Disclaimer: All
things Star Trek belong to Paramount. As far as I know, I am not making any
money from my improvements on their characters.
The continuation of “Truth” and “Consequences.” The captain begins to deal with the scars left by her abduction, and finds comfort in the arms of a friend.
I
appreciate all comments and criticism. Drop me a line at [email protected] and tell me
what you think. Though this was so long in arriving, I doubt anyone remembers
the first 2 parts, I ask that you give them all a read, and tell me what you
think.
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“Just as I suspected. The wonders of the human body never cease to amaze me. All traces of the serum have disappeared from your bloodstream, and there seems to be no residual tissue damage. I would pronounce you completely recovered, but in need of further rest, if I actually thought you would listen to me. Since I know you will not heed a warning from me, I am not officially clearing you for duty until you have had another week’s rest.”
“Thank you Doctor. I appreciate your concern, but I feel--”
The Captain was interrupted in mid sentence by the door chime to her quarters.
“Come in.”
“Ah, Commander, I don’t suppose you could convince the Captain to listen to me and stay in bed for the next few days? She seems reluctant to heed my advice on the subject. Not that her reluctance is anything new…”
Chakotay looked in Kathryn’s direction and raised an eyebrow.
“Well, I’ll do my best, but I usually have the same problem you do.”
“I always take your advice into consideration, both of you. I don’t always follow it, but I consider it…” Kathryn had regained her captain’s composure since her abduction, addressing the Doctor and her First Officer in her command stance, hands on hips, shoulders back. Except for the noticeable lack of a uniform, she could have been standing on her bridge.
“I see I am doomed to failure. I’m reducing your sentence to three days of rest. No less. No complaints. If I see you go near that command chair before then, I will not hesitate to relieve you of duty.” The Doctor turned on his heel and exited her quarters before she could protest. As he headed down the corridor, a smug smile crossed his lips. “Hm. If she won’t listen to me as her doctor, let’s see how I fair as a parole officer…”
Back in her quarters, Kathryn gave the closing door a disgusted look, then turned her attention to Chakotay.
“Seems like he’s pretty serious this time,” Chakotay was smiling broadly at her annoyance. “You know, it could be fun, staying in bed for three days…”
“I almost lost it when he asked you to convince me,” she matched his grin and put a conspiratorial hand on his arm. “So how was alpha shift today? Any crises? Hostile ships? Unexplained phenomena?”
“You are bored, aren’t you? No, just a quiet day on the Bridge. Tom just isn’t satisfied with my return volleys, I think he misses you.” They moved toward the sofa and sat down.
“I don’t suppose you’ve eaten yet? I thought we could go to the Mess Hall and get you out of your quarters,” Chakotay offered.
“I don’t think I’m quite up to Neelix’s cooking just yet. This time tomorrow I’ll probably give in to the boredom, but how about being bad and replicating something here?”
As they sat over dinner, Kathryn continued questioning him about ship’s business, and he finally gave in.
“Seven of Nine has been asking to speak to you all day, but I told her the Doctor had ordered you to rest. I said that if I saw you, and you were up to it, I’d fill you in on what she’s been working on. We still haven’t seen any sign of the aliens who took you, not that we know much about what to look for. Seven had an idea about a shield modification that might make us less vulnerable to the transporters they used. She said she would need a few hours to make the necessary changes. I told her to get started. She and B’lanna have also kept studying the sensor logs, and they think they may be able to re-calibrate the sensors to detect the intruders’ cloaking device from astrometrics. So, hopefully no more surprises.”
Chakotay tried to keep his tone light, and concentrated on his glass of water as he spoke, knowing that this topic was one she needed to hear about, but unsure of how she would react to his bringing up the aliens who abducted her. He looked up to try to judge her reaction in her eyes.
“Good.” She didn’t mince words, she didn’t seem shaken, just very matter-of-fact. Typical Captain Janeway. He knew she had more going through her head though, and it would have to come out eventually. Not just yet.
“So I’ve asked you how you feel, and for the moment I’ll believe you’re telling me the truth and you’re really feeling better, but I need to ask you a more specific question.”
“Go right ahead.” She was both relieved and intrigued by his change of subject, and she lay down her fork and leaned forward.
“After having a day to think it over, not that you’ve even thought about it at all…how do you feel about… us?” He seemed to be trying to distance himself, in case she had changed her mind since that morning, when she woke up, very happily, in his arms. She caught his cautious glance and held it, looking him straight in the eye as she dove in.
“I’ve thought about it. In fact, I spent about seventy-five percent of my time thinking about it… the other twenty-five went to coming up with a scheme to get myself onto the bridge without you or the Doctor chasing me off.”
She smiled playfully with that last remark, but switched to serious mode as she continued.
“But I think you may take that the wrong way. I didn’t spend all that time thinking of a list of pros and cons to the idea of “us”—I did that years ago. No, as far as I’m concerned that issue has been decided.
“I spent all that time trying to remember every minute of last night and this morning, and then trying to convince myself that it wasn’t all some drug-induced dream.” She brightened again, “And I’m still not entirely sure about that.”
By the time she had finished, Chakotay was smiling a relieved smile. A twinkle appeared in his eye as he asked, “Just exactly what do you remember about last night?”
“I seem to remember some unfinished business…”
Again her sentence was interrupted by a chime, but this time it was Chakotay’s communicator.
“Kim to Commander Chakotay. A vessel is approaching, and their leader is hailing. He’s asked to speak with our commanding officer.”
“I’m on my way. Chakotay out.” He started to rise from the table, and she did the same. “I’ll be back soon. I hope.”
“I’m coming with you.”
He gave her a skeptical look.
“What? I’m not going to do anything. I won’t be anywhere near the command chair. I’m not even in uniform…I’ll just stand by the turbolift and watch.” She was playing the innocent, unassuming role remarkably well. “I just need contact with my crew…”
“Why don’t I believe that? Fine, but I’m not responsible for the Doctor’s actions when he finds out you’re on the Bridge.” Chakotay turned, smiling, toward the door and motioned for her to lead the way.
She headed determinedly toward the door and shook her index finger in the air. “That’s MY Bridge, though some people seem to keep forgetting that key fact.”
*****
“Mr. Kim, is it?
Please inform me when your Commander arrives.” Tak cut the communications link
on the young human and turned to his second in command.
The race looked
remarkably human. They were taller, with broad shoulders and long hair. The
bridge was filled with males, all dressed in black uniforms and wearing weapons
belts. Their noses ended in a sharp, beak-like point, emphasizing the sharpness
of their barking tone of voice.
“Well, Vrell” he
addressed his second in command, “things appear to be going well. The Captain
is not on her Bridge, nor did Mr. Kim mention her name. He called Chakotay. We
both know if our lovely Captain were around, she would be the first one called.
I assume these humans never found her. Pity. She was quite a strong leader.”
“Commander Tak,” his
tactical officer called him from behind, “We are still unable to penetrate
their shields. I do not understand it. Nothing Janeway said indicated that they
possessed more advanced shielding than what was in place while we were
monitoring the ship before. Now they are impervious to our scans.”
“And their communications?
Have you restored our tap into those systems?” Tak was sounding perturbed,
slightly hostile.
“No sir. We have not
been able to listen in on them since we resumed pursuit yesterday. I do not
understand, their systems were easily compromised when we were preparing to
abduct their captain.”
“Perhaps they have
made modifications since then. We know their technology is as advanced as ours;
except for their lack of a cloaking device their tactical systems would surpass
our own. We must not underestimate their ability to adapt. That’s one of the
reasons why we are targeting them to be allies in the first place.” Tak had
reigned in his frustration.
Vrell chimed in, in
support of Tak, “Yes, best not to risk that our original assumption about
Voyager will come true. If we do not act to form an alliance, they will
encounter our enemies and may be persuaded to take up their side. And perhaps
without their Captain, the crew will be more likely to bend their Prime
Directive, which we heard so much about from her.”
“Tak, we are being
hailed by Voyager.”
*****
The turbolift doors
opened to show them Voyager’s Bridge. As the Captain exited, she stepped to the
side of the turbolift, letting Chakotay continue past her to the command level.
He gave her a glance as he went by, reminding her of her earlier promise.
Then someone called
“Captain on the Bridge!” and Beta shift instantly directed its attention to her
position at the rear of the room.
“At ease. I’m only
here to say hello and observe. Commander Chakotay is still in command. Just
pretend I’m not here.” She smiled to her somewhat less familiar shift of Bridge
officers and they turned their attention back to the matter at hand. When
attention was directed elsewhere, Kathryn cast a discreet glance at the station
panel behind her.
“Commander, the ship
hailed and they asked to speak to you about starting a trading and tactical
alliance,” Harry Kim reported, as he stepped away from the command chair. When
he turned to walk to his usual station at ops, he noticed that the Captain had
inched her way over and was reading his panel over the shoulder of his
Beta-shift counterpart. She nonchalantly backed up when Harry took his place,
but continued to read.
“Hail them.”
Chakotay called.
“Commander Chakotay
I presume.” Tak appeared on the viewscreen. The second his voice came over the
comm system, Janeway’s head snapped up and her eyes fixed on the alien’s face.
Harry chose that
moment to glance at the Captain, and he found her staring wide-eyed at the
viewscreen—watching Tak converse with Chakotay about potential trading
resources—lips parted, frozen. He spoke quietly to avoid disrupting the
Commander’s conversation. “Captain?” When she didn’t respond, he tried again, a
bit louder. “Captain, are you all right?”
Janeway blinked and
turned to the Ensign. She spoke in almost a whisper, somehow still maintaining
her command voice: “Mr. Kim, do me a favor and create a problem with the comm
system. Cut him off.” She gestured to the viewscreen with her thumb.
“OK,” he turned to
his panel and punched in a few commands. Suddenly the audio became static-y.
“Commander Chakotay,
we seem to be losing you.” Tak looked over his shoulder to his own
communications officer, then the screen went black.
Chakotay turned toward
Harry and opened his mouth to ask the obvious question, but Janeway cut him
off.
“Commander, I need
to speak to you.” She was already headed toward her Ready Room.
“Captain?”
“I’ll explain. In my
Ready Room.”
He followed her
lead. Once inside the door, she walked to her window and stared out, not saying
anything. Chakotay approached her, wondering what was going on.
“Kathryn, what’s
this all about? You had Harry cut the comm link, didn’t you?”
She abruptly turned
to face him, her lips pressed tightly together. She aimed a piercing look at
him and said: “That’s him.”
“You mean…”
“The leader of the
group that took me. He must be using what information he got from me to try to
lure Voyager into an alliance against their infamous enemies. He probably
thinks you didn’t find me alive, and he’s betting that you won’t be able to
recognize them as the ones who attacked. Not a bad bet.” All of this was
rattled off in her usual command voice, and it was obvious her mind was running
faster than her mouth was moving. Her communicator beeped and Harry Kim’s voice
came over the comm system.
“Captain, Commander,
we’ve detected 3 more ships approaching on long range sensors, different
configuration from Tak’s. They appear to be charging weapons. Tak’s ship is
also hailing us again.”
Janeway barreled out
onto the bridge, Chakotay right behind. “Open a channel.” She began speaking
before she had even stopped walking.
“Mr. Tak, I believe
we have met before. What exactly is it that you want this time?”
“Janeway. So they
did find you. I apologize for our abruptness, but we have been preoccupied with
our enemies.” He was visibly surprised to see the Captain, but his
dispassionate tone was unfazed. “As you may have gathered from our earlier
meeting, getting the upper hand in this war is of utmost importance to us. The
ships approaching our position now will surely destroy us if you do not aid us
against them.”
“I’m sorry Tak, but
unfortunately we do not get involved in other races’ conflicts. It’s one of our
strictest rules. Which I’m sure you know already, considering your very
thorough investigation into our affiliations with aliens in this quadrant.”
“You must
reconsider!” Now Tak was letting fear show through his command posture. His
eyes grew wild, reminding Janeway of the way he looked when she saw him for the
first time—during her questioning.
“Consideration is
something I feel I do not owe you. Deal with your enemies yourself. I suggest
you start running, and don’t even think of trying another little abduction to
coerce us—we have taken measures to guard against it.” The captain was in full
force now. Her voice was dispassionate, her manner, cold.
Vrell stepped into
view to make an attempt: “Captain Janeway, I know you are a sympathetic
individual, even toward enemies…” he took on a coercive tone, obviously
alluding to the information they learned about Janeway’s psyche during their
torture sessions. But his pleas were lost on Janeway.
“May they treat you
as well as you did me. Harry!” she signaled him to cut the comm link.
Chakotay spoke up
from where he was monitoring Tak’s ship: “They are engaging their cloak and
going to warp. Seven’s modifications seem to be working, we can still detect
them even through the cloak.”
“Monitor their
status on sensors. Go to yellow alert. Ensign Jared, plot a course to follow
them at a safe distance, and if they drop out of warp, keep us just close
enough to be in sensor range. I’m interested in the outcome of this little
battle. Chakotay, join me in my ready room.”
This time when he
followed her in, it was the same scene repeated, except this time when he
walked up behind the Captain, she turned to him and let some emotion
through—specifically, anger.
“I hope they are
blown to the far reaches of the quadrant. I won’t be the one to do it, but I am
not stopping those other ships.”
“I agree. It’s only
right to stay out of their war. You’re going by the book.”
She was pacing in
front of her window. Her silence was making him nervous, so he decided to see
what he could get her to let out.
“Tak didn’t seem the
least bit sorry, regardless of what he said.”
“No, he wasn’t. I
could tell when I was with them that they weren’t the type. They did what they
thought was necessary, and what they could. Considering they didn’t seem to
have enough fire power to fight us, they tried to find out if they could get to
us another way.”
“Are you OK?”
“I’m fine.” Her
command mask was on even though her eyes were blazing. “I’ll be even better if
those 3 ships catch up to Tak.”
*****
The captain was
standing in her quarters, staring again at the stars streaking by her windows,
when her chime rang and disturbed her wandering thoughts.
“Come in.” She
hadn’t intended to sound like she was granting entrance to her ready room, but she
half-expected the Doctor to walk through her door with a new barrage of
reprimands for her recent encounter on the Bridge. When she could see
Chakotay’s reflection in her window, superimposed over the starfield, she
relaxed a bit. She kept her tone completely flat. “Was that wrong?”
“Not according to
Starfleet.” His answer came from just behind her, in a matching, businesslike
voice. He had crossed the room quickly and stood just over her shoulder,
looking at her in the reflection of the window. She held his gaze for a moment,
then turned to face him, creasing her forehead in exasperation.
“I don’t mean wrong
by Starfleet’s standards.” She
started to pace, hands on her hips. “I enjoyed that too much. It scares me. It
felt like I was watching everyone who has ever hurt me, or hurt this crew, get
their just desserts. The Cardassians. The Borg. The Hirogen. All of them.”
“You know that Tak
isn’t out there anymore. He can’t get to you again.” He was speaking softly, as
if to reassure her. But then as he continued, his voice took on a more forceful
tone, almost angry. “You were violated. Regardless of how it happened, or what
your reasons were for stepping aside, I’m glad his ship was destroyed, because
he can’t hurt you anymore.”
With that, she
finally looked up at him and stopped her pacing. Her voice was dead serious as
she began.
“Chakotay, I was
scared. There were about two minutes when I first heard his voice when I
couldn’t think. I couldn’t function. That doesn’t happen to me. Harry even saw
it. I think it probably scared him to death to see me like that.
“That’s why it can’t
happen to me. If I show fear, what are the rest of the crew supposed to do?
Even when I’m afraid, and I have been afraid many times since we’ve been out
here, I keep it together.”
She dropped her
captain’s pose and turned toward her sofa. When she knelt, then sat down, it
wasn’t as much sinking as it was deflating. When she spoke again, her voice was
as distant as her gaze toward the starfield.
“I just don’t
understand how I could freeze.”
“I can. I would
have. You’re human, and that means sometimes you have to show it to your crew.
Harry won’t think any less of you because he saw fear in your face. If
anything, it will make him feel a little better the next time he’s afraid of
something out here. And you know the rest of the crew feels the same way. They
all respect you. Almost as much as I do.” He stepped around and knelt in front
of her, dipping his face to look straight into her eyes.
She couldn’t resist
the pull of those eyes, pleading with her to let him in. She reached up and
wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling them both up until she was standing,
leaning her whole body against him. With her cheek pressed against his, she
whispered softly, “Thank you Chakotay.”
She felt Chakotay’s
arms wrap around her, and she knew she was back where she wanted to be. He
loosened his hold just enough so that he could tip his head back and meet her
eyes.
“Kathryn Janeway,
you never need to thank me for…”
He never finished that
thought; her lips interrupted him. There they stood, the Commander and his
Captain, kissing passionately in her quarters, oblivious to every small detail
that had served to keep them apart for seven years.
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Drop me a line at k_christie@hotmail.com anytime.