The Equinox, Part 2/3

Onboard the Fae Dragon, I sat at the Science Station, drumming my fingers with annoyance as I stared at the description of an elemental creature. It was a Jaculus, a Dragon-blooded elemental creature that was uniquely known for cohabiting with stronger dragons. It was not a true symbiotic relationship, as the Jaculus would devour their dragon if they ever got the chance, but the creatures would serve their dragon masters and even fight alongside them, if the dragon's control was strong enough.

It was clear that these creatures were placed here for me, to join me much like Filigree joined Katye. I have had dreams of several of my children that bred Jaculus and knew that they were great for training Soul Power as that was the only way to control them.

To make matters worse, I revisited the episode using the Mind Linker and got a reminder of Dark Janeway. In the episode, after Janeway confronted Ransom about killing the aliens, he still escaped Voyager with his crew, stole their shield matrix, kidnapped Seven, and abandoned Voyager to deal with his mess. The multiple levels of betrayal to his position and what Starfleet stood for fully awoke all of Janeway's rage which she took out on him, his crew, and even her own people when they tried to stop her. She ignored Chakotay's advice, nearly killed one of Ransom's crewmen that she had captured, removed Chakotay from his position, threatened Tuvok with the same, and even promised to turn over the Equinox to the aliens. If there was ever a version of Janeway that Echo would like, it would be that version... but do I let her get to that level?

::Captain Janeway is approaching the ship.:: Fae chimed.

I sighed, rubbing my face with a hand, and retorted, "I guess that she's going to push the decision... Fine, direct her to me."

Two minutes later, Janeway walked onto my little bridge and looked directly at me. I did not bother to say anything and just passed over the data pad with the files that Echo had recovered from the Equinox. While she read through it, I turned back to the screen and stared at the picture of the Jaculus.

Mostly blue-gray where the light hit its skin while black nearly anywhere else. It had an upper body somewhat similar to a person's as it had two arms, though a thin webbing of skin connected to its back much like a wing, and a ribcage with its head and neck directly above. Its lower body was long and snake-like with a golden-yellow glow down the center. Its chest also had the same glow, but it was only visible as its chest expanded for breathing. It was no longer than a person's torso, and its intelligence could be compared to a ten- to twelve-year-old.

"Are these the elemental creatures?" Janeway asked after ten minutes of reading.

"Yes... the Jaculus. It's funny that the Ankari consider them 'Spirits of Good Fortune'. Although they are some of the least dangerous creatures with Dragon blood, they still have the gluttony that my kind is so well known for. They are also one of the few Dragon-blooded creatures that cohabitate with other Dragons, traditionally serving True Dragons in hopes of getting some scraps from the inevitable fights that follow them. They have the average intelligence of a pre-teen and an interconnected hive mind, meaning those that are hunting the Equinox likely felt the death of every single one they killed," I sighed, leaning back in my chair, and then slowly looked at Janeway. "So... Captain... how do you want me to handle this?"

Janeway's jaw clenched with anger, but I knew it was not directed at me. It was clear that she looked up to Ransom after how she had spoken about him this morning when we first received the distress call, so I knew that this was likely a big blow to her. After all, there were fifty-eight documented tests of how they killed and mutilated the bodies of the elemental creatures to turn them into fuel, so there was no dismissing this as a singular infraction. No, they committed murder over and over, watching the creatures die slowly from lack of mana, and told themselves it was fine because they were not human.

Janeway set the pad down on the console next to her then took a few steps forward, moving to the end of the bridge. It was clear that she was looking out the front window, but the only view she had was the back wall of the Shuttle Bay. Any amusement from the bit of television drama that drove her to look out the window like an answer might be among the stars was long gone due to my anger at the situation.

"Starfleet guidelines state that when a Captain has broken the Prime Directive, they are to be stripped of rank, court-martialed, and sentenced to confinement in a detention center based on the severity of the crime," Janeway replied quietly, no true conviction in her words.

"Court-martial and confinement?" I scoffed, remembering Echo's guess and annoyance at Janeway's decision. "So, if I line up fifty human children and suffocate them one by one, my only punishment is losing my rank and freedom for a time? Sounds fitting and appropriate for the crime."

"And what would you have me do, Rebecca?!?" Janeway yelled, turning around to face me. "Execute the crew of the Equinox? Captain Ransom? Killing them will not bring back those elemental creatures that have already died."

"And neither does locking them up!" I shouted back, jumping to my feet. "Some of the crew may feel remorse about what they've done, but those who don't will only view your punishment as annoying and something to escape as soon as they are able! Just like Seska, they will take any opportunity that they can to run, and could even turn on Voyager if they had the confidence to succeed."

"What would you have me do?" Janeway stated more calmly, though I knew she was even angrier than before.

"I... don't know. The logic of my old world says to kill all of the Equinox crew, while the idealistic side of me wants to believe in your way, but I know that neither are completely right," I replied then sighed heavily. "For now, even more important than handling the Equinox crew, is stopping the Jaculus' attacks. I should have the ability to call a truce, but I will only defend Voyager. It will be up to you and Ransom, if you wish to include him, to argue for the Equinox's sake."

Janeway took in a deep breath to calm herself and asked, "What do you need to speak with them?"

"All I should need is for the shields to be dropped around me, but in a secure enough location that Voyager won't be in danger if they are willing to fight to the death," I answered.

"I can have that arranged shortly," Janeway said.

"Before you do, I want to confront Ransom with you, and the Equinox crew needs to be under supervision, if not custody," I replied.

"Agreed," she said then tapped her badge. "Janeway to Tuvok. Ready your security teams and confine the Equinox crew then bring Ransom to the Briefing Room."

I raised an eyebrow as I was a little surprised at how easily Janeway agreed to my demands, but then again, she was beyond pissed off and on the verge of Dark Janeway. Since I was not demanding anyone's death yet, she had no real reason to refuse. I just thought she would refuse to listen to anyone else as she had in the episode, but it seemed that our friendship was even stronger than the one she had with Chakotay, and even Tuvok.

"Fae, make a data pad with the information about the Jaculus," I ordered as I picked up the pad that Janeway had put down.

::It is in the Engineering replicator.::

"Thanks," I replied then headed for the door.

Janeway followed me into the next room and waited for me to grab the other data pad before the both of us left the Fae Dragon. We walked together in silence as we rode the turbo lift up and made our way to the Briefing Room. I placed both data pads on the table then walked over to the windows and stared out while Janeway sat in one of the chairs. Twenty minutes later, the sound of the doors opening reached my ears and I turned to see Tuvok escorting Captain Ransom into the room.

"Thank you, Tuvok. You are dismissed," Janeway said without getting up.

Tuvok gave a firm nod then walked out of the doorway, allowing it to close behind him.

"I hope that you are going to explain what's going on. My crew and I have done nothing..." Ransom started.

"Before you finish that statement, I'd recommend you look at the data pad to the right. I'm sure you've seen these files before," I warned with a glare.

That shut him up for a moment at least as he picked up the pad and skimmed through it. His face quickly changed as he realized we knew about his experiments with the elemental creatures.

"So, tell us, 'Captain', how many lives would it take to get you back to the Alpha Quadrant?" I asked mockingly.

"Sixty-three... that's how many more it will take," he answered after several moments of silence and had the good thinking to look mournful as he said it. "Every time I sacrifice one of those lives, a part of me is lost as well."

"Oh, really? It's a wonder, then, that there is any of you left to have this conversation with after fifty-eight 'sacrifices'," I spat.

"Starfleet Regulation Three, Paragraph Twelve: 'In the event of imminent destruction, a Captain is authorized to preserve the lives of his crew by any justifiable means.'," he argued.

"And mass murder is 'justifiable' to you?" I mocked.

"In my judgement, it was. We had nothing! My ship was in pieces. Our dilithium was gone. We were running on thrusters. We hadn't eaten in sixteen days..." he sighed. "We had just enough power to enter orbit of an M-Class planet. And, lucky for us, the inhabitants were generous. They were called the Ankari, and they provided us with a meal and a few supplies, even some dilithium crystals. They even performed one of their sacred rituals to invoke the spirits of good fortune from another realm to bless our journey. But these weren't spirits, they were nucleogenic life-forms. Our scans revealed that they were emitting high levels of anti-matter. Later that same night, we managed to obtain one of the summoning devices in exchange for an energy converter.

"We constructed a containment field that would prevent the life-form from vanishing so quickly, but something went wrong. We tried to send it back, but it was too late. We examined the remains and discovered it could be converted to enhance our propulsion systems. It was already dead. What would you have done?"

I smiled coldly at him because I never forgave Ransom for what he did in the episode, betraying what it meant to be a Starfleet Captain and hurting Seven, but that was my childhood naivety. The main difference now is that my hatred is even greater because I was not much different than those creatures to the higher powers out 'there', even Raven used my blood to assist with her creations.

"Did you listen to your own story? An alien culture gave you food, supplies, and even blessings for your safe travels when you were on your last leg... and, upon seeing their 'Spirits of Good Fortune", you realize that they contain anti-matter. You then later barter for one of their 'summoning' devices which you use to call one into an environment that you sealed off from its natural one and were shocked when it died. And, since there is just this body laying there, let's turn it into bio-fuel to get a little closer to home...

"You came back for the summoning device because of your greed... just the potential that it could work since you hadn't even tested anything yet. Because, before you say another bullshit lie, if it was truly an accident, you would not have done it fifty-seven more times! Don't play like your hands were tied and you were forced to keep making the same wrong decision.

"The only innocent party are the elemental creatures that you've been harvesting. Let me properly introduce myself: I'm Captain Rebecca Dawn Cox of the Vazukuru-Federation Starship Fae Dragon. How about you learn a little about those creatures? They are intelligent and have interconnected minds, so they felt each of their kin die," I countered then pushed the pad with the information about Jaculus with my weak telekinesis.

"Vazukuru?" he repeated with shock, clearly recognizing the name.

"Yes, and I have the bloodline of a True Dragon. What makes their bodies so great for fuel is a weak, diluted strain compared to my bloodline. Would you like to harvest my blood to power your ship? I might actually survive long eno..."

"You've made your point, Rebecca," Janeway said, cutting me off.

I was leaning on the table with both hands and my aura was leaking out ever-so-lightly to enhance my threatening stance, so I knew she was right. With a sigh, I stood up and fully retracted my aura then stepped away. Ransom looked at Janeway for a few seconds, but seeing that her attention was only on the pad in front of him, he finally picked it up and started reading it.

"Is this just to make me feel worse about what I've done?" Ransom asked quickly after he started reading it.

"Oh, it is, but it still gets worse... scroll to the second to last bullet point about them," I said with dark cheer in my voice.

"Rebecca? What is this about?" Janeway asked while he scrolled down to where I suggested.

"This is about fifty-eight plus sixty-three. That's one hundred twenty-one if my math is correct," I replied, dragging things out.

"Rebecca," Janeway nearly growled.

In the next moment, Ransom threw down the pad in anger, so I explained, "Jaculus colonies live extremely far apart, typically two to five galaxies between them and the number of individuals cannot exceed a hundred without a Dragon host; anymore, and they will exceed the rate at which their pocket dimension can produce mana. If you were lucky, this galaxy might have the largest colony ever recorded and you'd make it home... but if you were lucky, you wouldn't be in the Delta Quadrant, and you certainly wouldn't have run into us, so I'll leave you there, 'Captain' Ransom."

With everything that I needed to say said, I walked back over to the windows and turned my back on the 'good' captain. 

"So, what happens now?" Ransom asked after several moments of silence.

"You are hereby relieved of your command, and you and your crew will be confined to quarters until we decide otherwise," Janeway replied after giving me a chance to say something.

"Please, show them leniency. They were only following my orders," Ransom pleaded for his crew.

"Their mistake," Janeway replied, feeling no sympathy for him or his crew.

"I'll be reaching out to the Jaculus later to calm them down. Do you want to join us and defend the actions of the Equinox?" I asked, finally looking back at the man.

"What's there to defend?" he retorted, completely defeated.

"The lives of your crew for one," I responded without sympathy. "Jaculus are vengeful creatures and, with the numbers that you killed, they will want you dead. Janeway may ask for me to speak on your behalf, but defending yourself would hold a lot more sway with a Dragon-blooded creature as it shows that you aren't afraid."

"Fine, if you think its best," he agreed with a sigh.

"When do you want to begin, Rebecca?" Janeway asked.

"First thing tomorrow. I need a drink and to relax before I talk to them, or my mood will guarantee that this will be a fight without me even trying," I replied with a sigh.

"Alright. Will the Shuttle Bay fit your needs?"

"Yeah, it will do," I agreed.

"We'll meet you there at eight hundred hours tomorrow morning. Janeway to Tuvok," she confirmed then tapped her badge.

Tuvok walked in a moment later, proving that he was just on the other side of the door.

"Please escort Ransom to the quarters prepared for the Equinox crew," she instructed.

"Yes, Captain," he acknowledged then motioned towards the door.

Ransom stood up slowly and walked out of the room with Tuvok behind him.

"Care to join me for a drink?" I asked, glancing at Janeway.

She sighed, rubbing her forehead, but agreed anyways, "Yes, I think I will."