Star Trek Voyager: The Forgotten Episode

Chapter Two

The three officers reached the opening of the cave, after nearly tripping down an unseen rise in the ground, and already Tuvok and Janeway had to pull Kim out of a small creek he had fallen into.

"It's just not my day." The ensign grumbled, standing up and looking down at his sodden uniform. Janeway patted him on the shoulder, and told him;

"We all have days like this ensign. Let's just work through it and get our mission done." Tuvok nodded his agreement. Kim sighed, and stood up straighter.

"Let's continue."

"That's the spirit." Janeway nodded and moved towards the cavern. She reached the mouth of the cave, and took a quick tricorder reading. Taking a glance towards Tuvok, who raised an eyebrow in confirmation, Janeway tapped on her com.

"Janeway to Voyager."

"Voyager, Chakotay here."

"We are going to enter the cave now Commander. Based on the scans I have taken of the cave, some of the materials in it's formation will block our signal. Keep a close eye on the radiation readout, if anything changes. . . well, you'll know something's happened." There was a pause, and Kathryn could almost feel Chakotay's dark brown gaze boring through her.

"We will do that Captain. Oh, and Kathryn. . ." Janeway's heart fluttered a bit as he spoke her name, ". . .no taking unnecessary risks okay? Otherwise I'm coming down myself to get you." She chuckled softly.

"No worries Commander, with Tuvok and Harry here, I'll be perfectly fine. Janeway out." She stepped back for a moment, closing her eyes and lifting her chin to the sky, letting her heart rate calm. She didn't admit it, but she had a sneaking suspicion, deep in the depths of her heart, that she felt more than just normal friendship to her First Officer. That wasn't something she wished to address at the moment, so like a file she tucked it away to the back of her mind, where she knew it would come out and plague her that night.

"Captain, you all right?" Harry's cheerful voice called to her from the mouth of the cave. Janeway opened her eyes, and with her usual brisk stride walked towards her two officers.

"I'm alright. Now, let's get exploring shall we?" Kathryn grinned, although it felt a bit forced. Tuvok raised a slanted eyebrow, not buying it, but wisely said nothing. The three holstered their phasers, and Tuvok pulled out a palm beacon. The first ten steps into the cave seemed normal, as normal as a wet, damp, slimy cave can be, but then suddenly everything vanished. At first, Kathryn thought she had gone down a rise and lost sight of the entrance of the cave, but when she turned around and took ten steps back, there was still. . . nothing.

"Tuvok?" She called, pulling out her phaser. "Mr Kim?" No answer. What was even weirder was that usually you expect  an echo in a place such as a cave, but here, it was like talking in a small office. Everything was muffled and dull. "This is damn peculiar." She muttered, suddenly noticing that the steady drip drip drip of the water in the cave had vanished as well. Utterly blind, she took several strides forward, and slammed her forehead right into something cold and unyielding. Giving a startled hiss, Janeway tripped backwards, landing down hard on her behind, and when she touched her forehead to check for damage, her fingertips came away wet and sticky with what she presumed to be blood.

"Lovely. Just lovely." Voyager's Captain muttered softly, wondering what in hell had just happened.

=/\=

Meanwhile. . .

Tuvok and Harry hadn't even noticed Janeway was gone. "Tuvok, look at this." Kim held the tricorder out for the Vulcan to examine. "The radiation energy has suddenly dropped in power, it's barely a fraction of what it was before." Tuvok double checked with his own instrument.

"You are correct Mr Kim. There has been a severe drop in the energy readings. . . where is Captain Janeway?" Harry spun around, but all he saw was the faint light of the cave's entrance.

"I don't know Tuvok, she was right here three seconds ago." Tuvok tilted his head slightly, and Harry fell silent. With those pointed ears, Tuvok could probably hear things he couldn't that might lead to wherever the Captain had gone. After about a minute of painful waiting, he shook his head.

"I do not hear her." Harry swallowed nervously, rubbing his hands together.

"Well, uh, what do we do?" Tuvok instantly snapped into command mode.

"We notify Voyager, finding the Captain is more important than the energy readings. However, for all we know, the energy readings has something to do with abducting Captain Janeway." Even in the faint light, Harry's face paled.

"Let's go then." The two men sprinted for the entrance, desperate to get out of that cave.

=/\=

Chakotay was still sitting restlessly in the Captain's chair, occasionally getting up and pacing around the bridge. Helmsman Tom Paris glanced up at him worriedly, and Seven of Nine openly stared. Chakotay didn't care. Something was wrong, he had no reason to think it, but something had happened to the away team. He ran his fingers over the intricate lines over his brow, then stalked back to the chair. When the com beeped he practically leapt on top of it.

"Voyager, what's going on down there?" There was silence for a moment, then Tuvok replied simply;

"We encountered a strange force in the cave. The Captain has vanished." There was a stunned silence from around the bridge, but no more so than the Commander himself. His heart hammered against his ribs as he managed to choke out a reply.

"Do you have any more information about what happened?"

"No, she was there and then. . ." He was broken off by the sounds of Harry shouting something, and then a sound like two shuttle craft colliding.

"Oh my god, beam us up now!" Harry shouted into Tuvok's combadge, and almost faster than human eye could follow, Seven was at the Engineering workstation, her fingers activating the matter transport device.

"They went directly to Sick Bay Commander." She reported, and suddenly Chakotay felt a flash of anger at the former Borg. Why couldn't she just sound a little bit terrified or scared, or worried or something damn it all! He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

Don't let your anger control you. His father had said. You control it.

Yes.

He was going to use that anger to find Kathryn, even if it was the last thing he did. It was stupid, but he'd do it. Anything to see her face once again, to feel her touch, even if it was just a handshake.

"I'm going to the surface."