CHAPTER 20

First thing Monday morning Martin led his troops on their morning run, showered and headed for the Commissary for breakfast. Returning to his offices he checked a couple of roster changes and then set up the training simulations for the day in the departmental holodeck. It was one of the perks of serving on Mars that the Security details had their own holodeck suite in which to run training simulations without having to reserve time in the base facility with everyone else assigned to the Mars base. When he was clear on the daily training assignments he set up the preliminary simulation for Radcliffe for later that night. Finishing that he hailed Radcliffe on his COMM badge.

“Martin to Radcliffe.”

“Radcliffe here, Captain.”

“We’re set up for your first training run at 1900 hours tonight. Do you know where the Security holodeck is?”

“Yes I do, Captain. Do I need to bring anything special?”

“Just wear your workout clothes. We’re going to run you through a simulation to get a feel for your skill levels now and then we’ll do a little sparring. That sound okay to you?”

“It sure does.”

Martin chuckled evilly. “It won’t when we’re finished. 1900 hours. I’ll see you then. Martin, out.”

Ethan arrived at the security department’s holodeck five minutes before the scheduled workout and found Martin and two staff sergeants frowning at the status readouts on the screen outside the holodeck doorway. All three Marines were dressed in camouflage BDUs and carried workout bags.

“Good evening. I’m not late, am I?”

“No, you’re early in fact,” replied Martin still staring at the screen. “But apparently somebody else had decided to use the holodeck tonight without signing up for it. And I’m not sure I like what they’re doing in there.”

“What don’t you like, Captain?”

“They’ve disengaged the safety protocols on one of the advanced training programs. Somebody could get seriously hurt doing that.”

“How seriously hurt?” asked Radcliffe quietly.

“Like dead.” Martin made his decision and entered the command override codes. He froze the program and ordered the doors opened.

They walked into a scene of utter chaos. The setting appeared to be the hangar bay of a Galaxy-class starship. It was filled with Starfleet troops fighting Jem’Hadar invaders. Bodies and pools of blood were everywhere. Since Martin had frozen the program only one figure was still moving.

She was tall, Radcliffe noticed, but not as tall as Seven of Nine. Her short chestnut hair had some silver in it and clear blue eyes looked at them with a glint of humor. There was a C-shaped scar around her left eye and she was limping on her left leg. A duranium brace and heavy scarring around the knee visible through a tear in her BDUs gave ample indication why.

She was armed with a flare stick and a hand phaser and apparently knew how to use both; there were the bodies of four Jem’Hadar around her and a fifth doubled over from what had been her most recent blow.

“Can I help you, fellas?” she asked nonchalantly.

“You can start by telling me who you are and what you’re doing in my holodeck,” replied Martin.

“That must make you the new Security Chief,” Limping over to a bulkhead she took a towel out of her workout bag and began wiping the sweat and blood off her face. “I’m Lieutenant McDeere from Logistics and Supply. Lieutenant Commander Neiral gave me the access codes and permission to use the holodeck.”

“Captain Martin. Even if you had permission, it’s customary to sign the log in Security so others will know when you’re using it. And it is not customary to disengage the safety protocols.”

“Sorry, the log was never an issue with Neiral. And as for the safeties…” She caught sight of Radcliffe and the NCOs who had snapped to attention at the mention of her rank. “Gee guys, at ease. Relax before you break something.” Turning back to Martin she said, “As for the safeties, it’s not as much fun to play with them on.”

Martin’s tone was icy. “Running an advanced simulation like this one alone in the holodeck with the safeties off is a good way to get yourself killed. It’s beyond foolhardy. It’s bordering on suicidal.”

“I assure you, I’m not suicidal. But my experience with the Jem’Hadar can’t be duplicated with safeties on. They are terrifying adversaries; something you don’t feel when they can’t actually hurt you. Because in real life they can and do. Frequently. So I take the safeties off. It’s a better workout.”

One of the NCOs laughed as Martin looked at the blood dripping down her face from a gash in her hairline.

“I see. And is the quality of your workout determined by the amount of blood you lose?”

“No, one of them got in a lucky shot just before you froze the program. I’ve got a dermal regenerator in here to take care of…” She rummaged through her workout bag and came out with a dermal regenerator. As she felt around on her scalp for the wound Martin stepped forward and reached for the medical device.

“May I? I have a better visual.”

Straightening, she handed it to him. “Thanks, I’d appreciate it.”

No one spoke for the minute or so it took to close and completely heal the laceration in her scalp. When he finished Martin silently handed the regenerator back to McDeere and watched as she casually tossed it back into her bag.

“So, what are you gentlemen planning on doing tonight?”

“We’re going to see what kind of skills Radcliffe here has. He thinks he wants to qualify for starship duty in Security and Tactical.”

“You’ll need a strong class three rating in two weapons types and one form of hand-to-hand combat for that Ensign. That can mean a lot of work…and a lot of bruises.”

“You seen very familiar with starship duty requirements for a supply officer, Lieutenant,” commented Martin.

McDeere gave him a strange look. “In another life I was assigned to a starship or two. Some of us weren’t born rear echelon weenies. Some of us have it thrust upon us.”

“Care to elaborate on that, Lieutenant?”

“No, I would not, Captain.”

The two senior officers glared at each other for several seconds before first Martin then McDeere visibly relaxed. He extended his hand. Martin was too professional to quarrel with the woman in front of junior officers. Technically they were both of the same rank but he was the new guy on the block and he couldn’t expect everyone to immediately change their way of doing things just because there was a new commanding officer on deck. With what they might be facing soon he would need the obedience and respect of his subordinates. He wouldn’t earn that if he came in bristling and barking.

“I’m Jim, Jim Martin.”

She took it and shook it firmly. “Jordan McDeere.”

Martin introduced Radcliffe and the NCOs and everyone shook hands. When Jordan got to Radcliffe she grinned. “So you’re the Ethan Radcliffe that’s been routing all of Voyager’s refit requisitions to me.”

He grinned right back. “Then that must mean you’re the Lieutenant McDeere that gets them filled and shipped on time so we have what we need when we need it.”

“Just don’t advertise that fact if you want it to continue. If Lieutenant Commander Nixon finds out I’m expediting your requisitions he’ll be all over me like white on rice.”

“Believe me I won’t, Lieutenant,” Radcliffe said earnestly, “We’re too glad to have the supplies here when we need them.”

“So, you seem to know a little something about the Security needs of a starship, Lieutenant McDeere. Would you like to help us evaluate Radcliffe here? You might have a better grasp of what he’ll need to know than we do. Our tactical focus is different in the Marines than it would be on a starship.”

“Sure, I’d be glad to help out. Besides, if helping train Radcliffe gets me into the holodeck on a regular basis I’ll do it just for that.”

“Don’t worry; you’ve still got clearance. All I ask is that you call and put your name on the schedule from now on and for the love of everything that’s holy have somebody here if you’re going to go without safeties. Just so they can call for a medic before you get killed. Do you have any idea of the paperwork I’d have to deal with if you died in my holodeck?”

Jordan grinned and reached out to shake his hand again. “Deal, Captain.”

With the technicalities out of the way the group got ready to evaluate Radcliffe’s skill levels. Martin called up a basic marksmanship program and Ethan pulled his phaser and took a position at the firing line. As he assumed his firing stance the NCOs stood behind him and observed while Martin and McDeere stood slightly to one side and observed both his technique and his accuracy on the range.

“He’s trying too hard and rushing the shot,” commented Martin. “Rookie mistake.”

“Looks like maybe he has a dominant left eye,” replied McDeere, “Look how he tilts his head when he’s sighting.”

“You may be right.” Martin watched Radcliffe intently for a minute and nodded at McDeere. “I think you hit it on the nose. He’s sighting with his left eye and shooting with his right hand. We need to change his stance a bit to compensate.”

He told the NCOs the information and they began to work with Radcliffe on his stance and sighting technique. By the end of an hour his accuracy had improved by almost sixty percent. Both Martin and McDeere nodded their approval.

“Well done, Ensign. You’re going to need to practice that new stance and your sighting until it becomes second nature. But the results are obvious.”

Ethan, for his part, was thrilled with the results. He’d passed his basic marksmanship requirements at the Academy, but had never worked on shooting since. The new stance the Marines had put him in felt awkward, but allowed him to use his dominant eye in a more efficient manner and his aim had improved accordingly.

Martin next brought up a rifle range and one of the NCOs pulled a compression phaser rifle out of his workout bag. Handing it to Radcliffe he commented that for their purposes it needed to stay on a narrow beam setting. They again adjusted his stance to compensate for his dominant left eye and he began firing. This time his inexperience showed more readily.

“Practice. He’s going to need lots of practice,” said Martin.

“You got that one right,” agreed McDeere. “He’s going to be spending a lot of time on this range for the near future. It’ll be best if he qualifies for his weapons ratings first. Hand to hand will take more time to learn and he’ll need to practice a lot. Once he gets his weapons ratings he can keep them up to date with weekly practice while he works on his hand-to-hand skills.”

“Listen, I’m going to be busy for the next couple of weeks getting my troops settled in and on a working schedule. Would you mind working with him for a while? Once we get settled into a patrol routine I’ll have more time.”

“Sure, Jim. I can work with him. And I can start him on some basic hand-to-hand techniques too.”

“Thanks, McDeere. Jordan. I appreciate it. And I know Ethan does too.”

“You’re welcome…I think. You did tell him honestly how hard this was going to be, didn’t you?”

“I told him most mornings he’d wish he was dead. Was that honest enough?”

“Well, it’s close. But I wonder if he’s mentally ready for what he’s going to be facing. Most kids fresh out of the Academy aren’t.”

“I actually think he is. The young man is what we would call highly motivated. He wants this badly. And I think he’ll do whatever he has to do to make it happen.”

“We’ll see, Captain. We’ll see.”

* * *

The next morning came far too early for Ensign Radcliffe. When he crawled out of his bunk he could barely stand upright. The ‘light workout’ the Marines had put him through to assess his hand-to-hand skills had seemed more like a barroom brawl than a training session. He spent far longer than usual in a hot shower before he felt capable of moving in a coordinated manner.

When he got to the Commissary for breakfast Max brought coffee over to the table and joined him.

“Ethan, my friend, you look like death on toast. Had your first workout session, did you?”

“Yeah I did. The Marines nearly killed me. But damn, Max, those guys can fight. And they know their way about a shooting range too. It took them less than ten minutes to figure out that I’ve been trying to sight with the wrong eye since the Academy. They altered my stance a little so I could sight with my dominant eye and all of a sudden I couldn’t miss the target! I was shooting like I knew what I was doing.”

Max regarded him with a small smile. “You know, buddy, I’m beginning to think you just might pull this off.”

“And I met somebody else last night too. I met Lieutenant McDeere from Supply. She was in the holodeck working out when we got there. She had a simulation of a Jem’Hadar attack running. She’d killed four of them and was fighting a fifth when we came in. I just can’t figure out how somebody who works in supply ever learned to fight like she can. That lady can kick some serious ass. Even the Marines treated her with respect – they knew she could fight too. And she made a funny comment about being a rear echelon weenie; like not being born to it or something. I wonder what that’s all about.”

“There’s more to everyone than is usually apparent, buddy. Lieutenant McDeere is no exception.”

“Well, she’s going to be working with me for the next couple of weeks until Captain Martin gets his troops integrated into Security and gets settled into his new job. She knows how to shoot and how to fight so I’m going to be learning a lot from her. I just wish I could figure out…” His voice trailed off as he thought a moment.

“Figure out what, Ethan?”

Radcliffe snapped back to the present and looked a Max. “It’s just the way she handled herself with Captain Martin. It was like two people who had the same experiences. She seemed a lot like the Marines. Like her under-tunic ought to be command red instead of support gold. Does that make any sense?”

Max thought a moment before replying. “It might. I think I heard something about her background…I just can’t remember what. Let me think on it. Maybe it will come to me. But for now, I’ve got to get back to work. Are you coming in for lunch?”

“Yeah, I’ll be here. Things are fairly quiet in the office this week with the Captain and Seven in Indiana.”

“When are you leaving for the wedding?”

“Thursday evening. I’ve got a reservation at the hotel through Sunday morning. Gives me time to recover from the party and get back to Mars before the work week starts.”

“Okay then, I’ll see you at lunch. Enjoy that omelet.”

When Radcliffe got to the office suite it was still dark and secured. He opened the offices and got the morning’s coffee started before settling at his desk and checking his overnight COMM logs. He found one from Lieutenant McDeere outlining a schedule for their workouts and asking him to check it over so she could reserve the security holodeck for them. He immediately returned it with his acceptance and turned to the rest of the overnights.

There was a message from Captain Picard in the list and he promptly opened it. On the surface it was a confirmation of hotel reservations for him and Dr. Crusher for the wedding. But when Radcliffe downloaded it to a PADD and did a little decrypting he found a message from Picard to Janeway detailing Picard’s unsuccessful efforts to get Admiral Nechayev to accept Seven of Nine on the planning team for their mission. Not that it came as a surprise since Nechayev had been highly suspicious of Seven since Voyager’s return, but Picard had a sterling reputation and his opinion usually carried weight even with Starfleet brass.

Radcliffe decided he’d wait a while before trying to contact Captain Janeway. She was on leave for this week and the next and would probably not be keeping military hours. He looked up as Lieutenant Torres walked into the offices.

“Good morning, Radcliffe. How’s it going?”

“Just fine, Lieutenant. I’m going through the overnights right now. I’ve got a couple for you to take care of, but nothing critical. Want some coffee? I’ve got a fresh pot brewed.”

“Kahless that sounds good, Radcliffe. I’d love some. Let me get my mug. Miral was fussing a lot last night. Woke us up twice.”

“Did you ever find her little boots to go with her dress uniform?”

“Nope, I’m afraid she’s going to have to be slightly out of uniform and go with the black booties,” laughed B’Elanna. “Hey, before I forget, did the crew manifest requisitions go in yet?”

“Yes ma’am. Captain Janeway completed them Friday morning and I sent them through that afternoon. You and the others should be hearing from the Bureau of Personnel very shortly. Captain Janeway seemed to think that they would be moving quickly to fill the senior officer positions.”

“Thanks, Radcliffe. I’ll go check my private COMM logs; maybe my orders are already there.” She headed into her office and promptly came back out. “Oh, and if the helm-boy shows up looking for me send him right in, would you?”

Radcliffe laughed at her description. “Yes ma’am, I’ll send Lieutenant Paris right in.” Both of them went back to work.

* * *

The dimmed desk lamp provided the only illumination in the office. Quietly the officer rose from the desk chair and crossed the room to listen intently at the door for any signs of activity from outside. There were none.

Returning to the desk the shadowy form reached out and activated the COMM channel, waiting for the distinguished face to take shape on the desk screen.

“There are a lot of rumors flying around here. Don’t you think it’s time you told me what’s really going on?”

The flag officer on the screen contemplated the shadowed face for a moment. “You’re right, it is time I told you everything. It’s been need-to-know up until now. But I’ve put our plan into action and now you do need to know everything.”

As concisely as possible the admiral detailed what had transpired in the past week.

“So now you can see the big picture. You’ve been flying under the radar long enough. It’s time for you to do what you’ve been trained to do. You need to prepare yourself.”

“How much time do I have?”

The admiral hesitated a moment. “Not long…a week…two at the outside. There’s a definite time constraint here. You’ll need to be prepared to move quickly. Remember, this is what we’ve been working toward all this time.”

“I just hope I’m ready.”

“I have complete faith in your abilities. But remember, there’s a new factor. You need to familiarize yourself with both of them now…she’ll have a lot of influence on your principal target. And Voyager’s senior staff will be in the area too. You can’t let any of them distract you from your objective.”

“I understand. I’ll be ready when the time comes.”

“Remember, even if our plan goes flawlessly you’ll only get one shot at this. Make it count.”

“I will. I won’t let you down.” The admiral nodded and terminated the call. The officer glanced toward the door and leaned closer to the desk terminal. Fingers flew over the keys and classified files appeared on the screen. The shadowy form opened the largest of them and the face of Seven of Nine filled the screen.

* * *

By Thursday morning Radcliffe had decided that if he didn’t qualify for duty on Captain Janeway’s starship that it wouldn’t matter because most probably he would be dead anyway. If he had thought that Lieutenant McDeere would be easier on him than the Marines that notion had been quickly disabused. She drilled him on his weapons for an hour first and then worked him for two hours in the basics of hand-to-hand combat. She was trained in the ancient Earth Oriental techniques of karate and tae kwon do and was a formidable opponent. Radcliffe was frustrated in his personal combat training, but Lieutenant McDeere told him not to be, that improvement would come with practice. He believed her, but the bruises were mounting up.

They had agreed to forget about training on Thursday night so that he could travel to Indiana for the wedding. He spent the day tying up as many loose ends as he could think of so that the office being closed the following day wouldn’t impact any of the projects that were in the works. After a quick lunch with Max he hustled over to his rooms in the BOQ to retrieve his packed carryall.

The afternoon seemed to fly by and by 1630 hours he’d completed everything on his to-do list. He cleaned out the coffee maker, washed the cups and made sure everything in the office suite was secured. When he was satisfied that nothing was out that shouldn’t be he commanded the lights off and locked the suite. Shouldering his carryall he walked quickly to the Transport Center.

The shuttle ride to San Francisco was only a half hour and Radcliffe spent it chatting with another Ensign assigned to the TPG on Mars. The other officer had been a year ahead of Radcliffe at the Academy and they knew each other slightly. They spent the brief ride catching up.

At the Starfleet Transport Center he gave to coordinates for Bloomington, Indiana, stepped on the pad and moments later was rematerializing at the Portage Creek Transport Center in Bloomington. He walked out of the center into a cold wind and snow flurries where Tom Paris was waiting for him with a hovercraft.

“Hey, Radcliffe! You made good time.”

“Hi, Tom. For once there weren’t any delays either on Mars or in San Francisco. What’s with the weather? I thought it wasn’t supposed to be winter here for a while yet.”

“There’s a front headed this way coming down from Canada. Snow’s predicted for tomorrow night. Could actually be fairly heavy snow too. Did you bring your galoshes just in case?”

Radcliffe laughed. “Nope, I’ll just have to suffer I guess. Anything big planned for tonight?”

“Nope, just a friendly dinner with everybody out at the farm. And all we’ve got tomorrow is the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner so it’s going to be an easy couple of days. I talked to the Captain yesterday and she said she’d had enough cocktail parties to last her a lifetime. I guess the brass threw a big one Tuesday night.”

“How’s Miral? Lieutenant Torres said she’d been a little fussy lately.”

“Looks like she’s getting her first tooth. That would be a little early for a human baby, but with a Klingon-human baby they’re calling it normal. She was fine last night so maybe she’s cut it through and it won’t be a problem.”

“Let’s hope so. It wouldn’t be too great if she was crying all through the wedding.”

“Not to worry, we’re covered with babysitting if need be. Nobody will have to suffer through the ceremony with a screaming infant if she’s in a mood.”

Tom pulled the hovercar over in front of the hotel and parked.

“Why don’t you get registered and we’ll meet in the lobby in half an hour to leave for the farm? Oh, I’m supposed to tell you that dress tonight is casual. Jeans are fine if you brought some.”

Radcliffe nodded and went into the lobby. He waved to Harry Kim and Karri Jameson who were sitting in the lobby talking and moved to the reception desk. It took only a few moments to get his room codes and he was back downstairs in jeans and a sweater and carrying his parka well before the allotted time. He sat and chatted with Harry and Karri until the rest of the dinner guests had assembled.

Tom, B’Elanna, Harry, Karri and Radcliffe went in one hovercar; Tuvok, his wife T’Pel, the EMH and Admiral Pulaski in another. It only took a bit over fifteen minutes to travel out into the Agricultural Preserve to the Janeway farm.

Kathryn welcomed them into the large farmhouse and pointed everyone toward the living room where drinks were set out. Seven emerged from the kitchen briefly to greet her crewmates and then ducked back in to help Gretchen put the finishing touches on the meal. Phoebe circulated, wine bottle in hand, keeping glasses topped off as Kathryn, Seven and Gretchen brought the food to the table. The dining room table had been extended as far as the leaves would allow to seat everyone and laden platters, steaming bowls and place settings covered every inch. When everyone was seated Phoebe rose to propose a toast.

“I know that over the next two days there will be lots of these so I’ll keep this one short. For seven long and frightening years Mom and I hoped and prayed that Kathryn would get her ship and crew home. We worried, as did every family of the crew, that some would not make it back. But when Voyager finally did return home and we met all of you, Mom and I realized that we needn’t have worried so much. For while her blood family was back on Earth Kathryn had another family who cared about and for her just as deeply as we did. Tonight, Mom and I welcome that family – all of you, new and old – to our home.” Everyone at the table applauded.

When they had drunk their toast Tom stood up and raised his glass. “To Captain Janeway, who never let us lose hope that we would make it home.” That toast elicited cheers from the Starfleet officers.

Then Janeway stood, raised her champagne glass and said simply, “To Voyager and all who sailed on her.”

At that point Gretchen wiped a stray tear from her eye, stood up and said, “We’re delighted you’re all here and the food is hot so let’s eat!”

Conversation at the table ebbed and flowed as the meal was consumed and it was quite a while before everyone had eaten their fill. Over Gretchen’s objections everyone made short work of clearing the table and washing the dishes. When they’d finished pots of coffee and tea were put on and Phoebe lit a fire in the living room fireplace.

Radcliffe had been quiet through most of the meal, fully realizing for the first time how close these people had become on their odyssey through the Delta quadrant. Almost everyone in Starfleet realized that the Voyager crew shared a special bond but Radcliffe doubted that anyone who had never seen them like this – relaxed and enjoying themselves – could truly understand how close they had become. It was not just shared experiences that held them together, but a bond of loyalty that they all embraced.

He felt vaguely disturbed, feeling like an outsider as he listened to them recount stories from their journey. Just as he was about to stand up and excuse himself to get a breath of air he felt a presence behind him.

“Did you enjoy the dinner, Ensign Radcliffe?” asked Seven quietly.

“Very much so, ma’am. I haven’t eaten that well since the last leave I spent with my parents.”

“I am glad you liked it. The more I learn to cook the more I find I appreciate the enjoyment others take in the meals. You look troubled, Ensign. May I be of assistance in some way?”

Ethan looked at the beautiful former drone and decided he could ask no one better about his feelings. “Would you consider stepping out onto the porch to talk?”

“Of course, Ensign. Let’s get our coats.”

They sat in the swing on the porch and looked out over the lawns. The moon would be full in two nights but scudding clouds heralding the arrival of the Canadian front made changing shadows on the grass.

“What is wrong, Ensign Radcliffe?”

He considered how best to bring up what he wanted to talk about and decided that a direct approach would be best with Seven.

“Ma’am, you know Captain Janeway best. Am I doing an adequate job for her?”

“From what I know, Ensign, you are doing an excellent job for her. She is very pleased with your performance.”

“Then why won’t she take me with her when you all go off to fight the Borg?” he burst out.

Seven looked confused for a moment. “Why would you think she would not take you with us?”

“Because she told me that she was going to miss me when you all shipped out.”

Seven thought a minute before replying. “Ethan,” she said gently, “Kathryn is unlike many of her peers in Starfleet. She will not be pleased that I’m telling you this, but she knows the name of every crewman she lost in those seven years and blames herself for their deaths. She has personally contacted the families of each one of them since our return. If she does not take you with us it is because she does not want to have to contact your family and tell them how bravely you died in the line of duty. I believe you have become very special to her and to have to do that would break her heart.”

“But I want to go with her…with all of you. You’re all willing to face danger with her, why can’t I?”

“Have you spoken with her about the way you feel?”

“No, I didn’t want to upset her before the wedding.”

Seven smiled her small smile. “Thank you for that, Ensign. That would spoil our honeymoon somewhat. But if you truly want to come with us then you must talk to Captain Janeway about it. You are a persuasive young man, I’m sure you can plead your case effectively.”

“And if I can’t? If she decides that she doesn’t want me along?”

“Well, there is always more than one solution to most problems. Entering a house through the back door gets you inside just as effectively as walking through the front. You should think about that. Of course, if Kathryn ever asks you about it we never had this talk.”

Ethan grinned. “What talk?”

Seven rose and held out her hand to the young officer. “Shall we rejoin the others?”

Radcliffe took it and stood. “I believe we ought to.”

* * *