SUMMARY: A shuttle with Chakotay and Paris on it is attacked and the officers taken prisoner. It's up to Janeway and Torres to rescue them.

CODES: VOY, J/C, P/T

RATING: PG13

DISCLAIMER: Paramount owns all the characters and the ship. I'm just borrowing them for awhile.

NOTES: This whole thing blossomed from the idea that the women should be the heroes for once. There isn't too much mush, and this is more like an actual episode with all the action in it.

"A Wing and a Prayer"
by Liz VanZandt

"So," Tom Paris said settling back in his seat, "how are things between you and the Captain?"

Next to him, Chakotay looked up from the readouts he was studying. "They're fine," he said and returned his attention to the screen in front of him.

"Fine?" Tom said with a shake of the head. "Oh no, you're not going to get rid of me that easily. I saw the way you two kept looking at each other at her birthday party last month. And the way she kept fingering that necklace..." He trailed off, hoping to get a rise out of his companion.

Chakotay briefly thought back to that night. He'd been extremely nervous giving his captain a piece of jewelry. He knew she wouldn't wear it most of the time because it was against Starfleet regulations, but he couldn't bring himself to give her the ring instead. She'd smiled and thanked him, putting it on right there. That was the last time he'd seen her wear it.

Slowly Chakotay returned to reality and looked up at the meddling pilot. "You're treading on thin ice, Lieutenant."

"Ah ha," Tom said, not one to be deterred easily. "I knew there was something going on with you. Tell me, the necklace was from you, wasn't it?"

"It was a gift I gave to a friend, just like numerous other gifts she received that night. Including one from you, I might add."

"Yeah," Tom argued, "but I gave her a holoprogram, not jewelry."

Chakotay was about to retort when the proximity alarm went off, drowning the shuttle in noise. "I have a ship coming out of warp off the starboard bow," Tom announced, immediately switching his playful bantering mood off.

"Voyager?" Chakotay asked.

"Nope," Tom said. "Unknown origin. It doesn't match anything we've ever seen before. And not too friendly either -- they're powering up weapons."

"Let's just hope it's a precautionary measure," Chakotay said, switching on the communications system. "Unknown ship, this is Commander Chakotay aboard the Federation shuttle Cochrane. We mean you no harm. Please identify yourself."

* * *

Captain's Log, Stardate 53146.3: We have reached the rendezvous coordinates ahead of Commander Chakotay and Lieutenant Paris's shuttle. Apparently their trip took longer than expected since we are almost two days late.

"Any sign of them?" Captain Kathryn Janeway asked tersely.

"No trace of anything larger than debris for a two light year radius," Ensign Harry Kim said shaking his head.

"Captain," Lieutenant Commander Tuvok announced from the tactical station, "I'm getting some odd energy readings in the area."

"Define odd, Tuvok," Janeway said striding over to the console.

"The readings are consistent with Starfleet regulation phaser fire from approximately 1.7 days ago."

"Phaser fire?" Janeway said.

"Aye, Captain," Tuvok replied. "There is also evidence of return fire from approximately the same time frame."

"Mr. Kim," Janeway said looking up and across the bridge at the operations station, "you said there's debris out there."

"Yes, Captain," Kim replied with a nod. "There's a trail of moderately sized debris floating off our port bow."

"Can you determine if it could be from our shuttle?" Janeway asked.

"Maybe," he answered. "We'd need to beam a few pieces aboard and run a few tests to know for sure."

"Do it," Janeway said. "Get B'Elanna to help you."

"Aye, Captain," Kim nodded, heading for the turbolift at the back of the bridge.

"Tuvok, have someone analyze those energy readings. Look for anything and everything. You have the bridge. I'll be in my ready room," Janeway announced, heading for the door to the ready room. "Let me know as soon as they've finished with the debris."

As soon as the doors closed behind her, Janeway let out a small sigh. She collapsed onto the couch and pulled her legs up under her, staring out at the stars. If she looked closely enough, she could almost pick out the debris trail Harry had discovered. Unconsciously her hand came up to her breast and the necklace that she was wearing under her uniform. The small gold heart pendant lay nestled between her breasts, and just the thought of it caused a tear to form in the corner of her eye. It had been a gift from Chakotay on her last birthday. He had given it to her when he came to escort her to her birthday party on the holodeck, and had later joked about how jealous he was of the necklace. She smiled at the memory and fervently hoped that the debris wasn't from his shuttle.

* * *

Several hours later Janeway was drawn out of her reading when the doorchime rang. "Come in," she called, rising to refill her coffee cup.

Harry and B'Elanna nervously stepped into the room. "Captain," Harry said in acknowledgment.

"Have you finished your analysis of the debris field yet?" Janeway asked, a bit too anxiously. The twosome glanced at each other and nodded. "And?"

"The tests were conclusive. The pieces we beamed aboard from the debris field are from a Starfleet standard issue shuttle," B'Elanna said softly. Her voice sounded as though she was struggling with the implications of her statement and Janeway couldn't blame her one bit.

"There's no doubt?" Janeway knew the answer already, but she needed to hear it out loud before she could accept it.

"The scattering of the debris is consistent with a ship exploding," Harry said.

Dead. It couldn't be. There were still too many things she needed to say to him. The idea was just too ludicrous. After as many close calls as they'd been through in the past seven years, it was a simple trip on a shuttle that finally killed him. It was almost unfathomable even. Silently, Janeway's hand rose to her chest and the necklace as she turned to stare out the window, trying as hard as she could to see the pieces of the shuttle floating out there. Among them somewhere would be a part of him. As morbid as it may seem, maybe if she could just find that and put it away somewhere, it wouldn't feel like he was really gone. Maybe --

Abruptly Janeway turned back to look at her two officers. "You said it was an explosion, not an implosion, right?"

Harry gave B'Elanna a puzzled look before answering. "Yes, ma'am. The pattern of the scattering is evidence of an explosion."

Janeway leaned forward, bracing herself on the railing running along the room in front of the couch, suddenly excited. "So it stands to reason that there should be some of their DNA on the pieces of the shuttle."

"In theory, yes," Harry agreed cautiously. "But I don't see why we need to verify it. There's no way they could have survived something like that."

"They would have if they weren't on the shuttle," Janeway said, eyes twinkling with new hope.

Harry knew that the Captain wouldn't rest until every option was exhausted, she would do that for any member of her crew. And she would go even further for her first officer, but this was just too much. "With all due respect, Captain, where else would they have been? We'd have found them floating in their space suits by now had they escaped that way."

"The ship that attacked them," B'Elanna suggested, her voice suddenly infused with some of the Captain's hope.

"What?" Harry said, not even bothering to hide his skepticism.

"Sure," Janeway said excitedly. "If they transported over to the unknown ship just before the shuttle exploded, than they would have avoided it."

"Transported to the enemy ship? They might as well have transported right into the brig while they were at it."

"Think about it, Harry," B'Elanna said. "Would you rather be space dust floating out there," she pointed out the window, "or would you rather be alive and in jail waiting for us to rescue you? Both Tom and Chakotay know we won't rest until we've found them for sure."

"Harry, I have two missing members of my senior staff out there somewhere. I can't just say 'Oh, well. Who's next on the promotion list?' I have to do everything I can to find them, for my own peace of mind if nothing else." Harry reluctantly nodded his assent. He knew how devoted and protective of the crew Janeway was, and especially her first officer. She smiled slightly and turned to B'Elanna. "Which pieces of the shuttle do you have?"

The engineer thought for a moment. "There's a piece of the transporter controls and part of the cockpit. Right?" she looked at Harry, who nodded again. "I'll get my people on the tests right away, Captain."

"How long should it take?"

She shrugged. "An hour, maybe two at most."

Janeway nodded. "Senior staff meeting, or what's left of us, in two hours. I want your results by then."

"Aye."

"Aye, Captain."

B'Elanna motioned for Harry to leave. With one last glance at Janeway, who had turned back toward the window, he sighed and left the ready room. Hesitantly, B'Elanna stepped over to the Captain and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Captain ..."

Janeway turned her head to look at B'Elanna and smiled slightly. "I'm OK. I have faith in you and your people, and I know Tuvok will find something to help us as well. I'm the one that should be comforting you right now. How are you feeling?"

Slowly B'Elanna sank down onto the couch. "Honestly, I don't know what I'm thinking let alone feeling anymore. I just can't shake the feeling that Tom's not really gone."

"Than don't," Janeway said sitting down next to her. "If it helps you to cope in the short term, than by all means, follow your gut. I can't tell you how many times my gut feeling has been right in the past."

B'Elanna smiled weakly. "If we do find them being held prisoner somewhere, are you planning on sending in an away team to get them out?"

Janeway shrugged. "I don't know. Up until five minutes ago I was acting under the assumption that they were on the shuttle. Diplomacy is always the preferred option, but should that fail, I imagine I'll probably send a team in. Why?"

B'Elanna sucked her breath in sharply and then exhaled slowly, hoping to find the courage to ask her question. "Captain, requesting permission to accompany the away team should it be necessary."

"I can't do that, B'Elanna," Janeway replied with a shake of the head. "You're too close to the situation personally. I need people who will have a clear head."

"With all due respect, Captain, that's bullshit and we both know it." B'Elanna was visibly trying to control her temper and fighting a losing battle at the moment. "You'd be the first person in the transporter room to beam down and rescue them. Whatever your relationship with Chakotay, you're as personally involved in this matter as I am. You care for both men out there as much or even more than I do."

She paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "With my knowledge and expertise in technology of all kinds, I would make a valuable asset to an away team. I mean, who knows what kind of technology we'll have to disable while we're down there. I've also had experience with jail breaks before. If those were any other two men, you'd agree to let me go without even a second thought. You have no reason to refuse to let me go."

Janeway was silent for a long minute, contemplating B'Elanna's comments. She made a lot of sense. It would be an advantage to have B'Elanna's expertise as part of the away team. But there was still the question of whether she could handle the mission emotionally. "I'll think about it," she said finally.

"Thank you," B'Elanna said standing. "That's all I ask. I'd better get to work on the shuttle pieces now."

As B'Elanna was leaving the room, she passed Tuvok, who was on his way in with the analysis of the energy readings. "Captain," he nodded, coming to a standstill in the middle of the room.

"Tell me you have good news for me, Tuvok," Janeway replied.

"'Good' is all a matter of opinion, Captain," he replied. "However, I believe you will find my report helpful if nothing else." He handed a PADD to Janeway, who scanned it as Tuvok continued on. "I believe I have been able to discover what transpired in the vicinity approximately 1.8 days ago."

"And that is?" Janeway asked, looking up at him.

"I have surmised that the shuttle arrived at the rendezvous point a few hours early and was waiting for our arrival when another ship, apparently from a warp capable civilization in this sector, appeared. I assume the Commander attempted to talk with the ship, but negotiations must have failed because there is evidence of a battle between the two ships. I have not been able to identify the type of weapons the unidentified ship utilized, but suffice it to say that they fairly quickly overpowered the shuttle's phasers. The shuttle was destroyed and the other ship left on a similar heading to that which it came from."

Janeway nodded, scenarios running through her head. "Have long range sensors discovered anything?"

"No," Tuvok replied. "We have not come across evidence of any warp capable civilizations within sensor range. I took the liberty of sending out a probe along the heading that the alien ship disappeared along and preliminary data suggests that there is a civilization just outside scanner range."

"Very well," Janeway said. "Have the helm set a course along that heading, warp six."

Tuvok nodded and turned to leave, but was stopped by Janeway's voice. "Oh, and Tuvok," he turned back to look at his captain, "thank you," she finished quietly.

"You are welcome, Captain."

* * *

As the tingle of the transporter faded away, Kathryn Janeway found herself back where she started nearly twelve hours earlier -- in the transporter room aboard Voyager. Nodding to the crewman behind the console, she strode purposefully out of the room, slapping her comm badge at the same time. "All senior officers to the briefing room."

By the time Janeway arrived in the briefing room, the remaining members of her senior staff, minus Tuvok, who was still on the surface, were all assembled around the table. On the far wall, Tuvok appeared on a screen, and everyone (those few that there still were) had turned their seats to face him.

"Report," Janeway barked, sitting down.

"All systems functioning perfectly," B'Elanna Torres announced.

"Any sign of our missing people?"

"Sensors aren't picking up any human life signs, but there is a large dampening field on the opposite side of the planet that I'm still trying to break through," Harry Kim replied.

Janeway nodded absently, her lips pursed in thought and her hand on her chin. "Well, the Orculians deny ever having come across our people. I can't say I believe them however. They've been just a little too generous in their offer of supplies and shoreleave." She waved her hands widely. "And their ships match the energy signatures Tuvok found by the shuttle."

"I would have to concur with your conclusions, Captain," Tuvok said calmly. "Not only are their ships an exact match to the data, but the behavior of the Orculians has been erratic. While you were meeting with First Minister Reper, I took the liberty to walk through the marketplace, and the Orculians there were quite different from those in the palace. They were quiet and xenophobic, almost paranoid even."

Janeway nodded thoughtfully. "Harry, do you have any idea what's under that dampening field?"

Harry shook his head and shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine, Captain. Whatever it is, the Orculians certainly want to keep it as far from people as possible."

"Why do you say that?" Janeway asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Well, the whole planet's kind of odd, Captain," he replied. "The only signs of civilization are in this hemisphere. If the other side had inclement weather or hazardous materials than I could see the reasoning, but from my scans, the whole planet seems safe. They don't even have different seasons from what I can tell."

"Let me get this straight," B'Elanna said, leaning forward with her forearms resting on the edge of the table. "There's a dampening field over part of the planet, but this part is in the middle of nowhere, completely isolated from all civilization on the planet. What the hell do they need to hide all the way out there? And who are they hiding it from?"

"Both good questions," Janeway said. Both Harry and B'Elanna could practically see the wheels turning in her head as she stood and turned to look out the window at the planet.

"Could this possibly be the location of a maximum security penal colony?" Tuvok suggested.

"A jail?" B'Elanna echoed.

At the other end of the room, Janeway was nodding furiously and wagging her pointing finger. "Exactly. And I'd lay good odds that that's where we'll find Tom and Chakotay."

Harry sat back in his chair, brow creased in thought, and crossed his arms in front of him. "Muertos Estates," he said quietly.

"The what?" B'Elanna asked.

"The Muertos Estates," Harry repeated, leaning forward, excitement on his features. "It's something Seven and I came across when we were reading some of the background material on Orcula. It struck me as odd because the vast majority of criminal cases brought to their version of the court went in favor of the state, and almost always, the criminals were sentenced to be transported to something called the Muertos Estates. After that, there's never anything else on the records. And I didn't come across any repeat offenders in all the cases. Not one."

"So criminals are sent to this Muertos Estates," Janeway said, "and are never heard from again. Either the Orculians are extremely good at rehabilitating criminals, or it's a one-way ticket to death."

"OK, I'll buy that it's a jail," B'Elanna said. "But why surround it with a dampening field? If I were going to have some place like that, I'd advertise it to the populous to frighten them away from crime."

"It is possible that the dampening field is not meant for the inhabitants of Orcula, but rather for the inhabitants of other planets while they are visiting Orcula," Tuvok suggested.

"As Tom would say, something like that would not be too good for tourism," Harry said.

Smiling, Janeway nodded. "So are we all agreed that Tom and Chakotay are probably in this Muertos Estates than?"

"Assuming that your hypothesis that they did not perish in the shuttle is true, than the Muertos Estates would be the logical place to find the Commander and Lieutenant," Tuvok said as heads nodded around the room.

"All right, than let's do this. Tuvok, tell the Orculians that I have considered the agreement we decided on, and after talking it over with my people, we decided to accept their terms. You'll then stay on the planet to oversee the mining operation, and to watch the Orculians. If they do anything suspicious at all, I want to know immediately."

"Understood," Tuvok nodded.

"B'Elanna, put together a team to mine the dilithium, then choose someone from your staff to head it, and brief all of them. I want them to be efficient, but tell them to take their time -- but don't be too obvious. They'll be buying us time to find Tom and Chakotay."

B'Elanna nodded. "Got it."

Janeway turned to the last person in the room. "Harry, keep trying to get around that dampening field. Have Seven help you, but try not to alert the Orculians to what you're doing."

"Aye, Captain," Harry said.

"Captain," Tuvok said, "am I correct in assuming that your instructions mean you are planning to head the away team yourself?"

"You are," Janeway said. She held a hand up to silence him, "And before you object, I know the possible dangers, Tuvok. I appreciate your concern, but this is something I need to do."

"Very well," Tuvok replied. "From experience I have learned not to argue with you over something such as this, but will you at least allow me to suggest some security officers to accompany you?"

Janeway shook her head. "Thank you for the offer, Tuvok, but I think two people will have a better chance of getting in and out faster and easier than a large group."

"Captain?" B'Elanna said, looking up suddenly.

Silently Janeway nodded and smiled slightly at her engineer. "Harry, since Tuvok and I will both be on the planet, you'll be in charge of the ship. It should be fairly quiet if everything goes as planned, but I have faith in you," she said, patting the young man on the shoulder.

"Aye, Captain," he replied with a large grin.

"Very well, B'Elanna, I need you to stick around for a minute." The engineer nodded. "The rest of you are dismissed." Tuvok ended communications and Harry, still smiling brightly, left the room to find Seven.

Janeway turned to her remaining companion. "All right, we have only a few hours to come up with plans. Unfortunately, since we don't know much about the layout of the prison, we'll be flying by the seat of our pants mostly, but I still want to be prepared."

B'Elanna smiled slightly. "I probably shouldn't say this, but I conducted a couple of jail breaks while with the Maquis. From experience I can tell you that sometimes the best way is to go in blind."

"That may be," Janeway nodded, "but I feel better having some kind of plan ahead of time, even if we change it completely when we get there."

"OK," B'Elanna said. "I don't know exactly how good the Orculian sensors are, but I'd say our best chance of getting in undetected is to transport down there rather than take a shuttle. If they're unfamiliar with transporters than they'll have to be paying close attention to catch us."

"Agreed, but that raises the problem of how to get out when we find them," Janeway said. "Can you modify the transporter controls to overcome the dampening field?"

"Not likely," B'Elanna replied. "But I think that if we can get far enough away from the source of the dampening field than we can overcome it enough to pick up pattern enhancers."

"How far?"

The engineer shrugged, "Depends on the strength of the field. I haven't had a chance to look over Harry's data yet, but just off the top of my head I'd say a kilometer, maybe two."

"OK," Janeway said thoughtfully. "We can get in and out relatively easily. Once we get in there, how do we find Tom and Chakotay?"

B'Elanna was quiet for a moment, pacing the room a few times. "Probably our best bet is if we find their main computer. If we can access it, alerting as few people as possible, than we can find out where they're being held."

"Only problem with that is how do we find the main computer?" Janeway asked.

"Like I said, Captain, it's infinitely easier if we don't have a plan going in."

Janeway nodded absently. "All right, I get your drift. We'll give Harry and Seven a little while and see if they can't come up with something to help us. Can you be ready to go by 1700 hours?"

B'Elanna smiled and nodded. "I'll meet you in transporter room one, ready to go."

* * *

"Captain!" Harry yelled breathlessly, running into the transporter room. "You'll never guess what Seven just found."

Turning around, Janeway stepped down off the transporter pad and put down the pattern enhancers she was holding. Both she and B'Elanna were decked out in black commando outfits, with backpacks and belts armed for every contingency. "What is it, Harry?"

"A layout of the prison," he managed to gasp, holding out a PADD. He'd obviously run all the way from Astrometrics.

Janeway quickly glanced at B'Elanna before grabbing the PADD out of his hand. "Where did she find it?"

"You don't want to know," he replied solemnly.

The Captain fixed him with a glare as B'Elanna scrolled through the data on the PADD. "Where, Ensign?"

Harry shifted nervously. "She hacked into the encrypted Orculian military files."

Janeway sighed heavily. "Does the government know?"

"No," he shook his head. "Seven says she was careful and they'd have to be paying very close attention to trace it."

She sighed again. "All right, keep me updated if they do trace it. And don't do anything else they can trace," she said emphatically.

"Aye, Captain," Harry replied.

"All right," Janeway turned back to B'Elanna. "I want to be in and out of there as quickly as possible. We can look over this new data while we hike." She picked up the pattern enhancers again and nodded to the transporter pad. "Let's go."

Nodding her assent, B'Elanna stepped up next to her. "Harry, as soon as you get our signal, beam us up immediately," B'Elanna said.

"Don't worry," he said. "Just get Tom and Chakotay back safely."

"We will, Harry," Janeway said, turning to B'Elanna. "Ready?"

"As I'm going to be," she replied.

"OK then, energize."

The two women disappeared, only to reappear moments later on the surface of Orcula. They materialized in the middle of a clearing that was surrounded by tall trees. Janeway pulled a tricorder out of her pack and scanned the area as B'Elanna set up the pattern enhancers around the perimeter of the clearing.

"All right," B'Elanna said as she pushed the last rod into the ground. "All we have to do is activate the pattern enhancers and Voyager should be able to beam us out of here," she said, joining her captain in the middle of the clearing.

"Thankfully the dampening field is not as bad on the surface. I'm getting a clear reading of the prison." Janeway turned a little and pointed. "It should be just over a kilometer in that direction," she announced, snapping shut the tricorder.

"Any life signs detected?"

"Not until we get a lot closer to the prison," Janeway replied, shaking her head.

"Let's go than," B'Elanna said, shouldering her backpack and taking off in the direction Janeway had pointed. Shaking her head at the younger woman's enthusiasm, Kathryn grabbed her own pack and followed.

The terrain was moderately flat and despite the fairly thick underbrush in the forest, the trail was easy to follow. Every so often one of them would pull out a tricorder and make sure they hadn't strayed off the path. They quickly fell into a steady pace that was occasionally slowed by regions of particularly rough terrain, and it wasn't long before they came to the edge of the forest.

The woods ended fairly abruptly and about ten meters away was a tall metal fence. B'Elanna was about to step out from cover of the trees when she felt a hand on her arm, stopping her.

Kathryn pulled her back down next to her, shoving the tricorder in front of her. "I have two guards less than fifty meters from here and getting closer," she hissed.

Sure enough, two guards were converging on their position from different directions. "Great," B'Elanna muttered, trying to hide herself deeper in the underbrush.

on to part two

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