From lisay@anet-stl.cpm Sun May 31 20:46:40 1998 Path: news2.ispnews.com!news11.ispnews.com!news1.ispnews.com!nntp.abs.net!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!news.cis.ohio-state.edu!news.anet-stl.com!not-for-mail From: "Lisa Y. Drexel" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW: Abducted Again 1/1 (VOY, Q, PG-13) XOVER: Herc/Xena Univ Date: Sun, 31 May 1998 22:46:40 -0500 Organization: Western Pacific Network Services - ANET St. Louis Lines: 422 Message-ID: <6kth64$eth$1@news.anet-stl.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: ppp311.anet-stl.com X-Trace: news.anet-stl.com 896681988 15281 209.83.136.57 (1 Jun 1998 06:19:48 GMT) X-Complaints-To: news@news.anet-stl.com NNTP-Posting-Date: 1 Jun 1998 06:19:48 GMT X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.2106.4 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.2106.4 Xref: news2.ispnews.com alt.startrek.creative:20215 TITLE: Abducted Again AUTHOR: Lisa Y. Drexel email: lisay@anet-stl.com SERIES: Voyager/ Xover with Herc/Xena Universe COPYRIGHT AND PROTECTIONS: Okay, you all know the score. The characters and situations are the creations of Gene Rodenberry and property of Paramount Pictures and Viacom, and have been used without permission. No copyright infringement intended and no money shall be made with this piece of fiction. Feel free to distribute to any newsgroup, FTP site or archive as long as it remains intact with my name and e-mail address on it. SUMMARY: Anne finds herself whisked away once again by forces more powerful than her. AUTHOR'S COMMENTS: This is my first posted crossover, so please be kind and let me know what you think. Also, this is the fifth story in my Anne Langton series. She is a 20th century alien abductee and psychologist found in the Delta Quadrant in stasis and is now the ship's counsellor. The other stories are: Yesterday's Memories, First Day on the Job, To Quonsel the Counsellor and Maelstrom of the Soul. If you can't find them at the ASC archive then drop by my webpage at: http://webusers.anet-stl.com/~lisay/startrek.htm RATING: PG-13. A few naughty words, but no sex or violence. CODES: XOVER: Voy, Q and Hercules/Xena Universe send any comments to: lisay@anet-stl.com or post them on ASC. No flames please. Constructive criticism is the foundation of any good writer; insults aren't. Abducted Again by Lisa Y. Drexel USS Voyager Personal Log: Counsellor Anne Langton Stardate: Unknown (never could keep track of those); Earth date: Spring--approx. 1100 BCE It started out so innocently. But isn't that how all good stories begin? My second away mission. I was so excited when the Captain asked me to accompany her, Tuvok and Lt.. Paris onto the planet Olias. I remember sending Tom a mental *yahoo!* in which he turned back to me and grinned. *You deserve this, sis.* Damn right I deserved it. I knew I did. It had been a helluva 18 months, but finally I felt comfortable and actually at home in the stars. I never thought that would be possible. So much to learn and soak in and to adjust to in such a short period of time. But, I did it. And now the Captain trusted me enough to accompany an away team. Damn, life was good. Except for this mystery, which is why I was asked to come in the first place, everything was copisetic with me. Voyager, on the other hand, was in desperate need of repairs, parts and food supplies and we needed Olias. So we contacted them, noticing they were a space-faring civilization, and were completely surprised to see a human answer our hail. A human. The implications were chilling. Everytime Voyager had run into humans in the Delta Quadrant, trouble wasn't too far behind. The only exception was when they found me. The Borg. The 37s. The Borg. So, as the only full-fledged empath and telepath aboard, I was to see if I could detect any deception among the Oliasan's. If they were truly human, I would have no problems fulfilling my mission. But, life isn't like that, is it? Me, who read horror and fantasy novels voraciously when I was on Earth. Me, who was a prime candidate for how the mysteries of life could throw. Me? Who am I kidding? The whole crew of Voyager were victims of life randomness. And in my arrogance, I forgot that. But, looking back, I really didn't know everything or all the players. All I knew was what I was allowed to know. When dealing with superior beings, that's just the way it is. I remember stepping onto the transporter pad and glancing over at Tom, my heart beating like a wild woman, excitement filling my entire being. Tom must've picked up on it and caught my eyes. He shook his head, trying not to grin and mouthed *stay cool, sis!* I blushed and took a deep breath and felt the commander's eye's on my back. *I'm okay, Tuvok.* *Indeed.* His voice sent calmed my nervous energy and instantly I felt chagrined. To spill over onto Tuvok, meant I was leaking emotions all over the place. But then, on the other hand, since we had shared a bond, although only for 10 very intense days, I could still feel his presence if I reached for it. He saved my life. His Vulcan logic and emotionless devotion to the rationale saved me from myself and Voyager from me. I swallowed my giggle and mentally welcomed his calming influence as the transporter swept us away. A bouquet of colors greeted us as we materialized. Flowers of every kind and color surrounded us. And all of them were familiar. Roses, carnations, tulips, bleeding hears, rose-of-sharons, petunias, poppies, begonias--and the plants. Elm trees. Oak. Maple. Walnut. Grass. Green, earth grass. "Oh my God," I whispered as I bent down and touched the ground. My hands stroked the green covering in reverence. I heard Tuvok's tricorder go off and felt Tom and the captain's shock intimately. Tuvok managed to squelch his before it barely spilled out. Then I felt it. A strange tingling that started on my neck and worked its way down my spine. Familiar, yet not. I stood and looked over towards the gate and saw a man followed by two others, enter. A man. Human? I tentatively sent a mental probe out and was instantly met with resistance. Interesting, I thought to myself. *Captain, I can't read him. He's got me blocked.* *Empathetically?* she asked mentally. I closed my eyes and blocked out the landing parties emotions and thoughts as well as the two humans accompanying the minister and instantly felt amusement and a touch of arrogance. I looked up and found myself meeting the eyes of our enigmatic host. Beautiful deep brown eyes. Intelligent. A touch of humor. I told her as much. He dipped his head and turned to the captain. "Hello, you must be Captain Janeway of the Starship Voyager. My name is Araenes. I am the minister of peace for our planet and will be your host during your visit her to Olias." The captain smiled as they shook hands. I felt her surprise and could feel the tingle of electricity when their flesh met. "Thank you for your time, Araenes. This is my second, Lt.. Commander Tuvok, our helmsman--Lt.. Paris and our ship's counsellor, Dr. Anne Langton." When his hand finally reached for mine, I thought I was prepared for a physical reaction. And to think I thought he was arrogant. Once our hands touched, it was as if he dropped his guard, if only for a second. But in that spec of time, I felt a power and an omnipotence that I had only experienced with one species: The Q. *Ah, little one, welcome home to the land of the Gods...* I blacked out. **************************************************************************** It wasn't until later, did I find out what actually happened. Me? I ended up here, in this chamber--with a bed, a desk, a television, VCR and stereo of all things. A replicator. Some of my PADDs from the ship. All my notebooks and other personal effects that I had accumulated in the past 18 months. The picture of the St. Louis Riverfront at night with the Arch standing tall and proud. I still got tears in my eyes when I remembered that it was no more. I also had a small dinette set. A bathroom with a Jacuzzi-like thing and a shower. A toilet. Towels, shampoos and other personal care items. Everything but a door out and an explanation of how or why. I did have a window though. The first thing I did was open it. But when I tried sticking my hand out into the air, I found a type of forcefield. The breeze could come in but I couldn't leave. After flinging pillows across the room and anger spent, I finally set out to investigate. To my surprise, I found another room, behind some curtains and discovered an office of sorts. That's when I really freaked out. There, at that office, was my desk--from Earth. My computer. And all my books. I haphazardly glanced at the titles, remembering when I bought each one. Then a title caught my attention. "The Unspoken Fear: UFO Abductions," written by Dr. Anne S. Langton, Psy.D. I pulled it off the shelf and ignoring the loud thumping in my chest, I checked the copyright date. January of 1997. I sat down in the chair. "I can't believe I forgot about this," I whispered to myself. I remember sending it out to the publisher and its acceptance. But I was gone before it went into print. I flipped the pages back to read the front flap on the dust cover, feeling a weird sense of pride flow through me. It had been 400 years since it went into print, and finally I get to feel proud. "Talk about delayed reactions," I muttered. I checked out the back flap and read the 'about the author' section. Dispassionately, the writer listed my credentials and other personal items. It wasn't until the last line, that a chill ran through my body. "Ms. Langton disappeared seven months ago; her car was found abandoned in rural Missouri, the engine still running. Police have no leads to her whereabouts." Suddenly feeling drained, I stumbled back into the sleeping chamber and fell onto the bed, stomach first. With the book still in my hand, I fell asleep. **************************************************************************** It was the harsh whispers that woke me. Although I had an idea of who my captors were, I still wanted to make sure before I revealed to them that I woke up. Instead I focused on the voices and instantly recognized both of them. "I didn't know what else to do!" Q whispered loudly. "When I found out that Voyager was coming to Olias, a plan formed. Kathy will just have to live with it. I can't let Q get her." A low, amused chuckle responded. "Ah cousin, you're whipped, my man. Why did you go ahead with this union if you knew she would get this jealous?" In my mind, I could see Q shaking his head. "I had no idea she would go to these lengths. I've managed to thwart three attempts on Anne's life already and Jake caught one. But he's just a child and I cannot spend my entire existence protecting her. You're the God of War. You protect her! You owe me!" I felt the side of the bed shift and knew Q had gotten up. I knew he was pacing. God of War, I thought to myself. God of War? Where the hell am I? "Why did you give her Q powers and not tell her about it! She could at least flee from Q, if Anne knew. This way, you left her at Q's mercy!" Areanes sighed. "I don't have time for this foolishness. I've let Chaos at the reigns for too long. She's crazy. Hera's probably planning a coup and I got that crazy Callisto running around with Dakur and his daughter, Hope. I had no idea that ancient Earth would be this frenzied." "Ares," Q's tone sounded dangerously serious. "You must realize that you owe me big time. I saved your sorry butt more times than I can count since you chose to be a god. You angered a lot of people when you were in the Continuum and you know it. She'll be safe with you. Q wouldn't dare come here, especially if she has to go through Zeus to get permission. "If I send Anne back to Voyager, it will be destroyed and you know as well as I do, that that act alone will alter history irrevocably--and not for the better. Anne's disappearance will be a miniscule temporal wave displacement in comparison to Voyager's. Besides the Continuum owes Voyager. I owe Voyager. I owe Anne," he added quietly. I felt the bed shift and knew he was sitting down next to me. A second later, I felt his hand touch my hair. "She's family. Not by blood, but by choice. And Jake would be devastated if something happened to her." A loud, disgusted sigh was expelled. "All right, Q. But for how long?" Silence. And suddenly Q was gone. I still laid there, unsure if I should 'wake up' now or wait. My mind was racing. Questions were dying to be asked-- "You might as well sit up. I know you're awake," the low rumble of Araenes or Ares voice filled my ears. "You don't even have to sleep anymore. It's probably just habit. Like eating, drinking. All those disgustingly mortal things." The bed shifted once again. I rolled over, sat up and turned to Ares. "Normally, I would be really pissed off about being abducted again. Not like this hasn't happened to me before. I black out and end up across the galaxy--once again," I stopped and took a deep breath in attempt to calm my nerves. It was then I noticed he had changed clothes. On Olias, he was dressed in light colored robes more indicative of a diplomat and not a god. Now, he looked like the God of War. Dressed in black leathers, a sword hanging from his hip, a silver sword earring dangling from his right ear and an amused look on his face. "And time travel. I should be old hand at that as well. Not like I actually traveled time the last time. But, the result the same. I went forward 400 years. And now I'm back--what? 3000 years or more? Ancient Greece--isn't that about 1500 BCE?" He nodded. "So, I'm a Q?" I asked, my disbelief evident. He nodded again. "But not a full-fledged Q. No nebula-making for you, my dear. Here, we call ones like you demigods. You're Immortal. And with the right training you can teleport yourself and other things as well. Your definitely stronger in the mind area than the actual power area. All Q did was enhance your latent abilities and add the Immortality to the mix." He grinned. "You had no idea, did you?" I shook my head. "When did he do that?" He shrugged. "You have to ask him." "So, where am I?" "Mt. Olympus." "You've got to be kidding? Right? So all those legends were true? What happened to you guys? Why is Mrs.. Q trying to kill me? And what happened to Voyager? And can I tell them I'm alright?" He laughed, his voice full and loud. "You're like a little kid. All right. Voyager is fine and as soon as you can, leave a message on a PADD and I'll make sure the Captain gets it. You can't tell them where or when you are, just that your safe and that Q did this for Voyager as well as your own safety. Mrs.. Q' doesn't like you, my dear. She's a formable woman who doesn't like her mate's attention swaying from her family. She resents Q's 'adopting' you and has made it her personal quest to see you dead and whomever gets killed in the process, is damned." "Can I tell Janeway that?" After a moment, he nodded yes. "As far as where the Gods went, once civilization seemed to finally take root and admittedly, we got bored, we left and found some other world to torment." I found myself chuckling. "A true Q. Arrogant to the point of obnoxiousness. Do you guys take classes in this attitude of yours, or does it just come naturally?" His eyebrow went up. "Don't act shocked! Just because I understand intellectually why this was done, does not mean that I like it! I hate it! I had life, thank-you- very-much, that I enjoyed and had just become accustomed to," I swung my legs around and stood up. "For eighteen fucking months, I've been struggling to acclimate myself to the 24th century and I finally do it, and what happens? I get whisked off by omnipotent beings who can't control their own, and get ceremoniously dumped into ancient Greece of all places to live with a bunch of arrogant, omnipotent beings who all know what's best for me!" I started pacing in front of the bed. "Damn him, why couldn't he tell me or warn me that this was going to happen? Why didn't he tell me when he first met me. Don't you guys have an in on all possible futures? You can't tell me this was just a faux pas! A Q screwing up. The universe rumbled!" I picked up a pillow and threw against the wall. "And to make me a semi-Q! What happened to permission? Maybe if he hadn't done that, she wouldn't be after my butt!" The god shook his head, still grinning. "No, she still would've. That was just insult to injury. I believe it mostly had to do with Q's child. She was jealous of you." I sighed again. "I just wish he would get his ass back here so I can yell at him and not you." I stepped back against the wall and slid down and leaned my head against the wall. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. *Damn him,* I silently cursed. *I have a bad feeling about this. Why did I get the feeling that my life had irrevocably changed once again. And maybe this time, I wouldn't be as lucky as the last.* "I hope you're wrong, Anne. For both of our sakes. The last thing I want is to play babysitter for an eternity for an overly superior-thinking human who has the audacity to question any Q's or Gods if you prefer, reasons for anything." He stood up and walked over to me, sporting that sly, I'm-a-god-smile. "You actually buy that shit?" For the first time since I woke up, I felt something other than amusement from him. He was aggravated. For some odd reason, that pleased me. Anything to take that smug, god-like grin off his face. Looking up at him, I smiled. "I myself believe the rumor that Continuum is frightened by the accelerated human evolutionary process and you're worried that we're catching up quicker than you wanted. It's probably the Continuum's fault too. All that cross-breeding and demigods running about marrying humans." A wave of anger swept into me. Bracing myself, I stood up and took a deep breath. *Gotcha* I mentally told him as I began to walk passed him. He grabbed my arm. "An eternity is a long time to be on my bad side, woman. Learn it now and we'll get a long just fine," he said softly and eerily calm voice. I felt my body shake. And just like I always did when I was afraid, I lashed out. *Fuck you!* I mentally yelled, with my back straight and my eyes meeting his. Suddenly, I felt all the anger leave him only to be replaced with surprise and a tinge of satisfaction. He laughed as he released my arm. "You fight well with just words. I look forward to our next sparring match." And he disappeared. "Damn Q's," I muttered as I noticed I still had no door. THE END