Reaching Out Part 4
 

Janeway took a deep breath and tucked a strand of her soaked hair behind her ear.  She sat down in a nearby chair.

"Play it again, Mr. Barkley.  How did she..."

"Get it here?  She used the same system I used to contact Voyager.  Here we go."

He played the message again, and watched the blood drain from Janeway's face.

"I need a copy of that recording."

"Yes, sir."

Hours later she sat in her office and played the recording to B'Elanna.

"What do you think?"

"Sound serious."

"I know.  Damn, I just don't trust that D'Lara as far as I can throw her.  God!"  She slammed her hands on the desk and stood up.  "What if something's happened to her?  Omega Prime's a good twenty years away. D'Lara must not know we got home."

B'Elanna was not a communications officer, but she knew better.

"Then how'd she know to send the message here?  She must know, but how?"

"They..."  She paused as she tried to find an appropriate answer.  "They know everything."

"How?"

"Sorry, part of the secret.  I can't live like this, with the knowledge that something's wrong with Seven, and who knows what D'Lara's up to, she could've made this whole thing up."

"I guess you'll just have to wait for the next
transmission.  This D'Lara's human, right? There has to be something about her in Federation records. Maybe it's time to do some sniffing around."

"Starfleet can't know about this."

"No problem.  I have some Maquis associated who owe me a favor or two.  No one will know, but I do need access to Voyager data banks."

"Done."

"Well then,"  She stood from her chair, "I'm on my way then, Admiral.  Wish me luck."

"Good luck."  She sat down and played the recording again.
 

D'Lara sat quietly in a meditation room, looking at the paper lied out before her.  Her eyes roamed over the map she had drawn as she silently went over the same mantra:Get the target and leave get the target and leave get the target and leave.

A knock at the door jarred her concentration.  She jerked upright and glared at the door.

"Come in."

Varen opened the door and poked his head in, his long hair swaying.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt.  The council wants your report on your apprentice."

"In my room, on the desk."

"What are you doing, anyway?"

"Preparing to consult the obelisk."

"Really?" His high alien forehead rose in surprise.

"Yes."  Her answer was curt.

"Then I'll leave you to it."  He closed the door silently.

Get the target get the target....
 
 

Janeway wasn't even sure if D'Lara would send another recording or if it would be actual two way communication.  Perhaps D'Lara's communication equipment wasn't capable of it.  Or she liked the control of having last word.

It was probably the latter.

She wasn't sure why she distrusted D'Lara so much. When they had met they got along like oil and water. D'Lara had never once addressed her as Captain, and only referred to her by her last name.

But she had tried to warn her that Seven should not leave Voyager.

She needed to send a transmission back to Seven, something, anything.

When she got home she got some paper out of her desk and sat down.
 
D"Lara stepped into the underground cavern that housed the giant limestone obelisk.  The cavern was made of a tan stone with ceiling that reached at least a good hundred feet. The obelisk loomed in front of her and she gazed up it's length, taking in the hieroglyphic etched surface.

She approached it, gathered her robes about her, and sat down in front of it.  Reaching out, she placed her palm against the engraved surface.

A million images flooded her mind, sounds followed. She began to get overwhelmed by the cacophony and her eyes began to water.  No. Find the target.

She found the string of data she wanted and followed it to where she needed to go.

A star chart exploded in her mind, multi dimensional and spinning.  She did her best to commit to memory. A roaring began in her ears and she could feel a pressure build in her skull and behind her eyes as the information attempted to close in.  There would be no backing out the way she came, she had stayed in one spot too long..

She removed her hand from the obelisk.  Her skull screamed in agony and it felt like her brain was trying to force its way out through her eye sockets. Looking down she saw a lone drop of blood drop slowly to the floor.  It's color splashed on the stone.  It had came from her tear duct.

Finally the pain had receded, and she rose to her feet and strode out of the chamber.
 
 The red rays of the sunset splashed across Kathryn's blank sheet of paper, finding herself completely overwhelmed.  She had a day and a half to write what may be the most important letter of her life and her mind was blank, or rather, so overwhelmed it was effectively constipated.

She put the paper aside and decided to take a walk.
 

Time went by faster than she realized.  The morning of the second transmission Kathryn was edgy, palms sweating.  She left early to meet Barkley in his communications lab used for Project Voyager.  A good majority of it was dismantled now.  She looked down at the padd in her her hand which had several versions of the letters she had written and she still hadn't decided on one.

Barkley directed her to a chair at a console where she was to record her message.  She sat down and adjusted the microphone. She had to decide.

She tossed the padd aside.  Hell with it.

"Seven, this is Kathryn.  There aren't enough words for me to explain how I'm feeling right now. I just want you to know that my life has never since the same since I met you, and to watch you blossom as you did was an incredible experience.  I miss you terribly, I think about you every day, and I love you. I'll always love you.  Our paths may never cross again, but for the time that they did, it was remarkable....End transmission."

She cleared her throat and looked up to see B'Elanna and Barkley staring at her.

Her face grew hot for a moment. B'Elanna chose to break the silence.  "I got some info for you on D'Lara."

Kathryn stood and led B'Elanna to a more private part of the lab.

"Whatever, whoever she is she's been shuffling around this planet for a long time.  This is a Starfleet personnel file from fifty years ago."  She handed the padd to Kathryn.  There was an image of D'Lara in an older Starfleet uniform.

"Captain Delia Standridge of the U.S.S. Glasgow, killed in a shuttle craft accident, the body was never recovered.  It was also kept quiet, but at the time of her death she was a suspect in the murder of
her chief engineer."

Janeway gulped, and paged through the other info on the padd.

"That's her again on that I.D., some sort of government I.D. from-" "Nineteen ninety?" Janeway said, reading the printed date.

"Then she was Shannon Williams,  I couldn't find much on her but there were some police records on her, where she was, surprise, the suspect in a number of murders in upstate Maine.  Whatever the hell she is, she's old and dangerous.  I have no doubt that these pictures are of the same person."

This is Starfleet, weird comes with the job, you just don't expect it to be growing in your backyard.

"Admiral, it's time."

She glanced over at Barkley. Hurriedly she handed him the padd with the notes she had written for Seven, and selected one to be sent along with her recorded message.

Then the message came.

"This is D'Lara, with my second message for Kathryn Janeway.  Circumstances have provided me with information that could get you safely to Omega Prime. I am sending coordinates with a date and time for which you must be there, a small single occupant craft will suffice.  A wormhole will appear at the time I am providing you that will take you directly here.  I can personally guarantee your safe passage here and on your return trip home.  I'll take care of everything, all you have to do is trust me.  End transmission."
 

Janeway examined the transmitted data with Barkley.

"I've got 72 hours to get there,"she said, studying the coordinates. "And it's going to take at least 16 hours flight time.  The Delta Flier would be perfect."  Kathryn mumbled, giving her engineer a sideways glance.

"There's no way Starfleet is going to approve of this, I'm sorry.  The Delta Flier stays in dry dock.  The Federation and myself appreciate everything you've done and I understand your desire to help out a former crew member. I've read your reports on the Delta quadrant, and it seems like a very hostile environment.  It would be irresponsible to let you go back there, especially considering your state of mind."  The Commodore lowered his voice toward the end.

"My state of mind?"

"Why don't you take some time off?  I think you need to get your thoughts together, get some perspective. I want you to take three months off, starting right now."  He stood from his desk and walked around to face her.

"Kathryn...we're not doing this to spite you.  Your behavior has been a little erratic lately and now you want to fly off by yourself to meet with someone who is probably trying to deceive you.  In good faith, I can't let you go."

Kathryn held herself in check.  "I think you're right.  Thank you for seeing me today, Commodore, I'll start that vacation right away.  Maybe I do need some time off."  They shook hands and she left his office.

The Delta Flier wasn't their anyway, it was made on Voyager and didn't  belong to them.  If she had to steal it she would.  There wasn't much time.

When she got home she found B'Elanna Torres and Chakotay waiting of her front steps.

"Kathryn, we need to talk." her former first officer said quietly. "Let's go inside."

She sat down on the couch but they continued to stand.  She hadn't seen Chakotay n a while.  He was training for a teaching position at the academy and was beginning to lose some of the pounds he had packed on being a sedentary first officer.  She wondered what B'Elanna had told him and secretly hoped he had been shocked, just for a little cruel fun.

"I don't think this is a good idea," he said.

"What is this?  Some kind of Maquis intervention?"

He sat down next to her and turned sideways to face her.

"This sounds like a dangerous situation.  B'Elanna told me what you found out about D'Lara.  I don't like it."

"I know you'll find this hard to believe, but I miss Seven, too," B'Elanna stated, crossing her arms.  "But she's gone, decades from here.  Maybe it's time to start dealing with that realistically."

For the first time she allowed herself to consider that they may be right. D'Lara was a pied piper she shouldn't be following, and was probably using her feelings about Seven to manipulate her. She was tired, too tired to think anymore.

She agreed to give their advice some thought, and after they left went promptly to bed.

Hours later she woke, her muscles tense and her body shaking.  Sweat made her nightshirt cling to her, and she tossed the covers aside irritably.

A dream had torn through her sleep, leaving nothing in its wake, only a vague feeling of desperation and the sound of Seven's voice filled with pain.

Twelve hours had passed.  Twelve hours! She did the math in her head. Fifty-four hours left to get to her rendezvous with a wormhole.

She jumped out of bed and began to get dressed.  The decision had been made. No matter what the cost, she was getting back to Omega Prime.

Part 5