Abject Pariah

Title: Abject Pariah

Rating: R-NC17

Chapter Rating: PG to PG13

Warnings: uncommon crossover; eventual interspecies relationships of the homoerotic kind

Summary: The Starship Voyager is caught in a strange anomaly that sends the ship and crew land on an uncharted planet in an uncharted universe where they encounter a Dark Lord, an all powerful ring and a world that soon will have them question all they used to believe.

Note: This is a story written for entertainment and not for profit. I do not claim to own any rights to either Lord of the Rings or Star Trek Voyager and their respectively created universes. For initial authenticity, some of the original dialogue from the scripts to “The Gift” and “The Two Towers” have been retained.

Special thanks to my fantastic betas Jaimie and Nic.

Prologue - The Gift

“My gift to you,” Kes whispered.

The warp reactor whirred softly as it came online. B’Elanna Torres stared in disbelief for a moment as the whirring slowly turned into a deep hum and then a deafening roar.

“Matter antimatter reaction at one hundred and two percent. A hundred and ten percent. A hundred and twenty!”

Something happened then that none of the crew could explain; when the engine surpassed its capacity, a deafening the roar began to shake the entire ship. The bulkheads groaned under the velocity. And when it felt as though the hull was about to buckle, suddenly, the ship came to an abrupt halt.

“We've just dropped out of whatever it was we were in,” Paris stated looking at the helm confused but glad to be alive.

“Systems are coming back online,” Chakotay informed the bridge.

“On screen. Where are we?” Janeway demanded. The view-screen flickered for a moment, then displayed the image of a vibrant blue planet not unlike Earth.

“Lieutenant Paris?” The Captain looked at the planet with curiosity.

“Sensors must be malfunctioning, Captain,” Paris said, “they cannot seem to be able to find our position.”

“Sensors are functioning fine, Tom,” Chakotay scanned the area, “we are no longer in charted space.”

Silence fell among the crew on the bridge. Uncharted space. Kes had sent them somewhere, possibly nowhere. At least they were no longer in Borg territory.

“What kind of system are we in?” Janeway turned to Chakotay.

“I wish I could tell you, Captain,” he replied, “this seems to be the only planet in this system. And the sun is the only star as far as our sensors can reach.”

Anyone would have been able to read Captain Janeway’s face in that moment. She was as much in shock as the rest of her crew. Tens of thousands of light years from home had been one thing. Lost in empty space with nothing but this one planet before them was another. There had to be another way.

“Tom,” she said, “are there any life signs on that planet?”

“I am picking up most humanoid life signs on the largest continent. And there are other life signs on the smaller continent, but sensors cannot confirm whether they are humanoid or not. There are about two million life signs all together, Captain- this is a pre-warp civilization.”

Hope shattered fast.

“Define pre-warp, Mr. Paris.”

“They seem to be at the breech of industrial revolution; there are heavy carbon emissions in several hot spots, but particularly around the southern most part of the conti- wait, what is tha-“

The Lieutenant’s words were cut off by a paralyzing screech and the view screen was bathed in the fierce glow of fire. For a moment it seemed there had been an explosion, but then the shape of a fiery eye emerged. A voice came not with sound but deep within the minds of the entire crew of the ship and growled in a language they could not understand. Then the view screen went dark, systems failed, and Voyager, as though pulled by an unseen force, spiraled down toward the planet.

Samwise Gamgee stopped in his tracks when his feet felt the moist suction of the ground on his bare feet.

“It's a bog! He's led us into a swamp!” The Hobbit exclaimed and took a step back onto dry land.

“Swamp, yes, yes. Come master,” Gollum crawled over the rocks and onto a spot less muddy than the others, “We will take you on safe paths, through the mist. Come Hobbits, come. Real quickly. I found it, I did. The way through the marshes. Orcs don't use it. Orcs don't know it. They go round for miles and miles. Come quickly. Swift and quick as shadows we must be.”

The two Hobbits followed Gollum, reluctant at first, but the further they wandered into the foggy swamp, they realized that their trust was not betrayed as the creature led them on a somewhat dry path through the eerie landscape.

Silence clung to the landscape like the fog, an eerie silence, one that hid unspeakable things. The rocky terrain sloped gently down the foot of the mountain and almost seamlessly turned into a swamp that stretched as far as the eye could see. Fog clung to the landscape grey and stale as though it had hung there for a thousand years undisturbed in its existence. Clouds obscured the sun, but the light from above was so faint that it seemed the sun had long turned away from this place.

“There are dead things! Dead faces in the water!” The voice of Samwise cut through the silence. Frodo jerked up, startled, while Gollum paused to look at the elder, terrified Hobbit.

“What are these?” Samwise’s face spoke of horror as he stared into the eyeless holes that stared from distorted faces of once regal beings. He knew he longer was in the safe haven of the Shire, but the further their journey took them, the more he was aware of just how terrible things were going to be. He really wanted to be at the Green Dragon right now, sipping at a pint.

“All dead. All rotten. Elves and men and Orcses.” Gollum seemed to be talking to himself rather than Samwise as he continued forward, “A great battle long ago. The Dead Marshes. Yes, yes! That is the name.” Once this place had been known as Dagorlad, where the battle of the Last Alliance had been fought and Sauron defeated by Isildur’s blade. “This way,” Gollum waved the Hobbits along. “Don't follow the lights.”

It was only then that Frodo and Samwise saw the flickering lights that were strewn across the swamp, contributing to the eerie glow. They both watched the lights for a moment as they danced sadly over the bodies whose souls they contained. Samwise turned to follow the creature Gollum, but Frodo found himself mesmerized by the flickering light that seem to look straight into his soul. He veered off the path despite Gollum’s warning. The wet ground sucked at his feet, drawing him down with each step. There were hands reached for him, hands that needed help to come to the surface, he was sure. Frodo extended his hand into the water to reach for them, the same moment the sky caught on fire.

The Hobbit jumped back and scrambled onto the path after Sam and Gollum, who dragged him down beneath the skeleton of a fallen tree. The noise was so loud that not even their hands could block it. The roar vibrated the earth beneath them, taking their breath. Their hearts pounded as the noise came to an apex and something slammed into the marshes with impossible force.

The wake of the explosion send ground and flame raining upon the three frightened creatures who huddled beneath the tree trunk long after the noise was gone.

Chaper One - Down the Rabbit Hole

“Status report,” Janeway groaned as she crawled out from underneath a fallen bulkhead. If the bridge was any indication of the rest of the ship, repairs would run weeks. There was no answer. “Status report.”

Tom Paris replied with a groan from underneath the helm. There was movement from tactical as well. Tuvok had managed to get up and push some debris off Harry Kim, who held his arm at a strange angle. Chakotay lay unconscious on the ground beside his seat. The ship was dark except for the flickering red emergency lights. It was unusually cold. The environmental controls probably were out with the rest of the ship's systems.

“He’s alright,” Paris was scanning Chakotay’s head, “just a mild concussion. He’ll be fine in a couple of minutes. Sorry about that landing, Captain.”

“We are lucky to be alive,” Janeway pulled herself back onto the chair, “I would say the landing was quite successful considering our circumstances. We need systems back up. What’s the status of the comm. line, Tuvok?”

“We have lost all communications.” Tuvok sat Ensign Kim down. “Environmental controls are down, sensors have failed, shields are down, we have lost all power to-“

“I think this would be faster if we focused on what is working,” Janeway said, pacing between her chair and the helm. “What do we have to work with?”

She wanted something to work with. Something that would give them some form of hope for the crew that they would not be permanently stranded on this planet. She had not forgotten the eye that had burnt from the view screen right before they had crashed. Now, she would have to focus on repairs to the ship, which would distract the crew, she hoped.

“Torres to bridge,” A voice distorted by static came from the comm system. “Torres to bridge, can you hear me?”

“Janeway here, we can hear you,” the Captain said sitting down in her chair. “What is your status.”

“The engines are fried. I couldn’t even guess how long it will take to fix them. Vorik and I got communications back up, but that seemed to be the easiest task.”

“Thank you, B’Elanna. Janeway to all decks, there will be a meeting in the mess hall at 1300 hours. All injured report to sickbay.” She tapped her comm badge and looked at Paris. “The Doctor will need your help.”

“Aye, Captain,” Paris nodded and handed her the subdermal regenerator, “Chakotay will need treatments every few minutes until he wakes up.”

“Take Harry with you; his arm is broken.”

“Yes Captain,” the Lieutenant climbed over a large piece of debris up to Tactical, “come on, Harry, let’s get you fixed up.”

The terrible noise ceased until only the sounds of burning was left. Soon, a smell unlike the Hobbits had ever smelled before, crept over them. It smelled of burning oil and steel and something that they had never smelled before. They pulled their cloaks over their faces, coughing and retching.

Gollum seemed unaffected by the smell, but he seemed terrified, hiding his face between his hands as the Hobbits began to stir once more.

“What was that?” Samwise whispered, close to Frodo and shifted slowly to turn around.

“I’m not sure,” Frodo turned with Samwise, slowly, scared but also curious as Hobbits so tend to be. There did not seem to be any immediate danger as the ring lay quiet against his chest. “I have never seen anything like this before.”

In fact, no one in Middle Earth ever had. Half a league from them, amidst smoke, fire and ashes, lay a steel monster of enormous proportions. The Hobbit did not know what he was looking at, but he could tell it was a slain giant brought to its knees by unimaginable powers

“We should go, Mr. Frodo,” Samwise was not comfortable in this situation. He had read many stories about Trolls and Oliphaunts and even giants, but never had he heard of anything like this. It was unnatural and that concerned him.

“Yes, yes,” Gollum finally stirred, still shaking with fear, “we should go, hide, as quick as we can, Master.”

The inquisitive nature of a Baggins was not easily swayed, sometimes not even by reason. Frodo did not feel afraid. He realized the possible danger of the situation, but his chest pounded with excitement not fear. Samwise must have caught the look in his eye, because he exhaled audibly and straightened himself slightly.

“Mr. Frodo,” he began. He knew he would not be able to convince his friend otherwise. Secretly, he was glad to see an emotion that was not despair written across Frodo’s face. “If we take a tiny look, it won’t take us from our journey long.”

“Yes,” Frodo smiled genuinely and Samwise felt his heart jump. “Smeagol, can you show us a safe path?”

Gollum froze. His pallid face was still as stone and he slowly tilted his head and blinked.

“If Master thinks it is a good idea,” his voice dripped with ulterior motives, “we will show you a path.” He coughed and hacked for a moment and then, slowly began to move toward the metal giant.