Path: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!c01.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!news-out.visi.com!news-out.octanews.net!petbe.visi.com!yellow.newsread.com!news-toy.newsread.com!netaxs.com!newsread.com!POSTED.newshog.newsread.com!not-for-mail Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated Approved: ascem@earthlink.net Organization: Better Living Thru TrekSmut Sender: ascem@earthlink.net Message-ID: From: "Layla V." MIME-Version: 1.0 Mailing-List: list ASCEML@yahoogroups.com; contact ASCEML-owner@yahoogroups.com Subject: NEW VOY "Absolute Power" Chap 4a 9/21 (C/P, J, AU) [NC-17] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 574 Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2004 12:55:21 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 209.198.142.218 X-Complaints-To: Abuse Role , We Care X-Trace: newshog.newsread.com 1092142521 209.198.142.218 (Tue, 10 Aug 2004 08:55:21 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2004 08:55:21 EDT Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated:82608 X-Received-Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2004 05:55:26 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) TITLE: "Absolute Power" Chapter 4a (July 2004) AUTHOR: Layla V CONTACT: v_layla@hotmail.com WEBSITE: http://www.geocities.com/laylatrek ARCHIVING: Personal website, CPSG, Cha_Club, ASCEML SERIES: Star Trek Voyager RATING: NC-17 for violence, sex and language PART: 9 of 21 CODES: C/P, J/m, P/T implied, All Voyager characters, AU, Angst, H/c, OCC SUMMARY: Voyager's encounter with an intergalactic STORY NOTES: Evil!Janeway alert. See Part 1 of 21 for the details. DISCLAIMER: All characters, other than the original ones created by me, are owned by Paramount. I am merely playing. No copyright infringement is intended. NOTES: Thank you, Britta, for your clearheaded suggestions CHAPTER 4a "The Face of Deception" The all-consuming ritual of putting on her uniform had always held a powerful significance in Kathryn Janeway's life. The way it covered her body piece by piece, the way it draped around her petite form, rubbed against her tactile self, becoming almost a second skin against her. The astonishing sense of esteem it bestowed upon her, its sacrosanct momentousness, the unprecedented awe of power it so succinctly sanctioned within her domain. Endlessly amazing, this all-important ceremonial integrality it branded into her soul. From the time she'd taken her initial step up the command ladder, Kathryn had been all too cognizant of the fact that no other dress code had ever made her feel as alive, as whole, and as sensual and erotic and feminine as the uniform had. Her uniform was her identity. It was the shield that held her upright in a calamitous sea of swaying lilting emulators who would have walked all over her had she not worn her resplendent command persona as the dazzling badge of honor it was. It was even more startling how it constantly affected the people she came across. Towards her crew, her uniform had always been the bulwark that defined the ever-crucial parameters that necessitated the distance between them. Towards her peers, it had been the mark that recapitulated her superiority as a leader of undistorted importance and prestige. Towards leaders of their own dominions--as the Zokaa'r Sovereignty was--it emphasized her stature as the woman who'd beaten all odds and risen to this commanding position through her own merit. This meeting of the kindred, these masters of their own specific jurisdictions: Kathryn Janeway versus Kel'kar'vheel the Eighth. At least she could now say that speaking to Chakotay via the encrypted datalink had relieved whatever lingering doubts she might have had about Kel'kar'vheel. While she'd certainly admired the extensive technological advancements the Zokaa'rians enjoyed, it was Kel'kar'vheel's covert ingenuity that had earned her truest appreciation. This ability to form a visual link--albeit a slightly fuzzy one--through a shield grid which even Seven's Borg sensors couldn't penetrate was most definitely worthy of Kathryn Janeway's respect. Of course, she'd been aware the three-day time limit would be up soon and that the away team would be back onboard when that happened, so she had really been surprised when Kel'kar'vheel hinted at the possibility of a problem on the surface. Everything had been going so well, the Kel'zian and Zokaa'rian teams were busy working with the Voyager crew on the repair tasks, and the results were outstanding. So when Kel'kar'vheel told her that the surface situation was entirely different and that the Zokaa'rian representatives down there were actually doing everything to undermine the negotiations, her instinctive reaction had been to become suspicious. Of everyone. And that included Kel'kar'vheel. After all, who was this man, and what exactly did she know about him other than what he had told her himself? Was this man, whom she'd found to be so fascinating and delightful, with whom she'd found an unbounded ecstasy unlike any she'd enjoyed in years, deceiving her for some reason? Did he too have an ulterior motive to take advantage of her like so many others she'd met in her past? And as if he could read her mind, as if all her emotions and misgivings were plainly discernible on her face and in her eyes, he'd reached out to her and held her hand and asked her to trust him. He'd said that he'd anticipated her concerns and that he wanted her to know that he wasn't like the other men she'd met in her life. He'd told her about how his people had informed him about the Zokaa'rian designs and how he'd instructed them to move in anticipation and get the Voyager away team members at risk out of the dangerous situation and to a safe location. As if to prove his truthfulness, it had been at this point that he'd taken the tiny amplifying encoder out of his pocket and hooked her up directly to Chakotay, who along with Tom was being held at that secret underground location--away from Zokaa'rian eyes. Although confused about being separated from the other delegates on the surface, Chakotay had assured her that both he and Tom were fine and were in fact being treated very well by their Kel'zian hosts. In typical mulishness that was so in character for Chakotay, he'd persistently enquired of Kathryn the reasons behind this covert 'incarceration', as obviously no one down there had deemed it important enough to bring him in on the finer details, even though he did mention he had been attempting to strike up conversations with a few of the subspace scientists down there. To shut him up, she had to order him to leave everything to her, as she had everything under control--unlike him, she'd felt like adding, but decided not to rub it in. Really, she was amazed at how dense the man could be sometimes. He watched things happening around him, not resisting, standing detached like some captivating piece of stage scenery, waiting for enlightenment to dawn on him from his spirits. He hadn't had the foresight to successfully retrieve from the Kel'zians the exact reasons why they'd removed Tom and himself to this location and he was asking *her* for an explanation? In any case, it was a moot point. Now that she was finally being given the rightful charge of the entire mission, she had other things to worry about. So with a mental sneer, she'd pushed Chakotay out of her mind. She'd turned to Kel'kar'vheel and asked him why hadn't he taken down the shield grid if he knew about the situation on the surface? Surely he had the means to do so from the station. He'd said that he didn't want the Zokaa'rians to know he was aware of their deceit. Kel'kar'vheel knew that at the moment the Zokaa'rian Authority on Kel'zian soil would be going through the motions of acting out their utter shock and disbelief at the Voyager team's 'abduction'. The truth was that the safety of Voyager's team had been in jeopardy from the moment they'd gone down and that Kel'kar'vheel's people had in fact saved them from the danger. Of course, the Zokaa'rians could never admit that they had never been sincere in their intent to trade with Voyager in the first place. So why had they invited them, Kathryn had asked? If they had not wanted to trade with Voyager, if it had all been a waste of time, why had they been brought here? Because *he* had insisted, Kel'kar'vheel had replied. The most horrific thing was, and this was something he'd been afraid to tell her, was that when Voyager had been brought in through the fold in space, and they'd discovered that this was a ship captained by a woman, the Zokaa'rians had intended to destroy the ship. In their feeble minds, such an 'abnormality' was punishable the worst way conceivable. It had taken long meetings with the Zokaa'rian Council members before he had finally convinced them to give Voyager a chance. He'd assured them they didn't have to destroy a people just because they had things to hide. Of course, after these problems, he'd alerted his forces and ordered them to be ready for any eventuality. But what was it that the Sovereignty wanted to hide, Kathryn had snapped. What was so important, so covert that they had in fact tried to destroy her ship, and then attempted to ruin the negotiations on Kel'nohr? "Do you want to get home, my Kathryn?" Kel'kar'vheel had asked her then, his deep blue-violet eyes locked onto hers. "What?" She'd stared at him. He'd held her hand firmly. "The Sovereignty has technology that can get you home within weeks. It's the technology my sister developed and which of course the Sovereignty lays all claim to because they would never have given a female proper commendation." "Technology that can get my crew home?" Kathryn had swallowed, the wheels in her mind turning. "Yes, my precious." Kel'kar'vheel had kissed her nose then. "In truth, they have no right to deny anyone the use of this technology if I want them to use it. After all, as the Sovereign of the Kel'kar'vheel dynasty, and Shai'lla's next of kin, I am now the rightful owner of any claim on this technology." "And?" Kathryn looked into his eyes, her heart thudding. "And of course I want you to use it." He'd smiled. "I know how important getting home is to you." "But if the Sovereignty doesn't want us to use it?" She had frowned. "Patience, my sweet," Kel'kar'vheel had said. "Play the game I ask you to play, play with the debilitated Zokaa'rian mind. Let them think you've been outwitted. I assure you nothing will happen to your crew and your team will be returned to you safely." He had fallen to his knees in front of her then, pulling her to him, his fingers reaching for the fasteners in her uniform again. "You trust me, don't you?" Well, she trusted him to please her the way she liked at least, she'd smiled, as she straightened her stance and opened her legs to accommodate him. This was her favorite position: standing straight, like a soldier, her body lovingly draped in her revered uniform, a woman in command. Her finely manicured fingers slowly wrapped themselves in his hair and with a powerful jerk she pulled his head back, guiding his mouth up into her heated core that had been exposed by the simple act of sliding the zipper down at the front of her uniform's seam. With a sultry deep-throated groan, she rode him relentlessly, sighing in abandon. Ah yes, this proud and forceful act that showed that she had indeed appropriated the role of the dominator, this beautiful snatching of pleasure whenever she felt like, however she wanted, and with no thought whatsoever to the other's self-respect. But then there were those who loved to serve their sacred ones this way. The ones who understood the alchemy of their final supplication, of her nod of assent. The ones she'd cherished and had waited for all her life. Play with the Zokaa'rian mind, he'd said? Well that shouldn't be a problem. After all, playing mind games was one of Kathryn Janeway's specialties. # # The Borg-enhanced Astrometrics sensors silently did their part in endeavoring to overcome their plummeting repute, as the sudden mysterious spike in the EM field generated by the shield grid was promptly recorded in the logs. For one moment, Seven of Nine's attention caught on to the abnormality. Her brow furrowed in thought as her ocular implant conveyed the data on to her cybernetic systems and her brain worked furiously to figure out a reason for its occurrence. And then her eyes strayed to the top section of the Astrometrics screen where the latest renovation reports were coming in from the Zokaa'rian teams, asking for her response, and her attention was diverted--that one moment of comprehension haplessly lost. # # "You must stop at once!!!" The Kel'zian's shout made Tom snort in derision. Fucking losers, he huffed. The sons-of-bitches were in some kind of trouble now, were they? Well, served them fucking right, he thought, feeling a twitch of perverse pleasure fill himself. However, the fact that he was being held down by half a dozen creeping aliens, their viscid paws shifting around his wrestling form, as they clicked into his ears and clawed at his face, restricted him from enjoying that wayward twitch too much. And then there was that inexplicable choking wave of nausea as well, the one that rolled into his very senses every time that... tentacle came anywhere near him. Still, as he kicked and strove to get himself free, Tom wasn't sure whether he felt nauseated because he found the sight of it detestable or he felt nauseated because every time it touched his skin, he felt as if his skull was being crushed by an unbearable, inexplicable force. This force that seemed to choke him from within and without and around and from every corner of his... "Our second-tiered horde has been obstructed!" His mental chatter ceased for a moment as he heard one of them buzz, "We must retrieve the information of the trapped one's location from this one." Well, flicking over his skin with that wretched tentacle was not going to help their cause. But the fact that having their second-tiered horde obstructed was causing them so much grief, whatever the hell that actually meant, made Tom want to snigger in gleeful mischief. Fucking losers, he gritted his teeth. "You can't do that. We're all in the same position here..." The Kel'zian was speaking to the aliens again, and they seemed to have stilled for some reason--as if responding to his unexpected objection was somehow impeding their efforts to strangle Tom's senses. "It still doesn't mean you can be allowed to attempt to retrieve that information from the Guide's mind." Is that what they were trying to do? Rummage through his brain? The assholes. No wonder it tanked his thoughts so entirely. It almost felt as if they were trying to suck his brain out. "Yes we can," one of them droned. "Its mental acuity is nowhere near as compressed as the *dark one's*. We can probe it." It? He wasn't an 'it'. They were talking about him as if he wasn't even a person. And then it struck him. Mental acuity? He stared at his captors. What were they doing to Chakotay? "How many times do I have to tell you that they're not like you?" The Kel'zian seemed agitated, his attention not on him but on the other aliens, and this made Tom blink in surprise. Why would this bastard care what happened to him and Chakotay? He was behind this abduction, wasn't he? "They don't communicate in your ways." "All living beings form stocks." The other aliens were once again talking in riddles. It annoyed Tom more and more that they always seemed to talk in groups, as if they had no individual thought, no individual will. One said a sentence and then another said a second, and then a third one continued the talk. Like one long unending chain of confusion, words falling over each other, tumbling between one alien after another after another. "Even if this one is as yet unmated, it had to have formed couplings with those among his crew. One of its crew is on the surface. We will probe this one to find the information the free one has." What the hell were they talking about? Tom felt his brow furrow. Did they mean *him*? They thought he was unmated? But... but... that wasn't... true. "No, you won't," the Kel'zian snapped. "You are DAMAGING these aliens. We were supposed to transfer them to the intended as whole beings. Not in PIECES, and certainly not with broken minds. You've already done too much with the First One." Tom felt his heart stop at this. "What the hell have they done?" he asked the Kel'zian, his voice pitched high in consternation. "What's happening to Chakotay? TELL ME!" At this, one of the aliens looked down at him, its goggle-eyes staring at him. "The *dark one* resists too much. Even though it is unmated, it still acts as if it wants to guard the secret of a bond." Unmated? That word again. Tom frowned. Why did they keep repeating that one word? Were they even talking about the same thing? He had to be sure. "What do you mean by unmated?" Tom asked, his heart thudding. But this time he was ignored by all. He watched the Kel'zian shove one of the aliens, his countenance strangely distraught. "Whether he's mated with one of his crew or not, you are not to attempt anymore 'probing' of his mind." Probing? "What's going on?" Tom demanded. "What the HELL are these bastards doing?" "If it is unmated," the alien replied. "It is unimpeded from forming other hordes." Damn. It couldn't possibly be what he was thinking, Tom swallowed. It couldn't be that simple, could it? Shit, he could barely hope. "These creatures do not form hordes," the Kel'zian spat, his composure finally wavering as he stared down at the aliens in contempt. "I TOLD you that." "What the fuck are these hordes?" Tom shouted, trying to get their attention. But they were caught in their own fracas. "These creatures breed like all other beings," the alien snarled at the Kel'zian. "The *dark one* is not mated, and neither is the *pale one*. Therefore they are both free to be scoured." Oh God. Is that what had happened? They'd been abducted and were being experimented on because these aliens thought they were unmated? That was the criteria for being chosen for... sexual slavery? But they were wrong. Tom was NOT unmated. He had... on Voyager, he had... Tom stopped in his mental rambling and pulled in a sharp breath. What did he have on Voyager? B'Elanna--who hadn't spoken one word to him in weeks? What was there left between them? And if he even tried to convince these aliens of him being mated to someone on Voyager, where did that leave Chakotay? What would these aliens do to Chakotay if Tom saved his own skin? Could he even think of something like this? Tom felt his throat closing as he bit his lips. God, what had they done to Chakotay? What kind of abuse had they put him through? "These aliens resist too much to your scouring." The Kel'zian was speaking again. "They will be irreversibly damaged if you make any more attempts." Irreversibly damaged? Well, that made the decision for Tom. They were not going to touch Chakotay anymore. "You're both WRONG," he shouted at them. "Why didn't you gag this one?" The Kel'zian looked at him in disdain. "He's too loud to be of any use while we're having this..." "CHAKOTAY IS NOT UNMATED!" Tom yelled at them. This stunned them into silence for a second. He watched them staring at him in surprise and all he could hear was the sound of his own heart thundering inside his chest. "What?" The Kel'zian's eyes bored into his. Tom gritted his teeth. "And neither am I." The Kel'zian glared at him. "What are you talking about?" Tom took a deep breath, his heart skipping, and plowed onward. "Chakotay and I, we're mated... to each other." All of them started speaking at one. "It lies..." the alien growled in umbrage. "That is impossible," the Kel'zian looked at him in indignation. "There were no official records of your bonding in your ship's database when we--" Tom interrupted them in the middle. "We do not keep official records of whom we mate with," he said calmly. "That is incorrect. Marital records are a part of--" "I DIDN'T SAY we were MARRIED." Tom cut the Kel'zian off again. "I said we were mated... to each other." The Kel'zian stared at him incredulously. "You form sexual bonds without the chronicling of an official recognition?" Tom looked into his eyes. "That is how... most intimate bonds begin in our species, even the ones that lead to an... official recognition." "It is making it up." The alien sniffed. "It just wants to..." "I am telling you the fucking TRUTH." Tom raised his voice, exasperated. "Chakotay and I are mated. We're bonded together. That is the privacy, the secret he is fighting to preserve. You can't touch him." "But these aliens have already been negotiated for." The Kel'zian's eyes were on Tom but the words were obviously intended for the other aliens. The alien whirred. "The Xaoln pandect would never permit the negotiating of bonded mates." Xaoln? Tom watched the Kel'zian's face harden. "He's lying." Oh no, he could not allow any doubts to form in these bastards' minds. Now that he'd planted the seed of this... untruth, Tom was going to make damn sure he'd see it through and bring it to culmination. He stared hard at his captors. "You said you've encountered... a hindrance... in your attempts to... probe him." Probe him? God, what had they been doing to Chakotay? "That hindrance exists because he would never break the bond he has with me." "He is your superior." It was one of the other aliens. Xaoln? "In rank," he replied. "If you do not keep official records," the alien asked. "Then how can you prove your serfdom to your higher mate?" Damn, they had the strangest notions about intimate bonds. "Between mates, we do not have... serfdoms. We are equals. And I can prove it to you if you take me to him." Yes, he would prove it to them. It would be the highest hurdle he'd ever jumped in his life. After the way Tom had treated him, the burning coals of suffering he'd made Chakotay walk over, facing him and trying to convince him of this... plan... would be the most difficult obstacle he could face. But it was an obstacle of his own making and he had to overcome it. Somehow, some way, he had to prove it. He had to make it right. He had no other choice. He had to save Chakotay. "If this is true..." "If this is true," the Kel'zian interrupted the alien, "then you must cease all attempts to probe or overwhelm these aliens." The alien's puffy mouth twisted in venom. "And if this creature is lying--" The snakelike eyes looked at Tom malevolently. "--If it is not mated to the *dark one*, then both of them will have hell to pay." Tom glared at his captors, his heart galloping in frenzy. No choice, he had no choice. Somehow, some way, he had to prove himself to Chakotay. # # Continued in Chap 4b _________________________________________________________________ Help STOP SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ASCEM messages are copied to a mailing list. Most recent messages can be found at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASCEML. NewMessage: