"Unwanted Tears"

Janeway was accompanying Tom to Sickbay when Tuvok's voice
came over her com badge. "Captain, the six Bentar vessels are
dividing in pairs and taking three different directions. We are not
able to determine which vessel has the Commander."

"Damn," she swore softly, "Well, it's anyone's guess. Fix a
long range lock on them if you can, so we can retrace the other two's
location if need be."

"Acknowledged, Captain," Tuvok stated and then closed the
channel.

"Captain we can't.?" Tom started, and then stopped as she
held up a hand.

"Tom, we `will' get him back, but even I can't spit Voyager
into three and the Bentar know this. We've made a few allies over the
weeks you've been gone, and believe me, we won't be looking alone for
long, but this is a big solar system," she replied trying to assure
Tom that she would do everything in her power to get Chakotay back,
and that she meant it.

Tom felt the anguish in his heart, but simply nodded, as the
Captain led him into sickbay, and stopped short seeing the Doc,
looking normal, treating B'Elanna, who looked very upset. "What the."
he turned to Janeway, "She altered the Doc's program." he started to
say.

"We know that too, this is not the original one, we had to
upload a back up file and then download all the current memory files
from the original EMH, not including the tampering, and put in a few
more security measures to keep even B'Elanna and other high ranking
officers out of the Doc's programming," she replied easily, once more
trying to get Tom to calm down, for she could see all the emotion
bubbling under the surface.

Tom just gave a nod of understanding, and allowed Janeway to
move him in farther to sickbay, while his mind tried to process all
the emotions he was going through. He looked up and saw dark pained
filled eyes.it was too much.

"Tom, I.I'm really sorry, I didn't." B'Elanna tried to say;
for now that she was doing better, she recalled all that she was
responsible for.

Tom moved up slow and purposeful, his eyes locked on
B'Elanna, "Forgive me, B'Elanna," he whispered, and before she could
say no that it should be her asking for forgiveness, Tom hauled off
and decked her hard across the left cheek, knocking her back and off
the biobed. Tom would have moved in for more damage, but he was being
held back, though not aware by whom; "YOU BITCH! WHY COULDN'T YOU
HAVE SAID SOMETHING.ANYTHING WHEN YOU STARTED FEELING.ANYTHING! YOU
BITCH! BECAUSE OF YOU, MY HUSBAND AND MY CHILD ARE IN DANGER!" he
shouted at the top of his lungs as tears of frustration ran down his
face.

"Stop it, Tom," Kathryn shouted, glad that Tom was allowing
himself to be held back on some level, "She was not in her right mind
she's not at fault."

Tom stopped struggling to move on B'Elanna and then looked at
Janeway, seeing her, letting his rage cool down somewhat. Then he
turned back to look at B'Elanna, his eyes a blue icy fire. "If
anything happens to either of them." he let the promise of vengeance
linger in the air, for he could tell that B'Elanna understood.there
would be no forgiveness today, if ever. Then he relaxed, "I'm okay,
Captain," he stated in a less aggressive tone, and remained calm as
she let go of him. He simply moved to the farthest biobed and sat on
it, quietly waiting his turn, not acknowledging anyone in the room;
as he wipes his cheeks, where the glistening trail of tears remained.

Janeway gave the Doc a nod that it would be okay, then moved
over to B'Elanna and offered her a hand, glad that she took it, and
even though her face was bleeding, she moved her to another section
of sickbay. "Give him time, he's just very upset and worried."

"I don't understand, I didn't do anything to Chakotay, why is
he so upset? What does he mean the Commander and the baby is in
danger.Captain, what did I do?" she asked, letting the rare tears
fall down her face.

"The Bentar raided the camp and have taken the Commander.
They won't hurt him, but." she lowered her eyes.

"What?" B'Elanna asked, not really wanting to know what she
allowed to occur.

"I haven't had time to talk with Tom about this yet, but the
Bentar are like pirates, they attack everything, and if they can.they
make a profit from it."

"You mean.they're going to try and sell the Commander?"

"Unfortunately there is a heavy slave market in this area,
but we will find him," she said trying to reassure her chief
Engineer. "I want you to listen to the Doctor and rest till he clears
you for duty."

"I can't sit around and do nothing.I'm responsible."

"Stop.right now. You were ill. Would you blame Tom or
Chakotay if the circumstances were switched?"

B'Elanna was quiet a moment, "I tried to kill my best friend,
so I could steal the man he loves, and have now placed them in
danger." she looked up and met Kathryn's eyes, "yes.yes I would," she
stated in a serious quiet tone.

"Lieutenant, you need to rest, I have more of your treatment
to administer," the EMH states as he walks in, oblivious to the
conversation.

B'Elanna wipes her eyes, any light once there is dim, as she
turns and meekly walks to the biobed and lies down, saying nothing.

**********

As Chakotay's vision started to clear, he saw a white marble
ceiling starting to come into focus. He lay still, letting his mind
catch up to the moment, for he recalled bits and pieces. First he was
in the shelter when he walked right into a group of aliens. He
recalled wanting to resist, but resistance is violent, and soon the
damn drug had him knocked out, which probably in the long run was a
good thing, the aliens appeared strong and were armed.

He then recalled waking briefly in a cell, chained by the
wrist and by the neck as the aliens, large lizards with humanoid like
bodies with the heads of Cobra's though with different coloring, and
hissing like crazy at him. He didn't have his com badge, so no
universal translator. He also recalled his joke, //universal
translators, don't leave home with out it, // and how it sounded like
a good slogan; that was till they started coming at him with
something that looked like a needle.then he kicked growled, and bit
one.realizing two things, one, the damn drug was out of his system,
and two.he was out of luck, they stuck him anyway.and that was the
last thing he recalled.till now.

He opened his sense to see if he could hear or feel anything
before giving away just how awake he was. He could hear and feel a
fresh breeze, so he was no longer on a ship, and he was laying on
something smooth and hard. The room felt warm even with the breeze
and he didn't feel anything attached to his legs or arms or neck, and
it was quiet; so he turned his head and looked around. The large room
was done in dark wood furniture, though only a few chairs and a large
desk, and a plush red carpet that was balanced by the white marble
walls. The breeze was coming from the three large balconies where
thin white curtains were blowing, their archways all curved and
elegant.

Then he turned to see an alien female, obviously not of the
same race as those who captured him, on her knees, dressed in a thin
peach tunic that hanged like a small robe. Her long silver hair was
bound up in orange cords, and her skin, smooth, and pale, almost
human like, accept for the scale like design that ran up and down her
arms and legs, and face, though it too seemed smooth to look at. She
turned and looked at Chakotay, her bright lavender eyes locking on
him with disproval.

"It seems' that you have awakened," she states, her voice
deep, her tone revealing the same as her eyes.not approving of the
situation.

Chakotay shifts to his side and sees that he is in a similar
tunic, but white, and can feel the shorts underneath. He then sits up
and sees his feet are bare, and looks around some more. "Where am I?"
he asks, not wanting this woman's approval, just information to get
out of here.

She rises to her feet, "You are now a servant in the house of
D'trumel," she states proudly.

"Servant? You mean slave.and I'm no one's slave.I."

"Don't care what you want," she states, her irritation clear
in her eyes. "My Master sees you as his new play toy.but it won't
last long, you maybe exotic, but though you would make a handsome
man, you are an ugly woman."

"Woman!, I am a."

She presses two fingers to Chakotay's lips, "Better a living
ugly woman, than a dead handsome man." she smirks, and her grin
almost wicked.

The large wooden doors at the other end of the room swing
open wide and the women, moves quickly back to the floor and
kneels. "Kneel if you want to live," she hisses.

Chakotay looks at himself; he couldn't sit on the floor, much
less kneel right now, almost five moths pregnant and as big as a
beached whale, in his mind. He sat still, lowering his head, hoping
this would help, though he didn't like playing along with this, but
he had more than himself to consider. He could hear the group of
people walking in, and remained still, glancing under his lashes.

The room filled with four men that looked like the woman in
skin coloring and scales, the hair a mix of silver and gold, their
build twice Chakotay's, though not as tall as he was. The man in the
center looked similar, but his skin was not pale, but tanned, and his
scales looked rough, more like a Cardassian's appear to be, though
they are smooth to the touch.  It was the man in the center that
strode in like he owned the place, and from what Chakotay just heard,
he did, and he didn't seem pleased at what he was seeing.

"Gagora, why is.she.not kneeling?" he asked, his voice on the
edge of sounding whinny.

"I did inform her, Master, but she is of the stubborn
variety," the woman on the ground replies humbly.

Chakotay sees the man walk up to him, and tries to brace for
the worst, and is taken back slightly when the man gently reaches out
and raises his head so their eyes meet.

"You know your situation?" he asks, his dark lavender eyes
almost mocking his sincerity.

"I know that I was captured and sold to you against my will.
I am a Commander on the USS Voyager, and if you return me to my
people."

The man laughed as he stood back, looking around the room as
if he expected the servants to laugh too, which they did. "You." he
gestures at Chakotay like that should be enough to make his point
clear. "A Commander? I don't know what species you are, but fat and
engorged people don't."

"I am not fat!" Chakotay growled, his sensitivity to the
moment taking hold. "I am the perfect weight for my
conditions!" //Damn it, Big mouth!// he shouted to himself, thinking
that they might not have known about the baby. //But they would have
to know sooner or later, I can't hide this,// he recalled quickly.

"Condition, what condition?" the man inquired with
curiosity. "Are you ill?" he asked taking a slight step back.

"No, I am not ill. I am with child," he snapped.

"Ooh, two for the price of one," the man chirped in delight
as he stepped forward and reached out to feel the baby, only to be
met by a hard slap.

"Don't touch me," Chakotay growled.

"You dare!" he roared, and then pressed what looked like a
red jewel on a fancy gold bracelet, and glared at Chakotay as he did
so.

Suddenly Chakotay's left ear and his left side of his brain
was in server pain as he screamed and dropped to the floor, it was
overwhelming, but soon it stopped but the headache remained as did a
ringing in his ear. He felt an object at the tip of his ear where it
attaches to the neck, and knew it was the source of his pain.

"I do not think you are worth the trouble to tame," the man
growled, "Do you, Gagora?"

"No, Master I do not," she replied, pleased with her answer.

"Take it," he ordered and watched as the guards grabbed
Chakotay up by the arms and stood him semi-balanced on his feet. "You
are an interesting species, so," he looks at another guard, "have the
child cut out of its mother and placed in a tank, and depose of this.
thing!"

"No!" Chakotay roared. No one was going to hurt his daughter,
much less allow her to be brought into this horrid world by this
thing. He mustered  up weeks of anger and aggression and ripped free
of his captives, smashing his right elbow into the guard on the
left's nose, and then shifting delivering a hard right cross to the
guard on the right. Then he grabbed what looked like a spear, even if
it was more for decoration and used it to trip the other two as he
moved out of the corner so he had room to maneuver.

"Take that thing out of here," the man shouted, as he reached
once more for his bracelet.

The pain was like before, overwhelming and Chakotay had to
struggle not to collapse at the shear agony it was causing. He
knocked a guard back and grabbed what felt like a knife from the
guards belt and tossed it hard at a figure as he moved back to the
balcony, not able to see clearly, but he could tell the guards were
closing in on him and he heard the bastard's voice shouting.

"Take it, and cut that child out of it, then kill it before
its eyes and then bring me its heart!" shouted the voice, angry and
in pain.

They were getting closer, the pain beyond tolerable, his
vision blurry not only from the pain but the agony, his rage fueling
his stand, "NO!" he roared once more, but something hit him and he
was falling backwards.then down.he had fallen off the
balcony. //TOM!// was his last thought.

**********
Tom had been pulling extra duty, sleeping little, eating
less, for he made it clear he could not rest till his family was back
safe. He was glad that the Captain had been supportive in this, where
she could have easily been otherwise.

He sat at the helm, looking exhausted, for it had been three
days, and they still didn't know where Chakotay was, and they were
still running down leads with the Bentar. He wiped his tired eyes,
but sleep would not come to him, and he could fly Voyager blind, so
he was not concerned that he was a danger to the ship; he would rest
then.

//TOM!//

Tom's head snapped up, he heard it loud and clear. Chakotay
was in trouble! He didn't know why, but in his gut, he suddenly knew
where Chakotay was, and the way they were headed was not it. He
changed coarse.

"Lieutenant, what do you think you are doing?" Janeway asked,
amazed that Tom would just change coarse without so much as a by your
leave.

"I know where Chakotay is," he stated with absolute
conviction. "And he's in trouble."

"Tom."

Tom turned to look at her, "Captain, I don't know how I know,
I just do, he's in this direction and he's in serious trouble.please,
Captain, trust me?"

She had seen many strange things in her career as a Starfleet
Captain, and since they were grabbing at straws."Very well,
Lieutenant, but next time, run course changes by me first, got it?"

Tom smiled his gratitude, "Yes, Captain," he replied and
faced the helm, and increased speed, knowing he'd hear about it
sooner or later, but right now, Chakotay needed him.

**********

"Gagora, did you see that?" D'trumel shouted with
amazement. "Quick find it, bring it back here. If it has died, take
it to the lab, the child will be as amazing as its parent.yes?" he
asked looking at the woman who was now standing by him.

"Of course, Master D'trumel, it should be."

"Amazing," D'trumel, states again. Looking at the damaged
ruins that his room has been reduced to, "Remind me, Gagora, the next
time I deal with the Bentar to get a full workup on the species, for
if I had know they were capable of.this." he sighed. "Well, one can
only hope for the best," he said and turned to exit, not caring if
the woman fallowed or stayed.

Gagora stood silent, the bodies of the three dead guards
being dragged out, her own arm in a sling from the wound it
received.//this thing was powerful.// She moved to the balcony where
it fell and looked over, below was the river that acted as the
boarder between the city and the vast desert. The fact that it was
not splattered on the ground gave a chance it lived. She
shivered, //Powerful, hurt, and protecting its young, I pity that
which comes across it,// she thought, but glad it was no longer here.

**********

//Air!// his mind cried out, he needed to breath. He
struggled, for it took him a while to adjust to the fact that he had
landed in water, and the current was strong, dragging him along like
a leaf in the wind. He was still in a lot of pain, but he forced
himself to swim, and surfaced and gasped for breath. His vision was
still blurry, but he could make out a shoreline, so he used all his
streanght to fight the current and once his hand touched ground, he
held on tightly and pulled himself up.

He lay there gasping, shivering, and in pain. He could hear
noises in the distance, and looked around, //Must be the pain,// he
thought, for his vision didn't clear up as he rested. He could make
out enough to know he couldn't stay here and pushed himself up and
staggered forward as fast as his body would move.

At first he was concerned about his tracks, but the wind blew
hard, and he soon realized he was in desert, with no water or food.
His vision eased up some, though it was not back to normal. His left
ear was bleeding and he had a hell of a headache. He was relieved to
feel his daughter kicking, "You probably enjoyed that," he joked,
thinking that Tom would have, the thought brought a small smile to is
lips.

He continued on till the sun started to set on this alien
word, and could tell it was going to get colder and the wind was
going to be picking up, and he was hungry, thirsty, and hurting. He
looked about as best he could and was glad the desert was not 100%
sand, there were a few large rocks, so he moved to one of them and
tested the wind's direction. Then he lowered himself to his knees,
and though it was very uncomfortable, he forced himself to dig a
whole in the sand; for he knew that above ground the temperature
would be dropping, but the ground would give him warmth. He crawled
in the whole and covered himself for warmth and cured up to the lower
portion of the rock, not only for shelter, but protection, trying to
hide as well, in case they were still searching for him.

As he laid there in the dark, he felt anger, but at himself,
for he believed he brought this on himself. //You had to piss them
off, didn't you!// he growled at himself. Tears of long over due
frustration, exhaustion, fear, and hormones, overtook him, though he
controlled it so he stayed quiet, not knowing who might be around.
After awhile he calmed himself and tried to rest, his mind recalling
waking up next to Tom in the morning, and the thought of that not
happening made his heart ache. "Please, Tom, find me?" he softly
cried, letting his emotions run for awhile, for by day, he would have
to think his way out of this hell.if he can.

TBC in Unwanted Consequences