Disclaimer and summary: See part 1

Dedicated to Layla V without who this part would've never
been finished. Goddess that she is, she helped me rewrite the
very important paragraph that I accidentally deleted. Also to the
rest of the gang

Warning: This part has some slightly disturbing imagery

****************************************************
Part Fifteen

B'Elanna looked at her companions, waiting for someone to say
something. She and Baytart had found Tuvok and Harry and told
them about the doctor's message. After a bit of discussion, the
four of them had decided to get Joe Carey, Samantha Wildman
and Gregor Ayala to help them.

B'Elanna and Baytart had shown the others the communication
from the doctor, and the five of them had agreed that a rescue
mission was necessary. That was the reason that they were
gathered, to figure out the how, who and when of the mission.

"So... any ideas on what to do?" Harry finally asked.

"It is unfortunate that the doctor did not provide an
approximation of the number of aliens on board," Tuvok stated.

"Well, from what he said," Baytart said, "There are more than
one ship beside Voyager. That will limit our approach."

"We should still have access to some of the key systems using
the command codes," Harry said.

"Still, shuttles are no match against Voyager and the alien ships,"
Ayala said. "Unless..."

"Unless?" B'Elanna echoed.

"Unless we cloak the shuttles."

"You have cloaking devices hidden somewhere?" B'Elanna
asked sarcastically.

"No, but we *do* have the specs," Ayala reminded her.

B'Elanna sent Ayala a slight smile. The doctor's message had
upset her more than she realized. She had completely forgotten
about the specs. "You're right. So, we can make cloaking devices
for the shuttles. That should give us the element of surprise."

"The doctor was looking for a way to incapacitate the aliens.
Maybe we can see what we can come up with on our end,"
Samantha proposed.

B'Elanna nodded in agreement and the seven of them discussed
several alternatives for the next hour until they came up with an
acceptable plan.

*****

GenA walked through the ship "CariiBky" to his personal
quarters. The cabin MoZdee had given him on Voyager was nice
enough, he supposed, but he much preferred his own. In fact, he
would rather stay on "CariiBky" than on the alien ship that they
had captured. Of course, that *could* have something to do with
the fact that "CariiBky" only held crew of his own race, the
PreeVo.

GenA didn't understand why MoZdee chose to stay on Voyager
when she undoubtedly would be much more comfortable on her
own ship, "Yuzla". But then, GenA had never understood his
intended's race. Although they were the same species, the
OmsCa were very different from the PreeVo.

One of the differences was that a PreeVo would choose whether
to be male or female when he/she was out of his/hers childhood.
Of course, he/she could, and sometimes *would*, change gender
at anytime, but it was very rare that a PreeVo would be non-
gender specific. The only PreeVo who chose to be neither male
nor female were the Revlogicians, and that was only because
either they had no desire to mate, or their mate had died.

In contrast, an OmsCa only became male or female when it
wanted to have children, or if it wanted a PreeVo mate.
However, intermarriage between the two species was rare
because of the cultural conflict. Where the OmsCa used the
materialistic angle when they proposed, the PreeVo chose their
mates with their hearts. The couple would then leave the
materialistic concerns to their families.

GenA's thoughts were interrupted when he entered his quarters
and saw that he had a guest. His visitor rose from the couch and
approached him. When they met in the middle of the room, he
lifted a hand and touched the back of it to her forehead in the
greeting between PreeVo family members. "RiKaH," he
acknowledged.

RiKaH returned his greeting, touching his forehead with the back
of her hand, and speaking his name. "NabTel." With that she
returned to the couch and sat down again. She smiled at GenA as
he joined her, his body turned slightly towards her so they could
look at each other. "You stayed on Voyager for a long time, my
brother," she said quietly.

NabTel sighed quietly. "I know, RiKaH, but I didn't really have
a choice." Seeing her quizzical look, he elaborated. "After the
accident, I was in a coma for six days. After I woke up, SicA
informed me that she had chosen me as her mate."

Before NabTel could continue, RiKaH interrupted with a
question. "She?"

NabTel nodded. "At some point before I came out of my coma,
SicA decided to take the form of a female," he explained.

RiKaH frowned slightly. "Why would she choose the female
form?" she wondered out loud.

NabTel snorted. "I asked her about that, actually," he told his
sister. When she gave him a questioning look, he explained. "She
told me that she didn't think I'd be attracted to a male. She didn't
ask me to confirm that assumption because, according to her,
she's rarely wrong about those things," he added before RiKaH
could speak.

"SuelLo will be sorry to hear that you're not attracted to males,"
RiKaH commented.

NabTel chuckled in amusement. "I'm sure he would. Except that
we all know it's not true."

RiKaH smiled for a moment, then turned serious as another
thought occurred to her. "What did SicA say when you told her
about SuelLo?" she asked.

NabTel look away from his sister for a moment, then turned back
and met her eyes. "I didn't tell her."

RiKaH's eyes widened in obvious surprise. "Why not?"

"I'm afraid of what she'd do if she finds out that I already have a
mate," NabTel answered quietly.

"What she'd do?" RiKaH repeated with a confused frown. "What
*can* she do? I mean, even the OmsCa respect PreeVo laws
about marriages."

NabTel sighed. His sister was right. The OmsCa *did* respect
the PreeVo marriage law. Both races allowed marriages between
multiple partners. However, the PreeVo law forbade the
inclusion of OmsCa in a household where the partners were
PreeVo. That was only allowed with a PreeVo/OmsCa couple. If
a PreeVo couple wished to have an OmsCa mate, they had to
include the OmsCa in the wedding.

Shaking off his thoughts, NabTel refocused on his sister. "Yes,
sister, the *OmsCa* respect our marriage laws," he conceded.
"But I think that SicA is a LecSe."

RiKaH's eyes widened in horror. "A LecSe? Are you sure?"

"I have no proof, but yes, I'm pretty sure," NabTel answered. "I
didn't realize it at first, but something she said made me
suspicious so I watched her closely. Everything I observed
strongly indicated that SicA is a LecSe."

After hearing that, RiKaH didn't stop cursing for five minutes.
Her brother didn't interrupt. He just listened in silence,
impressed by the fact that she didn't repeat herself once.

*****

Voyager's EMH sat in his office, looking at his console. He was
supposedly trying to figure out what was wrong with the sick
aliens and how to cure them. In reality he was pondering what
GenA had told him earlier, and how to use it to his advantage.

GenA had informed the doctor of *everything*. The two races of
aliens. SicA's proposal. His suspicion that she was LecSe, which
was the reason why he hadn't told her that he was already
married. When the doctor had expressed his curiosity at this,
GenA had explained about the LecSe.

The LecSe were a sect who followed a very ancient religion. The
majority of the sect were OmsCa, but there *were* some PreeVo
members. The religion they followed was downright barbaric in
its demand for 'perfection'. Newborn children were thoroughly
examined for flaws. If the baby looked just the slightest bit
different from the average person, i.e. unusual eye or hair color,
or had some kind of handicap, a priest would cut out the child's
heart and give it to the parents to eat. What happened to the
baby's body, no one knew. The priest took it away and no one
would see it again. They didn't even hold a burial ceremony.

The doctor barely repressed a very unholographic urge to
shudder. In his opinion, that custom was not only barbaric, it was
revolting. For once he was grateful he was a hologram. If he had
been flesh and blood he would've been sick. The doctor sighed
and turned his mind to another LecSe habit GenA had told him
about.

When a LecSe selected a mate, the chosen didn't really have a
choice. If he/she/it refused the proposal, the LecSe would use
any and all means to force the mating. And if the chosen was
already married, his/her/its spouse was tortured physically and
mentally, then killed.

This information had shocked the doctor. He hadn't really been
all that surprised after hearing what was done to 'imperfect'
babies, but he'd been shocked none-the-less. It was also what
had convinced him that GenA could be trusted to help free
Commander Chakotay and Lieutenant Paris.

The doctor had asked GenA why SicA would suddenly trust Tom
Paris, which she obviously did. GenA had told him that he didn't
want to know. The look in the alien's eyes had convinced the
doctor not to inquire further.

Shaking off the unpleasant thoughts, the doctor turned his full
attention to his console and began the work he was *supposed*
to do. It was just in time. A few moments later, SicA entered
sickbay and walked into his office.


TBC