Captain Ryder stood in the transporter room waiting for the arrival of the Vidiian named Hena. The ship had a feeling of tension because of the situation the ship had found itself in. The crew had been told to watch closely when the visitor arrived. The ship had already been put into a silent yellow alert as the trust of vidiians was low. Ryder’s stomach was in knots as he waited. He jumped when the doors opened, bringing the arrival of the Fleet Captain who smirked at the skittish nature of the Captain. “Are you ok?” she asked. Ryder shook his head “I’m not sure I guess we will see when I have a better idea of what is going to happen.”

Zodot and Hena stood in the office of the ship and prepared for the transport to the Federation ship. “We will set the system to bring us back in a set amount of time. I do not wish to stay on the ship any longer than we need to. As soon as we have concluded our business I want to come back to the ship.” Zodot ordered. While assistance could be useful he still did not want it or did he? Was all of this a ruse for the true nature of a plan that had been formulated? Hena nodded “Listen if we don’t make it through this I need you to know something.” she was stopped by Zodot “Let’s not even go there. We will come back, I know it.” he smiled at her and took a deep breath as the view around him changed.

Ryder watched as not one but two figures began to materialize in front of him. He looked at Lieutenant Kennedy, the ship’s Security Chief; she looked disapprovingly at the news that not one but two Vidiians were now on the ship. She didn’t want one of them on the ship now the ship had two of the most dangerous species from the Delta Quadrant. She sighed and silently notified her security officers to be on watch. Michael stepped forward in the most diplomatic way he could. “Welcome to the Neptune, I am Captain Ryder. Is there anything we can do to help you personally? We have medical personnel on standby, food replicators, and anything else we can offer to make this experience more comfortable.” He wasn’t sure if that would matter to the Vidiians, but he figured there was no reason to not be diplomatic; they had not shown hostile intent and currently both ships were in a predicament. 

Zodot was the first to speak up “We could use some medicine to abate the pain currently. We know you have dealt with our kind before and any help to the pain would be appreciated.” Hena stood there silent just listening before speaking up “I would like some food we haven’t eaten for a few days.” she was longing for food even through the pain she had been dealing with which seemed to be getting worse. She did not know how long she had to live, but she knew for now it didn’t matter. 

Ryder smiled “We will do the best we can.” he looked at the escorts in the room “Can you please take them to the doctor than to the mess hall to get some food. I will be along shortly.” The tertiary nod came from the escorts as they led the two guests out of the transporter room and Ryder turned to Tomuya and Kennedy “Well, that went better than expected, but I am still not quite sure if we can trust them. If the past has shown us anything they usually are hostile, but that was the Voyager’s encounter with them. Kennedy, have you learned anything from your research regarding them?” he asked, looking at his security chief.

Kennedy shook her head “The information we have regarding the Vidiians is slim and what we have seen they have never been…civil. This is not like an encounter we have seen in the past so I am not sure what we can do to expect what could happen. I guess we should use the old adage “expect the unexpected.” All I can say is we continue to exercise extreme caution.” Michael nodded and looked at Tomuya to see if she had any input “I cannot say anything other than what Kennedy said because this is such a unique situation. We did lock down the bridge though, correct?” Amanda nodded.

Dr al-Assad was working on his medical reports when the two guests arrived and his eyes widened; he had only ever heard of the Vidiians, but this was the first time ever seeing one. He had heard the reports that they were coming but he hadn’t believed it. He stood up and walked over to them “Welcome I am Dr. Tahir al-Assad. How can I be of assistance?” 

Zodot had to admit the ship was incredible, but that didn’t change their purpose. As they walked into sickbay the doctor’s greeting sent chills up his spine as he remembered doctors in the past “If you could help find something to suppress the pain that would be the biggest help.” he said looking at Hena who he knew was in major pain. al-Assad nodded “I will need to do a quick scan to see how I might be able to help.” he said as he guided them to the beds nearby so he could conduct the scans. He tried to make them as comfortable as possible knowing the pain they must be in. He initiated the scan and looked through the information amazed the Vidiians were even alive. He didn’t know half of the physiology he was looking at, but this was a situation where he was trying to help the unknown elements. He began to think through his medical training to see if he could help them in any way. He found a solution that could help for a time. “I think I have found something that will be able to help with the pain for some time and can send some extra with you if it will help.”

Hena was first to speak up “You could do that?” al-Assad nodded “That is what our job is to help others in need plus all it can do is help with the pain it will never be able to take everything away.” he stopped seeing the Captain enter sickbay and acknowledged him. “Have you been able to render any assistance, Doctor?” he asked. “I will be able to give them something to help with the pain, but as we know there is nothing I can do to change the eventual outcome.” Ryder nodded and looked at the Vidiians “Hopefully this is able to help some. My engineers have been looking at your ship and your ship sustained minor damage which was easily fixed. They beamed to your engineering and fixed it then promptly left.”

Zodot looked at Hena worried the engineer saw all the dead bodies on the ship, but it seemed like engineering had been empty at that time or they just didn’t want to mention the full report, which seemed to be the more accurate of the two outcomes. As the doctor administered the medicine the pain did seem to cease and Zodot felt the best he had in awhile. “Thank you very much,” he replied. Ryder smiled “Can we at least get the names so we know how to address you? I recall the woman saying her name is Hena, but what is your name?” Zodot looked at Ryder and replied with the singular word “Zodot.”

Ryder nodded “Well, Zodot and Hena would you like some food?” He wanted to make sure there was nothing to indicate hostility. Zodot looked at Hena who nodded “We could use something to eat.” Zodot was calculating in his head how much longer before the system pulled them back to their ship. The help had been great and the fact that the ship had been repaired helped them, but with no one else surviving they needed to get back to the Delta Quadrant. The truth was the whole point of being on the ship had bigger meaning and though they had acted innocent they had bigger motives. 

Ryder led them towards the mess hall to help to satiate their hunger. His stomach had stopped churning because everything seemed to be ok and all seemed like it was going smooth. He was about to enter the mess hall when he felt the hands of someone grab him and before he knew it he saw a new view, one that was not the Neptune. “What is the meaning of this?” he asked, struggling. “Stop struggling or you’re dead.” Zodot said his demeanor was different from only minutes ago. 

The truth was Zodot and Hena had planned this from the beginning while it seemed they were helpless and wanted help the true Vidiian nature had come to light. Now they needed to leave quickly especially after kidnapping the Captain of a Federation vessel. He looked at Hena “My love, let’s get out of here.” he said. She smiled “Only one way to go currently, you ready for the result.” he nodded. Ryder looked at them shaking his head “So your true colors were this all along?” he said in anger. Zodot hit him on the head knocking him unconscious. 

The security officers that had been behind the two Vidiians had not expected the events that occurred so quickly. They immediately opened comms “Lieutenant Davis to Chief Kennedy, the guests have left the ship and they kidnapped the Captain.” Amanda immediately sprinted to the bridge hearing the news seeing the XO on the bridge. She looked out the window to see the ship it still had not moved. Commander Lewis heard the call and called for an immediate red alert. The bridge was bathed in crimson red and the crew was prepared for a fight, as the crew watched the ship trying to determine what was going to happen the one phrase no one wanted to hear was uttered “The ship is powering up.” Lewis looked at the viewscreen seeing the ship head towards the aperture. She was about to call the Fleet Captain to the bridge when the bridge doors opened with Tomuya entering the room with a look of serious concern on her face. Not a word needed spoken as the ship disappeared into the aperture.

Lewis looked at the Fleet Captain with an indication of what to do as she was still shocked by the events that had just unfolded in front of him. Tomuya looked at the crew “This is an unprecedented and vicious attack of the Captain. We may not know what is inside of the aperture, but we will be following the Vidiians to save Captain Ryder. Prepare for impulse and head towards the aperture.” she ordered looking at Lewis who nodded “In the meantime Commander Lewis will be the ships acting CO. Let’s go save the Captain.” 

The Neptune slowly began to creep towards the opening with the crew not knowing what was about to happen, the view ahead terrifying and the Captain in the hands of unethical serial killers. The ship slipped into the aperture in full chase. The crew did not know where the aperture would lead or what was coming but the rescue of the Captain was paramount to anything else. In mere seconds the Neptune was gone from the Alpha Quadrant now trying to navigate the volatile corridors of Underspace to rescue their Captain.