Author's Note

Hello there Starfleet officers.

First of all thank you for choosing to read this fanfiction! I can only hope that you find it just as exciting being a young Engineer on board the Starship Voyager than it was for me to write it.

A few things you need to know before reading:

you will need to have watched the series 4 episodes "Year of Hell" Part 1 & 2 (Don't worry if you haven't but it would make the layout of the story make more sense).

The Ensign character is a she/her Y/N (for those who don't know it simply means "your name") so when you see that just stamp your name right in there!

There may be injury detail in some chapters but nothing too gory, I'm not that into the walking dead!

This is an AU version so some conversations with the original Voyager characters have been made up, however most of the quotes are taken from the episodes themselves as the events of the episode happen around you character.

DISCLAIMER: This is a fanfiction. I do not own Star Trek Voyager or any of its characters and don't intend to infringe any copyright.

Now scroll down, clip on your comm badge and step onto the USS Starship Voyager, which is currently in a very sorry state...


CHAPTER 1: DAY 65

Ensign's Log Supplemental, Stardate 51268.4. Things have only gone from bad to worse. I have been stationed in Engineering to help with repairs but without Lieutenant B'elanna working beside us, we're nowhere near getting any sort of power back into the thrusters, or any part of the Warp Core for that matter. As if we couldn't be in enough of a predicament, we were attacked yet again this morning by the Krenim. Neelix reports that we're back on emergency rations, but the last thing I can think about now is food. Just a few minutes ago, Security began evacuating the crew and myself from deck 11, therefore I'm no longer able to sleep in my own quarters, as well as every other crewman on the ship. We're being rounded up into Cargo Bay 2 as a non-permanent living solution. I can only hope that Voyager will still be our home after the year is out.

She let out a shuddering sigh and ended her personal log on the PADD with a prod of her finger. The screen kept flickering on and off so she wasn't sure just how much of the log the small device had recorded, but it wasn't like she would forget these darkening events so easily. Ensign (y/n) stuffed the PADD along with her essentials into the emergency bag on her bed and zipped it up hastily. Taking a quick look around her standard Starship bedroom, she frowned with a slight pang of reluctance; the replicator was empty, the grey sheets were made-up neatly over the bed, and all her personal belongings on one of the display shelves stared back at her in the dim light. The young ensign gazed over her engineering books and the small replica of one of the old-fashioned 21st century space rockets, and finally she gulped anxiously at the photograph taken on Earth of her family during the Starfleet Academy graduation ceremony; they all looked super proud and excited at their daughter's achievements, to become a part of the Engineering team on the U.S.S. Voyager so young was unheard of. It seemed like a millennia ago since she saw their real faces, heard their real voices, held them in her own embrace. I will see you again.

"Ensign, there is no time," the Vulcan's steady voice called from the hallway and she bit her lip to stop it from trembling. Then she inhaled through her nose and turned to face the Lieutenant confidently.

"Yes Sir!" she replied and followed close behind the tall Vulcan's strides. Taking the first few steps out of her quarters was like trudging through thick tar, but she knew that her family weren't stuck behind waiting on her shelf. They were back in the Alpha Quadrant and a lot further away from danger then the crew of Voyager were about to be. It was only after she'd escaped her foggy memories that she noticed that the Lieutenant was walking with his arm linked around the tall slender frame of Seven of Nine, her strict posture never failing as the Vulcan relied on her for guidance. Frowning, she clutched the emergency bag slung over her shoulder and wondered whether or not to ask what had happened. Was he hurt, or to put it more frankly, how badly? As if the half-Borg woman had read her thoughts, she glanced over her shoulder at the Ensign behind them and peered at her with intense blue eyes.

"You are curious, Ensign," she stated rather than asked, making the Ensign cringe into her shoulders. "No ma'am," the Ensign replied quickly with a small voice, nerves shaking her hands into tight fists. Seven of Nine was intimidating, even if she didn't intend to be.

"It is quite alright Ensign," Lieutenant Tuvok spoke up, clearly aware of the awkward exchange, "I was involved in an accident that has impaired my vision, therefore I require assistance when going about the ship. However, I am still able to continue fulfilling my duty, as should you Ensign." She felt her heart beating faster, a strange sense of fear rising from her stomach. Lieutenant Tuvok is... blind? Another deep pang of fear struck her chest as the lights above them began to flicker and crackle, seeming to get dimmer as the power within the ship continued to drain. Maybe it was the concept of becoming blind that scared the Ensign or the never ending darkness surrounding her that made her suddenly feel an almost unbearable pity towards the Vulcan.

"I will do my utmost, Sir," she stated certainly and after exchanging a quick glance with Seven, the Ensign jogged determinedly past them and down the hallway, skipping over the debris as she headed towards Cargo Bay 2.

It was unsettling seeing any of the crew with injuries both minor and severe, but to see one of her commanding officers with such a drastic wound made her blood boil in her veins. Enough is enough, she blew through her nose angrily. If anything, she felt more determined to get the ship back in shape as soon as was humanly possible if it meant never seeing Krenim space ever again. Turning a corner, she came to an abrupt stop when she collided with something yellow and hairy. Catching her breath, she looked back up and smiled,

"Neelix! I'm so sorry, these damn low lights-"

"Not to worry Ensign (y/n), you're not the first person I've bumped into lately," the Talaxian chuckled with a reassuring grin, "Speaking of which, have you seen Lieutenant Tuvok? I have a question for him about some security alarm suggestions."

"I was with the Lieutenant several minutes ago, he's making his way back towards the Bridge but you should be able to catch him before he goes up," the Ensign aimed a thumb over her shoulder and the Talaxian exhaled gladly.

"Excellent, thank you Ensign!" he patted her on the shoulder, "Oh, and be careful (y/n), the ship gets a little messier on route to the Cargo Bay. Watch you're step!" Neelix puffed up his chest as he walked away around the corner, no doubt preparing himself to appear even more professional in front of the Head of Security. She laughed internally at the Talaxian's many attempts to get Lieutenant Tuvok to like him, or even appreciate him as Neelix had put it. But deep down she knew that Tuvok must see that Neelix was just as important on Voyager as anyone else.

Readjusting the emergency bag on her shoulder, Ensign (y/n) turned and continued towards the Cargo Bay, passing scorched panels and smashed computer screens with every leaping stride. She coughed as smoke became thicker down the corridor, her eyes stinging from the hot, dry air that flew into her face as she ran faster. Hopefully things weren't so dire in her new quarters. Suddenly the ship wide alarm blared out through the walls, immediately followed by Commander Chakotay's barely contained distress,

"All hands to battle stations. Krenim vessels approaching. Repeat, all hands to battle stations."

As she turned another corner, the Ensign found herself joining several crewman on their way to their stations. With engineering down, she wasn't sure where she was supposed to go, her second station now also off limits. Hesitating worridly in the hallway, she felt a soft hand grasp hers and drag her along with them through the debris.

"Come along Ensign, let's make sure we keep those Krenim away from our power reserves!" Ensign Harry Kim called over the resounding alarms. Even though the fate of Voyager hung yet again on the edge of a knife, Harry Kim still managed to let a smile slip past his lips, his almond eyes unyielding as he quickly stationed her alongside two other officers, before racing off towards the Bridge.

She waited, her fellow crewmen apprehensive as they unlocked a large case and pulled out Type III phaser rifles. Without having a say, one of the men shoved the weapon into her arms and proceed to retrieve another.

"Follow us, Ensign." The two security officers broke out into a run down the hazy corridor and she hurried on after them, the weight of the compression phaser almost toppling her over her own boots as she scrambled past charcoaled debris. She'd much rather have been sorting out the fusion reactors to give the ship impulse power, but Deck 11 was now off limits thanks to the Krenim attacks. Now her diagnostic panel was replaced by a heavy, highly dangerous phaser rifle - which she didn't think she would ever get her hands on - running to who knows where.

They stopped outside the Turbo lift just down from Cargo Bay 1 and awaited orders from the Bridge, Red Alert only noticeable from the continued low beeping as the lights remained inoperable. Feeling an uncomfortable tension building up inside of her, Ensign (y/n) swallowed the lump in her throat and held the rifle tighter in her arms, cradling it like her life depended on it. Which in a way, it did.

"You're not part of Security on Voyager, are you Ensign?" one of the officers asked almost sarcastically. He was of medium build, his curly brunette hair covered with ash. A bead of sweat fell down his cheek as she was suddenly reminded of the failed environmental controls. She felt her skin warm up beneath her uniform and shook her head,

"No Sir, in from Engineering."

"I'm Ensign Miller," he shook her free hand strongly, "and this is Ensign Lee. And you are?"

"Ensign (y/n)," she replied with a forced smile. Even though being a security officer wasn't her main objective, she did have training at the Academy on how to deal with intruders, even though she had always hoped that would be left to the guys with the guns. Ensign Lee was a lot taller than Miller, his face softer and his eyes brighter. He smiled at her and also shook her hand but he didn't speak, his gaze now switching between the Turbo lift and the Cargo Bay. Ensign Miller checked his rifle charge and set the phaser to stun, showing the nervous engineer how. She felt the buzz of energy tingling through her fingers as the phaser came to life and she suppressed a smile. Was she excited about all this? Maybe it was the adrenaline sending her crazy or the fact that she was doing something other than fixing things that wouldn't mend for once.

"What's taking them so long?" Miller exhaled irritably, followed by a deep rumble that rocked the ship sideways. The three Ensigns stumbled into the wall behind them, the young engineer clinging onto her phaser rifle as she buckled to her knees. Hitting the wall face on, she gasped out a breath as the phaser bashed into her stomach. That's the last thing I needed, she groaned as her desire for nourishment came at the worst of moments.

"Looks like we got Shields back online, otherwise half the deck would be up in flames by now," she observed, imagining what could be happening above her on the Bridge. Getting back up off the wall, Ensign Lee wiped his forehead and looked down the hallway to see if anyone else had taken a fall. Then he turned to the young engineer and held out his hand,

"Are you alright?"

She tried to steady her breathing and grasped his hand, and as he helped her up she replied, "I'm fine, thank you Sir."

"Just 'Ensign Lee' will suffice," he mused with a smirk on his lips. She blushed.

"Sorry S- Ensign," she corrected herself. Shifting some burnt pieces of debris from in front of her, she listening out for another hit to the ship from the Krenim. But nothing happened. A few agonising minutes passed. Nothing.

"I don't like this silence," Miller mumbled to himself, starting to pace up and down the hallway in angst.

"Would you rather they fire again?" Lee asked his friend calmly, his humour hardly seeming legitimate as his face remained unmoved. Eventually, they felt the ship's impulse engines buzzing into life and they knew they had started moving again. But where? Would the Captain keep Voyager moving into Krenim space? Ensign (y/n) bit her lip nervously, searching the walls and floor around her to find anything to distract her from the waiting. Nothing helped. As if on que, The Captain's voice cut through her nerves as her sharp voice echoed through the walls,

"All hands brace for impact!"

She steadied herself this time and so did the security officers as the hallway shook violently for ten seconds and then randomly subsided. Ensign Lee exchanged glances with Ensign Miller, their brows furrowed with curiosity. They were thinking the same thing she was; is it over? Red Alert lowered to Yellow and all three crewmen sighed in relief. As soon as it had ended, people began moving again, returning to their previous stations as if nothing had happened. Following suit, the security officers lead Ensign (y/n) back to where they had collected the rifles and quickly stored them away.

"I'll be heading back to the shuttle bay, I've got some checks to run through for Lieutenant Tuvok. See you around Ensign (y/n)," Miller waved to her as he ran off hurriedly down the darkening hall without another word. On the other hand, Ensign Lee waited with the baffled engineer, standing calmly with his hands behind his back.

"You did well," he reported to her surprise.

"There wasn't much to do," she laughed with a shrug.

"But you stayed at your post nonetheless, and you kept a cool head. Tuvok would be right to enlist you," Lee spoke with sincerity in his voice as he straightened his jacket. She slowly let out the breath she had been holding in and pressed her lips into a thin line as she shyly listening to his flattery. By the way he mentioned the Head of Security so informally, she couldn't help thinking that Lee might be one of the top security officers on the ship. That thought made her feel even more bashful.

"I hope we get the chance to work together again," Lee interrupted her thinking, his eyes kind and inviting as she looked up at him. She wished to get to know him more, to work beside him. Just spending ten minutes in his company had rekindled a small flame of hope in her soul. Maybe they would survive this ongoing war. As frustrating as it was, she knew she had more pressing matters to attend to. Duty first. Clearing her throat, she stepped back and picked up her emergency bag from the floor beside the weapons case.

"I hope so too," she replied, trying her best not to blush as she jogged away down the hallway and headed towards Cargo Bay 2. I'll get there at some point today.