Mosaic - Jeri Taylor [1]
Her mother, wise and warm, smiled at her. "Heaven forbid you ever show the slightest weakness. Is that what being a captain means? That you're not allowed to have the feelings everyone else has?"
"That's how it seemed to me. I had to set the standard. I had to be confident. And it worked-I did get us home."
Gretchen Janeway reached out a hand and caressed her daughter's cheek. "And I'm so proud of you."
"Proud enough to bake me some of your caramel brownies?"
Gretchen laughed, started for the kitchen. "I already have. I knew that's the first thing you'd ask for."
Lying on the soft, billowing plants, Janeway smiled to herself. She'd tried to replicate her mother's browniesthe effort cost her four days' rations-but the result was so disappointing that she couldn't bear to eat them. She'd run into Jerron, the young Bajoran, and given him the plate of treats; his incredulous delight was more rewarding than eating the brownies could ever have been. Jerron's pain in the early days of their journey had been palpable; gradually, he had been losing his anger and was becoming more comfortable, starting to feel himself a member of the crew. Janeway made it a point to make him feel cared for, and the young man was responding.
She wasn't sure how long she'd been lying there, drifting and dreaming, when she sensed that something was wrong. The smell had changed: the fragrant, grassy aroma had altered somehow-it had an edge to it, a-what? A metallic quality?
Janeway opened her eyes and sat up, saw that both teams were aware of something, were scanning with an increased urgency, pointing, calling to each other. She jumped to her feet, and in the same instant identified the odor: ozone. An electrical burning.
And that was the only warning they got.
Suddenly, there was a sizzling snap! A green arcing light pierced the air, and the ozone smell became acrid. Janeway twitched involuntarily, as though she'd suffered an electrical shock. The air itself had become charged by the bolt of-what? Plasma? She scanned quickly and detected a hot, electrically energized field unknown to the Federation database. A hot wind began to stir, intensifying the burning smell; Janeway's nostrils began to sting. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the cottony white bushes begin to ripple in the sultry wind, but her mind quickly focused on her crew. Chakotay and his young group were already on the move, heading toward her, when three or four more bolts of green sliced through the sky, crackling and smoking. This time Janeway heard herself cry out as pain slashed through her body. were they under attack? Or were they simply caught in an unexpected natural phenomenon? It hardly mattered-whatever these strange flashes were, they were clearly dangerous. She had to get her people out of there.
She hit her commbadge, noting that Chakotay was doing the same, as undoubtedly Tuvok was also. "Janeway to Voyager... We need emergency transport." She repeated the message several times before accepting what she had already suspected: that the electrical disturbance was interfering with the communications system, and it was doubtful the transporters would function through the interference.
Then the air crackled with energy bolts, sizzling and sparking. She heard a scream and saw someone fall to the ground. The hot wind began to gust violently, and the hissing sound of the arcing flashes became deafening. Janeway called out to Chakotay, but her voice was swallowed in the noise and the wind. She waved her arm at him, gesturing him to the mouth of the valley. Ahead of her, she saw Tuvok and his group already on the run. She began sprinting toward them.
But her body wouldn't behave as it should. Her legs were shaky, uncoordinated, like a newborn lamb's. She stumbled and then shuddered as another series of green flashes ripped through the air. Now it felt as though oxygen had been depleted from the atmosphere, and her lungs rasped