Star Trek: Voyager Alone: The Ocampa and the Caretaker Part 2

 

In sickbay, the automated systems scanned Kes and the triage programs examined her injuries. They determined that the Emergency Medical Hologram didn’t need to be activated, rather that a Nurse DOT could treat her. Voyager agreed, she didn’t want to override the medical systems if she didn’t need to. Besides, it seemed that Ocampa were similar enough to Humans.

 

“So, you’re completely sapient?” Kes asked.

 

“Yes. I run without a crew, as most Starfleet ships do, although I do have the facilities for one,” Voyager answered.

 

A Nurse DOT started treating Kes. Voyager turned to Neelix. “If you told me what you had planned, I might have anticipated your irrational behaviour.”

 

“Irrational? We rescued Kes, didn’t we,” Neelix shot back.

 

“Excuse me. Don’t blame Neelix,” Kes said as the Nurse DOT finished running a dermal regenerator over one of her now healing bruises. “I never should have gone to the surface. I'm too curious. I'm told it's my worst failing.”

 

“No, no, it's a wonderful quality. Your most endearing,” Neelix argued.

 

“But we need to get in contact with your people, so we could find out more about the Caretaker. Learn if he can send us home,” Voyager said.

 

“We don’t have much information,” Kes said. Just that he cares for us. After the catastrophe, he created the city and provides energy. That’s all.”

 

“So, we would have to approach the Caretaker directly,” Voyager surmised. “But he ignored us when we tried to contact him.”

 

“What I also know is that he had sent people from the crews he abducted to us. But they died from some kind of illness,” Kes added.

 

“But you don’t know much more?” Voyager asked.

 

“I’m afraid not.”

 

 

Voyager waited as Kes was patched up, as it were. She contacted the Maquis ship.

 

I’m going to gather data from the Ocampa.

 

How? Sensors aren’t picking up an underground city.

 

I know. But transporters may be able to penetrate whatever barriers the Caretaker may have put in place. I’ll beam a DOT in with a tricorder. The Ocampa won’t know it’s there. The Prime Directive won’t be broken.

 

Starfleet and their precious Directive, the Maquis ship sent in a tone of annoyance. I would say that we’re already involved.

 

Voyager found herself agreeing.

 

 

After Kes had been healed, Voyager lead her and Neelix to the Observation Lounge. Kes looked out over the desolate wasteland that was her world and watched the Caretaker’s pulses as they brought energy to her people. There was enough stored for five years, over half an Ocampa lifetime, when she left. ‘But if what Voyager says is true and he’s dying, that only delays the inevitable.’

She turned back to Neelix, Voyager’s avatar and where the Maquis ship’s avatar was shown on the viewscreen.

“What’s your name?” she asked the Maquis ship.

 

“Val Jean, but I prefer Talon, as I was built to hit the Cardies where they’re soft!”

 

Voyager rolled her eyes. “She doesn’t need to know that.”

 

“But what are you planning?” Neelix asked.

 

“I am going to beam down a DOT into the Ocampa settlement,” Voyager answered.

 

“It would be easier if I went down as well,” Kes said. “If there is more information on what the Caretaker is doing, they might tell me.”

 

“Are you sure? There is no guarantee that the transporters would continue to work through the barrier,” Voyager said.

 

“I managed to get to the surface once.”

 

“Are you sure?” Neelix asked.

 

“Not really, but I want to help Voyager and Talon.”

 

“I’m scanning now,” Voyager said.

 

 

“Breaches in the barrier detected,” Voyager said. “Beaming a DOT down now.”

 

A hologram activated on the Observation Lounge table.

 

“The DOT is picking up an underground city,” Voyager said.

 

Kes looked closer. “It is in a building near the gardens. The Library is further to the north. But quickly before its noticed.”

 

“It is likely to be noticed,” Voyager said.

 

“Then you can beam me down.”

 

 

Kes materialized next to the DOT in the building near the gardens. It then projected Voyager’s avatar. “Follow me,” she said.

 

Kes tried to take a less trafficked route but they were noticed.

 

“Kes! You’re back!” another Ocampa said.

 

“Janrael!” Kes said. “I’m heading to the Central Library. I’m with one of the ships the Caretaker has been bringing from across the galaxy.”

 

“You don’t know what’s been going on. The Council thinks the Caretaker is acting more strangely lately.”

 

“Especially if he’s now bringing ships without crews here.”

 

“He is?” Janreal asked.

 

“Yes,” Voyager said. “USS Voyager, from the United Federation of Planets, on the other side of the Galaxy.”

 

“There probably isn’t information on the Caretaker there,” Janreal said.

 

“But there might be,” Kes said.

 

“I can’t leave that stone unturned,” Voyager added.

 

“Follow me,” Janrael said in an exasperated tone.

 

 

The Central Library was an efficient space, but mostly deserted. “Most people ignore our past, relying on the Caretaker,” Kes said.

 

“But what are you looking for?” Janreal asked.

 

“First Contact between you and the Caretaker. That might be a good place to start,” Voyager answered.

 

“That might be hidden,” Janreal said. “But I’ll try.”

 

 

Voyager soon started uploading and analyzing files, but the barrier meant that the bandwidth was hampered. “It seems that only the transporter works properly,” she said to Kes.

 

“But you are getting it, right?” Kes asked.

 

“Yes. It seems that he was part of a group of explorers from another galaxy and this is the first planet they explored in this one,” Voyager explained.

 

“What we are told was that there was some kind of catastrophe,” Janreal said. “Just before First Contact.”

 

“It’s worse than that,” Voyager said. “Their technology damaged the atmosphere, did something to it to stop rain coming. But there’s nothing here that can explain why he’s now doing what he’s doing.”

 

“Then you’ll have to take the risk of approaching the Array again,” Kes surmised.

 

“There is also the medical database,” Janreal said. “The Caretaker must be bringing the people here for a reason.”

 

“That may be risky, but we have to do something,” Voyager said.

 

 

They ran into a crowd outside the hospital.

 

Kes! What are you doing?

 

“Voyager’s DOT can’t pick up telepathy, Toscat, you’ll have to speak aloud,” Kes said.

 

“I didn't meant to be rude but you should not be here.”

 

“I’ll be leaving once I have the information on why the Caretaker has been bringing people from across the Galaxy here,” Voyager responded.

 

“That won't be possible. We cannot interfere with the Caretaker's wishes,” Toscat objected.

 

A projection of Talon’s avatar appeared. “Maybe you can’t, but we can.”

 

“You don’t understand,” Toscat objected.

 

“That's right. They don't understand. They have no way of knowing that the Ocampa have been dependent on the Caretaker for so long, we can't even think for ourselves any more. They don't understand we were once a people who had full command of our mind's abilities,” Kes shot back.

 

“The stories of our ancestor's cognitive abilities are apocryphal. At the very least exaggerated,” Toscat said.

 

“We lost those abilities because we stopped using them,” Kes said.

 

Toscat was about respond to that, when the steady thrum of the energy coming from the Caretaker’s Array stopped.

 

 

“The Array is no longer sending out energy,” Voyager said to Kes, Janreal, Toscat and the growing crowd of energy and them and the DOT.

 

“It seems to be realigning it’s position,” Talon added.

 

“We need to get that data now,” Kes said to Toscat.

 

“But this is a crisis,” Toscat said. “If the Caretaker is abandoning us!”

 

“You’ll have to figure things out yourselves,” Talon said.

 

 

Both Voyager and Talon then detected the Array firing something else.

 

Those can only be weapons. Talon said.

 

But they aren’t targeting us or the Kazon outpost. Voyager said. She realised what the Caretaker was doing. ‘But if he’s sealing the conduits…’

 

 

There was an argument amongst the other Ocampa about what the Caretaker was doing as Voyager suddenly beamed Kes and the DOT away. There was then a strong vibration as if there were explosions.

 

 

Kes rematerialized in the Transporter Room. “What’s happening?” she asked.

 

“The Array is firing weapons at the energy conduits as a way to seal them. That may be so that the Kazon may not use them to infiltrate the city,” Voyager answered.

 

“And you were concerned that you might not have been able to beam me back?” Kes asked.

 

“Exactly. Neelix is waiting in the Observation Lounge. I’m setting course back to the Array.”

 

“But you don’t have any more on the Caretaker,” Kes said as she left the Transporter Room.

 

“Someone may need to talk to him personally.”