Odd Problems Require Unique Solutions

The Fae Dragon touched down in the center of the city of Marron with a full Engineering team, including L'Naan and Raven, as well as Janeway, Tuvok, and Harry. The Voyager had been traveling near their world when we picked up their distress call, begging for assistance in repairing their terraforming machinery. Without the equipment, the storms were quickly reverting back to their acidic nature, forcing the colony to rely on their shielding, but it was causing them to use more energy than they could produce, so they would not be able to handle the problem for long. It was not an episode to my knowledge, but storms and machines meant that Raven and I were perfect for the job, so my group had some suspicion of this away mission.

Once I broke apart the yellowish-gray clouds that surrounded the city, the sky was a beautiful cyan color. The city itself was made up of thirteen spiraling, steel buildings with the tallest in the center, close to where we were landing. Numerous mines were scattered throughout the mountain chain that ringed the city which were extracting valuable metals.

Janeway, Tuvok, B'Elanna, and I exited the ship and headed for the greeting party that was waiting for us. There were four men with sky-blue skin, and their hair were different shades of green. Two of the four were dressed in armor, sleek designs but still obvious for what it was, while the third wore simple clothes of navy and red and the fourth wore robes with navy and red designs and a golden circlet on his head.

"I am glad to see that your promise to break the storm was not as far-fetched as I believed," the crowned man remarked. "Thank you for agreeing to help us, Captain Janeway."

"You're welcome, Sizgis Varric. Allow me to introduce you to Lieutenant Tuvok, my Chief of Security, Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres, my Chief Engineer, and Captain Cox of the Fae Dragon," Janeway said, motioning to each of us in turn.

"This is Hondo, son of Neches, our city's top Engineer," Varric introduced.

The man in the simple clothing touched his forehead then swung out the same arm as he said, "Fortune bless your journey for giving us your assistance."

"Thank you," Janeway replied.

"Hondo, show their engineers to the transforming device while I take the Captains on a tour of the city," Varric said.

"Yes, Sizgis," Hondo replied with a bow of his head. "Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres, please bring your team this way."

B'Elanna motioned to her team, that was standing around the Fae Dragon, and then they all followed Hondo to the far end of the landing platform. Varric motioned a small shuttle that only had a red, fabric canopy as its roof and no walls on the sides. Janeway, Tuvok, and I walked alongside Varric with his two guards following behind us and stepped onto the ship. One guard went to the back of the platform to a console while Varric brought us to the front where there were couches built into the railing of the ship.

"Please, sit," Varric offered as he sat down on one of the couches.

Janeway, Tuvok, and I sat down on the couches on the opposite side while his guard remained standing at his side. The shuttle took off and flew through the sky at slow speed, circling around the center tower.

"I founded this city five years ago with my twelve Saveta. Traditionally, when a male of the ruling family reaches adulthood, the first born will inherit the title Sizgis of their home while the second will pick a world to colonize. My lineage has controlled Barduna, the capital world of the Garun Empire, for hundreds of years, so when it was time for me to venture out, I was ambitious and moved here, three hundred light-years from my home. Rumaish is a feisty planet, rich in valuable metals, but with a temperament that makes me think twice every day on whether I made the right decision or not," Varric said.

Despite his words, I could hear the pride in his voice as he spoke about his city. The central tower was his home and where all the government affairs were handled. Each of the other twelve towers belonged to one of the Saveta, and contained whatever businesses they owned. Their whole culture hierarchy seemed to be based around the thirteen families, but only the first two sons of the heads of the families had any voice in the Empire while the rest of their people seemed forced to swear loyalty to one of the thirteen families when they reached adulthood. Marron may have been a good place to live, where people were treated with respect, but I could not help but wonder about the other worlds under this Empire.

Varric spent the day showing us around the city, and introducing us to his Saveta, before he brought us to a large banquet in our honor. B'Elanna and her engineers were also present, but they were placed at a lower table along with Tuvok while Janeway and I joined Varric at the high table. With the clear divide in their culture between nobility and common people, it was to be expected that we were pulled away from the rest of our group, though I often found myself watching Raven and L'Naan interacting with each other and the Garunians. They seemed to be having fun, laughing and talking, while Janeway and I were forced to listen to Varric and his Saveta brag about the wonderful city that they had built.

Since it was difficult to travel to and from the Voyager, because of the weather patterns of this world, Sizgis Varric gave the Voyager team rooms in his tower, to use while we were here working on the machines. Janeway and I were assigned the two largest rooms on the floor that overlooked the city which had a beautiful view when night fell. I asked Raven to join me in the room after dinner, but she, and a couple other members of the Engineering team, went back to work after eating.

I sat on the balcony railing, staring up into the night sky and the three moons that circled the world. Aside from the extra moons and the lack of alcohol, it was almost like I was back in my suite within the Commander's Tower. I could not help but think back to that time, and how much I had changed from that scared girl, living in Katye's shadow since she had been Heda in that life. My powers were light-years beyond what they had been back then, pun intended, but my confidence and determination were what had grown the most.

"It's a beautiful night," I remarked, sensing Janeway walk out onto her own balcony.

"Rebecca? You should be careful," Janeway chided, but I just gave her a deadpan look since falling to my death was highly improbable. She smirked with a sigh and said, "I guess you don't need to be that careful."

"If it helps, I would often do this before I could fly," I chuckled.

"It doesn't," she retorted as she walked over to the ledge closest to me. "How have you liked your first, first contact?"

"The Garunian government doesn't make the most sense to me, but I can see the happy faces of the Marron citizens which shows that Sizgis Varric is a good leader, at least. The pioneer mentality was not something that really existed in my old life, though Raven, Katye, Echo, and I did build a city from scratch, so I can understand the pride he has in what he has created. They certainly have an adventurous spirit to expand like they do, pushing outside their territory and building a new life for themselves every generation," I replied.

"An interesting culture to say the least. The Federation is a group of a hundred and fifty planets, spanning eight thousand cubic light-years, and their Empire is nearly double the size. Frontiersmen looking for the challenge of building a new life, and the more inhospitable the world, the better from what I've read. It's no wonder that their terraforming technology is so advanced that they were able to turn a Class N planet into something like this in under five years."

"I'm sure since I've lost Raven to their machines. I swear, any new and impressive piece of technology, and I become second priority," I chuckled, leaning back against the wall. "But that's how all of us seemed to be wired, a strong obsession that roots back to our abilities... Katye has her enchantments and a love of languages, Echo is a patient hunter who is determined to get stronger than me, and I have a lazy personality, seeking comfort and pleasure, until there is a fight to be had which I'll throw myself into happily. As L'Naan likes to say, we're a strange bunch."

"That you are," she retorted with no hesitation, making both of us chuckle. "I'm glad that you two have sorted out your problems. Chakotay and I have been worried about how she was adjusting to her... unique situation, but she seems to have made some new friends with your group."

"She has," I replied with a smirk. "I wouldn't be surprised if she ended up joining our group when we returned to the Alpha Quadrant. I'd give you the same offer if I thought, even for a moment, that you would actually leave Starfleet. Only Katye, and sometimes Raven, has enough sense to try talking things out when problems come knocking, so it would do us a lot of good to have another cool head in the group, and you'd be able to travel to worlds unlike anything you can imagine, and of course, you'd be able to learn about the universe as we do. Dihydrogen oxide, water, exists in most habitable environments in a gaseous state as humidity, and cooler temperatures causes it to condense into a liquid form, then, once the temperature reaches zero degrees Celsius, it becomes ice, but there is so much more to Water as a concept."

Janeway watched with interest as I drew a small amount of water out of the air and froze it in a figurine of a three-tailed fox that could still move, under my control. "It's a tempting offer, but I think your lives are a bit too exciting for my tastes," she chuckled.

"We were looking for a quiet life when we came to the Federation," I reminded her of our group's background story. "Is the trouble that follows us really so different than the trouble that finds Starfleet Captains? We're all lost out here together, after all."

"Good night, Rebecca," she said with a smirk before walking back into her room.

I chuckled and returned my attention to the sky. Raven worked through the night and most of the next day before she finally came back to the room, exhausted. The problem with the terraforming machine was some sort of electrical issue, but that was as narrowed down as they could get it. As soon as they repaired one system, another one would start acting up, and, unsurprisingly, the problem was driving her, and the other engineers, crazy.

Janeway and Tuvok were able to beam back to the Voyager the next day, but I stayed down on the planet to keep the storms at bay. The Garunians were good hosts and even offered to let the crew come down to enjoy their city. It had been two months since the standoff with the Vidiians, and other than the week it took to rejoin the Voyager, we all had been working long shifts, and then trained in our downtime. Raven may have spent most of her time working, but Katye, Echo, and I did take advantage of the time for rest and relaxation, though after the third day, we decided that we were going to make her take a break whether or not she wanted to.

With some directions, the three of us made our way down to the basement level of Varric's tower. The room was massive, easily able to hold my Dragon form, if not for all of the machinery. There were half a dozen large glass vats that held liquids of different colors, and the metal of the various devices were all a golden color. Twenty or so Garunians were moving around the room along with three familiar faces, Raven, L'Naan, and B'Elanna.

"That's it! We've done it! All systems are registering normal," Hondo exclaimed.

"That's great, but we haven't started the bypass yet," B'Elanna remarked.

"What changed?" L'Naan asked.

"I don't know; everything has just returned to normal levels," Hondo replied, typing in a few commands into the console that he was behind.

The three of us remained back by the doorway, realizing that things in the room were at a critical point. Raven was under a large piece of equipment in the far corner while B'Elanna and L'Naan were around the central machine. She slid out from under the machine and sat up, looking in our direction, but I raised my hands as if to say we had nothing to do with it.

{So, do we wait, or just give her another half hour?} I asked telepathically.

{Things finally seem to be calming down here. I say we wait; at this point, even if things are fixed, she'd spend another six hours studying everything.} Katye replied, silently.

Echo, who could not use telepathy yet, just shrugged and leaned back against the wall while Nyka sat by her feet. Katye and I copied her actions, and rested against the wall while we waited. For the next twenty minutes, the engineers moved about the room, scanning and running diagnostics, as they tried to figure out what had solved their electrical issue, but there was no answer that could be dug up quickly.

"How long have you three been there?" B'Elanna asked, finally noticing us.

"Awhile, but it was clear that you needed a bit longer to sort things out," I replied. "Raven has worked double shifts the past four days and one was closer to a triple shift. Capable or not, we would appreciate some of her time, Lieutenant."

"I volunteered for the shifts; it's not B'Elanna's fault," Raven said quickly.

"I didn't say it was anyone's fault, just hinted that I missed you," I retorted with a smirk.

"Go; I think we are all due a break, right, Hondo?" B'Elanna remarked, rubbing her neck with a smile on her face.

"It's the first time in three weeks that I actually believed that I could," he said with a throaty laugh. "Padun, stay and keep an eye on everything; the rest of you, get out of here and see your families!"

Raven walked over to us covered in grease and grime, but I just smirked since it was rather fitting for her. "I would have come up once the scans were done."

"Uh huh, I've heard that before," I chuckled. "We found a good restaurant yesterday that we wanted to bring you to, but you need to get cleaned up first."

"Sounds good. L'Naan, do you want to join us?" Raven asked.

"I'd rather not intrude," L'Naan replied.

"You wouldn't be," I said with a smile.

"Come on. The shower in Becca's suite is better than the one attached to our room," Raven tempted.

That seemed to be all the coaxing that L'Naan needed, and she followed behind Raven with Echo behind her. I shot a look at Katye, who smiled mischievously, so I could not help but feel like I had been pulled into another one of her traps, yet I had no idea how she had done it. I shook my head with exasperation and started to follow all of them upstairs, but when I stepped out of the room, an alarm went off. Both Raven and L'Naan hurried back down the stairs so I retreated to get out of their way, which meant that I stepped back into the room, and when I did, the alarm shut off.

"What happened?!?" Hondo barked.

"There was a disruption in containment field beta," one of the Garunians replied.

"What caused it?" he demanded.

"I... I don't know, but it's back to normal now."

Raven looked over her shoulder at me and I sighed, "Fine; stay, and work, but you owe me when we get back onto the Voyager."

"Promise," Raven replied with a smile.

I gave a small wave before heading back out of the room, and as soon as I stepped out, another alarm went off. Rolling my eyes, I ignored it since I felt like Tori, or one of his Pantheon were just messing with us, but Katye had a different thought.

"Go back into the room," Katye said.

"What? Why?" I asked.

"I want to test something," she replied.

I shrugged and reentered the room. The alarm shut off yet again, and I realized that she might be on to something. There was a dampening field surrounding the room, so when I shifted in and out of it, an alarm would go off, driving everyone else insane with the constant fluctuations.

"It's an elemental creature! Your aura is far stronger and more threatening than anyone else's here, so when it senses you, it tries to hide," Katye deduced. "Stay out here. Echo, Nyka, or I should be able to find it if it's not suppressing itself."

"But... I wanna help," I said, a little sad that I could not contribute.

"Then stay," Katye said and walked back inside the room.

"Good girl," Echo taunted with a smirk.

"Just wait until you're under me again," I growled playfully.

I was forced to sit on the stairs while Katye explained what she thought the problem was. Nyka was able to sniff out the elemental creature after a few more minutes and Katye was able to draw it out of the machine with a complex runic spell. It was a wispy, royal purple figure, no bigger than a fist, known as an Electrical Gremlin in Fae's databanks, once we researched it. They were considered pests that would absorb different sources of electricity as food and disrupt most forms of power.

Strangely, when I looked at it, I got hungry, since it was made up of pure Lightning mana; no doubt, this was why any elemental creatures that we came across thought that I was going to eat them since my Dragon side was telling me to do just that. Katye let the creature go outside of the city, but to ensure that it would not come back and mess with their machines again, I needed to make a sacrifice of a few scales and a couple drops of blood when I was fully transformed. Dragons were hunted in the Endless Firmament because their bodies were ingredients in countless alchemy, inscription, and smithing recipes. Using the blood and scales, Katye created a number of wards around the city and placed the last within the room with the terraforming device since it was what had drawn in the Electrical Gremlin in the first place.

After solving the problem for the Garunians, Janeway gave the crew one final day of rest which the five of us enjoyed down on the planet. Thankful for our assistance, Sizgis Varric gave the Voyager several hundred kilos of several different metals that they would need for various repairs, and replacement parts for the ship. It had been a nice week-long diversion from the daily grind onboard a starship, but when we docked the Fae Dragon back inside the Voyager's Shuttle Bay, we were all ready to get back to the adventure.