered the same fate and Chakotay grabbed her as she slid past him.
He pulled her towards him until she was able to grab hold of the railing as well and then called out, "Tarik, what about the sensors?"
The security officer had managed to hold on to his station and answered, "The sensors are partially functional. We are heading directly for a smaller planet. Class M," he added.
"Tom, go to condition blue and try to land the ship. Let's hope the stabilizers can handle it and the thrusters are still working!" Janeway called out.
"Yes, Ma'am", the helmsman confirmed and did his best to land Voyager on the planet more or less intact. He had no illusions that the ship would be badly damaged, perhaps even irreparably, but he had to at least try to save the crew.
The ship tipped into an almost horizontal position, which allowed the officers to get back to their seats.
Behind them, the turbolift doors opened and Seven of Nine came in, staggering slightly. The ship was still lurching violently and the Borg had to brace herself to stay on her feet. But then she too was standing at her console.
The planet was now clearly visible on the viewscreen. Tom was heading for a plateau that would offer enough space for a landing.
This will become a crash landing,Janeway thought. They came down much too quickly and just before they hit the ground, Ayala tapped on his combadge. "All hands, brace for impact!"
Then they felt the first contact with the ground. Voyager hit the ground hard, bounced off again and tipped to the side. The right side of the hull and the warp nacelle scraped along the ground and after several kilometers the ship finally came to a stop. It lay on its side like a broken bird and silence fell.