Disclaimer and summary: See part 1

Dedicated to the wonderful, amazing, supportive, helpful gang
(and yes, gang, that was a plea for you *not* to kill me for this)

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Part Twenty-Five

Janeway paced in her shelter, reviewing her treatment at the
hands of some of the ex-Maquis. Dalby and Gerron had left her a
while ago, and as soon as the door had closed behind the two
men, she had started thinking, which quickly led to pacing.

{Who the *hell* do they think they are?} she thought angrily.
{They can't treat me like that! I'm the *Captain*! Without me,
none of them will ever get home,} she continued her mental rant,
completely ignoring the fact that they were all stuck on the planet
because of *her* order to evacuate Voyager.

Janeway continued to pace and fume for several moments longer,
then she stopped, took a deep breath and made a conscious effort
to calm down. She needed to be clear-headed if she was going to
think of a way to punish the offenders. She wasn't about to let
*anyone* get away with treating her the way those seven had.

Suddenly, Janeway frowned in puzzlement. She hadn't seen
Tuvok today. She knew that he had been keeping her under
observation ever since she had destroyed everything in her
shelter. He was very discreet about it, but she had noticed that
the Vulcan was always nearby when she left the shelter. Only,
today he hadn't been anywhere to be seen, not even when Dalby
and Gerron walked her back 'home'.

Completely distracted from her anger, Janeway wondered where
Tuvok was, and why he wasn't keeping an eye on 'the poor,
crazy captain'. The last thought made her smile wickedly. She
had known Tuvok long enough to know *why* he was keeping
an eye on her. He thought she was crazy, and unless she was
mistaken, he had told the others this. Her smile turned satisfied.

It wasn't something she had planned, but when she realized what
Tuvok thought, she had used it to her advantage. She had acted
paranoid and depressed, refusing to truly interact with anyone
but Neelix. She knew how compassionate the Talaxian was and
had planned to use him to convince the Starfleet part of her crew
to help her regain command and punish the Maquis.

Unfortunately, it seemed that she couldn't trust all the Starfleet
people. Janeway frowned again. She would have to count on
Neelix to find out whom she could trust. It would take some
finesse to get him to help her without making him suspicious.
Maybe another bout of severe depression was in order.

Suddenly another idea occurred to her. She cocked her head
slightly as she considered it. A moment later, she nodded to
herself. It would be much easier to use Naomi Wildman. The
child was very observant and wouldn't lie. She also heard much
more than people thought and would be able to find out which of
the crew were still loyal to Janeway.

Janeway smiled once more. It was perfect. Now she just had to
convince Neelix to let her talk to Naomi in private. Before
Janeway could think of something, she swayed in dizziness.
Then she lifted her hands and pressed her fingers against her
temple, hoping to alleviate the headache that had suddenly hit
her.

When it didn't help, she stumbled towards her bed, intending to
lie down and try to get sleep in hopes that *that* would help.
However, she had only gotten halfway across the room when she
felt a sharp, piercing pain in the base of her skull and she passed
out.

*****

Once the doctor had beamed to sickbay with Tom, Chakotay rose
to his feet and looked quizzically at B'Elanna. "Why did you hail
Voyager instead of using your override codes to beam aboard?"
he asked.

B'Elanna threw a quick glance at Harry, then returned her
attention to Chakotay. "Harry said that Tom had put the security
locks on the ship's computer. He was convinced that you and
Tom had somehow managed to regain control of Voyager," she
explained.

Chakotay turned to Harry in surprise. "How did you know that,
Harry?"

"Because, when I tried my own access code, I received a
message from Tom," Harry answered with a slight smile.

"A message?" Chakotay repeated. When Harry nodded in
confirmation, he asked, "How did you know it was from Tom? It
could've been something one of the aliens recorded."

Harry's smile widened. "I doubt it. That message wouldn't make
sense to anyone but me and Tom," he explained.

Chakotay nodded in understanding. He wasn't surprised that
Tom had thought of all eventualities and left a message that
would be triggered by Harry's access code. The two men were
best friends and Tom knew that Harry would insist on joining the
rescue team. Chakotay even had a sneaking suspicion that Tom
had made sure that Harry could get full access to Voyager's
computer if it should become necessary.

Chakotay shrugged off his thoughts and focused on the
conversation, if you could call it that, between Harry and
B'Elanna.

"C'mon, Harry," B'Elanna pleaded. "Tell us what Tom's
message said."

"I told you, Chief, it won't make sense to anyone but Tom and
me," Harry answered, clearly exasperated.

Although Chakotay was curious himself, he knew Harry well
enough to know how stubborn the younger man could be and
decided to interfere before it could turn into an argument.
"Where's Captain Janeway?" he asked, not because he was eager
to see her. He was still angry about the way she had treated Tom,
but he had expected her to lead the rescue mission.

"She's still on the planet," B'Elanna answered. Seeing
Chakotay's startled expression, she elaborated. "It's a long
story."

Chakotay lifted an eyebrow. "Give me the short version."

B'Elanna sighed. "Okay, short version." She hesitated for a
moment, considering where to start. "I told everyone about the
offer Janeway made Tom almost two months ago and that he
refused her. Once Tuvok and I convinced them that Tom *had*
refused, we all confronted Janeway about her real reason for
leaving Tom behind. It didn't go too well, and ended with
everyone resigning."

Chakotay's startled gasp interrupted B'Elanna's narration.
"Everyone resigned?" he asked.

B'Elanna nodded in confirmation. "Yeah. Although she tried to
make excuses, it was pretty clear that Tom's refusal of her offer
was the real reason she left him behind. No one wanted to serve
under a captain who would do something like that." She met
Chakotay's eyes with a serious expression and added, "Tuvok
thinks, and I agree, that Janeway must be mentally unstable.
Unfortunately, there was no way we could determine it for sure
since the doctor was also left here. As Tuvok pointed out, the
only way we could avoid following Janeway's orders were to
resign."

"I see." Chakotay considered this information for a moment, then
asked, "What did you do with her?"

"Nothing much. We mostly left her alone. Most of the time, she
stayed in her shelter. Neelix brought her meals and on the few
occasions that she left her shelter, Tuvok kept a discreet eye on
her." Seeing the question in Chakotay's eyes, B'Elanna went on,
"I left Neelix and Samantha Wildman in charge of the settlement,
and had Neelix take care of Janeway. He's the only one she'll
talk to."

"He's the only one she doesn't seem angry with," Harry added.

"Do you really think she's mentally unstable?" Chakotay asked
seriously.

Although she really didn't want to answer that, B'Elanna didn't
hesitate. "Chakotay," she said, looking him straight in the eye.
"After everyone resigned, she destroyed everything in her
shelter, even the bed. Since then, she's shown clear signs of
depression. In fact, Tuvok thinks that she might be suicidal."

"Then we'd better get Voyager back to the planet fast so the
doctor can take a look at her," Chakotay said calmly. "B'Elanna,
how many shuttles did you take with you?"

"Three," B'Elanna replied. "We decided that it wasn't necessary
to bring a whole lot of people for the rescue mission. With you
and Tom, we're fifteen. We should be able to run Voyager for a
few days."

Chakotay considered it for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
"You're right. It'll be a lot of work, but it's possible as long as it
isn't for longer than a few days. Comm the other two pilots and
have them dock the shuttles. When everyone's here, we'll decide
on shifts and duty assignments."

While B'Elanna relayed his orders to Baytart and Hamilton,
Chakotay spotted Tuvok working at one of the computer
consoles. He turned to Harry with a quizzical expression. "What
is Tuvok doing?"

Harry glanced over at the Vulcan, then looked back at Chakotay.
"He's trying to get through Tom's security locks."

Chakotay snorted in amusement. "He really thinks he can disable
them?"

"Yes, sir, he does," Harry answered, amusement clear in his
voice.

Chakotay shook his head. "Stubborn, arrogant Vulcan," he
muttered quietly.

Harry lifted an eyebrow, but refrained from commenting. "Sir,
are you going to tell him that he can't?" he asked instead.

Chakotay smiled wickedly. "No, Harry. I'll let him discover it on
his own."

"What are you talking about?" B'Elanna asked.

"Tuvok and his conviction that he can get through Tom's
security locks," Harry replied. "The Commander has decided to
let Tuvok discover for himself that he can't disable them."

B'Elanna laughed for a moment, then sobered. "You do realize,
that it could take awhile before Tuvok admits defeat, don't you?"

"I know," Chakotay answered with a smile. "And I promise, if he
hasn't given up by the time everyone's here, I'll tell him."

B'Elanna returned Chakotay's smile, then said, "Baytart and
Hamilton are on their way to dock the shuttles, and Isabelle
should be here any minute." Her smile disappeared and she
frowned slightly. "While we wait, why don't you tell us what's
wrong with Tom?"

Seeing the expectant look on Harry and B'Elanna's faces,
Chakotay sighed deeply, then proceeded to explain what had
happened since the aliens had taken over Voyager.

*****

The doctor stared at the data on the medical console. Suppressing
an unholographic urge to curse, he scanned Tom again to be sure
that the result of the first examination was correct. It was.

This time, the doctor did curse, shocking Greg Ayala who was
standing near the sickbay doors, just in case any of the aliens got
free. "What's wrong, Doc?" he asked.

The doctor stopped cursing in order to answer, then noticed Tom
stirring. He grabbed a hypo spray and pressed it to the pilot's
neck, sedating him again. Putting the hypo down, the doctor
turned back to Ayala. He studied the security man in silence for a
moment before answering. "There is no way I can remove Mr.
Paris' implant without causing serious brain damage."

TBC