Rinna caught Harry's arm as the crowd began to gather in the central chamber. "You are going to stay for the celebration, aren't you?"
Harry glanced toward the communication alcove. "Actually, I should check in with Voyager. They'll be back by now." He tapped his combadge. "Kim to Voyager. This is Ensign Kim calling Voyager, do you read?"
Static. Nothing.
He tried again. Same result.
Lyris approached. "Harry, I'm glad you could be here for this."
"It's been interesting," Harry said, managing a smile. "I was wondering if there's been any word from Voyager."
"Not that I know of. They probably haven't returned yet."
Harry frowned. "It's been a long time. I hope they didn't run into trouble with the Nasari."
Lyris placed a hand on his shoulder. "Try not to worry. Your Captain may need some time to convince those people to see reason." She gestured toward the gathering. "Come, join the celebration while you wait. And of course, you're welcome to stay the night."
"Maybe so," Harry said. He let himself be guided toward the festivities, though his thoughts kept drifting upward, past the cavern ceiling, past the atmosphere, to wherever Voyager might be.
Hours later, Eliann led him down a quiet corridor to a small room. Soft fabrics draped the walls, and a low bed occupied the far corner. "Here you are," she said. "I hope you'll be comfortable here. Is there anything else that I can get for you?"
"No, I'll be fine, thanks. Goodnight."
Eliann didn't leave. "Get into bed."
Harry blinked. "You're going to tuck me in?"
"Tuck you in?"
"It's a human custom. Parents tuck their children into bed, tell them a story, or sing a lullaby to help them get to sleep."
Eliann dimmed the lights and retrieved a small pot from the dressing table. "That's sweet." She returned to the bedside. "Lie back and relax. Lekaria san. Do you understand?"
"Pleasant dreams," Harry translated.
She kissed him softly on the forehead. "Now close your eyes."
Cool oil touched his temples, his cheekbones. The scent hit him immediately, something floral and warm that loosened every muscle in his neck.
"Mmm, that smells good."
"It's the essence of rikka flowers. It's very soothing." More oil, more gentle pressure. "Lekaria san." She kissed him once more. "Goodnight, Harry."
Her footsteps retreated. The door slid shut.
The room was silent for exactly two seconds.
Then the air beside the dressing table shimmered, and Tyson materialized, deactivating his Scaling Cloak. "I thought they'd never leave."
Harry jolted upright, rikka oil still glistening on his face. "How long have you been—"
The air near the doorway rippled. Tuvok decloaked, hands clasped behind his back.
"Approximately forty-seven minutes," Tuvok said. "I would note, Ensign, that accepting that oil spray was ill-advised. It could contain any number of compounds with deleterious effects."
Harry swung his legs off the bed. "Wait. Voyager's in trouble? Is that why you're here instead of the ship coming back for me?"
Tuvok stepped forward. "Voyager is currently maintaining a distant orbit. The Taresians activated a polaron-based shield grid encompassing the entirety of their territory. The shield is impenetrable to both communications and transporter signals."
"My portals were the only way to get through," Tyson said, already pulling open a shimmering tear in the air beside the dressing table. Beyond it lay the muted lighting of Voyager's bridge. "The Taresians lied about your DNA. You're 100% homegrown human, the Doctor confirmed it. You were infected during an away mission. Now let's go before they notice, Captain's orders."
Harry didn't hesitate. He stepped through the portal without a backward glance. The Ops station was unmanned, Paris at the helm, Chakotay in his seat.
Janeway rose from the command chair. "Welcome back, Ensign. Take your station, we'll let the casual nightwear slide this time." Her tone was warm but clipped, already pivoting. "Tom, get us out of here. Warp 9."
"Aye, Captain. Warp 9." Paris's hands moved across the helm console.
Janeway turned to Tyson, who had stepped through the portal behind Harry alongside Tuvok before letting it close. "Can the Imperator maintain Warp 9? I know Galaxy-Class vessels aren't as fast, and they aren't designed to maintain high warp for sustained periods."
"We'll pace with you for a time," Tyson said. He tapped his combadge, though the gesture was unnecessary. "Vicky, have the Imperator match Voyager's heading and speed."
"Acknowledged," came the reply over the channel.
Janeway settled back into her chair. "Engage."
The stars on the viewscreen stretched into streaks, and Voyager leapt forward. A moment later, the tactical display confirmed the Imperator falling into formation alongside them, both vessels cutting through space at Warp 9.
Episode: Star Trek Voyager - Favorite Son Complete!
+100 RP
Reality Points: 2250
Janeway looked at Tyson. "You said you'll only stay with us for a time?"
"Long enough to know that Voyager is safely away from Taresia," Tyson said.
Tuvok, who had resumed his station at tactical, spoke, "Then you intend to return to your reality?"
"Actually," Tyson said, "your encounter with the Taresians had me thinking. Voyager is alone out here. The Imperator could travel with you, but there's strength in numbers. If possible, we should search for other vessels from the Alpha Quadrant."
"You think there are other Federation vessels out here? Even if there were, we wouldn't be able to find them. We don't have an astrometrics lab. It wasn't installed before we left for the Badlands." Janeway replied.
"I'll see what I can do," Tyson said.
An hour later, the Imperator sat in its berth within the Personal Reality, docked at the Automated Repair Facility. The massive structure hummed with activity, robotic arms and fabrication systems creating Echo Papa drones, the frame of an Interdictor-Class Cruiser, HK units, and Soong-Type officers.
Tyson stood on the bridge of the Iconic Interceptor with Vicky and Ensign Ro. The main viewscreen displayed the facility's diagnostic readout, systems cataloged and awaiting instruction.
Ro leaned against the railing near the aft stations, arms crossed. "We're upgrading the ship?"
"Upgrades can be done with Ship Points," Tyson said. "I have a lot." He pulled up a star chart on the main viewer, the Delta Quadrant, mostly incompletely rendered. "Voyager is alone in the Delta Quadrant. They were dragged there by a creature known as the Caretaker. But I know that the Caretaker grabbed more than one Federation ship. There's another one out there, and we need to find it."
Ro straightened. "So, sensor upgrades. The Galor has Tachyon Sensors for detecting cloaked ships. What else are you thinking?"
Tyson pulled up the Ship Points ledger on the main viewer, the numbers cycling alongside the star chart. "I'm looking for some feedback on this. We have two options. One is very expensive, and it uses an alternate currency."
He swiped the display, and a system notification expanded across the screen.
[-400 CP] Star Charts (Item)
A data cube that maps every major celestial body within a thousand light-years, with sufficient accuracy for safe FTL travel between them. Stars, planets, black holes, anything worth visiting or avoiding, with enough accuracy to plot safe jumps between them. Each system you enter records itself down to the last asteroid. Also flagged are every bar, brothel, and strip club where entertainment services are for sale.
Ro read the description, her lips pressing together at the last line. "Entertainment services. Charming."
"Ignore that part. Some of the items are… unusual. The point is this. With this upgrade, we can use the Imperator's hyperdrive. The Star Charts would update with every new system we enter, feeding the nav computer everything it needs to calculate safe jump coordinates. We just move from system to system. And the hyperdrive is far, far faster than warp."
"Four hundred CP, though," Vicky said. "That's steep."
"It is. Which is why there's a second option." Tyson cleared the display and brought up three new entries, stacked vertically.
[-50 SP] Navigation Suite (Ship)
Optimized for long-range scans to provide better data for plotting interstellar trajectories.
[-200 SP] Predictive Suite (Ship)
Using sensor data about things like trajectories and energy emissions, this computer will calculate the most probable current state of the surrounding universe. However, while sufficiently accurate to be reliable, this projection is not 100% accurate.
[-400 SP] Objective Sensors (Ship)
This sensor suite is capable of tracking objects at relativistic distances and speeds in real time, as well as enabling targeting of FTL and interdimensional navigation. While this System can observe anywhere in the local multiverse, it will require a comparatively narrow focus to yield anything other than an overwhelming, unusable torrent of data, which means you must know where to look or incrementally ramp up the sensor sensitivity as you narrow your focus.
Ro pushed off the railing and walked closer to the main viewer. "Sensor upgrades for the ships."
Vicky turned in her chair. "So the Predictive Suite acts as a wide net, the Objective Sensors act as a focused lens, and the Navigation Suite handles the actual route calculation."
"Right. Since they're relatively cheap compared to the Star Charts, combining a few options for the best effect is more viable." Tyson highlighted the three entries in sequence. "The Navigation Suite ties it all together, and the best part is we don't need to purchase that one; it's already installed on several ships."
Ro tapped the SP costs on the screen. "Six hundred Ship Points total. Versus four hundred CP for the Star Charts." She looked at Tyson. "The Star Charts are a one-time purchase that handles everything automatically. The sensor combination requires three separate upgrades and relies on the systems working together."
"Not a concern," Vicky said. "Purchased upgrades always function properly and don't interfere with each other in any way. Additionally, the sensor upgrades do more than just enable hyperdrive navigation. The Objective Sensors alone can track objects across the local multiverse in real time. That's intelligence gathering, threat detection, search and rescue. Mostly what I do now, except we're limited to areas where I've placed VIs into the systems, like on the Enterprise-D and Voyager. The Star Charts just tell you where celestial bodies are."
"And we're looking for a lost Federation ship," Ro said, nodding slowly. "The Star Charts would show us stars and planets. The sensors would show us the ship."
"The Star Charts would map the territory," Tyson said. "The sensors would find what's in it."
Vicky pulled up the SP ledger. "We have more than enough points. And there's another factor." She stood, walking to the main viewer. "Whatever ship receives these upgrades, the improvements carry over to the Iconic Interceptor. That's how the system works. Any ship that gets upgraded with Ship Points feeds those upgrades into the Interceptor's baseline. Which means the Imperator gets them by proxy."
"So we upgrade one ship, and effectively upgrade two of them." Ro nodded. "Then the sensors. No question."
Vicky nodded. "Agreed. The CP is too valuable to spend on something the Ship Points can accomplish and then some."
Tyson didn't answer right away. Too valuable was the easy way to say it. The harder way was that every CP he didn't spend was CP he was keeping back for the fight he was sure he couldn't win. Saving four hundred CP on sensors wasn't a thrift. It was him quietly hoarding so he could defend better against Maul's blade, and against Palpatine.
Ro turned to Tyson. "Which ship gets the upgrades?"
"Let's dock the Galor from the Mirror Universe. There's no sense upgrading the Iconic Interceptor directly when we can upgrade a ship that actually needs the capability. The Galor is going back to Empress Troi. Once it has these sensor suites installed, it gives her something she desperately needs. Intelligence on ship movements. Her enemies, the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance, hell, even her supposed allies."
"In the Mirror Universe, your allies are just enemies who haven't made their move yet."
"Which is exactly why the Predictive Suite and Objective Sensors will be worth more to Troi than another weapons array," Tyson said. "She can track fleet movements across her entire theater of operations. See threats forming before they arrive."
Vicky was already inputting commands into her console. "I'll have the facility pull the Galor into the primary upgrade berth. Installation time for all three suites will be instantaneous after purchase."
Ship Points: 3800
The Galor vanished through the portal, delivered back to the Mirror Universe and Empress Troi's waiting hands. The upgrade berths in the Automated Repair Facility returned to drone construction.
Twenty minutes later, the Imperator hung in interstellar space, returning to the spot where it had left, behind Voyager, which was still heading away at Warp 9. The Predictive Suite and Objective Sensors were fully integrated into the Galaxy-class vessel, their data feeds flowing into the ship's AI Core.
Tyson stood at the center of the bridge, Ro at tactical, Vicky at ops, with the other stations manned by the Hardened Crew.
"Vicky," Tyson said, "fire up the Predictive Suite. We need to search for an alternate pathway away from the Caretaker's Array. The coordinates should be easily discovered in Voyager's databases. We're searching for a Federation ship."
Vicky closed her eyes, her consciousness interfacing directly with the ship's systems and pulling from her VI in Voyager. "Scanning. Using Predictive Suite based on Voyager's sensor logs of the Delta Quadrant."
The main viewer shifted. The star chart of the Delta Quadrant expanded, the Caretaker's Array marked as a bright point near the upper section. From it, Voyager's known trajectory traced a winding line downward toward the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. But now, new lines began to branch outward from the Array's position, projected courses calculated from the known sensor data Voyager had picked up along the way through its long-range sensors.
Ro studied the display as it filled.
Vicky spoke, eyes still closed. "I have forty-seven possible displacement endpoints. Cross-referencing with known gravitational bodies and stellar drift patterns to narrow viable corridors."
Minutes passed.
"Down to twelve," Vicky said. "Factoring in a Federation vessel's likely course corrections after arrival. Assuming standard Starfleet protocols for unknown territory, prioritizing resource acquisition and safe harbor." More lines vanished. "Seven viable routes."
She opened her eyes. "Activating Objective Sensors to focus on the seven most probable route variations."
The sensor display shifted again, the wide net of the Predictive Suite giving way to narrow, focused beams, each one lancing out toward a different region of space. The Objective Sensors tracked in real time, scanning for the specific energy signatures of a Federation warp drive, the hull composition of Starfleet alloys, the subspace distortion patterns unique to their engine designs.
"This will take time," Vicky said. "Each route corridor spans hundreds of light-years."
Tyson nodded. "Alright, you've got this in hand. I'm going to go to the temple to train."
He raised his hand and opened a portal. Through it, the corridors of the Jedi Temple within the Personal Reality were visible. He stepped through, the portal sealing behind him.
The temple was quiet. Kreia and Meetra were elsewhere, likely in the meditation chambers or the sparring hall. Tyson walked to the central atrium and pulled up his Character Sheet, the translucent display hovering in his HUD.
He had decisions to make. Palpatine and Maul were right around the corner, and the last time Maul had been more than his match. Tricks wouldn't be enough against Palpatine. He had known it since Tatooine. He had lost to Maul because he was not yet good enough. Palpatine would be worse.
[-100 CP (Discounted)] Child Prodigy (Perk)
You have an incredible capacity to learn and apply what you already know to other fields. Are you a Podracer Pilot? Then you would pick up how to fly a star fighter the first time you sat in it, just as well as veteran pilots. If you had some sort of enhanced senses or reflexes, you could do even better.
[-200 CP] Baseless Accusations (Perk)
Rumors and slander can be detrimental to anyone relying on public opinion for power. You are particularly good at creating and spreading rumors and planting accusations that will bring down your political opponents. You are also quite good at preventing the same trick from being used on you and your allies.
Character Points: 1800
Tyson dismissed the purchase confirmations and sat on the stone bench beneath the atrium's vaulted ceiling.
Child Prodigy was the obvious choice. He had Kreia and Meetra Surik, two skilled Force users, willing to teach him. But time was the enemy. He couldn't spend years mastering Form III. Child Prodigy would speed that timeline up. Whatever he learned in one domain transferred laterally. His combat experience, his reflexes as an Augment, his spatial awareness from Chosen Second's deepened Force connection, all of it would feed into lightsaber training the moment he picked up a blade. A hundred points for accelerated mastery across everything he touched. That wasn't just good value. It was survival.
Baseless Accusations were the subtler weapon. Palpatine's entire power base rested on political maneuvering, on being Senator Palpatine, the kindly representative from Naboo, while Darth Sidious pulled strings from the shadows. The Perk specifically stated he'd be good at bringing down political opponents, and Palpatine was nothing if not a political opponent. If Tyson could erode the man's public standing, plant the right doubts in the right ears, he wouldn't need to beat Sidious in a lightsaber duel. He could dismantle the path to Chancellor before the Sith Lord ever reached it. And the defensive component meant Palpatine couldn't easily turn the same tactics back on him or his allies.
Credits he wasn't spending anyway to potentially derail a Sith Lord's decade-long political conspiracy. That was the best return on investment he'd ever seen. But no amount of points spent on a screen would feel like enough until he stood in front of the man and found out. He'd need more than tricks. He needed to be better.
Tyson crossed the temple's central atrium and passed through the wide archway leading to the training hall. Kreia stood near the far wall. Meetra was beside her, stretching her arms overhead, loose-limbed and relaxed.
Kreia turned as he entered. "Ah. The apprentice returns." The word apprentice landed with its usual weight, neither compliment nor insult. "I had wondered if you would spend the entire day staring at numbers on a screen."
"I'd like to practice sparring," Tyson said. "If possible."
"If possible," Kreia repeated, as though tasting something unpleasant. "You say this as though I might refuse. As though I would permit you to face what is coming without preparation." She moved toward the weapon rack, her steps unhurried. "You have been relying on instinct and raw physicality. Against lesser opponents, this suffices. Against a true practitioner of the blade, instinct without structure is simply a more energetic way to die."
She selected two training sabers from the rack and held one out to Meetra, who took it with a familiar grip. The other she extended toward Tyson.
He took it. The weight was close to his lightsaber but not identical.
"Meetra," Kreia said, turning to her. "Soresu. Third form, purely defensive. Force mistakes. Find every gap. Do not strike to win. Strike to teach."
Meetra nodded, rolling the training saber once in her hand. She looked at Tyson with something that might have been sympathy. "Try not to take it personally."
"And you," Kreia said to Tyson. "Ataru. You have chosen the acrobat's form, so let us see if you can make it do what it was designed to do. Break through her defense. Find a way past Soresu, or learn why you cannot."
Tyson stepped to the center of the training floor. Meetra moved opposite him, settling into her opening stance with her feet shoulder-width apart, saber held vertically before her, the blade's tip angled slightly toward him. Compact. Economical.
He dropped into Ataru's ready position, saber held high and back.
"Begin," Kreia said.
Tyson moved first. Ataru demanded aggression, and he gave it, closing the distance with a lunging overhead strike that used his height and reach. Meetra didn't retreat. Her blade came up and redirected his strike to the side with a tight circular motion, barely moving her feet. The deflection cost her almost nothing.
He followed with a lateral cut aimed at her midsection. She stepped back half a pace and caught it on her blade, angling the parry so his momentum carried him past her. His ribs hung open for half a beat. Her training saber found them.
"You are thinking about your next attack," Kreia said from the sideline. "She is thinking about your next three."
Tyson reset. He came in again, faster this time, chaining two strikes into a spinning backhand. The Child Prodigy Perk was already working beneath the surface of his awareness. The footwork patterns Kreia had shown him in earlier sessions clicked into place against the live resistance of Meetra's defense. His third combination was cleaner. A high-low sequence that forced Meetra to adjust her guard twice in rapid succession. She handled it, but her weight shifted, the smallest compensation.
"Better," Meetra said. She wasn't breathing hard.
"Again," Kreia said.
He pressed. A leaping strike, one of Ataru's signature moves, using his Augment physicality to generate force that a normal human couldn't match. Meetra planted her feet and absorbed it, her Soresu guard bending but not breaking. The impact traveled through both blades and into her arms, and for the first time, she gave ground, sliding back a full step.
But she turned that retreat into a repositioning, and when he landed, she was already at an angle he hadn't anticipated. Her counter-tap caught his wrist.
"Soresu does not defeat you," Kreia said. "It waits for you to defeat yourself. Every attack you throw is energy spent. Every parry she makes costs her a fraction of what your strike costs you. You are fighting her reserves as much as her blade."
Tyson circled. She was right. Meetra's defense was a wall that gave just enough to absorb his force without cracking. She wasn't trying to beat him. She was letting him beat against her until the gaps in his technique widened from fatigue and frustration.
But the gaps were closing faster than they should have. Each exchange taught him something, and Child Prodigy ensured the lesson stuck immediately. The third time he overextended on a spinning strike, he recognized the pattern before Meetra could exploit it and pulled back into guard. The second time she tried to redirect his momentum past her, he planted his back foot and converted the deflected strike into a short jab that forced her to actually block rather than redirect.
Meetra's expression shifted. "He adapts quickly," she said to Kreia, not taking her attention from Tyson.
"Yes," Kreia said. There was something in her voice. "He does. Whether he adapts quickly enough remains to be seen. Continue."
— Star Jumper —
"I found it," Vicky reported. "The Imperator has already entered hyperspace."
He was on his feet before she finished the sentence. "On my way."
The portal opened at his gesture, and he stepped through onto the bridge. The viewscreen showed the swirling tunnel of hyperspace, the ship already in transit. He settled into the command chair.
"Exiting hyperspace in five," Vicky announced. "Four. Three. Two. One."
The tunnel collapsed into a starfield. A yellow dwarf star burned at the system's center, unremarkable, surrounded by a dense asteroid belt, dull metallic glints scattered across it. Sensors painted the picture quickly. A single ship, small, running sweeps through the denser clusters of rock.
"What are they doing out here?" Tyson asked.
"Scanning for deuterium deposits in the asteroids," Vicky confirmed. "They look like they've been at it a while."
"We're being hailed," she added.
"On screen."
The viewscreen shifted to show a bridge that had seen better days. Worn panels, a crew that looked tired but alert. The man in the center chair leaned forward, some of the strain leaving him.
"We thought we were alone out here," he said. "Then you appear out of nowhere. We could really use the help, and it's a relief to see a friendly face. It has been years since we've seen another Federation ship."
"I'm Commander Tyson of the USS Imperator."
The man on screen straightened.
"Captain Ransom. USS Equinox."
Tyson studied the man on the viewscreen a moment. Ransom looked like someone who'd been carrying weight for a long time. The bridge behind him told the same story with patched conduits, jury-rigged consoles, and a crew running lean.
"Captain, my ship appeared out of nowhere because it can create artificial wormholes. In a limited fashion." It was a half-truth. "I can't get you back to Earth. But I thought you could use some company."
Ransom stared at him. The man's jaw worked once, twice, like he was trying to find the right response and kept discarding options. When he finally spoke, his voice was rough.
"You have no idea how welcome that would be."
"Standby," Tyson said. "I'll be opening a wormhole momentarily to return to my previous location. You aren't alone out here, Captain. There's another Federation ship."
Ransom sat forward. "Another? But wait. We're also running low on deuterium. We've been scanning this asteroid field for three days, and the yields are marginal at best."
"It isn't a concern," Tyson said. "We can resupply you."
The look on Ransom's face wasn't just relief. Something closer to a man who'd been drowning and just felt solid ground under his feet.
"Stand by, Captain."
He cut the transmission and turned from the command chair. The portal opened at his gesture, a clean circle of light that showed the familiar gray and burgundy of Voyager's bridge on the other side. He stepped through.
Nobody flinched. Ensign Kim glanced up from his console, then back down. Paris didn't even turn around from the helm. Tuvok acknowledged his arrival with a fractional nod. Three months ago, the entire bridge crew would have gone tense at the sight of a spatial anomaly opening ten feet from the captain's chair. Now it barely registered.
Janeway was standing near the tactical rail, a PADD in one hand. She set it down on the console beside her.
"Commander. What can I do for you?"
"I found another Federation ship stranded in the Delta Quadrant."
Paris turned in his chair. Kim straightened up from his console. Even Tuvok paused what he was doing, which for a Vulcan was the equivalent of dropping his jaw.
"You're serious," Paris said.
"The USS Equinox," Tyson said. "Nova class. I found them running deuterium surveys in an asteroid field. They're in rough shape. Low on supplies, running a skeleton crew from the look of it."
"How long have they been out here?" Chakotay asked; he'd been reviewing something at the auxiliary station.
"I didn't get into specifics. Wanted to bring the news here first."
"Ransom," Janeway said. "He was in command of a science vessel."
"What's it doing in the Delta Quadrant?" Chakotay asked.
"The Equinox is a Nova-class ship," Janeway said. "It was designed for planetary research, not long-range tactical missions. Eight decks, crew complement of around eighty. If the Caretaker pulled them here the same way he pulled us..." She didn't finish. She didn't have to. Voyager was an Intrepid-class, built for exactly the kind of deep-space mission they'd been forced into. A Nova class trying to survive the Delta Quadrant was like taking a runabout into a war zone.
"Captain," Kim said, "did you know Captain Ransom?"
"Only by reputation. He was an exobiologist. Promoted to captain after he made first contact with the Yridians. The Federation thought they were extinct. Ransom proved otherwise. I always wanted to meet him."
"Well," Tyson said, "you're getting the chance."
He held out his hand. Through the viewscreen, the starfield beyond Voyager split open. The portal bloomed into existence. The Imperator came through first, the apparent Galaxy-class clearing the aperture and banking to starboard. Behind it came the Equinox.
Kim let out a low breath. The Nova-class ship looked tiny against the Imperator. Scorch marks along the hull. Plating that had been replaced with mismatched panels. One of the nacelles was running at visibly reduced output. The ship was holding together, but only just.
"She's been through hell," Paris said quietly.
"Hailing frequency coming in," Kim reported. "It's the Equinox."
"On screen," Janeway said.
Ransom appeared on the viewscreen again. Behind him, his bridge crew was staring at their own viewscreen with open, undisguised wonder. One of the officers, a young woman at the science station, had her hand pressed over her mouth.
"Captain Janeway," Ransom said. "I have to admit, when Commander Tyson told me there was another Federation ship out here, I thought he might be pulling my leg."
"Captain Ransom." Janeway stepped forward, and the smile she gave him was unguarded. "I wish I could say welcome to the Delta Quadrant, but I suspect you've been here almost as long as we have."
"We were surveying the Hekaras Corridor when we were pulled in by a device, the Caretaker's array," Ransom confirmed. "Lost half my crew in the first two weeks." He said it plainly, like he'd already grieved and moved past it into the numb territory beyond. "We've been trying to find a way home ever since."
"You're not alone in that," Janeway said.
"So Commander Tyson tells me." Ransom glanced off screen, presumably at the Imperator holding position nearby. "He also tells me you can resupply us. Captain, I don't want to seem ungrateful, but my crew hasn't had a proper meal in six weeks. Our replicator systems are running at forty percent."
"We'll do better than resupply," Janeway said. She looked at Chakotay, who was already nodding. "Commander, coordinate with the Equinox crew. I want repair teams standing by, and tell Neelix to prepare for guests."
Tyson interrupted, "That won't be necessary. We can arrange for all the repairs and resupply to be completed at the Automated Repair Facility within the Personal Reality. We'll make sure both ships are in better condition than they were when they left Utopia Planitia."
He said it captain to captain, and only afterward did the arithmetic catch up with him. The facility had exactly so many berths and exactly so many hours, and right now every one of them was committed to drones and droids for Naboo, the army he'd called his top priority not three days ago. Pulling a Nova-class hull in for a full refit meant pulling capacity off that line. It meant Naboo would be ready a little later, or a little lighter, than it would have been. Nobody on this bridge would ever see the trade-off. It wasn't a high cost. But he'd made the choice; he'd decided Ransom and the Equinox were worth a slowdown in the creation of the forces needed to fight the Battle of Naboo.
"Captain Ransom," Janeway continued, "You've got a lot of catching up to do. The next wormhole will take us to a place like Earth, but not our Earth. I'd like to invite you and your senior staff aboard Voyager. I think we have a lot to discuss."
Ransom's composure cracked, just slightly. A breath that was almost a laugh. "Captain, I'd like that very much."
Janeway was already in motion, but underneath all of it was something simpler. She was glad. They all were. Kim was grinning at his console. Paris had turned back to the helm but kept glancing at the viewscreen. Even Tuvok, if you knew what to look for, had relaxed by a fraction of a degree.
"Commander Tyson," Janeway said, turning to him. "I believe a thank you is in order."
"Just happened to be in the neighborhood," Tyson said, deflecting.
He left the bridge through the turbolift rather than a portal. Sometimes he needed the walk. He moved without a real destination, letting his feet carry him while his mind worked through what he'd just set in motion.
On the bridge, he was the man who'd just happened to be in the neighborhood. In the corridor he was a man who knew too much and could tell no one why. He knew what the Nasari were. Not the exact details of the episode they were undoubtedly in. But he knew that Harry wasn't some alien, so naturally, the entire premise of their story was a lie.
It was the same with the Equinox.
He'd brought the Equinox to Voyager early. How early, he couldn't say with certainty, but he knew it was at least a year ahead of schedule. Maybe more. What he did remember was what would have happened without his intervention.
Ransom and his crew were pushed past every limit. The Equinox wasn't like Voyager; it couldn't handle a mission like traversing the Delta Quadrant on its own. At some point, they would have discovered a species of nucleogenic lifeforms. Strange creatures, existing partially out of phase with normal space. And Ransom, the exobiologist who'd built his career on first contact and the wonder of new life, would have ordered those creatures captured, killed, and converted into fuel. Their remains could be processed to enhance the Equinox's warp drive, pushing the ship faster than it had any right to travel. A shortcut home, paid for in alien lives. By the time Voyager found them, the Equinox would have been under siege. The nucleogenic lifeforms fighting back, tearing through the ship's hull, killing crew members in retaliation for what had been done to their kind. Ransom's people would have been desperate, cornered, willing to lie to Janeway's face to protect their secret. And when the truth came out, it would have gotten ugly. Janeway pushed to her worst instincts in pursuit of justice, Ransom making a last stand that cost him his ship and his life. The Equinox was destroyed. A handful of survivors folded into Voyager's crew and were never seen on screen again.
He thought about the man he'd just spoken to on that viewscreen. Tired, yes. Worn down. But not broken. Not yet. Ransom's eyes hadn't carried the hollow look of someone who'd already crossed a line they couldn't come back from. His crew hadn't developed the tight, guarded expressions of people keeping a terrible secret.
Their hands were still clean. Ransom wasn't a villain. He was a scientist commanding a ship that was never built for what the Delta Quadrant demanded of it.
Now things were different. Voyager was there to provide backup. The Personal Reality was available to provide supplies. The Equinox crew wouldn't be pushed to the brink.