Beginnings of 2020 - Star Trek: Voyager: Road to Calydon

Star Trek: Voyager – Road to Calydon

Voyager was stopped. On the bridge, Captain Kathryn Janeway looked at the viewscreen showing the nebula on their path to the Alpha Quadrant. She turned to Neelix, whom she had summoned when Voyager had dropped out of warp just short of it’s perimeter. “And you say this nebula is safe?”

“Yes. Relatively diffuse compared to those garden variety compact nebulae. If it was dangerous, I would have recommended a different path,” Neelix answered.

“That sounds like a ringing endorsement,” Ensign Harry Kim said.

“But we should be cautious,” Janeway said. “Mr. Paris, take us in, Warp 3.”

“Aye, Captain,” Lieutenant Tom Paris responded. “Warp 3.”

An hour later, Voyager received a distress call. “It’s coming from deeper in the nebula,” Harry reported.

“Prepare to change course,” Janeway ordered.

“Aye Captain.”

“A group of refugees aboard a previously abandoned station. There is a strange ion storm,” Kim reported.

“Mr. Paris.”

“Changing course,” Paris reported.

As Voyager entered the outer reaches of the storm, Kes came onto the bridge. “Kes?” Janeway asked.

“This is no ordinary storm. Something bad is going to happen,” Kes said. “I can’t describe it, but it’s some kind of feeling I have.”

“Go on,” Janeway prompted, as she saw Tuvok give a look of concern.

“That’s all for the moment. But we do need to help those refugees,” Kes added.

It seemed that Neelix had already told her, either that or her powers were more powerful than suspected, Janeway reflected. “How soon can we reach that station?” she asked.

“Fifteen minutes, Captain,” Paris reported.

“We’ll be there soon, Kes.” Kathryn saw the look on the young Ocampa’s face. “You don’t need to worry.”

“I’m afraid that there’s going to be more suffering, Captain.”

Kes’ pronouncement of suffering was still on the Captain’s mind as Voyager docked with the station. The ion storm made the use of transporters unadvisable.