DISCLAIMER: You all know the drill - Paramount is God. All hail Paramount. They own everything in the Star Trek Universe - I'm just
using my overactive imagination to take their characters where they refuse to go. All in the name of fun, not profit (I wish).
RATING: PG-13 Nothing my momma couldn't read.
Tuvok walked in step with his old Captain as they made their way through the winding corridors at Utopia Planitia.
"You have made impressive progress, Admiral," commented Tuvok.
"High praise from a Vulcan." She paused and looked at him with a smile. "Thank you, Tuvok. Your approval means a lot to me."
He nodded in acknowledgement.
"Here we are," she said, reaching a large pair of doors. "I thought this might interest you." They entered a large shuttle bay that was filled with small vessels under construction.
Tuvok immediately recognized the familiar lines of the small crafts. "The Delta Flyer."
Kathryn beamed. "All the prototypes passed their test periods with flying colors, so Starfleet has finally decided to start mass producing them."
Tuvok raised an eyebrow. "Impressive. Did they retain the Borg weapons design?"
"Absolutely. It was one of the selling points of the design. I think one of the comments I read from a test pilot was that it was 'the best equipped, most maneuverable shuttle' they've seen in years. I think one of them also said the Delta Flyer class made the old shuttles seem like they were steering Galaxy-class starships."
Tuvok's eye fell on the writing on the side of the nearest shuttle under construction. "The shuttlecraft Jetal?" he read with a raised eyebrow.
Janeway raised her chin proudly. "That was Tom's idea. Every one of the new Delta Flyer class ships will be named after crewmembers from Voyager who died."
The Vulcan moved forward into the cargo bay. "Hogan. Durst. Stadi. Bendera. Suder. Kaplan. Cavit. Bennet." He turned to his companion. "It is a fitting gesture."
"I agree. It was the least we could do."
A young ensign came up to them. "Ma'am? Lieutenant Torres would like to see you as soon as possible."
Janeway nodded for Tuvok to follow her as she left the shuttle bay.
* * *
"Good morning, Admiral," B'Elanna greeted them as they entered one of the engineering labs. "Tuvok, good to see you. I take it the Admiral's giving you the grand tour?"
"Indeed."
"We just came from the production bay."
B'Elanna was too engrossed in her own work to pay much attention to them. Lieutenant Ashmore came up to her, showing her a PADD.
"Lieutenant Walker said you'd want to see this right away."
B'Elanna nodded and looked at the PADD. Her eyes widened and she slapped the PADD into her other hand.
"What is it, B'Elanna?" asked Kathryn, noticing her excited expression.
"This," she said, waving the PADD triumphantly, "Is why I sent Ensign Mowatt after you. Annika thought she would have something by this morning."
The Admiral reached over and eagerly snatched the PADD. "And?"
"She did it. We were finally able to integrate the power systems. She's run eleven simulations. All of them worked without a hitch."
"Fantastic work, B'Elanna."
B'Elanna smiled, saving the best news for last. "We could be looking at a working prototype within four or five months."
Kathryn's head snapped up. "Five months? That soon?"
"If I get my best people on it�absolutely."
She handed B'Elanna back the PADD. "Starfleet Command is going to be thrilled, B'Elanna."
B'Elanna turned to Ashmore. "Get this over to Jarel and Vorik's team. Tell them to get to work on the phase conversions, stat."
"Yes, ma'am."
B'Elanna said something else to Ashmore, but Kathryn didn't hear it as she was overcome by a wave of lightheadedness. Her vision blurred momentarily, and the room seemed to spin around her. She looked down at the floor, which seemed to expand and fall away beneath her feet. Disoriented, she reached out for the console in front of her, attempting to stop the room from twisting around.
"Admiral? Admiral, are you all right?"
She felt B'Elanna's hand on her shoulder, and her dizziness passed.
"I�I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
She nodded. "I'm fine, really." She took a few seconds to make sure the room wouldn't start spinning again, then stood up and straightened her uniform with a tug. "You and Annika have your preliminary reports on my desk by 1800 hours. I'll pass them on to Admiral Hayes first thing tomorrow."
* * *
Neela greeted Chakotay at the entrance to their apartment with a wagging tail.
"Hello, girl," he said, ruffling the hair on the dog's head. He set his stack of PADDs down on a nearby table and followed the dog into the main room. He stopped in surprise when he saw Neela pad over to the couch next to the window and jump up next to Kathryn -- he hadn't expected to see her home this early when there was so much going on at Pathfinder.
"How did Tuvok enjoy his tour?" he asked, moving into the room.
She didn't acknowledge his presence. She was sitting on the couch, her jacket and shirt removed and wearing nothing but a tank top. Her bare feet were resting on the table in front of her, and she had her knees hugged close to her chest, her chin resting lightly on her arms.
"Kathryn?"
She looked up, startled out of her reverie. "Hm?"
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she said quietly. She suddenly seemed to become more aware of his presence. "You're home already?"
"My class was over at 1700, as usual."
"Oh�is it that late already?"
He frowned -- she wasn't acting like herself. "Is everything all right?" he asked as he sat down beside her on the opposite section of the L-shaped couch.
She rested her chin on her arms again and ran her fingers through her hair before she answered in a voice barely above a whisper. "I've been sitting here for�" She took a deep, shaky breath. "�God knows how long�trying to get up the nerve to pick up that tricorder."
He glanced over at the table. Near her feet on top of a stack of PADDs was a medical tricorder.
"What?" he said, reaching over to pick it up. "This?" He offered it to her, but she started back as if afraid of it.
This was completely out of character for her. "Kathryn -- what's wrong?"
She tentatively reached over and took the tricorder from him. She ran her fingers over it and turned it over in her hand before she looked at him again.
"It's possible�I mean, I wondered if�" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before looking him in the eye.
"I think I'm pregnant."
He stared at her in silence for a long time before his eyes were drawn to the medical tricorder. He looked back at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Should I keep you in suspense?" he asked quietly.
She silently passed him the tricorder before lifting her feet off the table and laying down on the couch.
He pulled the scanner out and opened the tricorder. She reached over and squeezed his knee with her hand.
"Here goes nothing," he muttered, moving the scanner back and forth over her stomach.
She lifted her head up and watched him anxiously, but his face showed no emotion or reaction as he scanned her. Slowly, he withdrew the scanner and replaced it quietly in its port at the top of the tricorder.
He confirmed the readings, them blinked to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
"Well?" she said, her voice trembling.
He shut the tricorder and set it down beside him before he turned to her, slowly reaching over to rest his hand on her stomach as a smile spread over his face.
"You're pregnant."
She exhaled sharply, laying her head back down. She stared up at the ceiling, motionless for what seemed like an eternity.
"I'm pregnant," she whispered in disbelief.
His grin widened and he took her hand.
"I'm pregnant," she repeated, elation creeping into her voice.
She suddenly sat upright and threw her arms around him. She buried her head in his shoulder as a sob escaped her, and she felt him squeeze her tighter. He put his head next to hers and gently kissed her hair.
They remained like that for a few minutes before he put his hands on either side of her head and pulled her away from him.
"Are you sure you're all right? We should call the Doc, get him to take a look at you, make sure everything is all right."
She shook her head with a tearful smile. "No." She reached up and rested her hand against the side of his face. "I don't want to share this yet. I want this to be just you and me, at least for now."
He considered that. "I want you to see a Doctor."
"And I," she said, pulling him over to sit next to her before curling up next to his chest and pulling his arms around her. "Want to sit here with you and let this sink in."
He tucked his feet under him and pulled her closer, his hands finding their way down her waist to rest lightly on her stomach.
"Okay?" she asked, her voice breaking.
"Okay." He nodded and leaned forward to kiss the nape of her neck near her collarbone. "I love you, Kathryn."
"I love you too."
* * *
Admiral Janeway shifted uncomfortably in her chair as she approved the status report she was reading and reached for the next PADD in the stack. The dull ache at the base of her spine was getting worse, and it was making it hard for her to concentrate.
She had noticed over the past couple of weeks that it was getting harder for her to sit still for long periods of time. She had spent the entire day at Utopia Planitia walking around checking on the progress of her teams just to avoid sitting behind her desk. Unfortunately, that had left the stack of PADDs untouched by the end of the day, so she had brought them home with her to finish before the next day.
She winced as another spasm moved up her back. Pushing her chair back from the desk, she rose and moved into the bedroom, rubbing her lower back with her hands to try and work out the tension in her muscles. She leaned sideways against the wall, still using one hand to massage her back. She glanced up at the painting of Voyager that was on the wall, and she smiled wistfully. She really should move it farther away from her desk, because on days like this, catching up on paperwork, it only served to remind her how much she missed her days in the Captain's chair.
Another dull spasm shot up her back and she grimaced, walking further into the bedroom. She noticed her reflection in the mirror, and she frowned. She turned sideways, putting one hand on her stomach and one hand on the small of her back. She straightened her posture, trying to conceal the bulge in her stomach that was becoming more obvious. She turned back to face the mirror and gave her uniform jacket a tug, but it was useless.
She broke into a smile when she saw Chakotay behind her in the mirror. "I don't think I'm going to be able to wear this uniform another week."
He laughed. "At four and a half months? I'm surprised you've held out this long."
"It's not funny," she chastised him, trying to hide her smile. "A Starfleet Admiral isn't supposed to waddle around the corridors in a maternity uniform."
He rested his chin on her shoulder, examining her reflection. "Waddle? You? Never."
Her smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. "I expect you to repeat that in three months or so."
"Anytime you want." He kissed her below the ear and moved his hands around her waist. He pulled his lips away from her when his hands reached her stomach.
"You can feel it?" she asked with a smile, putting her hands over his.
He ran his hands around the slight bulge, feeling every part of it. "I swear it wasn't like that this morning."
She looked over her shoulder at him with a raised eyebrow. "You should know, too. I'm surprised I managed to catch my shuttle on time."
He didn't answer, fascinated by the feel of their child growing inside her. "You know, the baby might have turned. I think I remember B'Elanna saying something about this with Owen. She said one day she was wearing her regular clothes and the next she was waddling around in a maternity uniform," he said, raising an eyebrow mischievously.
"That's not funny, Chakotay." Another pain shot up her back and she winced, unable to hide her discomfort. "Although that would explain why my back is killing me," she muttered, moving her hand around to try and work out the ache.
"Here," he said, stepping back and putting his hands on her lower back, massaging gently. "How about you take a nice hot bath. I bet that will work the ache out of those muscles."
She moaned softly as his hands worked on her stiff muscles.
"Kathryn?"
"What was the question?" she mumbled, leaning back against him.
"Would you like a hot bath?"
She rolled her head on his shoulder to look at him. "On one condition."
He chuckled. "Kathryn, I have work to do."
She cocked an eyebrow and raised her hands in front of her, pretending to weigh his choices. "Hmm." She lifted up one hand. "Mark papers on the impact of first contact procedures on anthropological study." She lifted up the other hand. "Take a bath with your wife."
He rested his chin on her shoulder. "Kathryn, I'm tempted, but�"
She deepened her voice, imitating him. "You can get your work done anytime. Right now, you should take some time to relax."
He sighed. "How can I argue with such sound reasoning?"
"I always managed to somehow."
He thought for a moment, then chuckled in defeat. "Go find those vanilla bubbles you like. I'll start the water."
She grinned in delight and walked off with a bounce in her step.
* * *
"Aunt Kathryn!"
Her namesake came tearing out Gretchen Janeway's door towards them as they arrived, followed by her younger brother Adrian. Kathryn smiled and knelt down to embrace her seven and a half year-old niece in a warm hug.
Pheobe, her husband Liam, and Gretchen followed the children out of the house.
"They've been watching at the window for an hour," said Phoebe with a smile, leaning against the door frame.
Chakotay grinned and reached over to tousle Adrian's hair. "You just wanted to see if we brought your presents."
The young three year-old grinned and pointed to the bags sitting on the ground between them. "Is that them?"
"In there? No."
Katie frowned. "You didn't bring us Christmas presents?"
He leaned forward and lowered his voice. "We had to arrange to use a cargo transporter."
Their eyes lit up and they dashed back towards the house squealing.
Kathryn shook her head. "You shouldn't tease them, Chakotay."
"Just getting in some practice."
She rolled her eyes.
He leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "Just think�by next Christmas, we'll have one of our own to spoil."
Gretchen started down the stairs. "Well, don't just stand out there in the cold. Get yourselves inside. We cleared out the spare bedroom on the south side of the house."
"Thanks, Mom."
"I hope you're planning on staying at least until New Year's," she continued as they brought their bags inside.
"Oh, I have a lot of work to do at Pathfinder."
Phoebe laughed. "Told you, Mom. That means you're cooking dinner tonight."
"Can't you even take two weeks off?"
"That's what I said," grumbled Chakotay in good humor.
"How much vacation time do you have coming to you?" asked Gretchen.
"I'm guessing about a month's worth," said Liam.
"No, I say six weeks," corrected Phoebe.
Kathryn glared at her sister and brother-in-law. "Two months, actually."
Gretchen stopped and turned around. "And you can't even take a week off to spend Christmas with your family?"
"Keep saving, Kathryn," said Phoebe. "You'll need it when you're getting up for 2 a.m. feedings."
"I'd love to stay longer, but there's a lot that has to be done and --"
"We're staying until the first week in January," said Chakotay, raising his eyebrow in Kathryn's direction.
She glared at him. "I thought we had this discussion while we were packing."
"So did I."
"I thought we decided to stay a few days."
"That's not what I remember."
"You're outnumbered, Kathryn," said Phoebe, taking her arm and leading her inside. "You're staying. That's an order."
* * *
"Really, Kathryn," said Gretchen as her daughter carried the dirty dishes into the kitchen, "You don't need to do that."
"It's nothing, Mom."
"You should be off your feet."
"I feel fine. I spend all day walking around Utopia Planitia. I'm used to being on my feet."
"Which is why you should be taking it easy now."
Kathryn set the dishes in the replicator with a sigh. "I can take care of myself. You sound like Chakotay."
Gretchen set down the dishes she was carrying with a loud clunk, startling Kathryn. "And you sound just like your father," she snapped.
Kathryn frowned and turned to her mother in surprise. "What?"
Gretchen's face fell and she pressed her fingers against the bridge of her nose. "I'm sorry. I�here, let me finish clearing up here."
She tried to busy herself with cleaning up, but Kathryn walked over and put her hand on her shoulder, turning her around. "What did you mean, I sounded just like Dad?"
Gretchen took a deep breath, her shoulders shuddering.
"Mom?"
She turned her head to look at her daughter. "You're so wrapped up in being independent�" She smiled sadly. "'I can take care of myself.' That's what your father used to say every time he left on a mission. He never even gave a thought to what it would do to us if one time he didn't come back."
"Mom, I'm sure he worried about that."
"He still left every time and risked his life."
"That's the price of serving in Starfleet."
The edge returned to her mother's voice. "That's not what I mean, and you know it. All I remember is your father brushing me off when I worried about him. Just like you're doing."
"Mom�"
"I'm sure I don't even know about a fraction of the times that you risked your life in the seven years you were out there, Kathryn. But I can tell by the way Chakotay is so protective of you that it must have been something he was used to."
Kathryn looked down at the floor, unwilling to admit the justness of that accusation. "We ran into our share of trouble."
"And I'll bet you never even gave a second thought to your own safety."
Kathryn laughed softly. "On the contrary. I was determined to get Voyager home myself. I couldn't let something like dying get in the way of that."
"Kathryn Marie Janeway!" she snapped, tears filling her eyes. "How can you speak like that? I didn't raise you to treat your life as trivial."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean�"
Her mother's lip began trembling. "Finding out after so long that you were alive�We were so�worried sometimes�not knowing if next month's transmission�and then they said you had died on an away mission�" She broke down, covering her mouth with the back of her hand.
Kathryn stepped forward to embrace her mother. "Mom, I'm sorry. I know it was hard for you."
Gretchen returned the hug, squeezing her close. After a minute, she stepped back and laid a hand on her daughter's cheek.
"Kathryn�you need to take better care of yourself. For your sake, and your son or daughter's."
She nodded with a smile. "I will, I promise. But I'm still going to help you clean up."
Gretchen laughed and wiped the tears from her eyes. "That reminds me�you're absolutely sure you want to be surprised about the sex?"
Kathryn nodded. "Yes, we decided that a long time ago�but I have a feeling it's a girl."
"What makes you think that?"
"Just a hunch." She looked up suddenly. "Don't tell Chakotay."
Gretchen raised an eyebrow. "He doesn't know about your suspicion?"
"I think he's hoping for a girl too. I don't want to get his hopes up in case I'm wrong."
Gretchen smiled and starting putting some of the food back in storage. She turned around abruptly when she heard a glass shatter on the floor. Kathryn was leaning against the counter, the broken glass at her feet.
She gave a small cry and put her hand on her stomach. "Mom," she gasped.
Gretchen set down the food with alarm and started towards her. "Kathryn? What is it? Chakotay!" she yelled over her shoulder before turning back to Kathryn, who had her eyes closed. "Is it the baby? Is something wrong?"
She gasped softly but shook her head after a moment. "No, no, I'm fine."
Chakotay burst into the kitchen. "What is it?" Seeing Kathryn leaning against the counter with Gretchen hovering over her, his face clouded over and he moved quickly across the room. "Kathryn?"
She motioned for him to come closer. "I'm all right. I was just a little startled." She reached over to take his hand, pulling him closer to her. "Here." She placed his hand on the rise in her belly. "Can you feel that?"
His eyes widened and he broke into a warm smile. "She's kicking."
Gretchen smiled tearfully and put her hand on Kathryn's shoulder. "May I?"
She reached over and took her mother's hand, guiding it to her stomach so she could feel her grandchild kicking. "Oh," she sighed.
Kathryn suddenly looked up at Chakotay. "Wait a minute�she's kicking?"
He stared back at her before he sighed and looked down at the floor, shaking his head. "I, uh�didn't mean to let that slip out."
Gretchen smiled and quickly excused herself, leaving to go finish cleaning up.
Kathryn watched her mother leave over Chakotay's shoulder before she looked at him in wonder. "You know it's a girl."
His eyes searched her face. "So do you."
Their eyes remained locked on each other for a few seconds before they both smiled simultaneously.
"I have no way to be sure," she said quietly.
"Neither do I. But I can picture her every time I close my eyes." He reached over to brush a strand of hair behind her ear. "She looks just like her mother."
She rested her hand on his and smiled. "Hopefully she doesn't inherit all my stubbornness."
He leaned forward and leaned his forehead against hers. "I hope she's exactly like you."
>> ON TO PART XXVII: MOVING FORWARD
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