State of Flux: Part Two

Chapter 25: State of Flux: Part Two.

Ensign Seska's POV

I stormed out of engineering and into the corridor after Chakotay. I am considering knocking him out right now but I can't exactly do that in my current position. I need to be on that damn away team to hide my tracks. How dare he just snoop in and think that he can do that!

"What was that all about?" I exclaimed in anger at him. He looked over his shoulder and stopped.

"What?" He said in confusion as if he no idea, which got me even angrier.

"Oh, you know what I'm talking about. There's nothing important to do on the Bridge." I snapped. Passing crewmembers looked at each other and made the smart move to not get involved and hurried down the corridor.

"I disagree. We need someone up there who-"

"What the hell is going on?"

"There's some concern about you." He admitted.

"What kind of concern?"

"Concern because I found you near the Kazon on the planet." He snapped back.

"Oh, I see. So now I'm a traitor. I sell technology to the enemy." I mocked in anger. Granted it was true but for a good cause.

"I don't believe that." He said. I rolled my eyes, not believing him for a moment.

"No, you just take me off my assignment."

"I'm trying to take you out of harm's way to protect you."

"This is your idea of protection? You might as well point a finger at me in front of the entire crew!" I yelled at him.

"You don't assign someone you don't trust to the Bridge. Look, I'm sorry, but if something goes wrong over there, I don't want you anywhere near it."

"Thanks for your concern." I sarcastically replied and stormed off, I need to get to sickbay.

---10 minutes later---

I had managed to control my temper as I entered sickbay. Kes and the EMH where puttering around the room. Bini and the Kazon were on biobeds. There was no way the Kazon was going to live. But...Bini has a chance. Hopefully I gave her the right dose.

I looked over at Kes as she hurried across the room to check on the Kazon.

"How is he?" I asked. Kes gave me a strange look but then pointed towards his vitals.

"Not very good." She admitted. "We need to completely replace his blood."

"Will he regain consciousness?" I softly asked.

"I'm not sure. Even if he does, there's no way to predict what kind of brain damage there might be." The EMH pitched in as he moved to stand beside me.

"He's the only one who really knows what happened on that ship, Doctor. The only one who can tell them I had nothing to do with it." I explained. To my credit I wasn't completely wrong. For some reason despite the fact that I am leaving tomorrow, I...don't want to be seen entirely bad. I am doing this for them. For Voyager.

I can't stand to live on a stupid federation ship any damn longer.

"You? I don't understand." The EMH questioned, bring me out of my thoughts and the urge to leave came to me, strong.

"Would you call me right away if he wakes up?" I asked. He nodded.

"All right."

"Ensign, did you ever come in to leave a blood sample on file?" Kes asked from one of the sickbay consoles.

"No. I never got around to it. Why?"

"I've been running a crew compatibility analysis and your file never came up."

"My blood won't help you. I had a childhood disease that infected it. I was warned never to donate blood for transfusion." I pushed.

"All the more reason we should have your blood on file." The EMH insisted.

"I will. Right now I have something more important to take care of." I said and rushed out. I need to get rid of the evidence.

-----

(Next Day:)

Captain Kathryn Janeway's POV

"Someone did make an unauthorized transmission." Tuvok informed me as he entered my ready room with Commander Chakotay. I straightened up. I did not expect this for sure. Mollie was still asleep near the replicator during this. I don't think I want her on the bridge right now.

"And whoever it was, was an expert at covering their tracks." Chakotay added, placing a padd on my desk with the need information to prove their claims. I gently picked it up and scanned it with my blue eyes as Tuvok continued.

"The signal was masked by a test of the dorsal emitters that we conducted a week ago."

"Who was working on that test?" I asked, lowering the padd slightly to look at him.

"Only the whole engineering crew." Chakotay said in irritation.

"We're trying to trace the station where the signal originated. Again, the perpetrator was skilled enough to make the tracking process extremely difficult for us." Tuvok added on.

"It's like working backwards through a maze of circuits. We keep bumping into dead ends." Chakotay replied. I stood from my desk and opened my mouth to give them much needed orders to find whoever did this. Suddenly my combadge chirped.

"Paris to Captain Janeway. Please report to the Bridge." Tom said on the channel. I tapped my combadge as I maneuvered around my desk and headed to the bridge entrance from my ready room.

"On my way. Janeway out." I barked and closed the channel. A few seconds later, Chakotay, Tuvok and I walked onto the bridge. Tuvok slipped into his security station as Chakotay and I took our places at the front of the bridge.

"Report." I ordered and held my chin up high. Watching the destroyed Kazon ship on screen.

"Captain, another Kazon ship is approaching, trying to hail the disabled ship. They're not within visual range yet." Tom answered.

"Perhaps someone else picked up the distress call." Tuvok suggested.

"What's their ETA?" I asked, moving to sit down in my command chair.

"At their current speed, four hours twenty minutes. Should I tell them we're here?" Tom asked. Casting a short glance towards us.

"If we know about them, it's a good bet they know about us. We don't have anything good to tell them. I think we'll wait." I said.

"Captain, I'm showing an unauthorized auto-sequence in Transporter Room two. Someone's left Voyager." Harry reported from Ops at the corner of the bridge with a slight hint of panic and worry in his voice.

"Computer, identify who just beamed off the ship from Transporter Room two." I barked in anger. This situation was getting out of hand too fast.

"Ensign Seska." The cold female computer voice replied. I snapped my glare to Chakotay for answers. He stared at the viewscreen in horror.

-----

Seska's POV

The things I do to not be caught despite the fact that today I was supposed to leave. I guess it will have to wait. If I survive this I need to inject Bini again. I won't have her getting on that ship awake. I switched on a device to protect me from the radiation on my arm and held the engineering kit close as I passed through the force field and reached the replicator.

"Chakotay to Seska."

I internally groaned and placed the kit down. Tapping my combadge as I pulled out my tricorder and scanned it.

"Seska here. I really don't have time to talk to you right now, Chakotay." I snapped and opened the kit. I knelt down and started to lay out the tools I need.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He exclaimed on the channel. I grabbed the lazer spanner and started to cut away at the metal casing fused with the rest of the shell. I need to get to the power core. If I take out the power core and destroy it before I am beamed out, then it would at least delay their investigation for a few more days. Cullah came late of course.

"Retrieving the console, my way." I snapped back and the first case of metal fell away.

"I want you back on this ship, and I mean now." Chakotay barked. I bit my lip in an attempt to not let out a sarcastic comment and went back to work. I removed one more level of metal and finally reached the main component part. I saw the power cell attached to a few EPs relays and wires. This is were it was going to be very hard.

"The Captain said she wanted the console today. Carey's plan couldn't do it in time but mine can." I argued and began to run a spanner over one of the relays to shut it off.

"Captain, it is conceivable that she's gone to the Kazon ship to destroy evidence that might implicate her." I barley heard the stupid vulcan say in the channel.

"She's gone back to the Kazon ship to prove herself to us. Can't you see that?" Chakotay argued to Tuvok. I smirked. That pathetic man still has loyalty. I almost feel bad for this. Almost.

"I've got a lock on her, Captain. Do you want me to transport her back?" Kim called over the channel.

Over my dead body, Harry.

"If we try to beam her out while she's manipulating subspace, we might kill her." Captain Janeway argued. The spanner slipped from my grasp and I realized my mistake as the power cell began to overload and suddenly it sparked into the flames and threw me back. I screamed in pain and I was thrown back and collapsed to the floor. As my vision faded away the power cell's light flickered and faded. Leaving me in darkness.

-----

(3 hours later.)

Lieutenant Carey's POV

Tuvok silently escorted me into the Captain's ready room. Commander Chakotay stood next to the Captain's desk, glaring at me with fury. Fury that I don't think was directed at me, but at a certain bajorian lying in sickbay. The Captain gave me a neutral look. Which usually meant her Captain's mask was on.

"Have a seat, Mister Carey." She gestured to the chair in front of her. I took a gulp of air and slowly slid into the chair. Trying to ignore that fact that all three of them were watching my every move.

"How have things been going for you in Engineering?" Chakotay asked. I shrugged.

"Fine. Why, is there a problem?" I asked. Getting more nervous by the moment.

"You getting along all right with Lieutenant Torres?" Chakotay pushed.

"I think we've settled our differences." I carefully replied.

"She was promoted to Chief Engineer over you, Lieutenant. That might be difficult for someone in your position to accept." Now the Captain pushed. Like they were trying to make me confess to something.

"Captain, I accepted your decision, and I've worked as hard as I can to make myself a valuable member of Lieutenant Torres's team. I can't believe she'd have any complaints about my performance." I replied. Great. Now she is complaining about me. What did I do?

"She doesn't." Janeway simply answered. Wait, now I am confused.

"Then what am I doing here?" I asked.

"Lieutenant, have you had any contact with the Kazon-Nistrim since we arrived in the Delta Quadrant?" Tuvok bluntly asked.

"What? You mean me, personally? No, of course not." I insisted in panic. My heart started to race.

"You were out of contact for almost an hour on the planet where we encountered the Kazon." Chakotay pointed out. Of course a Maquis would point that out. Trying to get us Fleets' in trouble. I thought we settled our differences.

"You mean when I was picking those poisoned apples?" I bitterly shot back.

"What about before we arrived at the planet? Did you have any reason to signal the Kazon-Nistrim ship?" Janeway asked.

"No."

"Nevertheless, a signal was sent to the Kazon from your station in Engineering during our dorsal emitter test last week." Tuvok pointed out.

"My station?" I repeated in confusion.

"Were you not in Engineering at that time?"

"Well, yes, I was, but you know how it is down there during a systems analysis."

"Did you see anyone else at your station?"

"Honestly, I don't remember. Maybe you should ask Seska." I snapped.

"Why Seska?" Janeway asked.

"Everybody knows she was found in the cave with the Kazon. Look, I'm not saying she did anything wrong, but I didn't either." I pressed.

"I'd like to believe you, Mister Carey, but somebody did contact the Kazon. And until we know who, I'm going to have to restrict you to quarters." She said. I simply nodded and rushed out. My day is not turning out well.

-----

Captain Kathryn Janeway's POV

"What do you think?" I asked as I watched Carey left the ready room and the door closed behind him.

"He had the motive and the opportunity." Chakotay bitterly snapped out.

"He's also had a distinguished Starfleet career. Seska has spent most of the last two years as an enemy of the Federation." I argued. Chakotay looked down at me with fury in his eyes.

"So have I." He coldly replied.

-----

(20 minutes later.)

Ensign Harry Kim's POV

"Captain, we're being hailed by the approaching Kazon ship." I reported.

"How soon will they be here?"

"Four minutes." I reported. The Captain nodded and started to pace. Probably trying to figure out what to say to them. Four minutes had gone and my console beeped at the approaching ship.

"Open a channel." Janeway ordered and I snapped to attention. I quickly opened a channel to a scowling Kazon. "I am Kathryn Janeway, Captain of the Federation Starship Voyager."

"My name is Culluh, First Maje of the Kazon-Nistrim. What have you done to our ship?" Cullah snapped.

"We responded to a call for help. Unfortunately, by the time we were able to respond, all but one of the crew were dead." The Captain explained.

"I would like to speak to the survivor."

"He hasn't regained consciousness. We have him in our Sickbay. We'd be happy to beam you aboard so you can see him."

"You will prepare for my arrival." He ordered and closed the channel. Now, the Captain was scowling and her fists were together.

"Friendly sort." Tom muttered.

-----

(10 minutes later.)

Micheal Janeway's POV

"What do you mean she is sick?" I snapped, pointing down at Bini who was sleeping on the biobed with medical clothing on and refused to wake up as Sarah kept shaking her. Sarah and I have been trying to find out what happened to Bini and the only thing that we were told was that Bini was sick and not allowed to come at see her. Well, that changes today.

The Doctor glared at me and Kes gave us a sympathetic smile.

"I am sure that Ensign Filters would not appreciate me blabbing her medical diagnosis to you or Sarah." The Doctor argued. I narrowed my eyes towards him.

"Is she going to die?" I snapped.

"That depends if I can cure her or not."

Suddenly, the sickbay doors opened to Tuvok and Mommy walking in, followed by two Kazon officers. I am assuming one was the leader. I held Sarah back who was about to demand answers from Mommy. This isn't the right time. The Doctor hurried towards her.

"Ah, Captain. I'm glad you're here. I was just about to call you." He said. Mommy nodded and gestured towards the closest Kazon beside her who was clearly scowling and angry to be there.

"Doctor, this is First Maje Culluh of the Kazon-Nistrim." Then she lead the group to the sick Kazon on the biobed. "Could you give us the latest condition report on your Kazon patient?"

"Well, the good news is, we've been able to stabilize him. We had to completely replace his blood." The Doctor explained.

"Replace his blood? With what?" Cullah snapped.

"The blood of volunteers from our crew. They saved his life." Mommy replied.

"His own blood cells were killing him. They were changed by the accident on his ship." The Doctor added.

"Changed in what manner?"

"We haven't been able to determine that yet."

"We've been working on a plan to access the source of the explosion, which should answer a lot of the questions."

"That will no longer be necessary. We will take the damaged vessel to our port for inspection."

"I'm afraid I can't allow you to do that just yet."

"And what gives you the right to interfere in our affairs?" Cullah snapped at Mommy. Taking a step closer to her.

"There was a trace of a Federation compound in the remains of the explosion. We have reason to believe that someone on board this ship gave technology to your people. Until we have a better explanation of what occurred, I can't release that ship to you." Mommy fought back.

"That is not acceptable."

"It will have to be."

"Your unique technologies make you brave, Captain, but you have only one ship. In less than an hour there will be four Kazon vessels off your bow." He threatened.

"Perhaps by then we'll have the answers we need."

"You will leave us with him."

The Doctor and Mommy stepped away from the biobed and stood near the Doctor's office out of their hearing distance and ours. Probably discussing the threat. Sarah tried to wake Bini again but no response.

"Stop, Sarah. She isn't going to wake up." I said.

"We have to try something."

"The Doctor has been trying something."

Sarah suddenly gasped and pointed at the Kazon on the biobed. Cullah had been wearing a ring and a needle poked out of it. He drew his arm back and then forward about to inject the Kazon.

"Mommy! He is going to kill him!" I cried. Mommy looked at me in alarm, then followed our pointed fingers to Cullah. Tuvok yanked out his phaser but it was too late. Cullah stabbed the needle into him as Tuvok held them back. Mommy yanked out her phaser and pointed it at Cullah.

A beep flat line sounded across the room as the Doctor scanned the Kazon. He slowly closed it and looked up at the Captain.

"He's dead."

Mommy glared at Cullah.

"Get off my ship."

Tuvok escorted the Kazon out as Mommy put away her phaser, then looked at us.

"You two shouldn't be here." She said softly.

"We wanted to help, Bini." I argued.

"Just...go to our quarters." She said weakly. Not wanting to fight. We both nodded.

"Yes, Mommy."

I lead Sarah out of sickbay as Kes cleaned up and the Doctor explained to Mommy what happened.

"There was some kind of nerve toxin in that needle. He died instantly. Captain, may we talk to you in my office?"

-----

Captain Kathryn Janeway's POV

"It's about Seska." He started as we entered his office. I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Complications?" I asked and glanced at Seska.

"I was analyzing her blood chemistry to try to locate a compatible donor. But when I got the results, her blood was lacking all the common Bajoran blood factors." Kes explained as she entered the office.

"Meaning?" I asked.

"The only conclusion we can reach is that she is not, in fact, Bajoran. It appears Seska has been genetically altered. My suspicion is she was born Cardassian." The Doctor continued. I nodded slowly.

"And...We found out what toxin was put into Ensign Filters." Kes continued.

"It was a Cardassian Toxin. Used when the Cardassians needed to transport prisoners. I am in the process of creating an antidote." The Doctor explained.

-----

(Meanwhile.)

Seska's POV

Those fools. Those pathetic fools. I opened one of my eyes slightly to see around sickbay. The Captain and Kes walked out of sickbay leaving the Doctor working on some new medicine. They probably discovered who I was by now. Cullah's ship was here. Time to leave.

I hopped off the biobed softly as the Doctor continued to work with his back to me. I quickly grabbed the discarded phaser on a medical tray and pointed it at the holographic emitter control on the wall. I fired. The orange beam hit the device, the Doctor spun around in alarm but faded away to oblivion before he could do anything about it.

I jumped to attention and ran over to the nearest console and activated a disguesed channel to Cullah's ship. He shimmered onto the screen.

"You are making me very impatient, women." He growled.

"Be damn happy I gave you-"

"Show me respect!"

"I...apologize Maje. I am escaping now with Bini. Be prepared. You must knock Voyager's shields down to transport us."

I cut the channel and grabbed the antidote from under my bra and loaded it into a hypospray. I pressed it against her neck and she groaned for a moment before her eyes fluttered open. This entire thing was not going as planned. I slammed my combadge on her chest as her eyes focused and she looked at me.

"Seska? What did you do?" She muttered in a haze.

"Shut up and stay st-"

Suddenly, the ship shook and I grip the biobed for support as sparks flew. I swore and grabbed the medical kit I had prepared after the first meeting and put it next to Bini, who was by now noticing that she was paralyzed from the neck down and could not move. The toxin should completely wear off in a few minutes.

"Computer, what is the condition of Voyager's shields?" I barked as the console nearest exploded and I ducked down to avoid the debris.

"Shields at 95%."

"What the hell is going on?" Bini snapped at me as she became more aware of the environment around her.

"Want me to inject you with the toxin again, bitch?" I snarled. Her eyes grew wide and she shook her head.

I sent Voyager's shield frequency, something that I had actually managed to find myself without that lying rodents felt, to Cullah. A huge explosion it the ship, the lights flickered out and only the flickering lights of consoles and red alert lit up the room. I grabbed Bini's arm and sent out a disrupted signal to the bridge so that they could not stop us transporting out. I started the sequence and felt the beam take hold.

The effects of the toxins wore off to at least her arms and fading fast. She began to struggle and sit up when we beamed away and reappeared on the Kazon bridge.

-----

Ensign Harry Kim's POV

"Seska has just beamed off the ship, Captain." I reported. Captain Janeway, who looked like a mess, held her broken wrist and looked at me with shocked disbelief.

"She beamed off? To where?" She demanded.

"Cullah's ship...there are no life signs in sickbay, Captain!" I added.

"Computer, who just left Voyager?" She snapped and the ship lurched forward again and everyone stumbled to center themselves.

"Ensign Seska and Ensign Bini Filters." The computer replied. The Captain and Commander shared an alarmed look with each other. Then she looked over to Tuvok and stumbled over to his station as another shot hit us.

"Can we beam them back?"

"Negative. A feedback loop has been programmed into the transporter system." Tuvok replied. Janeway swore under her breath and barked orders around the bridge.

I looked back down at the sensors. I looked at the viewscreen and watched a torpedo hit Cullah's ship. Knocking out their weapons systems.

Then they began to retreat. Chakotay leaned heavily against the railing with anger as he glared at the retreating ships towing the damaged ship along with them.

"Can we go after them, Mr. Paris?"

"Negative, Captain. Impulse is offline." Tom replied in a panic like mostly everybody else on the bridge.

"Start repairs." The Captain ordered.

-----

(Time: 8 pm. 3 hours later.)

Micheal Janeway's POV

"What do you mean she is gone?" Sarah snapped as we sat on the sofa in our quarters, trying to understand how Bini left the ship as Mommy explained it to us.

"Seska.Took.Bini." Mommy said slowly.

"But how?" I demanded.

"We don't know yet. We are trying to figure it out." She said softly. Then she abruptly stood up and put on her uniform jacket with a sigh. I stood up and ran past Mommy to block the door. She gave me a stern expression as she zipped up her jacket and placed her combadge on her jacket.

"Micheal, I know you are angry about the situation-I am as-well. But, I have to go. I need to do damage control." She explained. I scrunched up my nose and crossed my arms.

"For who?" I demanded.

"Commander Chakotay. He needs some help."

Sarah and I shared a look of anger for the commander.

"Can't he deal with it himself?" I snapped.

"He needs help dealing with this. Just like you two do." She insisted. She pulled out a treat, giving Mollie the signal to follow her. Mollie jumped up and ran over with a bark and greedily ate up the treat from her hand. Then followed her out of our quarters and into the corridor.

"Seska took Bini. Why?" I muttered. My eyes glued to the door.

"Bini was nervous. Tom was nervous." Sarah muttered beside me. My head snapped towards her in confusion.

"What are you getting at?" I questioned. Sarah shrugged and relaxed against the sofa.

"I saw them. Tom and Bini in the messhall, about a week ago."

"Explain." I demanded. She silently looked at me as tears started to stream down her face. We both missed Bini but I think Sarah was hit by her sudden disappearance the worst. I leaned forward and grip her shoulders. Forcing her to look me in the eye. "Please. We need to help Bini."

She nodded again.

"It was about a week ago. The night we left the planet-"

-----

(Flashback: Sarah's POV)

(Time: Around 10 pm)

I skipped down the corridor to the messhall. I am hungry and I ran out of rations. Hopefully, Neelix can give me a snack before Mommy finds me. I fiddled with my combadge and entered the dark messhall. I entered into the dark kitchen. Everything was off. I shrugged as the urge to eat grew as my stomach growled for food so I forfeited.

I carefully skipped over to the cabinet closet to floor that I could reach and opened it. A basket full of Leola Root, Some weird meat Neelix bought on the planet that wasn't cooked yet and some food from Kes's garden in a small bucket.

I went over to the main counter and raised on my tippy toes to see the bowls a little bit. Suddenly, out of the corner of my sight, I saw a light behind the bowls. I pushed one aside and saw Tom and Bini sitting at the back table in the corner of the messhall. They were sitting facing each other, they were illuminated by the computers in front of them and padds they occasionally held up.

I thought about going to say Hi and ask for help but the...concentartion on their faces told me that maybe I shouldn't. Bini sighed and slammed her padd down, causing me to jump back due to the snap that it made when it hit the floor.

"Bini, shut up before Neelix figures out we are still here." Tom hissed.

"Does it matter at this point? He should stop us. We are criminals!" Bini complained and tightened her ponytail and brushed her bangs out of her eyes.

"You are over-reacting. Seska just needs this info for...Engineering...stuff." Tom said nervously, refusing to make eye contact with her. Bini suspiciously looked over her screen at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh my god. You hesitated." She gawked. Tom, now, looked at her like she was insane.

"What?" He blurted out.

"You hesitated. You don't believe that! Why are you trying to deceive me, Tom? Huh? HUH?!"

"Don't, don't do that, Shadow. Cut it out! Just-how about this. You forget this and I handle Seska's project. Okay?" Tom suggested. Bini viciously shook her head "no."

"Not with this death implant in my head. Until we can figure out how to remove it, we work on this together to not get me killed." Bini argued.

"I don't think we can figure it out until we talk to the Doctor about this-"

"No! No, not the Doctor. We agreed." Bini exclaimed.

"We agreed to get Seska the info and that death trap out of your skull. Now. We are going to give her it. But that doesn't mean it has to be accurate. One number change in the warp core shielding would make it impossible for her to bring it down if she tried." Tom explained.

"You would have to hack into the system to even give the computer that command. Seska is good at hacking, sure. I watched her do it sometimes during the raids but she would need more advanced training." Bini argued.

"There we go then. Give her false info, she is none the wiser." Tom snapped. Bini opened her mouth to protest but shut it and eventually nodded to the agreement, then they both concentrated back to their computers. Not saying a word.

-----

Chakotay's POV

I paced my dark quarters, having the urge to break, destroy something. I was stupid to believe her. Not to mention she took Bini with her also. The one person who could hack into any system on the ship was given the right equipment. The entire crew is up in arms and I am the one to blame. I should have noticed something was wrong with the way she acted. Something. Anything.

The door let out a loud chime. Bring me out of my own thoughts for a brief moment.

"Come in." I muttered and sank into my sofa with my head in my hands.

"Commander?" The familiar Irish accent bled into the shallow living quarters. There was a dog panting and I heard the noise of soft footsteps and paws coming closer. Then she sat beside me and placed a comforting hand over my shoulder as Mollie sat at my feet wining in worry. I gave her a soft smile and scratched her ear as I raised my head. Then I looked at the Captain...Kathryn.

"I am sorry, Captain." I apologized.

"There is no need, Chakotay. We always make mistakes. That is what makes us human." She reasoned as Mollie lay down at my feet.

"I should have known. I should have at least had an idea that something was wrong." I clenched my fists in anger as the growing rage flowed through me. "I slept with her for spirit's sake. That...I slept with the enemy."

"I know that nothing I can say will convince you otherwise. But...whenever I had moments similar to this, my father would give me...Coffee with cream and sugar." She offered. I looked up at her in surprise. I have never known her to drink anything other than black coffee. Which amused me and brighten my mood even a little.

"You? Drinking coffee with cream and sugar? I find that hard to believe." I replied with an amused look. She rolled her eyes and gave out a wonderful laugh.

She got up and headed over to the replicator, she typed in her own replicator code and two coffees with cream and sugar. She carefully picked them and returned. I took the warm cup as she sat back down.

"Thank you, Captain."

"Kathryn. We are friends, Chakotay." She corrected. I chuckled.

"Thank you, Kathryn." I took a sip and settled the cup on my coffee table in front of us. "How are Sarah and Micheal handling Bini's...disappearance?"

Her expression saddened and she shrugged. Hugging the cup close she leaned back and sighed.

"They...they are confused, angry...and sad when I told them Bini was gone. They didn't quite believe me when I told them at first. Towards the end, they were mostly angry and wanted more answers. I am afraid they are going to try and figure out what happened themselves." She explained and she inhaled the aroma.

"Is that such a bad thing? You kids being detectives?" I half-joked.

"It is a bad thing if the Kazon or Seska are involved." She replied. We shared a moment of comfortable silence.

"I can't believe I am going to save this...but...I think I miss Bini." I said.

"You think? I could certainly use her skills to distract my kids by now-"

"Or a misplaced sarcastic comment." I finished. She gave me a bright beautiful smile and nodded.

"Exactly."

She finished her cup and placed the cup next to my warm coffee.

"When was the last time you drank coffee with cream and sugar?" I asked.

"Many years ago." She muttered as her face fell. I decided it was best not to say anything as she cleared her throat and stood up, turning towards me again.

"If you still feel gulity, than I suggest you speak with Tuvok." She suggested. I ran a hand through my hair and stood up, then looked down at her.

"Tuvok? Why?"

"Misery loves company." She said and called over Mollie, who slowly got up and yawned from her sleeping spot on the floor and got up, following her owner out of my quarters with a final goodbye.

---10 minutes later---

I hesitated but went straight to Tuvok, who was reading at the usual corner table he occupied when he was here.

"Can I ask you to be honest with me, Lieutenant?" I bluntly asked as I leaned against the backrest of the chair causing the table of two ensigns to look at us in interest.

"As a Vulcan, I am at all times honest, Commander."

I sighed irritated and sat down across from him and lowered my voice.

"That's not exactly true. You lied to me when you passed yourself off as a Maquis to get on my crew."

"I was honest to my own convictions within the defined parameters of my mission." He said.

"You damned Vulcans and your defined parameters. That's easy for you." I snapped.

"On the contrary. The demands on a Vulcan's character are extraordinarily difficult. Do not mistake composure for ease. How may I be honest with you today?"

"I'd just like to know, from someone else who pulled the wool over my eyes, was I particularly naive? Was I not paying enough attention? What the hell was it that let all you spies get by me?"

"Like all humans, you depend on feelings and instincts to guide you, and they invariably let you down. But particularly naive? No, Commander, and I've always considered your attention span to be adequate."

"Did you ever see anything about Seska that make you suspicious? About Bini?" I asked. Unsure if Bini even went willingly. No one really knows how aware she was during the events when Seska left with her.

"No. She quite expertly pulled the wool over my eyes as well, and I do not believe that Ensign Filters left of her own will." He reasoned.

"Well, that makes me feel a little better. Thanks."

"Curious." Tuvok started.

"What?" I asked.

"That my failure, added to your own, should improve your feelings." He said.

"Misery loves company, Tuvok."

-----

(Two days later. Date: November 22. Location: Maje Cullah's ship.)

Bini Filters POV

I ripped off my vest and let it fall to the cold metal floor as I entered my very small quarters. It was the size of small Maquis quarters with a table, two chairs, a metal bed with a small mat and a weak blanket with a washroom to the side.

The dim light only made me feel worse as I had nowhere to look at the stars because...no viewports. God. I collapsed on my bed and stared at the ceiling and the flickering single light.

I heard the now-familiar hiss of a Kazon door opening. I tilted my head to watch a young Kazon male enter and place down my dinner on the table and swiftly leave, then Seska entered and waited until the Kazon left to fully face me.

There was silence except for the rumbling of the engines.

"What do you want this time?" I growled and pushed myself up. I couldn't help but groan and rip me still tender ribs when Cullah punched me, thinking I was going to become his own punching bag before Seska stopped him.

"I am not here to have another stupid argument. I need your help." She said like the world just ended and she watched her family die. Or She just killed someone else's family because she is a Cardassian. Yeah. I connected the dots pretty quickly. Because Cullah straight out told me.

"Give me one reason I should help you." I growled. She slammed her fist into the table. Causing me to jump.

"You are going to help me because if you don't--Cullah will kill you, no matter what I say." She said.

"What? So now you don't want me to die?" I was...very confused.

"Don't confuse sympathy with survival." She snapped and moved closer, causing me to go farther back against the wall as I could.

"Yes, Seska." I growled. She gave me a cheeky satisfied grin and barked orders at the guards as she entered the corridor again. I layed back down on the bunk and continued to stare up at the ceiling. y stomach was doing flips just thinking about how sick I wasn't knowing that I am now Seska's pet project.

Happy Birthday to me.

---End of Chapter 25: Next: ???---

P.S I am actually posting this on my birthday. I am officially 17. I hope you guys liked this chapter, I actually did not like how I wrote Seska's escape very well. I am exhausted and too tired to see if I wrote this to make sense.