Faces: Part One

Chapter 29: Faces: Part One.

Bini Filters's POV

There are certain moments in my life that I have to stop and think about how I got to this point, but I decided that it was worthless to even analysis this because I have been through this routine before. This repeated internal dialogue is making me sick. I gave out some harsh coughs and a little blood trickled out of my mouth. I wiped it away as I thought about that stupid Kazon idiot that went and got himself killed by the guards. So now, I am alone.

Not that it really bothers me. Kazon are primitive so they have probably given me up for dead by now. I need to get out of here...

The guard violently shoved me to hurry up as our group marched in by a straight line. Everyone separated into our bunks and I happened to be in an empty section with only a Talaxian was with me that had six beds. One used to have the Kazon guard occupying it.

I let out a big yawn and collapsed onto the bunk with heavy eyes. That Talaxian...What was his name? Was it...Um...Sammy? No, no it wasn't but he is Sammy to me now so he can suck it up.

He looked down at me from the upper bunk with a raised eyebrow.

"You look dead down there, Bini." He said with a cocky ass smirk. I growled and managed to refuse the urge to wipe that smirk off his face for goodness sake!

"My name is Filters to you, Sammy." I growled back. He rolled his eyes and looked down at me again.

"And my name isn't Sammy is it, Bini?" He tested.

"Oh shut up. I am tired." I snapped.

"You have only been here for one week and you are already giving up. Pathetic. Especially for someone who works for the Kazon."

"A person who formerly works for the Kazon. If you are going to insult me and my life then please just get the facts right." I complained.

Suddenly an alarm went off and we both scrambled out of our beds and peeked over to the hall. The Vidian guards marched in two people with hoods covering their identity, wearing...Starfleet uniforms?! They motioned us to back away from them and then pushed them to our section as they ripped the hoods off of their heads. It revealed to be Tom and Durst and they stumbled into the wall and glared back at the guards.

The guards quickly marched away and Sammy became uninterested and climbed back onto his bunk and Tom and Durst became aware of their surroundings. I crossed my arms over my chest and looked at them as they became aware that I was standing in front of them. Their eye grew big in disbelief.

"Shadow?"

"E-Ensign Filters?"

I nodded in confirmation.

"That's right. I am back." I said simply.

-----

Unknown's POV

"Regeneration phase completed. Deactivate the genitron. Shut down the biomatrix." I hissed as the machines powered down. I leaned close to the...Klingon woman. "B'Elanna? B'Elanna Torres, wake up."

A klingon woman fluttered her eyes open in alarm and she started to struggle against the restraints.

-----

(Time: Breakfast. One day later.)

Micheal Janeway's POV

"Here we are Mister Tuvok, one bowl of authentic Vulcan plomeek soup." Neelix said as he placed the soup in front of Tuvok as Sarah and I sat on either side of him and Mollie sat on the ground beside me.

"As I have told you, Mister Neelix, this is an unnecessary indulgence. I am quite content to eat whatever the rest of the crew is eating." Tuvok insisted as he picked up the spoon delicately.

"Nonsense. Everyone aboard this ship deserves a little taste of home every now and then." Neelix argued back with a big grin.

"Very well then, thank you." Tuvok said as we all looked at the dish. It looked like a normal plain Vulcan soup...only we knew better. Neelix, probably, added some sort of spice to it to change it.

"Don't thank me, I'm having a marvellous time experimenting with the native dishes of the entire crew. So far I've learned to make corn salad for Mister Chakotay, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Mister Paris. He calls it comfort food. Isn't that charming? What are you waiting for, it's no good cold." He explained to Tuvok then looked towards us. "Don't you agree children?"

"Mommy is still angry that you ruined her coffee." I pointed out. Remembering the time last night when Mommy explained to Neelix how coffee was made and ordered him to "Pull it together and at least make a coffee that doesn't require me to chew it."

"That was just a bad batch!" Neelix insisted in a vain attempt to pass it off as a one time mistake as Tuvok took a sip and his calm expression flinched.

"Well?" Neelix asked.

"It is rather-" He let out a short cough and cleared his throat. "Piquant."

"It is zesty, isn't it. I tried following the recipe in the computer's databank but it seemed so bland, so I took the liberty of spicing it up a bit. Call it plomeek soup a la Neelix." He boasted. Sarah rolled her eyes and took another bite of her toast before responding.

"But that's how it was made."

"I must point out that if you take the liberty of changing a time-honoured recipe you are hardly presenting a taste of home." Tuvok added to a confused Neelix. Suddenly, Tuvok's combadge chirped and he tapped it.

"Senior officers please report to the bridge." Chakotay's voice replied over the channel. Tuvok got up from his seat.

"But your soup?" Neelix protested and pointed to the meal.

"Please, enjoy it." Tuvok offered. And then swiftly left. Neelix leaned over and grabbed the bowl, offering any of us the meal but we chose the smart decision and said no.

"Ah, there's no place like home." He commented happily and Sarah and I looked at each. What home was he referring to?

-----

Captain Kathryn Janeway's POV

"Report!" I ordered as I walked onto the bridge.

"The away team hasn't arrived at the pre-arranged coordinates, Captain, and they've failed to respond to our hails." Chakotay replied from the middle of the bridge. I stopped and leaned against the top railing.

"Have you tried locking on to their comm. signals?" I asked and looked towards Harry for answers since that is his department.

"We scanned the entire surface. No sign of them. They must still be underground, but I can't locate them there either." Harry reported.

"Then as we suspected, the dense magnesite formations in the planet's crust are blocking our sensors." Tuvok added from the security station on the other side of the bridge.

"Take a look at this." Harry said. I walked over to the Ops station and stood beside him as he pointed towards two scans the showed the tunnel system. The one on the left was older. The one on the right was one that was just scanned but the tunnel had moved the other direction. "This is the cave system nearest the beam-in coordinates as it appeared in our initial geological scan. And this is the same system now. This tunnel here has shifted to the west by almost seventy five degrees."

"Are you saying walls of solid rock have changed shape in the two days since the away team was deployed?" I asked.

"Apparently so, Captain, but our initial scans didn't indicate tectonic activity of anywhere near that magnitude."

"In any case, it's possible that Torres and the others haven't returned to the beam-out site because they were trapped by these geological shifts. I'd like to lead a team down to investigate, Captain." Chakotay suggested from the middle of the bridge again.

"And what is to prevent us from losing you as well, Commander?" Tuvok pointed out.

"Breadcrumbs." Harry blurted out.

"Ensign?" I asked with a side-eye.

"I'm sorry, Captain. What I mean to say is I think I can modify some subspace transponders which could be deployed along the Commander's path, kind of like-"

"Breadcrumbs. Got it." I interrupted.

"If they're placed at regular intervals I believe they'll maintain a signal link with the ship and they could serve as a transporter relay in case we need to stage an emergency beam-out."

"Very well, Commander, take a team with you, but I want a transporter lock on you at all times." I ordered.

"Aye Captain. Tuvok, Kim, you're with me."

-----

B'Elanna Torres's POV

I struggled against my restraints as that Vidian circled me in carefully study. I had an overwhelming need to...break him. To kill him for justice.

"I apologize for the restraints, but your presence here is very important to us. Do you understand?" He hissed out through his broken mouth that was barely open due to different parts of flesh that he had stolen from his victims.

"Who are you?" I said slowly. My teeth felt bigger...sharper...I couldn't speak as well as I used to...is my voice deeper?

"I am Sulan, chief surgeon of the Vidiian Sodality."

"I demand to know what is happening here." I growled and struggled again. He gently took a small mirror and held it up in front of my face. What stared back at me was...a Klingon woman. It was me!

"You've surgically altered my face. I look like a Klingon." I spat out in rage. As he took away the mirror and looked to a side monitor at my scans then gave me a broken toothy smile.

"I've performed no surgery as you understand the term. There are several questions I need to ask you before we proceed." He said as if I would willingly give him any information after what-What he has done to me!

"You can't possibly believe I'm going to cooperate with you." I snarled.

"Perhaps I was in error to leave your consciousness and memory intact." He muttered to me absentmindedly

"Durst. Paris. What have you done with them?" He ignored me as he pulled out a small device, a recording device I assume and pointed it to me.

"What is your exact age, Klingon?" He asked.

"If you want me to answer your question, you will have to answer one of mine first." I snapped back.

"Very well." He said.

"What exactly have you done to me?"

"I have reconstituted your genome. You are now purely Klingon." He stated with satisfaction.

"That's not possible." I raged.

"I assure you it is. I have developed a procedure to stimulate cell division. A kind of enhanced mitosis. Your Klingon genetic material was extracted. It was then converted from matter to energy by our genetron. Finally, you were rematerialized as the purified Klingon specimen that you are now." He explained.

"Why? Why have you done this?" I angrily asked.

"For generations, my people have been searching the quadrant for a species immune to our disease in the hope that it would lead us to a cure." He replied.

"And you think Klingons are immune to this phage?" I concluded.

"I believe your genetic structure has phage-resistant nucleotide sequences, yes. But I needed a pure specimen to be certain. My people do not know it yet, but you are their greatest hope." He said and reached out to stroke my cheek which I jerked away from despite my limitations in movement.

"I will never help you." I growled.

"You are very strong. I can only hope that you will be truly resistant to the phage." He said and pulled back.

"And how will you know that?" I tested.

"I have infected you." He simply replied.

-----

Tom Paris's POV

Bini, Durst and I were herded into the room with the rest of the group after an 8-hour shift, one of vidians shoved Durst to move faster which caused him to bump into an angry Bini and an exhausted me. Durst turned around ready to fight back but I grabbed him to hold him back.

"They're the ones with the guns, remember?" I hissed.

"We've got to find a way out of this place." Bini hissed in between us as we were shoved into our section again.

"Agreed. But I don't want to do anything until we find out what they've done with B'Elanna. In the meantime, we have to keep track of the guard's movements. How long are their shifts, when do they eat, when do they sleep?" Tom said.

"There don't seem to be many of them. I guess they figure we're all so exhausted we don't have any fight left." Durst said as he looked at the two guards in the room.

"We'll find an opening, Pete, and when the time is right we'll make our move." I said. Suddenly a gut-wrenching high pitched cackle sounded from the upper bunk. Bini groaned in annoyance and slumped against the lower bunk bed.

"Something funny, friend?" I snapped to whoever was up there.

"Dear God, don't get him started." Bini muttered and layed down on the bunk. A grinning Talaxian that looked malnourished as he peeked over the edge of the top bunk.

"You." He chirped simply.

"Really. How's that?" Durst demanded.

"Nobody ever escapes from this place. Those Vidiian leeches can yank the beating heart out of you in a heartbeat. Heart out of you in a heartbeat. Now that's funny." And then he started to laugh at his own damn joke.

"Hilarious." Durst and Bini sarcastically muttered at the same time.

"Seems like you know this place pretty well." I commented to the talaxian.

"I should, I've been here for six years." He bragged.

"Then tell me something. I thought those Vidiians were in the business of harvesting organs. How come we're all still in one piece?" I asked.

"The disease makes them weak. They need somebody to dig their tunnels. That's us. Best way to keep alive around here is to stay strong." He explained.

"Thanks for the advice."

"Don't worry, they're always in need of replacement body parts. They'll get around to gutting you eventually. There were twenty-three of us from my ship. I'm the only one left."

"Listen. When they grabbed us there was a woman with us. B'Elanna Torres. Any idea what might have happened to her?" I said.

"If she's not here, she's been taken to organ processing." He simply said. I looked at Durst and Bini in alarm. Bini hit the roof of her bunk which caused the talaxian on top to glare down at her.

"You know, you really know how to make people depressed." She snapped at him

"And you know how to be endlessly annoying you are." He fought back.

"Well, unlike you, I embrace that."

"That is not something you should be proud of."

"I wonder if the Vidians are willing to let me kill you for some organs." She threatened. The Talaxian recoiled and then disappeared. Bini gave a small smile of satisfaction before laying down on the bed and turning her back to us.

-----

Harry Kim's POV

"I've deployed the transponders, Commander. The relay signal is coming through clearly. I reported once I set up the long metal like sticks and switched the light on the top of them with a swift turn.

"Good work." Chakotay said as he passed me with his tricorder tightly in his hand. I got up and brushed off my uniform. Taking a quick look around at the dark tunnels around us that were brightened up by the transponders and our arm-beacons.

"Any sign of them?" I asked as I pulled out my own tricorder and began to follow him. He abruptly stopped at the mouth of a tunnel and gave out a frustrated sigh.

"According to my tricorder readings, they definitely came this way. The question is, where did they go from here?" Chakotay replied as something squawked with distant flaps heard in the darkness overhead.

"Delightful spot to get lost." I half-joked,

"Commander, Ensign. Over here." Tuvok called over to us.

"What is it?" Chakotay asked as we approached Tuvok who stood in front of a broken tricorder with his own out. Scanning the new tunnel system in front of us.

"I detect traces of at least five humanoid lifeforms."

"Five?" I repeated. "There were only three in the away team."

"Evidently they did not enter this cavern alone."

-----

B'Elanna Torres POV

"Are you in pain?" The hideous Doctor Sulan asked as he circled me again with the scanning device. Another wave of pain ragged through my body as sweat poured down my face.

"It's...n-nothing." I snapped in pain. Not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing me in pain.

"Remarkable." He exclaimed. "One of the symptoms of the early stages of the phage is excruciating joint pain. I find it extraordinary that you can endure it. Some who have been infected have been known to die from the agony itself."

"It's going to take more than an infection to kill me." I growled and fought through the pain once more.

"It appears you are correct. Your body's successfully fighting off the phage. I am overjoyed!" He said with a broken smile growing on his face as he looked down at me again.

"How delightful for you." I snapped.

"Soon we will begin a series of procedures replicating your genetic code and attempting various methods of integrating your DNA with our own. In time we'll be successful and eliminate the phage forever. When that time comes you will be honoured as a hero by my people."

"I know I'm the first Klingon you've ever seen, so I'll tell you that Klingons find honour as warriors on the battlefield, not as guinea pigs in a laboratory."

"Earlier you accused me of mutilating you. Now you sound positively proud to be Klingon. You have me to thank for that, B'Elanna." He bragged.

"You'll get no gratitude from me."

"Perhaps you'll feel different in time, but I don't blame you for your obstinacy. I would be proud too, with a form as handsome as yours. I believe Klingons are the most impressive species I have ever seen." He said as a look of lust flashed in his eyes.

-----

Bini Filters POV

I slowly opened my eyes as I heard something thump to the ground behind me on the floor. I struggled to fight off my exhaustion and rubbed my eyes.

"Tom? Tom, wake up." I heard someone that sounded like...B'Elanna whisper behind me. I groaned as I moved to the other side of my bed and I let my eyes adjust to the darkness of the area as I saw the back of B'Elanna shaking Tom out of his sleep.

Tom groaned and slowly opened his eyes:

"B'Elanna?" He mumbled and rubbed his eyes.

"Yeah, it's me." She whispered and then slumped against the wall allowing me to look at her. She had no ridges...She looked completely human! Tom sat up in alarm as he looked at her.

"Oh my gosh! Are-are you human?" I blurted out. B'Elanna snapped her head toward me. She must have missed the part where as I asked her if she was human.

"Bini? What the hell? What are you doing here?" She demanded.

"B'Elanna, what have they done to you?" Tom asked grabbing her attention from me.

"I remember them grabbing us outside the caves and then I, I guess I just blacked out."

"Yes, they stunned all of us."

"The next thing I knew, they were waking me up in some kind of laboratory. I was so groggy I couldn't see. I asked them what they had done to me and then one of them said that they had completely extracted my Klingon DNA." She explained.

"It doesn't seem possible, but you look human." Tom said and couldn't help cringing:

"I feel so weak, sick to my stomach." She muttered and hugged her stomach.

"Welcome to being a human." I muttered.

"Considering what they've done to you, I'm not surprised." Tom said.

"So strange." She muttered.

"What?" I asked.

"When I was a child, I did everything I could to hide my forehead. Hats, scarves, you name it."

"When I was a kid, I wore a cap to cover the haircuts my father used to make me get the first day of every summer." Tom added, in what I think was a desperate attempt at being relatable.

"I grew up on a colony on Kessik Four. My mother and I were the only Klingons there, and that was a time when relations between the Homeworld and the Federation weren't too cordial. Nobody ever said anything, but we were different and I didn't like that feeling. Then my father left when I was five years old. One day he was there and the next he wasn't. I cried myself to sleep every night for months. Of course, I never told anybody. And then I finally decided that he'd left because I look like a Klingon. And so I tried to look human." She sadly explained.

"Looks like you finally got what you wanted." Tom said and B'Elanna sadly nodded.

"I am not so sure about that Tom."

———

Chakotay's POV

"Strange." Tuvok said as he continued to scan around the area.

"What is?" I asked.

"According to our last geological scan, this cave should continue straight ahead for another eight kilometres." He said as his tricorder was pointed to a bare cavern wall.

"This is solid granite, more than fifty metres." Harry said as he pressed his hand against the wall.

"If these caves were changing configuration while we were here, we certainly would have felt it." I said as I scanned the wall with my own tricorder.

"True, Commander, but I do not believe there has been any tectonic activity. I believe this wall is merely an illusion, a disguised force field." Tuvok concluded. We all backed away from the wall as I tapped my combadge.

"Away team to Voyager." I barked.

"Go ahead Commander." Janeway's voice said through the com channel.

"We've run into some type of force field, Captain. One minute we were reading an empty tunnel, and the next we walked right into a solid wall of rock." I reported. Then Tuvok tapped his combadge also to join the channel.

"Captain, the energy configuration of the force field matrix is virtually identical to those used by the Vidians." Tuvok added.

"Mister Ayala, scan for any alien vessels in the sector." Janeway ordered around the bridge in the background. "Commander, we know from past experience that our phasers can disrupt that forcefield. I want to find out what's in there."

"Aye, Captain." I said.

"But I don't want you taking any unnecessary risks. We'll be standing by to implement an emergency beam out." She said.

"Acknowledged." I reported and took out my phaser and fired it at the wall. The grid fluctuated but it did not come down. I sighed and fired again. Same result. It wasn't working.

"It's not working, Captain." I reported.

"Try reconfiguring your phaser to match the bandwidth modulation-"

"Commander!" Harry exclaimed and pointed behind us. We spun around and saw two vidians duck out of sight within seconds.

"Three to beam up!" I yelled and the transporter beam quickly latched onto us and beamed us up.

-----

B'Elanna Torres POV

I struggled against the restraints, wondering how strong they were as I yanked my arms against them. Suddenly, I heard a sharp snap and I saw the metal rested loosely on my wrist. I gave a smile of small victory but that was quickly pushed aside once I heard the familiar door hiss into the laboratory. I tried to act like..."normal" as possible as Sulan entered excitedly and leaned against the table I was on to see me better.

"B'Elanna? How are you feeling today?" He smoothly asked.

"I feel strong. It's very frustrating to be restrained like this." I growled.

"I sympathize." He said but he has no idea how...horrible it feels. How much I want to kill him for the dishonour he has caused upon me.

"I don't like being chained up like an animal." I said. Trying to keep the hostility out of my voice.

"I'm sorry, I wish there was some--"

"I've been thinking about what you said." I interrupted. "It's because of you that I am Klingon and I do like this feeling. In a strange way, I suppose I am grateful. Did you know that Klingon females are renowned in the Alpha Quadrant not only for their physical prowess but for their voracious sexual appetites as well? Why not let your creation out of her harness. Study her in action."

"I wish it were possible, B'Elanna, but I'm afraid I can't risk releasing you just yet." He reached forward and stroked my face with his disgusting hand then he pulled back with embarrassment.

"Forgive me." He muttered.

"For what?"

"Please, don't condescend. I may have a grotesque appearance but I assure you my instincts are finely honed, and I do have feelings. Hard as it may be for you to imagine, B'Elanna, my people were once handsome and vigorous like yours, and with your help, we will be again. Perhaps when that time comes I will not disgust you quite so much as I do now." He said softly and moved away to get more equipment.

-----

Bini Filters POV

I looked down the aisle and saw the two vidian guards enter for the usual work detail and they started to gather up the slow-moving weak workers as they stumbled up and moved into line. I gulp and looked back at the three behind me.

"They're coming to take us to the work detail. You can't let them see how sick you are." I harshly whispered at them as they got closer. I fell back and rejoined the group.

"Maybe if they think I'm too weak they'll leave me behind. I could try to get my hands on that console over there. Perhaps Bini could try and hack into it when I find out more about its system." B'Elanna said and pointed to the large control area that only had one vidian guarding it at the end of the room.

"Or maybe they'll skip the preliminaries and take you straight to organ processing." Tom snapped back in protest. Then the guards came marching to us and one pointed directly at Durst.

"You. Come with me." The guard snapped. Durst hesitantly stood up.

"What for?" He asked suspiciously.

"You asked to contact your ship. The Prefect wishes to discuss your request." Now it was Tom's turn to stand up. He shot up and stood in front of Durst.

"I'm the senior officer here. If your superiors want to talk with one of us, it should be me. He's not going anywhere without me." He demanded. B'Elanna weakly grabbed his wrist and shook her head.

"Tom, don't. They'll kill you." She muttered. The guard pulled out his weapon at us.

"Stop!" The guard shouted and he roughly grabbed Durst and shoved him down the hallway. He gave a quick scowl at them then followed them out of the room. B'Elanna back away farther into the shadows and Tom looked behind at her.

"What is it?" He asked.

---End of Chapter 29. Next: Faces: Part Two.---