FLY ME TO The MOON
Admiral Kathryn Janeway stood staring out of the window of her luxury apartment. It was a breathtaking view, but today she didn't see the mountains rising above the harbor. It was close to lunchtime and she hadn't even dressed. This had been the pattern for her Saturdays for the last few weekends. If she didn't have to go in to work, then she stayed in her home, remembering, wishing, and hoping that something would happen to make her feel alive again. She sighed and looked down, her arms were wrapped around her slender body and the neck of her peach satin dressing gown had come open revealing the lightly freckled skin of her chest. She raised her arms slightly, lifting her breasts up and creating a cleavage. She sighed again and dropped her arms to her sides. "Who are you kidding Kathryn?" She asked herself as she walked away from the window.
She had been home for nearly 4 months. Home, that was a strange word; she had never felt so far away from home in her life before. This wasn't even the apartment she had shared with Mark before being stranded in the Delta Quadrant. The Delta Quadrant! She hated the Delta Quadrant, it had caused her more problems than she had ever realized. When she had arrived back she had been forced to find a new place to live as Mark and his new wife were now living in their old apartment. Kathryn hadn't had the heart to demand her half of the furniture and ornaments, but she had reclaimed her personal effects. Which Mark had kindly packed in boxes and placed in storage for her. Her new apartment overlooked the San Francisco Bay, she could just see the Golden Gate Bridge, if she pressed her face to the window and peered around the buildings beside hers. But she had a clear view of the massive Star Fleet HQ building, which had been built during the 7 years she had been away from Earth. She still couldn't get used to being in a building 405 floors high.
She threw herself into the soft cushions of the sofa and rested her head back. Ever since she had got back to Earth she had felt at a loss. She couldn't explain it, but she felt as if some thing was missing, as if something had been removed from her body. She had no idea what it was, but it had left a large, gaping hole that was cold and black. She couldn't ever remember feeling this way before in her life. Even when she had felt hollowed out after her father's death, she hadn't felt this empty.
It was nearly noon and Kathryn knew that she should shower and dress, but she had no incentive. After several more minutes of staring up at the ceiling she finally roused herself and stood up. As she crossed the room her communication module bleeped. She wondered who could be calling her on a Saturday, and activated the voice communicator only. "Admiral Janeway?" A voice called out.
"Yes?" She replied.
"I can't see you." The voice said.
Janeway sighed. She didn't want to activate the view screen. "Yes there is something wrong with this, I have to get someone in." She lied.
"Ok, well I guess you can't see me, this is Admiral Paris. I need to see you as soon as possible. When can you get here?" He called.
Kathryn smiled, wondering why it was that when people couldn't see you they shouted louder. "An emergency Admiral?" She asked.
"No, but it is top secret, I can't talk about it over a non-secure connection. When can you get here?" He asked.
"Give me 20 minutes." She said, ending the communication.
Ten minutes later she was showered, dressed and on her way out of the door. She made a mental note to go to the pound and get another dog. She hadn't had the heart to reclaim Jessica from Mark after she had arrived back. She reached the ground floor of the building and went into the transporter room. A uniformed Ensign stood to attention. "Good morning Admiral." He said.
Kathryn smiled at his enthusiasm. "Good morning Ensign." She said, wondering whether he had volunteered for transporter duty on the ground, or if he had upset someone and been assigned as punishmnt.
"Star Fleet headquarters?" The Ensign asked as Janeway stepped onto the transporter pad.
She nodded, he programmed the transporter, and she felt herself dissolving. She would never get used to the feeling, that fleeting moment when you were in two places at once. She stepped off the transporter pad at HQ, nodded to the Ensign at the console, and left the room. Janeway was deep in thought as she walked along the corridor that lead to Admiral Paris's Office. Kathryn had no idea why he had called her in, and was wracking her brain to come up with something that she had heard recently that might be related. She hated to be taken by surprise, and frowned at a passing Ensign who cowered slightly as they passed.
She turned the corridor and bumped into the back of a man. "Oh excuse me." She said, putting her hands up to protect herself.
The man turned and her heart sank as she realized whom she had walked into. "Kathryn, how wonderful to see you, and rather judicious as it happens." He said, smiling down at her.
"Chakotay, how are you?" She said, swallowing a lump of distaste.
"Very well thank you, and how are you? If I might say so you look beautiful today." He said.
Kathryn felt a shudder travel down her back as he reached out to touch her. She pulled away from him in an involuntary reflex at not wanting to be touched and tried to smile. "Thank you. What are you doing here?" She asked.
The last she had heard Chakotay had gone to the Anthropological Institute in Chile, she wondered what had brought him back. "I have to make my monthly report to the Council. And I thought I might take my former Captain out to dinner, if she is free." She said, still smiling.
Kathryn wondered how he could continue to smile as he spoke, and another shudder ran down her back as she thought back to their time onboard Voyager when they had dined together regularly. She didn't know when her opinion of Chakotay had changed, but change it had, and now she found herself almost unable to bear his company even for a few minutes. "Oh I am sorry Chakotay, you should have given me advance warning. I am busy this evening." She said, and turned to walk away,
"I will be in town for a few days, perhaps later in the week?" He asked, catching up with her.
"I am sorry, I have to go out of town. I am… going on a mission." She said, smiling up at him.
The idea had come to her completely out of the blue, but now she had voiced the thought she realized that she wanted to go back into space more than anything else. Chakotay smiled again. "Well of course, you always were better suited to space travel than administering on Earth." He said.
Kathryn wondered how he would know what she was suited to, and her face turned stony. "Excuse me Chakotay, I am running late. Perhaps I will see you next time you are in town?" She said, walking away and making a mental note to make sure she was out of town whenever that was.
She walked into the Office and glanced at the clock on the wall. Admiral Paris stood up his face was grim. "Admiral Janeway." He said, indicating that she should sit in the seat next to him.
She looked around the table, there were several other people there, and she hadn't realized that the meeting would be so late. "I am sorry I am late, I bumped into an old friend in the corridor." She said, sitting down and opening her briefcase.
Paris sat down again and cleared his throat. "That is okay Kathryn. Let me introduce you to everyone. This is Captain Georg Kuppfler," he said introducing her to the thin-faced man opposite her.
Kathryn nodded politely. "And this is L'Tok, the Vulcan ambassador's representative." Paris continued.
Kathryn's mind began to wander as she realized that the people present meant that this really was an important meeting. "And finally this is Commander Grall, representing the Bajorans." He finished, indicating a young woman opposite him.
Kathryn admired the beautiful young woman, her hair, which was a very unusual shade of blonde, complimented her fine features and her ceremonial earring glinted in the overhead light. Grall stood up. "Admiral Janeway, it is an honor and a delight to meet you." She said, reaching across the table to shake hands.
Kathryn exchanged the greeting and smiled back at the woman. She was truly beautiful, and Kathryn felt something stir inside her. She dismissed the feeling, and tried to concentrate on what Paris was saying. "I expect you are wondering why you are here?" He said after the introductions were over.
Kathryn turned her head to look at him, one eyebrow raised as a question.
He smiled. "Relax, it isn't an emergency. Well let's get straight to it. We have a problem and we need to come up with a solution. As you may or may not know, the Bajorans have established a colony on Phi Alpha 9. Also known at The Paradise. Well it seems that there are a few problems that they hadn't foreseen, and they have asked Star Fleet for help." He said, shuffling some papers and handing one to her.
Kathryn looked at the page, and saw that it was a crew list. She was rather startled to see her name at the top of the list. "What is this?" She asked, looking up at him.
"We need you to head up a crew to go to Phi Alpha 9 and use your renowned diplomatic skills to resolve the problem. This meeting is to inform you of everything that you need to do to prepare, and to sort out your crew." Paris said, and Janeway felt as if she should have known at least part of what he was talking about, before she had come to the meeting.
"I see." She said, looking down at the list again.
L'Tok placed his hand on the table. "Admiral Janeway, I would like to offer my services as tactical officer aboard your ship. The Vulcan's have a vested interest in resolving the problems aboard Phi Alpha 9, as we have invested time and resources into the project." He said, and Janeway looked up at him.
His stare was intense, and Kathryn looked away again after a few moments. "So I will give you a few hours to think about it, read up, look through the lists of available officers, and then we can talk again. You will have to leave tomorrow though, so I am afraid there isn't much time." Paris said, breaking into her thoughts.
Captain Georg Kuppfler frowned at her. "I will of course be on hand to help you get to know my ship." He said, and his voice sounded forced.
Kathryn realized that she was to usurp his position in the Captain's Chair, and she frowned. "Forgive me Captain, could you remind me which is your ship?" She asked.
Paris turned to look at her in surprise, and she realized that she should know this too. Kupplfer looked her in the eye and said, through gritted teeth. "Endeavour."
Kathryn turned a heart-stopping smile on him. "Of course, I should have remembered that." She said, trying desperately to remember everything that she knew about the Endeavour.
Georg Kupplfer stood up and nodded to Admiral Paris. "Excuse me Admiral, but I have to get back to my ship to prepare it for departure." He said, and left the room.
Kathryn nodded and L'Tok and Grall stood up. They both left the room and Paris stood. "Ask away Kathryn, I know you have lots of questions." He said.
"Why me?" She asked, pushing the papers he handed her into her briefcase.
"Because you are the best officer available." He replied.
"That is rubbish and you know it." She said standing up and following him out of the room.
"Let's get coffee." Paris said, guiding her along the corridor.
They walked into the mess hall and collected coffee from the replicators on the wall. When they had sat down at a table in the corner of the large room, Janeway leaned forward. "Why me?" She asked again, staring into Paris' blue eyes.
He smiled. "Okay, I should have known I couldn't white wash you. You because you need to go back into space, you need to be out there, exploring, investigating, you need to be in charge of a ship, not rotting away in an office." He said, smiling at her.
Janeway sat back. "Okay, I will go with that. Do I get to chose my crew?" She asked.
Paris shook his head. "Your crew is chosen it is listed on that sheet I handed you, they are the only officers available for this mission."
"I see." Kathryn said, reaching into her bag for the list.
She perused it slowed and then looked up. "Is this a high security mission? These people all have level 10 clearance." She said.
Paris smiled. "Let’s put it this way, this mission isn't common knowledge. None of the crew will know where you are going when you leave, you will have to brief them once you have left the galaxy. And there will be no communication with Star Fleet about the mission either. That is why we needed someone with extensive experience of thinking on her feet." He said, leaning forward as he spoke.
"What is going on?"
"I can't explain that to you now, you will get a full explanation when you leave."
"Do any of these people know Endeavour?"
"The Chief Engineer of course, it would be foolish to fly without someone who knows the engines intimately, and there will also be two other current crew members."
"Kuppfler?"
"No, it would be a disaster to send him with you." Paris said, standing up.
"Yes, I would be at war with him the whole way." Janeway said, leaning back in her chair.
"You have a very experienced crew Kathryn, and the best pilot we have." He said smiling down at her.
"Tom?" She said hopefully.
The Admiral shook his heard. "He isn't in Star Fleet anymore."
"Shame."
Kathryn wondered again what was the real story, and she sat back. "Take some time to read through the papers Kathryn, call me later and we will meet for dinner." He said and Kathryn stood up.
She followed him out of the mess hall carrying her coffee with her. They parted ways at the turbo lift, and Janeway went to her office on the 208th floor. She was just a little excited about the prospect of returning to space after 4 months of enforced deskwork. But at the same time she was very apprehensive of the mission ahead of her. She emptied all the papers out of her case and started to read them. An hour later she knew a little more about what was going on at Phi Alpha 9, what she was expected to do and the names of the crew that she could take with her. She only recognized two of the names on the list, which worried her, as she liked to work with familiar staff. But she also knew that she would get to know them quickly enough. She briefly wished that she could reassemble her Voyager crew, but she shook her head knowing that was impossible.
She wondered how everyone was getting on since she had last seen them. Most of the crew had been reassigned to other ships, after a month of debriefing. Chakotay had been demoted from Officer status and given the position of deputy chief at the Anthropological Institute, where she wished he would stay. Tom Paris had resigned his commission and was now running an independent Flying School, B'Elanna had joined a ship design company, and worked part time as a warp engineer. Kathryn smiled as she remembered the last time she had seen the Paris family, they were blissfully happy together, and she had felt a twinge of jealousy that she would never have such a family. Tuvok had returned to Vulcan to be reconciled with his wife, and was still on an extended leave of absence.
Kathryn sat back as she remembered the last time she had seen her astrometrics officer, the former Borg drone 7 of 9. 7 had been reassigned to a science vessel investigating spacial anomalies in the Gamma Quadrant. She had been truly excited to be accepted into Star Fleet and had been busy using her technical knowledge to improve the sensors aboard the USS Imperious. Kathryn smiled as she remembered their last exchange.
'So 7 I hear you are to be assigned to the Imperious.'
'Yes Admiral.'
'Are you excited?'
'Excited Admiral?'
'Yes 7, excited, to be part of such an interesting investigation, a unique experience.'
'I don't believe excitement is an efficient use of energy Admiral.'
'No, of course not. But all the same, you must feel a little twinge?'
'A twinge Admiral?'
'Never mind 7, enjoy yourself.'
'I will be working to full efficiency Admiral, I will not be enjoying myself.'
'Well, keep in touch then.'
'Yes Admiral.'
Janeway's communication module bleeped and she sat up. "Janeway here." She said, activating the view screen.
The smiling face of Lieutenant Harry Kim looked back at her. "Admiral." He said in greeting.
Kathryn grinned. She was thrilled that Harry had been promoted on their arrival back to Earth, and was now heading up a design team incorporating the Borg technology, that they had brought back from the Delta Quadrant, with Star Fleet technology. "Harry! How wonderful to hear from you. How are things?" She said enthusiastically.
"Great, how are things with you?" He asked.
Kathryn nodded. "Not bad.
"I hear you are off on a space mission tomorrow." Harry said, surprising Janeway considerably.
"I didn't realize it was common knowledge, I only found out myself an hour or so ago." She said, leaning forward slightly.
Harry shook his head. " I have been working on the shuttle craft that you will be taking with you, we just installed the final components." He said.
Janeway frowned. "Has this craft been tested?" She asked.
"By the best, Tom took it out last week, flies like a bird he says. Of course he still prefers is Delta Flyers." They both laughed.
"When do you leave?" Harry asked.
"Tomorrow." Kathryn said, wondering why Harry had contacted her now.
"I wish I could come with you. Be like old times." He said, and she realized that he was angling for an invitation to join her crew.
"I wish you could too Harry, but the crew for this mission has been picked already, I really didn't have anything to do with it." She said, really wishing that she could have at least one of her former Bridge Officers with her on her new ship.
"Oh well, thought I would give it a go at least. So you are getting the new Intrepid Class prototype ship." Harry said, still smiling.
Janeway sat up. She hadn't even bothered to look at the ship that she was to take. She realized that she had a lot of work to do before the morning. "Harry I will have to go, I have a lot of work to do. Thanks for getting in touch." She said.
Harry grinned. "Yeah, good luck on your mission Admiral." He said, and ended the transmission.
Janeway stood up and went to her replicator. "Coffee, black." She said sternly.
She sat back at her computer, and for the next three hours she scanned and studied the schematics for her ship, The Endeavor.
Her communications console bleeped rousing her from her studies. She tapped the interactive screen activating the vieer. Admiral Paris smiled back at her. "Admiral Janeway, ready to talk?" He said.
They arranged to meet at the Officer's Club for dinner and Kathryn packed her papers away in her desk, locking it for security, and then left the office. She strode along the dimly lit corridor, she had a determined expression on her face as she came to terms with the enormity of her task. She wanted to spend a few days at least getting to know her ship, but she knew now that she didn't have the luxury of time. Meeting her new crew would have to be done once they had gotten underway also. She frowned as she waited for the turbo lift to arrive. A Ferengi stepped out as she stepped in. "Ah Admiral Janeway, I wonder if I could interest you.." He began.
Kathryn held up one hand. "I am sorry not today thank you." She said, hitting the door close button and commanding the lift to take her to the Officer's Club on the 345th floor of Star Fleet HQ.