Disclaimer:
This story is based in the "Star Trek" universe. The use of anything related to "Star Trek" in this series is not intended to infringe upon the rights of Paramount Pictures. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise.
All other content or otherwise are works of my own imagination. All events are fictitious in nature.
Any similarities to persons living, dead, or otherwise are purely coincidental.
This story contains strong themes of homosexual content, if this offends you in any way, please refrain from reading further. If you are not of legal age to read this, please leave now.
Ok as well before we start this is based on the series Star Trek Voyager but with a twist from the original story line and i hope you like it.
Chapter 3: Loss
"First Officers log stardate 45180.3 Voyager has spent the last several weeks assisting with the cleanup of the areas of space where major attacks have happened during the dominion war. I have to admit it's refreshing to do things to assist the federation instead of constantly having issues to deal with whilst we were in the delta quadrant. Things on board are running smoothly and the crew is happy carrying out the missions we are sent on. End Log." I said as I made out my log. I was sat in my office working away checking over systems reports and reviewing the tactical diagnostic B'Elanna had brought me. "Bridge to Commander Carter" came Paris' voice over the comm. "Go ahead." I said. "Sir we are receiving a transmission from Starfleet Command, I would inform Chakotay but he is currently in sickbay." He told me. "Understood Tom, I'll take the call." I replied. "Aye Sir." Tom replied before closing the channel. A few seconds later the call was routed to me and I tapped a few keys on my console and the screen came alive to reveal Kathryn. "Jack, I had expected to be talking to Chakotay." She said. "He's in sickbay at the minute." I replied. "Ah I see, nothing serious I hope." She asked. "Nothing urgent, he fractured his wrist earlier on the holodeck and is getting it seen to." I told her. I paused before continuing "How can I help?" I asked. "Well I have new orders for you. Starfleet has been impressed with how well you have handled the cleanup efforts and now has a new assignment for you. 2 weeks ago the starship Sovereign was sent to the Gamma Quadrant to begin a search for new locations for mining sites and colonies as well as starbase sites. However yesterday morning they never checked in at the usual time and the ship cannot be raised. With the defiant undergoing major upgrades and with most of the fleet either in drydock or on other missions, Voyager has been chosen to track down the Sovereign and see what is going on. Your orders are to find them, assist them if necessary and report on their current situation and if necessary return them safely back to earth." She told me. "Understood." I replied. "I'm sending you all the information we have and the reports that Captain De-Soto has submitted. I'm sure that you and Chakotay will do your best to find them." She told me. "We will ma'am." I said. "Very good, keep me informed and have Chakotay contact me once you have something." She ordered. "Aye Sir." I replied. "Janeway out." She said as the screen went blank. I received the information and looked it through and made out my own report. "Carter to Chakotay." I said over an hour later. "Go ahead." He replied. "Sir, I need to see you. We have received orders from Starfleet command." I told him. "Understood, I'll join you in your office." He told me. "Understood sir, Carter out." I said and the comm. Channel ended.
After spending some time with Chakotay going over what the Admiral told me and the information I reviewed he was caught up to speed. "Very well Jack, call a meeting of the senior staff and we can bring them up to speed." He said. "Understood sir, All Senior staff report to the briefing room in 10 minutes." I said over the comm. Together Chakotay and I left my office and headed for the bridge. 10 minutes later the senior staff was assembled in the briefing room all sat around the table. "Earlier we received a transmission from Starfleet Command, however at the time I was unavailable so Jack took the call. It was from Admiral Janeway and she has given us new orders. Jack is going to brief us on this. Jack..." Chakotay told the senior staff. Everyone turned to me. I stood up and went over to the wall console and inputted some information bringing up the schematics for the Sovereign. "The U.S.S Sovereign, the first ship of her class." I explained to everyone. "I'm sure many of you already know about the sovereign class ship having spent some time aboard the Enterprise E therefore it saves me having to explain to you in detail about this class of ship." I said looking at everyone as they nodded. "Good, well the Sovereign was sent on a mission to the Gamma Quadrant two weeks ago in order to begin a search for new locations for mining sites and colonies as well as starbase sites. However the ship has not been heard from in a few days and Starfleet in understandably worried and have ordered us to investigate. The reports we have received have suggested that Sovereign was due to start their mission in sector 4258. The last report Starfleet received said that they were in Sector 4263 and had still not found any suitable planets that could be of use. Everything on board was functioning and there had been no issues on board. Voyager will begin its search in Sector 4263. Upon our locating the vessel Starfleet has ordered us to assist them and report back and if necessary escort her back to Earth." I said before taking my seat. "This sounds like it's going to be fun." Said Harry. I smiled. "Standard search and locate mission people, upon our finding the ship, Jack will be leading an away team on board." Chakotay told us. "If there is nothing further then, Mr Paris set a course for Deep Space Nine." Chakotay then ordered. "Aye Sir." He replied. "Dismissed." Chakotay said. Everyone stood and left and returned to their posts.
After spending a few hours at warp we eventually arrived at Deep Space Nine to see a buzz of activity going on. Many ships were either docked or leaving the station. I was sat on bridge with Chakotay and Troy working away. "Hail the station." Chakotay ordered. I heard Harry work the controls before saying "They are responding." He brought the viewscreen to life as I stood up and moved over the centre of the bridge. "This is Colonel Kira of Deep Space Nine, how can we assist you Voyager." Said Kira. "Colonel, I'm Commander Jack Carter, First officer, request permission to enter the wormhole and proceed to the Gamma Quadrant." I said. "Permission granted Commander, Starfleet Command has already contacted us and informed us of your mission. Good luck." She said. "Thank you." I said before the channel closed. "Mr Paris, lay in a course for the wormhole and take us in." Chakotay said. He flew us directly for the wormhole as it opened. He flew us straight in and we were on our way. It was a beautiful site to see on the viewscreen, all the blue tendrils of energy mixing creating a magnificent site. The Bajoran people say that the wormhole is the home of prophets but I never believed all the nonsense. We remained in the wormhole for a few minutes before emerging on the other side. Once we were clear Chakotay spoke up, "Mr Paris Lay in a course for Sector 4263. Warp 8." He ordered. Paris did so and took us to warp. "We are on course, ETA 11 hours." Paris told us. "Good then we should arrive for 08:00." I said. "Jack, it's time to change the watch over." Chakotay whispered to me. I had not realised the time. The night watch was already on the bridge and waiting to assume their stations. "Day shift, release your posts. Night Shift assume your positions." I ordered. Everyone took their posts and left the bridge with the exception of Tom who was waiting for me. I briefed Lieutenant Jenkinson before leaving the bridge with Tom. After heading for the day care centre to collect Matthew we returned to our quarters. "What a day." Tom said. I smiled as I lay Matt down in his crib. As we had run late on shift the staff at the day care centre had already fed him and bathed him and got him into his pj's ready for bed and I could see when I went to collect him he was exhausted. I stroked his hair and pretty soon he was out like a light. I went back into the main area to see Tom sprawled out on the sofa with a coffee in hand and one on the table waiting for me. I sat next to him and took a swig of my coffee. "Do you think we will find the Sovereign?" he asked me. "I'm sure we can." I said looking at him. I was about to say something else when the door chime went off. "Come in." I said, the doors opened and in walked Chakotay smiling. "Captain." I said. "Jack please sit down." He said sighing. "Listen when we were in the delta quadrant Kathryn and I had the understanding that when we were on duty I would address her properly but off duty we were on a first name basis and that's the way I want it to be between us. No more of this sir business I want us to be on the first name basis like me and Kathryn, and I want to do the meals that me and Kathryn did, we used to meet weekly for a meal and I want us to do the same, and of course your invited Tom." Chakotay added. I smiled. "That sounds great, we can do it in here." I said. Chakotay laughed and said "Well only if your sure." I smiled "Of course I'm sure." I said. "Good well now that's settled, Tom I have assigned you to the away team with the doctor and B'Elanna and I'll be leading the team." He said, this had me at a dead stop. "Captain, I don't think I have to remind you that..." was all I said before Chakotay cut me off, "Jack I appreciate your concerns but this isn't open for debate. I'm leading the team. There is a minimal risk and besides its been so long since I led an away team that I deserve to stretch my legs." He said with a smile. I held my hands up and said "Fine, but don't blame me if Kathryn kicks your ass from earth back to the delta quadrant." He laughed, "Well I'm going to head back to my quarters to grab some dinner before getting some sleep. I'll see you both in the morning." He said before walking out the door. We replicated dinner and headed off to bed.
I woke the next morning to find Matthew crawling all over me and Tom sat up keeping an eye on him. "Well hello gorgeous." I said taking hold of him and lifting him up which he let out a little giggle. I tickled his belly and his continued to giggle even more. "What time is it?" I asked Tom who came back from the replicator with a coffee for me. "05:00" he replied. "And don't worry Matthew has already been fed and burped." He added. "Awww your so good." I said kissing Tom. We hung out in bed for a while playing and reading to Matthew before getting out of bed. I went and showered while Tom bathed and dressed Matthew and by the time I was all ready in my uniform, Tom was sat on the sofa reading `3 Little Pigs' to Matt. "I'll take him, you grab a shower and then we can get some breakfast." I said to Tom. "Okay well we have only just started this book so I'll let you take over." He replied. I sat Matt on my knee and read him the story and soon Tom was ready and away we went for the day. After eating breakfast and dropping Matthew off at the day care centre Tom and I walked onto the bridge a little before 07:50 to see Harry at his post and Troy sat in his seat reading over a padd. "Good morning Jack." Harry said as I went over to my seat. "Morning Harry, your here early." I said. "Yes sir, I wanted to complete a diagnostic on the port lateral sensor pods." He said. "And?" I asked. "One of them was out of alignment but other than that everything is okay." He replied. "Good to hear. How long before we reach Sector 4263?" I asked. "On approach now sir." He replied. A moment later the doors to the turbolift opened as did the doors to the ready room as Chakotay, Paris and B'Elanna stepped onto the bridge. Tom and B'Elanna took their stations as Chakotay took his seat. "Report." Chakotay said. "On approach to Sector 4263." I said. "Entering the system now Captain." Paris said. "Slow to ½ impulse. Harry begin a scan for the Sovereign." Chakotay ordered. "Aye sir." Harry said. Chakotay leaned over in his chair to speak with Troy as I worked the controls on my station and checked things over on the ship. "Sir, I'm detecting a power signature." Harry said. I stood up and went to the railing by his console. "Does it match that of the Sovereign?" I asked. "Yes sir, they are 1.3 light years away on a heading of 168 mark 35." Harry told us. "Mr Paris lay in a course and engage at Warp 5." Chakotay ordered. "Aye Sir." He said. A few moments later we were at Warp. After an hour at Warp, Paris announced we were on approach. "Slow to ¼ impulse." Chakotay said. He did so and the ship began to slow. "I've located the Sovereign." Harry said. "She's within Visual range." he added. "On Screen." I said. The viewscreen came to life, and there sat the sovereign. Scorch marks across her hull, the port nacelle completely offline and what looked like several hull ruptures. "Scan the Vessel." I said. "They are adrift, multiple hull breaches, warp drive is offline." B'Elanna said. "Any sign of the crew?" I asked. "The readings are erratic, I can't tell." B'Elanna answered. I looked over at Chakotay who looked back and said "Tom, bring us to within transporter range. Away team your with me. Jack the bridge is yours." He stood and headed for the turbolift with B'Elanna and my Tom and left. I took the centre chair, it felt strange, when I was the night watch officer back in the delta quadrant we only had two chairs, but now I had to get used to 3 and it felt so strange. "The away team have beamed over." Harry said bringing me out of my daydream. "Keep an open comm. Link for them." I said "Aye sir." He replied. We continued to monitor their progress when the comm. Went off. "Chakotay to Voyager." He said. "Go ahead captain." I replied. "The ship is abandoned, there was only the captain left on board, the escape pods were launched by him but he had severe injuries and died shortly after." He explained. "Do we know what happened?" I asked. "We have looked at the ships logs and it appears that..." was all Chakotay said before the comm. Link was cut off. "What happened?" I asked. "We are being jammed. We have lost sensor contact and transporter lock" Harry said. "By who?" I asked. But before he could answer Paris called out, "Commander I'm reading a ship on approach, they are 200,000 kilometres away and closing and their weapons are powered." He explained. "Harry can you identify them?" I asked. "Checking...." he said. "Sir, their hull configuration doesn't match anything in our database." He said. "Hail them." I said. Harry worked the controls. "No response." He told me. "Open a channel all frequencies." I ordered. "Open." he said "This is Commander Jack Carter of the Federation starship Voyager, please identify yourself." I said. I waited a moment and then looked at Harry but before he could answer the ship shook.
"Red Alert, All Hands to Battlestations." I said. The bridge went crimson red as we prepared for combat. "Shields up, Arm Phasers, Loads Torpedoes." I said. "Harry re-open a channel." I then ordered. "This is Voyager, we do not wish to fight you however if you don't stand down we will retaliate." I said. "Still no answer." Harry said as the ship shook again. "Seven take tactical, Mr Paris evasive manuveurs." I said. He initiated the sequence as Seven went over to the tactical station. The enemy ship fired again. "Return fire." I said. Seven fired phasers at the ship and they hit us again. "Target their weapons array and fire." I said. "Harry try to break through the interference we need the away team back." I said. Paris and Seven continued to fight well between them with Paris executing the best tactical flying I've seen him do. Things then suddenly changed. "Sir the attacking ship is trying to pull us away from the sovereign." Paris said. "A smaller ship has just been launched from their hanger bay and is heading for the sovereign they have their weapons trained on them." Harry explained. "Without shields the sovereign will be destroyed." Seven said. "Harry any look?" I asked. "I think so, try it now." He said. "Voyager to away team come in."I said. "Jack what's going on?" said Chakotay over a crackly line. "We are under attack by an unidentified ship, prepare to beam back." I said. I looked at Harry as the smaller ship began to attack the Sovereign. "The sovereign structural integrity is at 13% and dropping rapidly." Seven said. "Harry lock onto the away team and prepare to beam them back." I said. "I only have a partial lock, I can only take one at a time." He told me. "Then we are about to find out what improvements Starfleet did to this ships hull. Bridge to transporter room 1." I said. "Go ahead." Came Luke's voice. "Luke I understand you can only transport one at time." I said. "That's right sir." He said. "We are going to drop shields, try to get them over as quick as you can." I said. As I was saying this the ship was continuing to take hits with conduits and consoles sparking over head. "Away team, we can only take you one at time. Prepare for transport." I said. "Understood." Chakotay said. "The sovereign structural integrity is at 7%." Seven said. "Understood, Lower shields and begin transport." I said. With the shields down, each hit now was 10 times worse than normal. We took a hit as seven shouted, "Hull breach deck 8." I ignored it as Luke said "The doctor is on board." He continued to transport and then said "We have Tom." I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing he was back to safety. "We have B'Elanna." He said. Just as luke reported that B'Elanna was on board the ship took a giant hit and I was thrown from my feet. "Direct hit transporters are offline." Harry reported. "Get them back." I said. "I can't half the relays are fused." He told me. "Jack get me out of here." Chakotay said over the comm. Everything was falling apart. "Captain transporters just went down, if you can make it to their transporter room we will keep our shields down and wait for you." I said but there was no answer. "Captain." I said again. "The comm. Is gone." Harry said. We took another hit and a bulkhead fell to the floor right by me. "Sir we need to re-raise shields." Paris said. "No we have to wait for Chakotay. All remaining power to the weapons and structural integrity. Target their engines and life support. Fire." I said. Seven fired multiple quantum torpedoes hitting the ship head on. "Sir the Sovereign." Harry shouted bringing it up on screen. We saw the smaller ship fire a torpedo as the sovereign exploded. Everyone stood at their posts in shock. My Tom and B'Elanna walked onto the bridge and saw. "Nooo." B'Elanna said getting angry. She pushed Seven aside at Tactical. She was as angry as I was. "B'Elanna target that things Warp Core with every weapon we have and fire." I said. She did so destroying the smaller ship and then moving onto the larger ship. "Fire a tachyon burst at their shields. As soon as their shields are dropped target their warp core and fire." I said with hatred in my voice. B'Elanna did so and fired destroying the ship. Everyone stood at their consoles looking in total shock. The Sovereign was destroyed and we had lost Chakotay. "Stand down red alert. Damage report." I said. "Minor hull damage, transporters are down, 3 breaches which have been sealed. 12 wounded." B'Elanna told me. "Assign repair teams Tom." I said. "Aye sir." He replied. "What did you learn about the Sovereign?" I asked. "They were attacked by the same ship, however they caught them by surprise. By the time they responded, they couldn't do anything apart from abandon ship. The sensors of the sovereign reported that no escape pods made it, they were all destroyed as were the shuttles." She told me. "Understood, Harry open a channel to Starfleet, priority 1. Get me Admiral Janeway." I said. "Aye sir." He replied. "Put it through to the ready room. Paris set a course back to the wormhole maximum warp." I said. "Yes sir." He replied. I went down into the ready room and looked around to see all of Chakotay's decorative items around. I sat down and tapped the control on the console and Kathryn's face appeared. "Jack report." She said. "We located the sovereign sir." I said trying hard not to show my emotions. Inside I wanted to cry. "What condition are they in?" she asked. "I regret to inform you sir, that the Sovereign was destroyed with the loss of all hands." I informed her. "Understood I'll make a record of it. Where's Chakotay shouldn't he be telling me this?" she asked. My face dropped and I turned away. "Jack what happened?" she said instantly recognising something was wrong. I turned back and looked at her. "Chakotay lead the away team over to the sovereign, however we came under attack from the same ship that attacked the sovereign. We were only able to transport one person at a time out and before we could beam Chakotay out we lost transporters. The sovereign was destroyed shortly after with Chakotay still on board." I explained. She looked at me in complete shock. "It can't be true." she said. "I'm sorry to say it is true sir." I replied. She stood in total shock and then shook her head. "Jack, I want your official report on that topic." She said. "Admiral, as first officer of this ship it is my duty to inform you that Captain Chakotay was killed a short time ago when the U.S.S Sovereign was destroyed." I said. "Understood Commander, I will make a record of that also. In the mean time your orders are to return to earth immediately for de-briefing. I want the away mission reports, and the overall mission report, which is now your responsibility, ready for when you return. I will beam aboard as soon as you return. Janeway out." She said and ended the channel. I hit a control and ended the channel on my end and put my head in my hands. I then walked out on to the bridge. "Away team I need your report by the end of the day. Mr Paris what's our ETA on the wormhole?" I asked. "8 hours, and we will be back at earth in 12 hours." He said. I looked at the time, 11:00 hours. It wasn't even lunchtime and we had already lost the captain of this ship. "Understood" I said. I looked to B'Elanna who's expression was a complete blank, although I could see in her eyes her mood had gone from angry to sad.
An hour later I emerged from the ready room and on to the bridge having just finished the mission report. Up until this point it was agreed among the bridge crew not to mention anything about Chakotay until after minor repairs were complete. The time had now come for me to make the official announcement. I walked to centre of the bridge and looked at each member of the senior staff and then hit the control on the side of the captains chair. "All hands, this is Commander Carter, I would like your complete attention." I said before pausing. "It is with great sadness that I must inform you of a situation on board. 1 hour ago whilst on board the Sovereign, Captain Chakotay was killed. This is a devastating blow to this ship and to the people who served under him. We have been ordered to return to earth by Admiral Janeway where the senior staff and I will be de-briefed and also where we can hold a service in honour of Chakotay. Captain Chakotay was a fine man and an excellent officer, one of the best captain's in the fleet. For those of you who served under him in the delta quadrant when he was this ships first officer, you will remember the times we shared together. I would like you all to take a moment to remember the Captain." I said as the ship went quiet. It remained quiet for roughly two minutes to the point where you could hear a pin drop. "Thank you all. I expect everyone to carry out their duties as normal. There will be time to grieve when we return to Earth. Carter out."