The Escape (3 page)

Neelix huffed, but said nothing-Her scan showed no life signs and no obvious traps. Nothing but an abandoned field of old ships that were never intended to fly through air or space.

Strange. Everything about this place was strange. She turned to her right and did a more careful scan of the ship Tuvok had picked out for them. It seemed to be a good choice. The hull was the same dull weathered gray as the rest, but she could see no obvious damage. Her readings indicated that this ship was no different from the rest, but somehow it felt newer than the others.

"Let's see what the inside looks like," she said." "Good," Kim said. "This blowing sand really hurts." She glanced over at him and Neelix. Both had turned their backs to the wind and were protecting their eyeand Getting out of the wind would be a good idea.

Holding her tricorder in front of her and scanning for any signs of traps or life-forms, she moved to the ramp under the center of the ship and looked up. The incline was gentle and the ramp was grooved to keep users from slipping. The door at the top was wide open and B'Elanna could see a wall beyond with a faded red arrow pointing to the-right. A small drift of sand had formed around the base of the ramp.

"This had a lot of traffic once," Kim said, scanning his tricorder over the ramp.

"Traffic?" Neelix asked, looking around as if he could see the traffic nearby.

6'Passengers would be my guess," Kim said.

"The design and the wear patterns indicate this boarding ramp was well used." "Used for what is the question," B'Elanna said.

Kim shrugged. "This place reminds me of a shuttleport back home. Sort of." He kept staring at his tricorder.

66 It reminds me how much I hate being cold," Neelix said. "And how my quarters are warm and dry$99 B'Elanna walked up the wide ramp to the opening, holding her tricorder in front of her.

She wanted to draw her phaser, but knew that would seem stupid under the circumstances. Nothing had threatened them. There didn't seem to be anything on this planet 24 et that could threaten them. But she still would rather have a phaser in her hand than a tricorder the way her stomach was twisting. She would just feel better.

"The ship's empty," Kim said.

"Of course it's empty," Neelix said. "These are all abandoned ships." He stepped around Kim and B'Elanna, and before either of them could stop him. he walked calmly inside and down the wide corridor indicated by the faded arrow.

Indirect lighting flickered on marking the way as he walked. "Neelix!" B'Elanna shouted.

"It's warm in here!" he said.

"Amazing," Kim said, studying his tricorder.

"Lights and power source still functioning after all this time." "Yeah," B'Elanna said, scanning her tricorder for any signs of danger before following Neelix.

The passageway was about ten meters long and turned sharply to the left into a large room with bench seats around the outside and other seats attached to chairs in groupings throughout the room. The room was larger than some Maquis ships. Over a hundred passengers could fit comfortably in this space.

Neelix stood in the middle with his hands open.

"See? Empty, just as I told you." "There are no other rooms," Kim said. "How did they pilot this thing?" "All empty tin cans," Neelix said. "Good for salvage, huh?"

"There isn't even an engine room," Kim said.

"Or "for that matter, an engine." "Just don't touch anything," B'Elanna said, staring directly at Neelix. "At least until we determine what these ships were and what controls them." Neelix sighed and sat down on the nearest chair, leaning back and putting his feet up. "At least we're out of the wind in here." "Look at this," Kim said, pointing at a blinking red sign over the passageway they had just come in. The sign was in an unidentifiable language with a numberlike sequence tlbbat kept changing. "It started blinking when Neelix sat down." "See if you can figure out what Jt says," B'Elanna said. She tapped her comm badge.

"Away team to Voyager- "Voyager here," Janeway's voice answered.

"We're inside. No signs of life. The ship still has an automatic power source of some sort that we somehow triggered on entering." "Can you tell what the ships were used for?" Janeway asked. "Passenger transport of some type. The insides are nothing more than a large room with benches and chairs. But I can't imagine where these could go. Or for that matter, how. It will take me some time to figure this out." "Pastenger?" Janeway said, more to herself than B'Elanna.

"Well, be careful and report as soon as you have something." "Understood," B'Elanna said.

"Any luck, Mr. Kim?" B'Elanna askedi "It looks like a time sequence to me, but I'm operating on guesswork." "Neelix," B'Elanna said, turning to the short alien lounging with his eyes half closed. "Do you recognize that language?" She pointed to the flashing sign over the entry. - He opened one eye and studied the message, then sat up. "I have a vague memory of something similar to that. It's a very dead language, though. That much I can tell you." "But can you read it?" B'Elanna asked. She didn't have time for games. He shrugged. "I think it says Please Take a Seat. "And the numbers?" Kim said.

"Just numbers," Neelix said. He leaned back and closed his eyes. "Let me know when you need my help again. I will be napping." B'Elanna shook her head at Neelix and turned to Kim. "Link with Voyager's computer, feed-that information into it, and see what comes up. I'm going to look for the-was The number sequence on the sign over Kim's head stopped and the room's lights flashed once. A scraping noise echoed through the ship and it shuddered slightly.

"The ramp is coming up!" Kim shouted and started for the door. "Wait!" B'Elanna's command stopped him in his tracks. "Stay together." She slapped her comm badge. "Voyager. The ship is coming to life and closing up. Be ready to beam us out of here on my mark." "Understood," Tuvok's calm voice answered back. "We have a transporter lock on you." "Mr. Kim," B'Elanna said.

"See if you can find what's causing this. We'll stay as long as we can. Neelix, help him." She scanned with her tricorder, but couldn't find the ship's power source. There had to be one. Somewhere.

A huge clang echoed through the ship. The clang was followed by painful screech as of metal scraping against metal without lubrication. -- "The door is closed and the ship's lifting off the surface," Kim said, panic in his voice.

Then the air shimmered slightly and the ship settled back to the surface with a slight thud.

"The door is opening," Kim said. Over his head the sign again started to flash.

"Fast trip that one," Neelix said. He sounded calm, but he was standing now and had somehow moved right next to B'Elanna. B'Elanna studied her tricorder, but all the readings indicated that nothing had changed with the ship. It had simply closed the door, lifted less than a meter off the ground, then settled back into place. But why? Had the trip been aborted? And how had it even lifted?

There were no signs of antigravity units on this ship, or even engines. Nothing but a huge waiting room.

Suddenly B'Elanna realized something was very different. A draft of almost hot air blew in the corridor and the light from the direction of the door looked brighter. - Kim had already noticed and had his tricoirder as pointed at the entrance to the ship. "There's something wrong here," he said softly.

B'Elanna turned her tricorder in the same direction and got the answer. The air coming in the open door was totally different from when they had come in. It had more organisms in it. And humidity. And it was warmer. Considerably warmer.

With Kim and Neelix at her side, she moved cautiously toward the entrance. When they reached the point at the top of the ramp where they could see out, they stopped.

And stared.

"Oh, my," Neelix said.

"Where are we?" Kim asked.

Spread out in front of them was the same vast open area, only now most of the ships were gone. The pavement was covered with fresh colored lines. The buildings looked new. Tall, thin humanoids walked at different speeds to and from the ships and the building.

The people dressed in bright greens, reds, and purples. Most wore blue or yellow hats that somehow failed to clash. Some humanoids walked alone. Others walked in groups. Some carried what appeared to be luggage, while others carried nothing.

Ten ships down, a door silently closed and a ramp pulled up. The ship lifted off the pavement and vanished.

None of the nearby humanoids seemed to notice at all. B'Elanna took in the scene for a moment and then 29 tapped her comm badge. "Away team to Voyager. Come in, Voyager. -- No answer.

Kim quickly adjusted his tricorder and then in coma cracking voice told her what she already feared.

"Voyager is no longer in orbit."

JANEWAY DID NOT LIKE THE FACT THAT THREE OF HER CREW members were inside a ship whose power had just come on. She stood in the center of the bridge, Chakotay beside her, Paris at conn, and stared at the viewscreen as if it provided answers. It did not. The view was the same: row after row of ships extended far into the distance. If she had not known that her people were aboard the ship directly in the center of the screen, she would comn have been able to discern their presence at all.

Tuvok was monitoring their progress. "The ship is lifting," he said. Janeway hit her comm badge. Ensign Hoffman was the 'best transporter operator they had. If anyone could get them out quickly, Ensign Hoffman could.

"Transporter room," Janeway said. "Get them out of there." "Aye, sir." Ensign Hoffman always resorted to Starfleet protocol when rattled.

Janeway was rattled herself. She didn't want any of her crew to get hurt. Who would have thought that ancient ships would have started so easily? Or so mysteriously?

"The ship has disappeared," Paris said. His normally sardonic voice had an element of surprise in it.

"Confirmed, Captain." Even Tuvok sounded a bit odd. He clearly hadn't expected this either.

Janeway could see that the ship had disappeared.

What had been an unbroken row of tiny circular ships a moment before was now a row of tiny circular ships with one ship-sized break in the middle.

"Transporter room?" Janeway said. "Ensign Hoffman, did you get them?" Silence greeted her. Janeway hit her comm badge again.

"Ensign Hoffman! Report!" Chakotay looked at Janeway. His broad features were stem. There was no comfort in his expression.

"I'm sorry, Captain." Hoffman's soft voice had a note of regret. "The link was broken. I can't seem to get a fix on them.".

Janeway turned to Tuvok. "Can you trace them?

Where'd the ship go?" Tuvok's hands were already playing the board. Chakotay sprinted to the science station, and Paris was manipulating information on conn. 611 can't trace them," Chakotay said. 32 That's not possible," said Paris.

"It happened," Tuvok said. "Therefore it is possible." "Save the debate for another time, gentlemen," Janeway said. "Tell me what has happened to my away team." Chakotay shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't, Captain." "Captain," Paris said. "That ship and the three aboard no longer exist in this place and time." "They no longer exist?" Janeway asked.

"Are they dead?" "I don't know, Captain," Tuvok said, "although that is doubtful.

The ship vanished. They vanished with it." "I know that," Janeway said. "I want to know what happened to it." "Believe me, Captain, we do too," Paris said. He was staring at the board in front of him as if it could provide answers. "It was not destroyed or transported by any means we know," Chakotay said. "It is not cloaked and it did not leave the planet in any normal fashion." "So what happened to it?" Janeway asked.

Tuvok looked up and held her gaze for a moment before he answered. "It just simply ceased to exist." "Gentlemen, I do not accept that explanation.

My away team has disappeared. We will find them." Janeway climbed the steps to the science station herself.

As she stepped beside Chakotay, he made a startled sound. 33 "Captain," all three men said together. Paris finished the sentence. "The ship's back." Janeway looked at the viewscreen. The tiny hole in the rows of ships was gone. She let out the breath she had been holding. She tapped her comm badge.

"Ensign Hoffman, beam that team out of there," she said. "Wait, Captain," Chakotay said. "Better belay that order." "Hold, Ensign." Janeway turned to'Chakotay. "This had better be good." "There's only one person on board," Chakotay said.

"Humanoid," Tuvok added.

"But no one we know," Paris said.

"No one we know?" Janeway asked. She moved in beside Chakotay. The evidence at the science station was incontrovertible. The ship had left seconds earlier with all three members of the away team. It had reappeared with a single person on board, but that person wasn't human or a member of any other race the Federation had ever met.

The away team had completely vanished. Not a trace of them was left.

The warmth of the day and the heat coming off the concrete surface below the ramp contrasted sharply with the memory Torres had of this same place just a few minutes before. Cold winds and sand had blown thin air through thousands of abandoned ships. The sky had been a dull gray above the ship graveyard and the sun not much more than a low glow on the horizon. 34 Now the day was warm, the light yellow, the sky clear, and the sun directly overhead. The ships all seemed to be new, at least those that were present. And in a place where before no one had existed, not one living thing, now teemed thousands of colorfully dressed humanoids, calmly going about their business between the ships and the buildings. These humanoids all appeared to belong to the same race: they were as tall as most Klingons, but had larger chins and smaller foreheads. They seemed, however, to vary as much as Klingons varied. Like Earthlings, though, these people had different-color hair and a finer bone structure. Their clothing was as varied as their personal appearances. But nothing about them gave any clue as to what they used the ships for.

B'Elanna set the shock of change aside-getting lost in the reaction would do her no good-and took a hard look up at the underside of the ship they had arrived in. It was clearly the same one, old and very weathered. The ships around them seemed much newer. She turned to Kim. His eyes were wide, his skin unnaturally pale. He had looked this same way when she had first met him, in the Ocampa doctor's rooms. Superficially composed and yet clearly scared to death.