'You are relieved of duty until further notice,' Captain Kathryn Janeway said with no inflection of emotion in her voice to her first officer.
Chakotay did not obey the order and continued to look at the Captain, returning her death stare with his own. 'I won't let you do this, Kathryn.'
'I'm afraid you don't have much choice, Commander. I'm in command and you're relieved of duty,' she reminded him.
'I'm taking command, Kathryn,' he replied.
The Captain could see where this conversation was going to lead and did not like it one bit. She eyed Chakotay with eyes of fire, her death glare having increased by a factor of ten. 'You have no authority,' she spat. 'Janeway to Tuvok,' she said, tapping her communicator before Chakotay could tap his first.
'Tuvok here, Captain,' the calm voice of the ship's Chief of Security replied from his position on the bridge.
'Report to the conference lounge immediately, Commander,' she ordered, her eyes never once leaving Chakotay.
'On my way,' he replied.
Moments later, Tuvok walked in the room with a phaser clipped to his belt ' but he was not alone. The ship's EMH followed behind him, his mobile emitter enabling him to walk beyond the confines of sickbay and throughout the rest of the ship.
Noticing the Doctor's presence, Janeway asked, 'Is there something I can do for you, Doctor?'
But Commander Chakotay answered her question for the Doctor. 'I had a feeling you would not step down quietly, Captain. Tuvok?' he prodded.
The Vulcan inwardly sighed, not relishing in his next duty as Voyager's chief of security. 'Captain Kathryn Janeway,' he began formally, 'You are hereby relieved of all command privileges effective this date. You have demonstrated your inability to discern right from wrong as Captain of this vessel.' He walked over to Chakotay and took the phaser out its holster, pointing it at Janeway
Janeway turned her head to Tuvok and then to the phaser; her face showing how betrayed she felt. She had known Tuvok for many years and she had always stood by her ' even during her court-martial on Earth. But now that unspoken vow of loyalty had been broken and the Captain of Voyager felt alone on her own vessel.
'Doctor,' Chakotay said, 'I realize this isn't a formal hearing but do you concur with Tuvok on this matter?'
'I would have to say that the Captain has been acting more out of vengeance than out of justice. With your permission, I'd like to hold her in sickbay for thirty days for observation.'
'Very well, Doctor.' Chakotay turned his head back to the Captain. 'You will follow the Doctor to sickbay.'
Something about his reply didn't feel right to her. The Doctor's response seemed almost animated, and the Doctor was anything but animated. 'The hell I will,' she replied. 'Return to sickbay, Doctor. Mr. Tuvok, escort the Commander to his quarters,' she fired, making one last attempt to retain her command.
'I apologize, Captain, but you are no longer in command,' Tuvok replied coldly. Then, as if a further stab, turned to Chakotay and said, 'What are your orders, Commander?'
Chakotay, realizing that he was now in command, turned to Janeway and said, 'I'm sorry, Kathryn, but its for the best.' His apology sounded really heart-felt, but Janeway didn't care. All she knew is that her ship and her command had been torn out from under her - the worst thing that can happen to a Captain 'in less than a minute. 'Tuvok, assign two guards to escort the Captain to sickbay.'
'I think I can find my way, Commander,' she said, her eyes burning into Chakotay like two red-hot suns. 'Doctor?' she asked, unknowingly giving an order.
Instead of obeying, the Doctor simply looked at Chakotay. When he nodded, he followed her ' not because of her order, but because of his. Tuvok holstered his weapon and followed behind.
The Commander had decided that she should at least have the dignity of walking out on her own, retaining some sense of command. After all, he was not trying to be cruel, just living by the regulations that Kathryn herself so much believed in and obeyed. She has merely lost control of those standards, he thought. As he watched his former superior walk out of the room ' probably for the last time she would in a while ' he knew there was no turning back. The barrier of trust had been broken, and he knew they would never get it back again.
Kathryn Janeway, formerly in Command of Voyager, walked past her command seat on the bridge, knowing she would not be sitting in it for a while ' if at all ' again. It was the ultimate form of punishment when she saw Commander Chakotay walk over to it and sit down in what up to this point had been her chair. She saw Chakotay look at her for a moment and she thought she saw a flash of guilt in his eyes, maybe even sorrow at the fact that he had all but kicked her off the ship. The turbolift doors finally closed, after what seemed like an eternity, and the image of the bridge was etched in her memory forever, knowing it was unlikely she would see it again. Of course, regulations only call for a thirty day observation period, she thought. She knew, however, that Chakotay would not let her command again. She could see it in his eyes.
When the turbolift doors opened again, a few crewmen nodded at her. Obviously Chakotay hasn't informed the crew yet, as they still looked at her as in command.
'All hands,' Chakotay's voice said over the intercom as she walked through the doors to sickbay. 'Captain Janeway has been relieved of her duties and I am now in command of Voyager. Our first priority is to discuss a truce with the alien beings and then to go after the Equinox and get our missing crewmembers back. Chakotay out,' he ended.
She shook her head and looked back at the doctor. 'He has an impeccable sense of timing,' she told him.
'Over here, Captain,' the Doctor ordered, pointing to the back of the sickbay near the surgical bed.
'Aye, Sir,' she replied, putting increased emphasis on the 'Sir.' When she had stepped inside, she heard a forcefield go up around the bay. She looked back at him. 'Is that really necessary?'
'Knowing you, Captain, it is,' he replied sarcastically.
Janeway looked at the doctor. 'You know, Doctor, you were awful quick to agree with Chakotay's assessment,' she prodded, refusing to use Chakotay's rank.
'I was merely acting in my role as ship's Physician. You are not fit to command this ship in your current condition. I'm sure you are aware of the Starfleet regulations.'
There was something in his tone that did not sit right in the Captain's gut feeling. She may not be in command any more, but her command instincts were still with her. And at this moment, they told her something was not right with the doctor. She reminded herself to order B'Elanna to look at it when this was all over. Have you forgotten already, Kathryn? Janeway's inner voice reminded her. You can't give orders anymore.
'Of course, Doctor,' she replied.
Janeway's command instinct told her that the comment was wrong and that it didn't fit the Doctor's holographic personality at all. But she couldn't take action on it and order his program to be analyzed or anything. I cannot adapt to this, she told herself. I must be in command. Janeway saw the Doctor walk into his office ' one of the advantages were that he could not see this far into the sickbay. 'Computer,' she said softly, careful not to draw any attention. 'Who is in command of Voyager?' she asks, hoping that Chakotay hasn't changed her access codes.
'Access to that information has been restricted.' Damn.
'Computer,' she whispered once more, just loud enough for the audio sensors to pick up her voice. 'Lock out the command codes, authorization Janeway, pie-one-zero. Transfer ship's controls to my location.' She knew it was a long shot, but she was pulling at straws here. She had to get her ship back. She had to save Seven from Ransom.
'Authorization denied. Access to that system has been restricted,' the Computer replied without emotion. She hit her hand on the bed hard and felt like screaming. This is not what she had planned. How am I supposed to rescue Seven? How can I stop Ransom behind these walls?
'Computer, what is the time? Can you at least tell me that?' She barked, becoming irritated.
'The time is 1900 hours.' Finally a response that obeyed her command. Not that my commands are worth much anymore, she thought wryly.
Janeway decided to lie down on the surgical bed ' it was the only one she had access to ' and get some rest, even though odds were she wasn't going to sleep. Before dozing off, she assessed how her day had gone ' Ransom had kidnapped Seven, her ship was being pecked at by hundreds of tiny life forms, and she had been relieved of duty. After an hour of tossing and turning on the bed, she finally succumbed to sleep. Her last thought was of Seven of Nine, hoping that she would return soon and that when this was all over, she'd get back her ship and her partner.
Captain Kathryn Janeway awoke startled and she could feel the ship lurching beneath her. 'Janeway to bridge,' she commanded, touching the place where her communicator was supposed to be but finding none. Must have left it by the couch, she thought haphazardly, getting up off the bed. She wondered how the elevation of the bed became so much higher, but would think about it later. Her ship was in trouble and she needed to get to the bridge.
Then she walked right into a force field and was thrown to the ground as the ship lurched again, sending her into the surgical bed. She groaned and for a moment wondered what the hell a force field was doing in her quarters before she remembered she had been relieved of duty and stripped of her command. She put her hand on her head, since it was pounding after the fall. 'Doctor!' she yelled after the room stopped spinning.
'Are you injured?' he asked, watching her collect herself and stand up off the floor.
Janeway straightened her command jacket. 'No Doctor, I'm fine,' she reassured him. 'Now lower this damn force field,' she ordered, cranky after having been woke by what could only be Ransom.
'I'm afraid I can't do that,' he replied. 'Commander Chakotay has restricted you here until further notice,' giving credit to the right person.
'Doctor,' she said, glaring at him, 'My ship is under attack. I need to get to the bridge,' she yelled, not liking being pushed around and held captive on her own ship.
'Captain, with all due respect, you have no authority. Commander Chakotay is in command of Voyager now.'
Janeway thought he sounded almost giddy when he said that, as though he welcomed the idea of her being thrown into a holding cell ' and that is what this was. Janeway could remember when she held enemies in here herself. Solitary confinement isn't just a good idea, she remarked to herself, it works.
Suddenly, both Janeway and the doctor heard a strange beep coming from his office. It was a priority signal from another location, Janeway recognized. But who would be sending the Doctor a priority signal? Before she could ask him, the Doctor almost ran into the office. Nothing was adding up here, Janeway thought. There has to be something more.
'I'm here,' she faintly heard the Doctor say. Thankfully, Janeway noticed he forgot to stop audio from coming through the field.
'We need your help, Doc,' a strange voice says through a communications speaker. 'See if you can find Voyager's current shield frequency.'
It took Janeway a moment to translate that, as the voice was so quiet and the channel was filled with static. 'Shield frequency,' she whispered, realizing that her fears about the Doctor were correct. Ransom must have modified his program when he was aboard, she thought. She walked over to the other side of the surgical bed, where a small computer terminal was. It was normally used to help the staff during surgeries, but she was hoping to use it to access Voyager's intercom and get a message to the bridge.
But she had to stop quickly, as the Doctor walked out of his office with a PADD in his hand. He continued to the console and Janeway noticed him download something into the PADD and walk back into the office. Once he was gone, she went back to her work at hacking through the ship's internal security measures to try to get out to the intercom. She also kept her ears open for further conversation between the Doctor and his companion on the Equinox.
'I've got their shield frequency. I'm transmitting it to you now,' he said. She heard him sit down in the chair and was thankful for the extra time to work on her plan. Unfortunately, it wasn't going to do her much good, as the Captain could not get through the system. She smacked her hands on the panel in frustration, agitated that she could not do what she needed to do.
The ship lurched violently, proving her theory correct. The torpedo sliced through Voyager's shields and hit the hull. Janeway regained her composure, putting a hand on her left rib cage where it had impacted with the bulkhead. It hurt, but nothing was broken. Janeway noted by the feel of the ship's vibrations that there had been a hull breach. She only wished she could know how bad it was.
Voyager lurched again, this time sending the Captain into the force field and bouncing back off like a rubber ball onto the deck. She grunted and got back up. The lights in sickbay dimmed, and auxiliary power came online. Her only thought now was to hope that the power weakened enough that it would lower the force field, but she also knew that it would be one of the last systems to go offline in a crisis situation.
The Doctor materialized in sickbay, right in front of Janeway. 'Captain?' he says, clearly stunned to find his commanding officer being restrained. Wait a minute, she thought, wasn't the Doctor in his office? No time to question it, Katie, her inner voice said.
'Doctor, the imposter is in your office transmitting the shield frequencies to the Equinox. You must stop him!' she ordered, hoping what she suspected was true ' that this was the real Doctor.
'Of course. Why are you behind a force field?' he asked, concern lacing his voice. Obviously he hasn't accessed the database yet, she thought. There was no doubt in Janeway's mind, though this was Voyager's EMH. That was of some comfort to her.
'It's a long story ' maybe some other time. You have to
stop your counterpart in the office now!.'
'Aye, Captain,' he said and ran over to his office, taking measures to not
only de-activate his counterpart ' but to completely delete his program.
Janeway sighed and leaned back against the bed. She wasn't able to get out of confinement, but at least her ship was going to be okay. She heard the Doctor ' the real Doctor ' tell the Equinox that 'their physician was no longer on call,' and it brought a smile to her face. He certainly has a way with words, she thought.
Janeway heard the faint whine of a transporter and knew it could only be one person. Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct to Unimatrix Zero One materialized onto the closest bio bed to the Captain, and Janeway wanted to jump right through the shields to help her. The unconscious form of her partner lay helpless on the bed, severely injured. 'Doctor!' she yelled. When he came out and noticed Seven, he gathered together all the materials he needed on the medical cart and rushed over to her side. 'What's wrong with her?'
'It's a long story,' the Doctor said, repeating what Janeway had said to him. Then, the Doctor began to operate on the ex-Borg and Janeway watched from behind the force field, not able to say anything or do anything to help her partner.
Kathryn Janeway had been staring at the slumbering form of her partner on the next biobed, just out of arms reach, for almost an hour now. She hated the fact that she was confined behind the invisible wall of the forcefield and did not like that she was being treated like fresh ensign out of the academy. She had worked hard for her accomplishments and getting the promotion to be Captain of this starship was the second best thing that had happened to her. The best thing that had happened was falling in love with the beautiful ex-Borg drone on the bio bed closest to her named Seven of Nine. It was killing her that she could not hold her or talk to her, even though she was so close.
She noticed a slight rise in one of the indicators on the bio bed monitors. 'Doctor!' she screamed, knowing he was on the other side of sickbay.
The Doctor, whose bedside manner wasn't always the best, audibly sighed even though he did not breathe. This was the fifth request the Captain had made to summon him from his work. 'Yes,' he replied, as cheerfully as he could.
'Doctor, is that supposed to happen?' she asked, pointing to the monitor on the bio bed, concerned for her partner's well being.
'Yes, its perfectly normal,' he replied. 'Her Borg implants are repairing the damage caused to her cortical array during her time on the Equinox.' Then, realizing he had given her too much information, frowned. He knew that Janeway would not stand for an explanation like that - she would want details.
'What would have caused that sort of damage?' Janeway questioned, curious as to how that level of damage was possible possible. She didn't know much about Borg technology, but she knew enough to know that the cortical array wasn't severely damaged that easily. Janeway could tell that the Doctor was uneasy about this issue, and she knew there was something more to this than she was getting information on.
'I'm sorry, but I can not tell you that information. I'm under orders not to disclose to you any information that is a part of the ship's business.'
Janeway got irritated at this remark. 'Doctor, I may be relieved of duty but I still hold the rank of a Captain and this is still my ship,' she told him. When she saw the look on his face after her last sentence, she knew that was probably being discussed. 'I am still Captain, right?' she questioned. She also noticed that the Doctor had not called her by her rank at all.
'You are no longer in command. I'm afraid that is all of the information I can tell you. Now, if you'll excuse me, Commander Chakotay wants this analysis done by 1300 hours,' he concluded, holding the PADD up in his hand.
'1300 hours?!' the Captain repeated. 'I've never given you a deadline like that,' she yelled as he walked off into his office. Janeway walked over to one of the bulkheads and put her hand on its surface. 'Remind me to instruct Chakotay on how to set appropriate due dates for his reports if I regain command.' Then she realized what she was doing and removed her hand from the bulkhead. What is this? She questioned herself. I'm talking to bulkheads now? Maybe this confinement isn't such a good idea after all.
Janeway slowly walked over to the surgical bed and sat down on it, thinking of the trip down here in the turbolift with Tuvok. She still could not believe that he sided with Chakotay on this call. After all, she had known him for a long time and had come to consider him one of her best friends on Voyager. In fact, Janeway can't even understand why she was removed from her command in the first place. She didn't intend to hurt anybody ' she just wanted to get Ransom and rescue Seven. The only words Tuvok said to her in the lift were 'I regret that there was no other option.' She wanted to ask him why he backed Chakotay and just what was so wrong with her plan. But she didn't. Instead, Janeway merely nodded, not knowing what else she could have said.
Earlier in the day, the Doctor had given her a PADD where she could put her thoughts down. He thought it would lead her to recovery faster and get her back in command. But the more she thought about it, the more she knew that she would never again command what up to now was her ship, the Starship Voyager. Janeway eyed the PADD warily for five minutes, as if it was going to jump up and bite her. Finally, she sighed and picked up the PADD, not to write down notes about her recovery, but for another purpose.
She looked over at Seven of Nine and began to write?
Annika,
I don't know if you'll see this letter, but as I sit here confined in Sickbay watching you unconscious, I can find nobody else I wish to talk to right now. After suffering the biggest loss of my career ' my ship ' to my first officer, I was hoping to be able to talk to you. Instead, I find you unconscious from our last ordeal and I can't help thinking that it was my fault in some way. I've even entertained the idea that Chakotay was right, but didn't give it any merit.
Darling, you have to understand that I've always tried to act in the best interests of this crew, but it seems I have failed my duty in that regard and, in some respect, I have failed in my duty to you. I've let you down and I'm sorry for that.
As I look at you from my space here, I can't imagine anyone else I'd want to be with and I know I've told you this a thousand times. I just hope you'll still love me after all of this, Annika, even if I don't get my ship back. I just don't know if I can cope with that fact alone. I still would like to believe that Chakotay would turn over control back to me after my thirty days of confinement but by his voice and his look I'm losing faith in that idea.
I'm going to live up to my promise to you and make sure I eat regularly, even though that I'd rather not right now. I don't feel like I should. I'm going to summon the Doctor over here again, even though his bedside manner leaves a lot to be desired. If I ever get my command back, maybe I should have B'Elanna reprogram his subroutines. I hope to be out of this mess soon.
Love,
Kathryn
Janeway saved the letter in the PADD. She wrote it more for herself than for anything and she doubted she would ever show Seven. When the ex-Borg first arrived in sickbay, she was hoping to be back in command before Seven woke, so that she never had to face the possibility of her being disappointed. It became increasingly clear, however, that it was not going to happen.
She wasn't even sure why she was frightened to tell her partner about this event. Maybe its your overgrown sense of pride, her voice chimed in to answer her question. Regardless of what it was, she just could not bring herself to tell her partner that she was kicked out of the Captain's Chair, in all bluntness.
Her stomach suddenly reminded her that she needed food. She felt like stuffing it away and ignoring the message, but remembered the promise she had made to Seven some time ago when she was re-captured by the Borg. Janeway risked everything to save her, and in the interim neglected to feed herself. In the end, she had to be escorted to Sickbay because the lack of nutrients had made her extremely weak. From that time forward, she has kept her promise to her partner and she would be damned if she would break it now, when Seven was all she had to hold on to at the moment.
'Doctor,' she called to him, still trying to become comfortable with her new position in Sickbay. 'I need my nutritional supplements,' she told him. She didn't say 'lunch' or 'food' or anything of the like. 'Nutritional supplements' was basically all she ate ' just enough to keep her going. It sort of fit the situation too. She was no longer Captain and maybe she should just accept that.
'What would you like?' he asked a bit more cheerful than before. She knew that he wanted her to ask for something that she liked from Earth like the grilled cheese sandwiches her mother made for her when she was a kid. She did miss those sandwiches, but would not indulge in them ' or anything else ' at this time.
'A standard ration bar will be fine, Doctor,' she replied. Then added 'Thank you,' as he walked over to the replicator to have it produce the requested food.
He brought it back over to her. 'Not exactly what I would consider appetizing, but at least you're eating something,' he remarked sarcastically. He lowered the force field long enough to pass her the bar and then energized it again.
'Appetizing is not what I'm really in the mood for today, Doctor. I just need enough to keep me going,' she told him.
He sighed and walked back into his office. Janeway ate the ration bar quickly. If I'm not careful, she thought wryly, I might actually begin to like these things before my thirty days are up.
After completing her ration bar, she noticed that maybe for the first time in years she had nothing else to do. The rest of her day was spent looking at her partner, who looked comfortable and peaceful in her position on the bed. The Borg had curled up on one side, taking it as a good sign that some things never change. But then again, she reminded herself, so very many things do.
Day Four of Isolation
Seven of Nine slowly opened her eyes, the bright lights of Voyager's Sickbay flooding her pupils with light. Her implant made the necessary modifications and she adjusted to the light's intensity quickly. She forced herself to sit up on the bed and noticed the Doctor working at the console in front of her. 'Doctor,' she said, alerting him to the fact that she was awake.
'Seven!' he exclaimed, grabbing a medical tricorder and scanning her for any residual damage. 'Looks like you've fully recovered,' he told her as Seven got up off of the bed and for the first time noticed the form of her partner start to wake up on the surgical bed.
'Kathryn!' Seven said, walking over to the surgical bed. 'Why is there a force field here?' she asked, noticing that the field was up. 'Are you damaged?'
'I suffered minor injuries during the battle,' she lied. 'The Doctor was just making sure I was okay, right Doctor?' she asked. If the Doctor wasn't a bunch of photons, Seven was sure he would have melted into liquid by now on the floor from Janeway's look.
'But why would that constitute a force field?' she prodded.
'Because the Doctor wanted to keep me in a stable environment so none of my injuries could get infected. We'll talk about it tonight, Annika. I need to get back to the bridge to oversee repairs soon. I'm so glad to know that you are okay.'
Seven did not understand this exchange of words. She knew her partner would never lie to her but all of the facts didn't add up. 'I am also relieved, Kathryn,' she responded. 'I will attempt to return home early this evening so we may discuss the issue further.' When she said that, Seven noticed that her partner's gaze fell to the floor momentarily, much like a child when they have done something wrong. 'Is something wrong, Kathryn?'
'No, I'm just a little tired from all of this, Annika. Come home as soon as you can,' she responded.
'I must resume my duties,' she finally said. 'I will see you at the debriefing,' she told her and found that her partner's eyes once again glanced at the deck again. Kathryn nodded and Seven returned the nod in response before turning around and walking out of Sickbay.
As she walked down the corridor to the turbolift, she knew that something was wrong. Kathryn did not act like this unless something had happened that devastated her. She had been like this in the void, Seven remembered, when the Captain believed the crew no longer would benefit from her and that it was her fault for stranding Voyager in the Delta Quadrant. Seven didn't think her partner had ever completely recovered from that experience. Could Kathryn be feeling the loss of Captain Ransom and his ship? She wondered, or the betrayal that she feels over Ransom not continuing to maintain Starfleet protocol and regulations on his ship?
'Astrometrics,' she said as she entered the turbolift. 'Belay that,' she said, halting the computer's last command. 'Bridge,' she commanded. Perhaps she could talk to Commander Chakotay about the problem.
Commander Chakotay, now in command, sat in the Captain's chair on the bridge of Voyager, still feeling a bit uneasy about the events of the past few days. Janeway had taught him that second-guessing a decision is never a good thing for a Captain to do, but he couldn't help it. He recalled Ransom saying how his crew had mutinied against him, leaving him alone in Engineering, trying to regain control of his ship until finally it exploded due to a warp core breach. Was he betraying Janeway as the Equinox first officer betrayed Ransom?
'You have the bridge, Tuvok,' he said, glancing over to his first officer. 'I'll be?I'll be in the ready room,' he stuttered, not quite comfortable with the phrase yet.
'Aye, Commander,' Tuvok acknowledged as Chakotay vacated the seat and walked down the path to the ready room, the doors opening for him immediately. He sat down behind the desk and looked at the PADD that listed Captain Janeway's current status. It still listed her as in command of Voyager, as he had yet to make any changes. Chakotay was having trouble deciding whether to just relieve her of duty or to strip her of rank. By stripping her of rank at least he could ensure she doesn't have to face the court martial and that may be the best thing to do. He had instructed the Doctor not to use a rank when addressing her until he made the final decision.
The door to the ready room chimed, interrupting him from his thoughts. 'Come in,' he said, giving the computer permission to open the doors.
Seven of Nine walked quickly but gracefully to the front of the desk. 'Commander,' she greeted, nodding her head.
'Hello, Seven,' he responded, placing the PADD down on the desk. 'Glad to see you back on your feet. What can I do for you?' he asked. However, Chakotay believed he already had a theory as to what was coming next.
'I would like more information on the Captain's condition' she said. 'She is currently behind a force field in Sickbay and will not tell me what is wrong.'
'I know,' he said. 'I relieved her of duty, Seven. She's in Sickbay because regulations state that she needs to have thirty day observational period before I can review on whether or not I will return her to command.'
Seven found it hard to believe that her partner would do anything that would force her first officer to take over command from her. Not even when they were in The Void did Chakotay ever cross that line. 'Explain,' she ordered.
'She crossed the boundary, Seven. Instead of doing what was in the best interest of the ship, she went after Ransom with vengeance in mind, wanting to punish him for his crimes herself. I couldn't let her continue in that direction.'
Seven was confused. Captain Janeway and Chakotay had many disagreements in the past, a lot of times because they thought of the answer in different ways. 'You relieved her because she disagreed with you,' she stated.
'No, Seven, it was much more than that. Her need for vengeance against Ransom became so bad she was even willing to kill one of the Equinox crew members in order to get information from him. She was willing to put the ship at grave risk just to capture Ransom'
Seven realized that did not sound like the Captain at all. She knew vengeance was a human emotion and that it could lead to disaster, but never believed Kathryn would engage in it and forget about her duty to the ship. 'Ransom was killing life forms for fuel in order for him to get back to Earth sooner. Maybe she was acting to save the lives of the creatures which were being killed,' she hypothesized.
'Seven, I heard the way she talked about Ransom. She was beyond angry. She was enraged.'
'Perhaps she had a reason to be,' Seven countered, standing up for her partner.
'I can see why she would be enraged too. I didn't like Ransom any more than she did,' the Commander said, raising his voice. 'But she let her rage cross the line between personal feeling and her duty to this ship and its crew. I tried to warn her, to explain to her what was happening but she did not listen. When she told me that she was relieving me of my duty, I stood my ground and had security confine her in Sickbay.'
'She relieved you and you disobeyed?' she retorted. 'Does that not violate a Starfleet regulation as well?' she asked, upset by this last revelation.
'Perhaps,' he said. 'But I had to remove her from command, Seven. Since the Doctor and Tuvok concurred with my judgment, regulations permitted me to relieve her of her command.'
Seven analyzed this for a moment and determined that he was correct, but one thing stood out to her. 'When you relieved Captain Janeway, the Equinox EMH was still on board Voyager was he not?'
Chakotay shrugged. 'What's your point, Seven?'
'Did you ask the Voyager EMH if he concurred with your position when he was returned?'
'I didn't have to. Even though the EMH was from the Equinox, he still counted as the Medical officer.'
'His ethical subroutines were disabled!' she yelled. 'He was only trying to give Ransom enough time to engage the enhanced warp drive so you could no longer track him. I do not believe this is not a question of Starfleet regulations,' she told him, 'it is a matter of mutiny.'
'It is not mutiny,' he retorted.
'It is,' she said. 'In all technicality, you only had one other officer, Tuvok, concur with your motion do remove the Captain from duty.'
'It doesn't matter, Seven. Janeway's not in command anymore and I am. From now on you will follow my orders,' he told her, in effect ending the conversation.
'I will not comply,' Seven replied coldly. She did not like the direction that this was taking, but refused to follow the orders of Chakotay, especially after his dismissal of Janeway had turned out to be only 'technically' correct to the regulations.
'I am your commanding officer,' Chakotay told her. 'You will not disobey my orders.'
'Indeed. I will be in Cargo Bay II,' she returned, turning on her heel and walking out of Chakotay's ready room.
Kathryn Janeway moaned at the sudden increase of light in Sickbay. This morning wasn't getting off to any better of a start than the rest of the week had. She had not eaten any real meal nor had any coffee in eleven days, as the Doctor refused to give her coffee and she refused to eat real meals.
'Rise and shine,' the Doctor said cheerfully as he walked over to the surgical bay. 'How are you doing this morning?'
'You asked the same question for the past week, Doctor. Aren't you getting tired of getting the same response every time?' she asked him.
'Humph,' he said. 'Well, if you wish to talk to me you will know where to find me,' he told her and walked back into his office.
Janeway had realized a couple of days ago to accept the fact that she may be in here for a long time and probably would never get her command back, but she didn't know if she could ever get used to the Doctor. She picked up the PADD that the Doctor had placed at the foot of the bed and she set it down on the floor.
Yesterday she had requested the Doctor bring her all of her log entries dating from the time she was removed from command back to her, and the Doctor obliged ' which was surprising to Janeway. He agreed under the assumption that it was part of her 'treatment' and her 'road to recovery,' as he put it. She sat down and used the bulkhead as support for her back, since her request for a chair had been denied.
She picked up the PADD, the first page containing her first two log entries in the Delta Quadrant, and read them both. She sighed and wondered if she was still the same Captain that had stood by what had meant so much to her even if it meant stranding the entire crew in the Delta Quadrant. Where did I get the right to choose their path for them? She asked herself. Perhaps it would have been better if she didn't destroy the array so quickly. If she had just taken more time another solution might have shown up. There had to be another solution, and she promised that as soon she was able to leave this surgical bay she would research it from the ship's library. If Chakotay gives you enough privileges to do that, Kathryn, her inner voice said. She knew that he would definitely not give her full run of the ship and jeopardize his command position.
She scrolled down to page 2 and read the first entry. She had forgotten about this speech she made while on the bridge and didn't realize she entered it into her log.
Recorded from bridge sensors, USS Voyager
We're alone. In an uncharted part of the galaxy. We've already made some friends here, and some enemies. We have no idea of the dangers we're going to face. But one thing is clear. Both crews are going to have to work together if we're to survive. That's why Commander Chakotay and I have agreed that this should be one crew?a Starfleet crew. And as the only Starfleet vessel assigned to the Delta Quadrant, we'll continue to follow our directive, to seek out new worlds and explore space.
But our primary goal is clear. Even at maximum speeds, it would take seventy-five years to reach the Federation. But I'm now willing to settle for that. There's another entity like the Caretaker out there somewhere who has the ability to get us there a lot faster. We'll be looking for her. And we'll be looking for wormholes, spatial rifts, or new technologies to help us. Somewhere, along this journey, we'll find a way back.
Mr. Paris? Set a course?for home.
Janeway suddenly realized that she would not be able to fulfill the promise she had made to the crew seven years ago ' to get them home. Losing her command seemed minuscule in comparison to this new revelation. It was quite possible that Chakotay would accomplish the goal, but he hadn't been the one who made the promise to the crew. She had. And now that promise would be broken because of the decisions she made earlier for which Chakotay relieved her of duty. She needed to fulfill that promise ' both for herself and for the crew.
Suddenly, she threw the PADD across the bay, where it impacted the bulkhead with force, deactivating as it fell to the ground. This caused the Doctor to come out from his office to identify the noise.
'What happened?' he questioned her. He looked over to the other side of the bay and saw the damaged PADD. He frowned. 'Throwing equipment isn't going to help matters.'
'It certainly can't make things worse than they already are,' she returned, her voice a cold, emotionless void that nearly made the Doctor shudder. She rose from her sitting position on the deck and leaned against the bed, looking at the EMH with a glare substantially less powerful than usual
'You're not going to improve your condition this way, you are only going to worsen it.' He stepped closer to the field. 'After your thirty days here, you can be a valuable member of this crew again.'
'But not in command, Doctor. That is the difference.' Her expression had changed to one of regret and sorrow again, the brief burst of anger gone for the moment.
'You can't know that. Once Chakotay sees you've made a full recovery perhaps he'll give you back your command. You must not give up,' he told her.
She shook her head. 'He knows as well as I do that the barrier of trust we shared has been broken. Chakotay has gone passed the point of no return, Doctor, and he can't turn back. I know I'll never command this ship again, but that isn't what the worst part is.'
'What is the worst part?' he questioned her.
Janeway looked down at the deck plating. 'My promise, Doctor. I promised this crew that I would get them home. I'll never be able to fulfill that promise now.' Her voice, once strong and forceful, became weak and cracked. 'I'll never be able to get this crew home.'
'Chakotay will be in command,' the Doctor said, informing Janeway of the harsh truth of reality. 'You must trust that he will fulfill the promise for you.'
'Trust,' she spat. 'I trusted him seven years ago to stand by my side and be my first officer.' The anger in her voice had returned, this time directed at the Commander. 'I trusted him to never cross the line and to stand beside me but where has that gotten me, Doctor? Its gotten me confined to sickbay for thirty days while he is on the bridge gallivanting around playing 'Captain.''
The Doctor audibly sighed, knowing that in her anger she would not back down from that argument. What was more, the Doctor thought that she might be making a valid point. 'You have trained Chakotay over the past seven years. You've shown him how to command well in the event something happened to you. You will just have to hope that trust will not be lost in him. In that way, you may still be indirectly living up to your promise in getting the crew home.'
She walked around to the other side of the bed and turned her back to the Doctor. 'I don't want to discuss this anymore.'
The Doctor looked at the form of a woman whose words once held so much power and that the officers said would melt their skin when she lectured them. He could see that command of Voyager meant everything to her and that losing that was close to losing herself. 'I'll be in my office if you need anything,' he told her compassionately and walked away.
Janeway tilted her head just enough to see the Doctor to walk into his office. She turned around and looked out at Sickbay, resting her elbows on the bed. She wished she could wake up from this horrible nightmare and see Seven beside her, ready to comfort her after her restless night. But she knew this wasn't a dream and Seven hadn't stopped by in over a week. It hurt Janeway to know that the ex-Borg drone was avoiding her ' on purpose or not she did not know. She eyed her communicator, which was outside the force field on the console and wished she could access it, not to try and re-take her command but just so she could speak to her partner and see what was going on. She was confined, however, to this surgical bay and her anger from being isolated and from not receiving any reports of the ship's status began to consume her. Throwing the PADD across the bay had served to temporarily relieve her anger, but she could feel it returning. She needed to see Seven and wrap herself around the warm body and cry on her shoulder. But this force field made her partner seem light years away. If only somebody would visit her and make her feel needed again. Seven, she pleaded, hoping mind could penetrate the force field and reach its target, I can't go through this without you.
Kathryn Janeway paced nervously back and forth in the surgical bay. The Doctor had informed her that Commander Chakotay would be coming by today to discuss some things ' and Janeway was pretty sure of just what that was: her rank. She could tell from the way the Doctor never used her rank title anymore and continued to dodge her questions about it that Chakotay was debating the issue with himself.
She had done her best this morning to look appropriate, even though her hair was still somewhat out of shape from earlier in the morning when she had pulled at it out of frustration. 'What the hell is taking him so long?' she asked the Doctor. 'If I remember correctly this is the day for crew reports. It shouldn't take him this long to get down here.'
'He did not inform me of a specific time. I'm sure he will stop by when he finds the appropriate time.'
Janeway sighed. 'The appropriate time was fourteen days ago, Doctor, when I was first confined to this room.'
'The Commander wanted to give you some time alone before he came by to see you. He wanted to make sure that you had time to think.' The Doctor hoped that would be all the Janeway needed.
'He's stalling.'
Obviously not. 'I beg your pardon?'
'Chakotay,' she clarified. 'He's stalling. After seven years he finally found the perfect time to take command and he wants everything to be perfect. He's probably revising his speech right now.'
'Hardly.' The Doctor lowered his shoulders a bit and moved closer to Janeway. 'If you must know, he's trying to persuade Seven to resume her duties. She's been in Cargo Bay Two all week.'
Janeway looked up at him at this remark. 'What has she been doing in there all week?' she asked.
'You might want to ask her that yourself,' he replied. 'After she learned that Chakotay was in command, Seven stormed out of the ready room and has been in Cargo Bay 2 ever since.'
Janeway let a grin escape her. She felt a sense of pride inside her for her partner and felt honored that she fought this as much as she could. But if Chakotay was going to be in command for the rest of this journey, Seven would have to 'adapt' to following his orders. 'I'll talk with her,' Janeway offered.
At that moment, the doors to Sickbay opened, and Chakotay and Tuvok walked in. The Commander instructed the Vulcan to remain by the door. Janeway looked at Tuvok but got an impassive look back, only causing her more pain. Chakotay walked up to the surgical bay, nodding at the doctor as he approached.
'Hello Kathryn.' His face was not the same one Janeway saw when she left the bridge that day. It was more solid. The command mask, she realized. My, he's learned it well too, she saw. 'Lower the force field, Doctor.'
Now that the field was down, she could make a run for it but she dismissed the thought right away. 'Commander,' she greeted, the tone of her voice in the greeting was sharp enough that Chakotay would not have been surprised if it cut right through the surgical bed. The anger within Janeway began to surface upon seeing her collected first officer in front of her
He took a deep breath. 'What I'm about to do isn't going to be easy for me.' He held up a PADD and cleared his throat. 'Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager, under the rules and regulations set forth by Starfleet Command, I hereby strip you of your rank of Captain and relinquish you from all duties and contracts pertaining to Starfleet Officers. The ship's log will note your new status as civilian upon the next recording.' He took another breath and put the PADD at his side. 'I'm sorry, Kathryn but I must order you to transfer the command codes to me.'
Janeway just stared at him, not even believing what she heard. Not only was she demoted from Captain; Chakotay had just booted her out of Starfleet altogether. And it all happened so quickly. 'Damn you,' she said under her breath. 'Computer, this is Captain Janeway. Transfer all command codes to Commander Chakotay, authorization Janeway, Pie-One-Zero.'
'Acknowledged. Command codes transferred to Commander Chakotay.'
Chakotay had to struggle to keep his command mask in full strength at seeing Janeway's reaction. He didn't want to add insult to injury, but there was one more thing to do. 'I'll need your rank pips too, Kathryn.'
Janeway looked up at him in disbelief. She had worn those proudly for over seven years and sometimes it was all she had to hang on to. It served to remind her that she was the Captain, responsible for getting her crew home and fulfilling the promise she made. Now she was being asked to remove them from her collar. She sighed and slowly raised her hand up and took them off one by one. When all four of them were in her hand, she looked down at them, recalling just how much they had gotten her through.
Chakotay stretched out his hand to receive them.
'No,' Janeway said hoarsely, not even aware she was speaking as the shock was still setting in. 'These pips mean more to me than you'll ever know, Chakotay. I can't just hand them over. I prefer to keep them with me.' The Commander looked at her, seeing more pain in those blue eyes than he ever believed was possible. 'Besides,' she continued, attempting to brighten up the mood, 'I don't want to lose the replicator rations it would take to remake them.'
Chakotay couldn't help but smile. If there was one thing he was going to miss about her, it was the light humor she always managed to interject into the worst situations. 'Hold on to them, Kathryn,' he told her. 'Keep them safe.'
Janeway thought about that. 'I will, Chakotay. I'll need them when I resume my command.' Her tone was no longer kind or humorous, but had become serious. 'Don't think I don't know you've been trying to get in to that chair for the past seven years, Commander. I've watched you and noticed your behavior through the time we've been together. You've wanted to be Captain right from the start and now it looks like you've got it. But I'll regain my command, someday. And that is when these pips will come in handy again.' She laid the pips down on the bed.
Chakotay heard Janeway speak those words to him and felt some anger begin to penetrate his mask. He couldn't believe she just accused him of staging this whole thing. He realized, however, that this was not the place for an argument. 'Goodbye, Kathryn,' he said, and turned around and walked out the door. Tuvok's eyes lingered on the former Captain's for a moment before he turned and followed Chakotay out the door.
'You handled that rather well.' The Doctor had returned to his work at the console, looking up at Janeway ever so often.
'Save it, Doctor,' she snapped. 'I don't want your comments.' She turned around and walked to the back wall, putting her hand up against it. She saw the whole procedure coming, yet did not believe it when it finally did. She ran her fingers over her collar where her pips used to be, this time finding nothing but emptiness, which matched the way she felt right now. Kathryn turned her head and looked at the pips sitting on the surgical bed. She kept them in the hope that maybe one day she would be able to command her ship again, even if it meant working them back one at a time. There was no other choice for her. She made a promise to this crew seven years ago that she was going to get them home, and she intended to keep that promise.
Seven of Nine, formerly of the Borg Collective, stepped out of her alcove and onto the dais below. She stepped off it and on to the deck of Cargo Bay Two, which was her sanctuary when she first arrived on Voyager before she found a partner in the form of Kathryn Janeway. Now that Janeway was relieved and Chakotay was Captain, however, it was not so much a sanctuary as it was a haven from the madness that this change of command was ensuing.
Seven looked at the Cargo Bay doors and questioned whether or not she would go through them today. On one hand, she needed to clear her stuff from the Captain's Quarters - which now belonged to Chakotay, she assumed - and temporarily store them in the Cargo bay until the new Captain decided Janeway's fate and assigned them new quarters.
She sighed, a human expression that she learned from Kathryn and walked to the doors, the sensors detecting her weight and separating the doors for her to pass through.
She took a deep breath and walked out through the doors, joining other Voyager crewmembers in the corridor, as she had been absent from the ship's duty roster for so long. She received odd glances at her for the first time since her arrival on Voyager. This time, however, it was not because she was Borg, but because she was the partner of the woman who was taken out of command by Chakotay. The crew was no doubt curious as to how she was handling the change of command.
When she arrived at the turbolift for the ride up to the Captain's Quarters, she had to wait as a lift made its way to this deck. Finally the doors slid open and Seven noticed Tuvok was occupying it. 'Commander,' she said, noting the three pips on his uniform and its change of color ' now red instead of gold.
'Seven,' Tuvok formally greeted, dipping his head down. His form remained unchanged and his face was devoid of emotion. In other words, he looked like a Vulcan.
'Deck Three,' she ordered the computer. It chirped, signifying it understood and within moments the lift was underway.
'Might I inquire about your absence at this morning's staff meeting?' Tuvok said abruptly. When she simply looked at him quizzically, he added, 'Or in the Astrometrics lab?'
It took Seven a few minutes in order to formulate a response to the Vulcan's question. 'Ensign Hickman is manning the Astrometrics post. Is my presence required?' Since he does not engage in small talk, Seven knew there was a reason for his question.
'As a senior officer,' he replied, 'your presence is always required at staff meetings.'
Seven looked at the new first officer, trying to determine why he had betrayed Kathryn and now accepted the promotion to full Commander to stand at Chakotay's side. 'I no longer feel I am a member of the senior staff. If I were, certainly my input would be required for the actions taken by Commander Chakotay,' she finally replied.
'Indeed,' Tuvok said. 'May I remind you,' He continued, 'Regulations only require two officers in the senior staff and the Chief Medical Officer to be present and agree to the motion.'
'In this instance I still believe my input was required,' Seven stated.
'In what way?' Tuvok inquired, his face remaining impassive.
'Because, whatever happens to Kathryn affects me,' she said, letting enough emotion seep into her voice to make it crack.
'The actions that were taken against her were of a professional nature and have no affect on your relationship whatsoever,' he told her. Tuvok abhorred emotional displays and felt uncomfortable dealing with them. Seven was usually very logical and quite a comfort for the Vulcan to converse with but in this instance he noticed that her emotions had overruled her logic. The lift doors opened to Deck 5, which was Tuvok's destination. 'We will discuss this later,' he told her as he walked out.
'I wish to discuss it now.' She held the doors open with her hand as he turned around in response to her statement.
'I have other duties to attend to at this time,' he told her.
'When, then?' she asked.
'Meet me in my quarters before the start of Alpha shift tomorrow,' he answered. 'We will discuss it further at that time.'
'Acceptable,' Seven said stepping back and allowing the lift doors to close. The turbolift resumed its course to Deck 3, where their previous quarters were located. She had to admit, even though she did not look forward to the discussion, being out of the Cargo Bay had done her some good.
The lift doors opened again, revealing Deck 3. To the untrained eye it was identical to the opening at Deck 5, but Seven had memorized every section of this ship and knew exactly where she was at all times. Exiting the turbolift, she took a deep breath and began to walk towards the Captain's Quarters, knowing that Chakotay would be on the bridge. He had sent her a memorandum a few days ago saying that she would have access to the room for the next few days to gather her equipment and belongings. Whatever was left over would be placed in storage until Janeway's observation was over and she was assigned quarters.
She stood outside the door to her previous home, took another deep breath, and entered. This was not going to be an easy task.
Kathryn Janeway woke up in Sickbay again and by this time had gotten used to the feeling of waking up alone, instead of expecting to wake up with Seven beside her. She missed the bed in her quarters despite that fact though, as it offered superior comfort. Whoever designed the beds in sickbay must have thought that the patients would recover quickly because they were definitely not made for sleeping or comfort, she thought and slowly made her way off the bed.
When she stood, her shoulders were no longer squared and whatever remnants of the command mask she was so proud of were gone. She looked up and saw the Doctor walk out of his office, studying a PADD in his right hand and holding some sort of tunic in his left. 'Doctor,' she greeted, sparing the 'good morning,' as Janeway never had a good morning any more.
'Good morning, Cap ' err ' Ms. Janeway.' The Doctor cursed himself for his momentary slip, knowing that being reminded of her former rank would not help Janeway's recovery. But as he read the request that Chakotay had just made, he knew this would be even worse. The memorandum from Captain Chakotay ordered the removal of Janeway's Starfleet uniform because 'she does not possess sufficient rights to wear it.' The Doctor had replicated a dark blue jumpsuit that would fit Kathryn well while not having any pockets or places where she could use it to harm herself.
Janeway pointed towards the jumpsuit. 'What's that for?' she asked, fully knowing the answer but needing confirmation.
'Captain Chakotay has requested that you not wear a Starfleet uniform as you are no longer in a command position. I've replicated ''
'Waitaminute,' Janeway said, holding up her hand. 'Captain Chakotay?' she asked, not believing that he had given himself a promotion.
The Doctor sighed. 'I'm sorry, Ms. Janeway, perhaps I should not have told you,' he apologized, hitting himself mentally for yet another slip.
'Don't worry about it Doctor,' she said. The Doctor noticed her shoulders had slumped another quarter of an inch or so in that last exchange.
The Doctor couldn't do much more than just nod. 'I've replicated this jumpsuit for you. It's them most suitable thing I could find and quite fashionable if I do say so,' the Doctor said, a smile forming at his lips as he admired his work.
Janeway looked at the jumpsuit and back at the Doctor. 'If you call that fashion,' she told him wryly, 'then I suggest you update your fashion protocols.'
The Doctor punched in a few commands at the console, lowering the forcefield. 'You may use my office to change,' he told her. The Doctor had already locked out all computer access in the office and had sealed all the doors. He felt that although she may be confined here for thirty days, she still deserved her privacy.
'Thank you, Doctor.' She nodded, taking the jumpsuit out of his hands and walking into the office. It was not the brisk, command-like walk the Doctor was used to. Instead, it seemed that she had to drag herself for each step, almost as if it wasn't worth walking at all. A few minutes later she emerged from the office in the dark blue jumpsuit. It fit her nicely, but she looked a lot different from the one he was used to. It seemed to have made the transition complete, and a part of the doctor was sorry to see her become a civilian.
'So, Doctor,' she said, trying not to let her depression show, 'how do I look?' Her smile was a fake one, and she had to stretch her mouth with all her strength just to get the thin smile to hold.
'You look?very fashionable,' the Doctor responded with a sly grin. He knew that her smile was forged, but by playing along he hoped to encourage her to be in a better mood today.
'Very funny, Doctor.' Janeway walked back to her 'cell,' used for surgeries when not being occupied by a prisoner. The word 'prisoner' made her shudder slightly as the Doctor re-initiated the force field. But 'prisoner' certainly described how she felt at the moment. The walk from her cell to the Doctor's office was liberating, but she found it incredibly hard to find the motivation to walk. She noticed the Doctor had disabled computer control but even if he hadn't she wouldn't have done anything. The finality of Chakotay's decision had begun to assert itself in her, knowing that she would never regain command of Voyager.
'Are you still going to keep the pips?' the Doctor asked, noticing their absence from the uniform.
'As a keepsake, Doctor, no more.' Janeway momentarily looked back to foot of the bed, seeing the pips shine as the Sickbay lights looked down at them.
'Very well.' The Doctor returned to his office and recycled the uniform. As Janeway heard the recycler claim the tunic she felt her heart drop a little bit lower in her chest and the results of her actions settle in to the spot where once her command ambitions used to be.
For a long time, she leaned against the bed and looked at the wall, her back turned away from the main area of Sickbay. She faintly heard the doors to Sickbay open but did not look back. Janeway thought it was probably just some crewmember with a scrape or cut that was inflicted by accident, and she couldn't bear to face any crewmembers right now. It was humiliating enough that they saw her locked up like a wild animal; she didn't want to face them and let them see her face, void of the confidence and determination that was once there.
Whoever it was, they were having an argument with the Doctor. Whatever the problem was, Janeway didn't want to here it and moved into the corner and sat down, pulling her knees up to her chest.
'Ms. Janeway.' God, I hate when he calls me that, Janeway thought when she heard the Doctor call her.
'Down here, Doctor,' she said, raising her hand up. 'What do you need?' By this time in her isolation, Janeway was in no mood to talk. Whatever it was that the Doctor wanted, she did it just to get him out of her hair.
'Ah. There you are.' He walked over to her and looked down at her. 'You have a visitor,' he informed her.
'Tell whoever it is to come back later,' Janeway said. A couple crewmembers had come by over the past few days to wish her well, and to be blunt she was getting tired of it. 'I'm not taking visitors right now.'
'Indeed,' she heard a distinctly ' if not distantly ' familiar female voice say from behind the Doctor. 'If that is the case I shall return later.' Janeway saw the slim figure in the blue and gray tunic start to walk away.
'Wait, Annika!' she yelled, getting to her feet. 'Please stay. When I said I didn't want visitors I didn't mean you. You are always welcome to visit me,' she told her, trying to maintain her composure in front of her partner.
'That is good to hear, Kathryn, as I intend to join you for lunch today.' Annika walked up to the field and stood right in front of Janeway.
'Lunch?' Janeway asked out of surprise. She noticed the ex-Borg's compassionate eyes looking at her and it was the first time anyone had looked at Kathryn with a genuine concern for her well-being.
'I've discussed it with the Doctor,' she iterated, 'and he allowed it after some?' She paused, trying to find the right word. 'Disagreement,' she finally decided on.
'So I heard.' Janeway's spirits were beginning to lift just a little, but she felt the pain of being separated by an invisible barrier, preventing contact. 'No luck in getting the barrier down, I suppose,' she whispered, hoping the Doctor couldn't hear her.
'Not a chance,' the Doctor replied. 'It's amazing how people forget that, as a hologram, I can hear almost everything that goes on in here.' He smiled and walked back into his office.
Seven watched him go. 'Has he been this annoying all the time?' she asked.
'Now you know why I hate being here so much,' she joked. She sat down and leaned against the bed support structure. 'I've missed you.'
'I have missed you, as well. I apologize if I have worried you in any way.' Seven did not want to tell Kathryn what she had been doing in that last week for two reasons ' she didn't want her to be disappointed and she, along with the rest of the crew, was under orders not to inform her of any of ship's business. Annika knew that her partner's strict habit of obeying protocol whenever possible would probably stop her from saying anything anyway.
'You always worry me when I don't hear from you,' Kathryn told her. Then, putting on a smile that was a little less false than the last one, said, 'but you're here with me now, and that's what matters.'
'I am also happy to be with you.' Annika could tell that Kathryn was different somehow. Her command mask was gone and Annika couldn't see much of the confident and determined woman she fell in love with.
Kathryn sighed and looked down at her hands for a moment. 'So, what's for lunch?' she asked.
'Unfortunately, the Doctor would not allow me to bring in any substance through the force field, so the replicators will have to do.' When she said this, Annika saw the disappointment in her partner's eyes.
'Don't worry about it, darling.' She knew Annika had registered her disappointment, and Kathryn kicked herself mentally for allowing it to seep through. 'I've been eating it for two weeks now. If it hasn't killed me by now, it probably won't this time.' She thought for a moment if maybe it would have been better had it killed her, but she shook the thought from her.
'Doctor!' Janeway called out. She knew that, to everybody else, she probably sounded pretty demanding, but she didn't care. It was in her blood, just like commanding a starship was. Although the latter had been taken away from her, nobody would be able to rip the former from her.
'You called,' the Doctor said as he walked out of his office.
She looked at Annika. 'Well, what do you want for lunch?' she asked.
Annika turned and looked at the Doctor, who was waiting and trying to be as patient as possible. 'I would like a ham and cheese sandwich with iced tea,' she requested.
'And what will you have, Ms. Janeway?' the Doctor asked, sounding a lot like a waiter from Earth's Twentieth Century period.
Janeway looked back up at Doctor. 'I'll have my standard nutritional supplement, Doctor,' she said, trying not to look at her partner.
The Doctor turned around and went to the replicator to get their requests. Annika, glad that the Doctor had not offered any of his humor, turned back to Janeway and looked at her quizzically.
'What?' Kathryn said, noticing Annika's scrutiny.
'You have been eating nutritional supplements for two weeks?' she asked. She knew that nutritional supplements were right up there on Kathryn's 'hate list' next to the Borg.
Janeway shrugged. 'It gets me by.' Truthfully, she didn't feel deserving enough to eat something that tasted good, not after what she had allowed to happen to her. The fact that she lost command of her ship, five years into their journey, didn't sit well with her and the last thing she wanted to do is eat something that would bring her pleasure.
The Doctor momentarily lowered the forcefield to give Kathryn her nutritional supplement and then handed Annika her meal before raising the force field again. He turned and walked back into his office.
'How are you doing?' Annika didn't know how else to ask, so she thought that being forward would be the best way of going about it.
Janeway grinned. 'I bet half the crew is asking that question. Are you speaking on behalf of them?'
'I am speaking on my own behalf,' she told her. Seven couldn't believe Kathryn would suspect such a thing. 'I have not talked to any of the crew, with the exception of Tuvok, since I returned to duty.'
'Why?' Kathryn asked. She ignored the mention of Tuvok that Annika made. Janeway was still too angry and hurt to discuss him at all, even in front of the person she shared everything with.
'You have not answered my question,' Annika said, determined to get an answer from her.
Kathryn sighed. Under normal circumstances, she would have argued this point, but she was just too damned weak now. 'I'm?functioning,' she said, borrowing one of Seven's phrases. Annika used it whenever she either was unsure of what to say or when she was extremely hurt. Kathryn was both.
Annika picked up on the comment and for a few minutes they just sat there and ate in silence. 'I see,' she finally said, hurt by the fact that Kathryn would not tell her what was wrong. She noticed that Janeway had sunk back into her depression and was just blankly staring at the floor. She finished her meal and stood up.
Janeway finally looked up at her, the question of 'why?' filling her eyes.
Seven got the sense that she wasn't asking why she was leaving, though. Her question was one she could not answer. 'I must return to duty,' she told her, not a lie but not the total truth either.
Janeway did not get up, did not beg her to stay. She simply nodded.
'I will be back tomorrow to check on you,' she said. She began to turn around and then decided against it. 'I love you, Kathryn.'
Annika didn't get any response at all, just a very slight nod. She became aware of the Doctor's presence behind her and turned around to face him.
The Doctor sighed. 'She was like that all of last evening too. A couple of minutes of alertness and then you can't get through to her. I haven't thought of a way to reach her yet.' He was sincerely disappointed in his abilities ' or lack of ' in this area.
'Will she recover?' Annika asked.
'I don't know, Seven,' he responded. 'I don't know.'
'0600 Hours. Regeneration Cycle complete,' the computer's monotone voice reported as Seven of Nine stepped out of the Borg Alcove. After opening her eyes, she stepped down to the console that she used for her work and paged Ensign Hickman, asking him to fill in her position again today. She added an apology, as she had learned that adding one was customary in this instance.
After sending the notice to Hickman, she left the message system and entered the Starfleet Database, downloading all the information in the Dismissal from Command Privileges heading into her PADD. When the download completed, she walked out the door and headed to Deck 6, where Tuvok's quarters were.
Kathryn Janeway, formerly Captain of the Starship Voyager, awoke to the bright lights on the ceiling of Sickbay stinging her eyes. She slowly brought herself into a sitting position and moved her hand to the right side of her neck, looking for some sort of sign that everything was a bad dream.
But the pips were still gone and she was still in the horrid jumpsuit the Doctor had provided her with yesterday. She closed her eyes and tried to remember how she used to look with her hair combed and her command uniform on ' with all four pips. Then she looked at herself now, hair somewhat out of place, no Starfleet uniform or designation, and no aura of command.
She sighed and jumped down from the bed. Her mind wandered back to the fateful day in the Conference room and Tuvok's chilling words: You are relieved of all command privileges effective this date?you have demonstrated your inability to discern right from wrong as Captain of this vessel. She knew Tuvok was only acting in his capacity as Security Chief but it didn't take away any of the hurt from her heart or the anger from her soul. Damn it, I am NOT Incompetent, she yelled to some far away place in her mind, desperately trying to convince herself that fact.
She limped over to the corner of the surgical bay where the least amount of light penetrated and slid down the wall, pulling her legs up to her chest. Kathryn, you will follow the Doctor to sickbay. Sickbay. As if I'm some sort of invalid who can't tell an apple from an orange, she thought. She couldn't grasp the fact that it had ended this way. Voices from her crew were going through her head in random order and the more she listened to them the further away from Sickbay she went. Either we maintain our command structure or we settle our differences the old fashioned way, Chakotay had once told her. Was he trying to warn her? She asked herself. Or was it a threat?
The doors to Sickbay opened and a tall man in a red command uniform walked in, but Janeway did not notice. She was too far away to even hear the doors part for the officer who wore the four pips of a Captain.
Captain Chakotay walked up to the edge of the force field. 'Kathryn?'
No response.
He sighed. This isn't easy for me. 'I came by to see how you were doing. It wasn't easy for me to remove your Starfleet Commission. I know how much it meant to you, Kathryn. But I discussed it with Tuvok and he decided it would be best that way.'
Janeway looked up at him. The cold, dead eyes that once held so much confidence and so much ambition, was now blank as she stared at him. 'Tuvok?' she whispered. She didn't hear the context that it was in, just the name. She had risked everything five years ago to save him and now she had lost his friendship again. She missed talking to him and hearing his advice. I am gratified that you came after me so I could offer it again, she remembered him telling her long ago.
'Kathryn?' Chakotay asked. He couldn't tell whether she registered the sentence or just the name.
'I need to speak to Tuvok,' she ordered. Chakotay thought he saw a little bit of life in those blue eyes for an instant, but it quickly disappeared.
'I'll see if can't get him to stop by sometime after his duty shift is over,' he replied, but it was too late. She had already slipped back into the recesses of her mind and couldn't hear him anymore. He turned and started to walk towards the Doctor's office, but turned around and looked back at the form of the person who used to be his Captain?and his friend. All that remained was the shell of the woman she was, nothing more. Chakotay thought, not for the first time, that maybe it was wrong of him to do what he did. But it was a passing thought. I did the right thing, he told himself. It was for the good of the ship.
He walked up to the Doctor's office, knocking on the glass. 'Doctor?' he questioned, not wanting to intrude.
'Ah, Captain' the Doctor replied. 'Is there something I can help you with?' he asked.
Chakotay sat down in one of the chairs in front of the Doctor's desk and put his hands on the desk, linking them. 'How is she, Doctor?' he asked.
The Doctor didn't have to ask whom he was referring to know it was Janeway. He sighed softly. 'The past few days have been extremely hard for her, Captain. The removal of her Starfleet rank and her uniform hit her pretty hard. She's in clinical depression now and she only becomes 'conscious' of the outside world for a few minutes at a time before slipping away again.'
Chakotay looked through the glass to see the sunken form of Kathryn Janeway, curled up in a ball in the corner like a child. 'Is there anything you can do to help her?'
The Doctor expected this question and handed the Captain a PADD that was on his desk. 'I've been studying the ship's library and have come up with some recommended treatments for it, but they are only speculation based on proven theories. One thing I could do is inject her with Citalopram, which would inhibit her uptake of serotonin. Unfortunately, it would take two to three weeks to begin to work on her system.'
Chakotay looked at the PADD. 'Is there any way you could speed up the reaction without harming her, Doctor?'
'I've tried every method so far but too quick of a decrease would damage her neural connections. I'm still trying though.' The Doctor had included this treatment for when she got out of sickbay and was assigned to quarters, not for immediate use.
'If we were to inject her with a serotonin inhibitor and then give her the Citalopram would that speed up her recovery?' Chakotay was pulling at straws here, but Kathryn was still a member of the crew. His crew.
'I wouldn't recommend it.' The Doctor sighed and leaned back in his chair, although he did not require comfort. 'Commander?I mean, Captain?time and time again it has been proven that the best way out of depression is through natural processes. I'm sure you remember the five stages of Grief from the Academy ' Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance.'
'Of course, Doctor.' If Chakotay noticed the Doctor's slip of his rank he didn't show it.
'Ms. Janeway is taking a odd course through these stages. She's progressed through Denial and is now in the Depression stage.' He sat upright in his chair again. 'As to how long she will stay here is unknown. It depends on the person.'
Chakotay sighed. 'Well, Kathryn got through the Borg. She'll make it through this,' he said, confident he was right. He stood up and walked to the door to the office. 'Thank you, Doctor,' he said before nodding and walking out of Sickbay, stopping momentarily to look at Janeway crouched down in the corner.
'Anytime,' the Doctor responded and went back to his work.
Tuvok knelt before the flame and meditated, preparing for the day ahead. A chime, indicating somebody was at the door, interrupted his attention. 'Enter.'
Seven of Nine stood in the doorway. 'I am interrupting,' she stated. 'I will return at a later time.'
'You may stay,' the Vulcan responded, extinguishing the flame. 'Computer,' he instructed, 'increase lighting to full.'
In response to his command, the lights in his quarters became much brighter, causing Seven to have to adjust her ocular implant to accommodate for the change. 'I have had time to re-examine my conclusions from yesterday.'
'Indeed. What have you found?' Tuvok stood up and clasped his hands behind his back, a common Vulcan stance.
'I have discovered that I was wrong. Starfleet regulations do not require more than three senior officers.' She paused and looked down at the PADD. 'However, I have determined that the agreement of the Equinox EMH is not a valid opinion according to these regulations.'
'Your analysis is flawed,' Tuvok said matter-of-factly. 'The EMH on the Equinox was of the same Mark as our EMH.' Starfleet regulations permitted the usage of an EMH to take the place of the CMO in the event that the doctor was not available at the time.
'Your argument suggests a paradox,' Seven said after a few minutes. 'I do not believe the regulations can be applied here.'
'How so?' he inquired, curious as to her opinion. She has obviously analyzed the regulations thoroughly, he thought.
'The Doctor is both our EMH and our CMO. Although not stated in Regulations, it would seem logical to assume that Starfleet was talking about the EMH on board the ship where the questioned is being asked. Also, the Equinox EMH was not a complete program as our Doctor is.
'You bring up a valid point,' he told her. 'However, this issue was resolved in one of our first meetings following Janeway's removal from command. Voyager's EMH concurred with our assessment after reviewing the logs of her behavior during his absence.
'I see.' Seven said. 'Why did you betray Kathryn?' she asked, changing the subject.
Tuvok raised his eyebrow, considering he didn't understand the question. 'I was performing my duty as a Starfleet officer.'
'You have said that it is appropriate to bend the rules sometimes. Why was it essential to follow regulations to the letter in this case?' Seven asked.
Tuvok felt like sighing, but he did not. 'Janeway was allowing her personal feelings to interfere with the mission. Had she been allowed to continue, it is logical to say we might not be standing here discussing this now.'
'That is speculation,' she retorted. Seven stepped a little closer to the Commander. 'Captain Janeway had allowed her personal feelings to get involved with her command in the past. In fact, her compassion is the main reason I am severed from the Borg.'
'But in this case she nearly killed an innocent officer. She acted alone in that decision and did not seek advice from her crew. Had it not been for Captain Chakotay, Janeway might well be in the brig for murder at this moment.'
'She was your friend!' Seven exclaimed in frustration.
Tuvok witnessed the emotional display, something he was not accustomed to coming from the ex-Borg. 'I was acting in a purely professional sense. It had nothing to do with my personal friendship with her.'
Seven ocular implant raised, much in mimic of Tuvok. 'Have you visited her since her confinement?' She asked with sudden challenge.
The Vulcan had not considered that. 'I have yet to have the opportunity to stop by and visit with her.'
'Perhaps you should 'make the time,'' she responded. 'If you still consider her your friend.'
'I do.'
'Then you must go see her. Excuse me, I must return to my duties.'
'Very well,' Tuvok said. He watched Seven head towards the door. 'Seven,' he said, 'Will you be attending the next staff meeting?'
Seven stopped but did not turn around. 'Perhaps,' she allowed, before she walked out the door, leaving Tuvok standing in the middle of the room thinking about his decision.
Commander Tuvok stepped off of the turbolift onto Deck 5 and headed to Section 15, Alpha ' Sickbay. Seven of Nine had suggested that he visit the Captain two days ago; however, a minor security infraction had prevented him from visiting yesterday. He was still concerned over the details of the incident and it's impact on the crew as a whole.
Two groups of Voyager crewmen had engaged in a disagreement over Janeway's imprisonment. It had escalated into a brawl in the mess hall, which caused minor injuries among three of the participants. The two instigators of the brawl were placed in the brig at Tuvok's orders, hoping to diminish the amount of future incidents by taking prudent and stern action in this one. Ironically, a former marquis officer led the group arguing for Janeway to be reinstated and a Starfleet officer led the group opposing. After concluding his visit with the Doctor and Janeway, he would go to the brig to talk to the leaders of the brawl and hopefully be able to put this issue to rest. I also must talk to the Captain about the possibility of incidents like this one occurring in the future, he thought.
Tuvok rounded the corner, approaching the main entrance to sickbay. He stepped through the doors without hesitation and, not looking towards the surgical bay, headed to the Doctor's private office. 'Doctor,' he began.
'Ah, Commander Tuvok,' the Doctor said cheerfully, not allowing the Vulcan to say anything more. 'Has she been re-instated?' he asked anxiously, shifting his head towards Sickbay's main ward.
Tuvok raised an eyebrow, curious as to how the Doctor reached that conclusion, knowing that Janeway was only on day 18 of her thirty-day confinement. 'No,' he responded.
'Oh,' the Doctor said, slumping down in his chair. The past few days had been very hard on him. Janeway had been refusing to cooperate and the Doctor had clashed with her a number of times. She was beginning to irritate him and interfere with his other duties. 'What can I do for you then, Commander?'
Tuvok walked in the office and sat down in one of the guest chairs in front of the Doctor's desk. 'I wish to inquire about Janeway's condition and speak with her as well, if I may.'
'Well the last few of days have been the worst by far.' The Doctor sighed and turned on the terminal at his desk, swiveling it so both him and the Commander could see it. 'I've checked her for signs of mental illness, temporary insanity ' even stress. However, the only things I know her to be suffering from are grief and depression. And, may I say, there would be none of the conditions had Chakotay not relieved her.'
Tuvok nodded, but did not respond to the Doctor's last comment. 'How is she 'feeling'?' he asked, taking great care in phrasing it correctly. He was not comfortable with showing his emotions openly and when he did it was with great care.
'For the past two days she has refused to eat and has not slept well. The only way that I could make her rest is with a sedative. I had to have the necessary nutrients fed to her intravenously while she was sedated because otherwise she would refuse it.' The Doctor paused for a moment, thinking about something Tuvok could not discern. 'For the first time in three days, she asked for her nutritional supplement on her own this morning and has been pacing back and forth ever since, which is a good sign in her recovery.'
Tuvok glanced over at the surgical bay and saw the compact form of his former captain pacing back and forth non-stop. 'Doctor,' he asked, 'May I speak with her?'
'By all means.' The Doctor extended his arm out and got up from his chair, Tuvok following immediately behind him.
As Tuvok walked out the door, he wondered whether the former captain would even pay attention to him. He turned the corner and saw her pacing back and forth in the surgical bay in the jumpsuit the Doctor had given her. Tuvok noticed that her hair was no longer neatly arranged in the professional style he was accustomed to and noticed some had fallen into strands in front of her face. He remembered all those years ago after her first post-command performance hearing how it bothered her to have her hair do that. She didn't say so at the time, but Tuvok realized that it was irritating her. Now, however, she did not bother to put those strands back with the rest but let them hang in front of her, not caring about them.
When Janeway finally turned and looked up at him, Tuvok noticed that her eyes and face had lost that touch he admired so much. It was part of the reason he had been so honored to be her Chief of Security, even after he had dissected nearly every peace of her previous command. The fact that it was gone was regretful. The possibility it would never return was even worse.
'Tuvok,' Janeway greeted. Even her speech had lost its authority and its edge ' an edge that had been used to outwit everything from the Kazon to the Borg. The Vulcan was displeased that it was gone.
He was about to return her greeting when he realized that he didn't know what to call her. Crewman? Kathryn? Ms. Janeway? The terms seemed so foreign, so undeserving for a person of her stature. Or of her former stature, at any rate. 'Crewman Janeway,' he finally responded, not satisfied with his response, but under the circumstances Tuvok was unable to find any other suitable title.
Amazingly, Janeway didn't flinch at the mention of her current status. Instead, she leaned back on the bed and looked at Tuvok. 'What can I do for you, Commander?' she asked coolly and without emotion.
This was not an easy question for Tuvok despite the numerous times he had heard Janeway ask it to him before. This time the answer was profoundly different because the answer wasn't regarding ship's business or anything of the like. It was an inherently personal question and Vulcan's weren't known for their responses to those questions. 'I am concerned.'
Janeway, noticing how uncomfortable Tuvok looked, glanced over at the EMH, which was doing some work at the console, and said, 'Doctor, could you excuse us please.' Tuvok knew that Janeway had picked up on the emotion in the question, although he knew nobody else could.
The Doctor, looking to Tuvok first, replied, 'Of course.' Upon receiving Tuvok's confirmation, he exited the room and went back into his office.
'Curious,' Tuvok said. 'You have been the only person I have known to be able to pick up on my emotional inflections, however minute they may be.'
'That's because I've known you so long, my friend,' Janeway told him. Tuvok recalled their first meeting and most humans probably would have found their current friendship 'ironic.' He admitted to himself that it was, as he was attacking her previous command at the time. 'Anyway, I'm sorry for interrupting you. Please continue.'
'Do you recall your last post-command hearing?' he questioned, deciding to make a comparison to a past event in order to point out to his former captain what was troubling him.
'Vividly,' Janeway said. She noticed Tuvok's raised eyebrow and clarified, 'I was looking over the transcripts yesterday. Unlike Seven, I don't have an eidetic memory.' She realized that was probably the worst attempt at humor she had ever made. What is worse, she thought, is that I told it to a Vulcan.
'Indeed?' Tuvok questioned, recognizing the sarcasm in her voice. 'I was re-examining my testimony and have concluded that it might have been in error,' he said. 'I left out many variables that should have been taken into consideration.'
'Funny, I was thinking my testimony was the one that is flawed,' Janeway replied. 'I was wrong for not obeying the regulations to the letter. I realize that now.' What was it I said? she asked herself, 'Slavish adherence to rules can undermine the very individuality that has made the finest Starfleet officers so outstanding. It was that philosophy that had brought harm to this ship on many occasions and she was beginning to think it was the wrong one.
'You were not in error. I was. It was an oversight on my part for not taking in the variable of the unknown. Although I do believe rules exist for specific and legitimate purposes, it is plausible to believe they may be bent or even broken at times in order to follow other rules or to do 'what is right,'' he concluded.
Janeway's mind flashed back to that day and to Tuvok's cold response to the panel's question. 'But you said it yourself, Tuvok ' regulations don't exist in a vacuum. If they were created then they must be followed, not broken.'
'I neglected to think of the situations where contact with Starfleet would not be possible and would therefore be no way of knowing what Command thinks. In that instance, it is the Captain who must make the final decision and it must not be limited to strict regulations that were not written for that specific case.'
Tuvok noticed Janeway looking into his eyes. 'Is this about what happened fifteen years ago or is it about what you did two weeks ago?' she said, cutting through the nonsense and right into the issue. 'Because if this is about my removal from duty, you can rest assured that you made the correct decision. I was way out of line.'
'Perhaps. However, other ways should have been used to get your attention before resorting to relieving you of command,' Tuvok stated impassively, though he knew Janeway could hear the doubt in his voice.
'Tuvok, I nearly killed another Starfleet officer.' For a minute, there was only silence as Janeway composed what she wanted to say next. 'I remember during the Federation war against Cardassia how the Cardassians tortured their prisoners to get information ' even to the point of death. It was considered a barbaric and brutal form of imprisonment that Starfleet ended with the treaty. But when I look back on my actions against Ensign Lessing in the cargo bay, I can't help but think that what I was doing was no better than the Cardassians. If not for Chakotay, I may have very well killed him. I know now why the regulations are in place and I can respect them even more now after living through their consequences.'
Tuvok listened to Kathryn's analogy and could not find any flaws with the analogy itself. 'You were angry and lost sight of your control momentarily,' he told her. 'That is what a first officer is for, to make sure you don't overstep your boundaries and, when you do, it is his duty to correct your mistakes.'
Janeway put her hands to her face and mumbled, 'Tuvok, you don't know how many times I've gone over this in my head. I don't want to discuss them again now.' She sighed and removed her hands from her face, wiping away the water in her eyes. 'Thank you for trying to cheer me up, though,' she added, a forced smile showing on her lips.
'I still consider you my friend,' he said, 'and so it is my duty to try and make you 'feel' better.' He looked at her as she straightened her tunic in the same fashion that she used to do with her uniform.
Janeway walked up to the edge of the force field. 'Tuvok, you'll always be my friend. That will never change. I don't know how we're going to cope with this, though. You breached a trust when you relieved me of command ' a trust that was built on for over fifteen years. I don't know how we'll make it through,' she concluded in a soft voice.
'We will make it through this situation the same way we have in past situations. You always find a way,' he reassured her.
'Ayala to Tuvok,' the voice of Voyager's new Chief of Security called over his badge.
'Tuvok here,' he responded, touching his communicator.
'Commander, you may want to get down here,' he said. 'Lieutenant Torres has been ramming herself against the forcefield down here for the past two minutes and I don't know what I should do, sir.'
'Acknowledged, Lieutenant,' he replied. 'I'm on my way.'
Janeway, who has been disconnected from all ship activity, stared at Tuvok with a bemused look on her face. 'B'Elanna is in the brig?' she asked him, not believing it.
Tuvok came as close as a Vulcan gets to sighing. 'It is a long story,' he told her and walked out of sickbay to deal with the one whom in all practicality started the brawl in the mess hall. Janeway actually smiled, and this time it wasn't forced.
Commander Tuvok left sickbay and began to walk towards the turbolift. Starfleet Command has set the rules and I am certain they did not do so frivolously, he recalled saying at the hearing. A Captain must be able to confront unexpected circumstances and have enough leeway to respond appropriately. Should he have given her more leeway when Chakotay had come to him or was she really out of line? The turbolift opened and he entered.
'Brig,' he told the lift and it began its descent. Tuvok shook his head. No. I am required as security chief to obey the regulations and administer the consequences of those actions. I acted according to Starfleet regulations. It is illogical to find fault with regulations which need to be followed, he resolved as he allowed his logic to settle the issue for now.
The lift opened and he strode down the corridor. Tuvok turned and entered the door that revealed the brig. He immediately noticed the second cell's force field pulsing with energy discharge from the impacts that B'Elanna was causing. 'Lieutenant Torres,' he opened diplomatically, 'you will cease your activity at this moment.'
'Not?until?I?speak?with...Chakotay,' she yelled while continuing to attack the force field. Tuvok saw that the engineer was obviously upset at the Captain.
'She's been doing this for three minutes now, Sir,' Ayala informed the first officer.
Tuvok straightened in front of B'Elanna's cell. 'I will put in a meeting request on your behalf, Lieutenant, but you must stop your actions. You may end up damaging yourself.'
'NOW!' she screamed and punched the force field with all her strength. Tuvok briefly had an illogical vision that the field was going to shut down from all the abuse and Torres would storm up to the Captain's ready room, but he quickly discarded the thought. The field's strength would be able to withstand any of the engineer's attempts at force.
Tuvok realized that B'Elanna would not stop until he complied, and decided that it the most logical thing to do would be to acknowledge her request so that the engineer doesn't damage herself and have to be sent to Sickbay ' where Janeway was at the moment. 'Very well, Lieutenant,' he told her. 'However, you must refrain from damaging yourself in any way before I hail him.'
Torres, knowing Tuvok never to lie, stopped her attacks against the forcefield. 'Fine,' she spat. 'Just bring that targ down here,' she concluded, using the Klingon equivalent word for 'dog.'
'Tuvok to Chakotay,' he said, touching his communicator.
'Go ahead,' the crisp voice of Voyager's current Captain replied.
'Your presence is requested in the brig, Captain,' Tuvok informed his superior officer. 'One of the instigators of yesterday's attack wishes to speak with you.'
'Understood, Commander,' Chakotay's voice said over the communications link. 'I'm on my way up to the bridge. I'll stop by on my way.'
'Very well, Sir,' Tuvok acknowledged, closing the channel. He turned back to Torres and said, 'The Captain will be by momentarily.'
Just then Chakotay walked through the door and over to his first officer. 'What's seems to be the problem?' he asked, smelling the faint hint of burnt phosphors in the air.
'Lieutenant Torres wished to speak with you, Captain,' he replied, nodding in the direction of the cell. Chakotay walked over and looked at her, placing his hands on his hips.
'You look like hell,' he said, noticing the way the engineer's hair was untidy to say the least.
'I need to know why, Chakotay,' she snapped. She didn't say any more than that. She didn't have to. Chakotay knew exactly what she meant.
'B'Elanna, we've been over this at the briefings,' he told her. 'Janeway was out on a vengeance mission. She crossed the line.'
'The Captain was trying to save Seven! She wanted to stop Ransom from hurting more innocent life forms, Chakotay. She didn't cross the line, you did,' she told him, making the same argument she had made to Ensign Jenkins ' who was sitting in the cell next to her.
'That's why I got support from two senior crew members, Lieutenant. Janeway was way out of bounds and I had to do something to put her back in line. Myself, Tuvok, and the Doctor agreed that she should be relieved of duty.'
'It doesn't matter, Chakotay,' she replied. 'Don't you get it? You can quote as many regulations as you want to but this crew doesn't give a damn about that. They want their Captain back, Chakotay, and you are not the captain they want. Janeway is the only one that can command this ship.'
'I'm surprised in you, B'Elanna.' Chakotay walked right up to the edge of the field. 'I thought you would back me up on this one. If I recall correctly, you resented the Captain more than any of us when we first came on board. What changed?'
'When I first had to become a member of Voyager's crew, I did not want to serve under a Starfleet ship and I blamed Janeway for stranding us here. It took me a long time to realize that she made the right decision by destroying the Array.' The engineer sighed and stood up, meeting Chakotay's eyes with her own. 'But even though I opposed her, she trusted me enough to make me Chief Engineer of this vessel. She took a chance with me and pissed off half of the engineering staff because she believed I was the best for the job. I don't think anybody has ever trusted me as openly like that and I started to respect her for how she commanded this ship.'
'This isn't personal, Lieutenant,' Chakotay reminded
her. 'This is a matter of regulations. I admired Janeway as much as you did,
B'Elanna, but she crossed the line between right and wrong.'
'This crew doesn't care about how you justify your own decision, Chakotay,' Torres told him. 'All they know is that their Captain was removed from Starfleet and thrown in Sickbay for being the Captain she has always been. You think this brawl in the mess hall was the last of it, Chakotay? Trust me, Commander,' she continued, using his old rank, 'there are many other crewmembers that feel the same way I do and I doubt they'll remain quiet.'
'I go by the rank of Captain now, Lieutenant. And if any more of the crew start brawls like you did, they'll end up in the brig as well.'
B'Elanna laughed at that even though she didn't want to. 'What are you going to do, Chakotay, put half the crew in the brig for the entire journey home?!
'I'll do what I have to do, Lieutenant,' he retorted, nodding to Tuvok and Ayala to follow him.
'This isn't over, Chakotay,' Tuvok heard Torres say as he walked out the door. 'The crew wants their Captain back.'
The bridge of Voyager was extremely quiet even though the ship was in the middle of Alpha shift, the equivalent of daytime on Earth. Lieutenant Paris studied his console at the helm, trying to find the most effective course through this region of space. Harry Kim was at the Ops console, monitoring incoming subspace traffic and keeping an eye on the newest scans of the sector that they were passing through. The new Chief of Security, Lieutenant Ayala, was manning the Tactical post and monitoring incoming sensor readings as well as his shift's crew reports. In the center of the bridge Chakotay and Tuvok, the highest command level officers, sat in their respective places as Captain and First Officer. Tuvok was looking at some tactical readings from his monitor, and Chakotay sensed that it was hard for him to give up a post he had known so well - five years on this posting alone.
"Sir, I'm detecting a large mass on long range sensors. I cannot tell what it is as of yet," Ensign Kim said shakily, breaking the silence on the bridge. Voyager had been through many hostile encounters as of late, and the ship needed time to completely repair all the damage. There were still some EPS manifolds that were causing problems on the lower decks, which were not improving the crew's mood towards their new Captain at all.
"Yellow alert," Chakotay said immediately. "Raise shields. Mr. Ayala, are you getting any readings?" he asked.
"My scans are no better than Ensign Kim's, sir," he responded. "However, its mass and energy outputs are consistent with a space station and not a ship."
The level of anxiety lowered a little bit more on the bridge as Chakotay stood up. "Are we within communications range, Harry?" he questioned, turning his head to the black haired young officer at Ops.
"No, Sir," he replied curtly.
"Tuvok?" he questioned looking for advice from his first officer, and once again found himself looking back to when he was the first officer and gave advice to the Captain. Chakotay thought about those times and profoundly missed the chats he and Kathryn had in the past.
"The ship would benefit greatly from a well equipped space station," Tuvok replied, bringing Chakotay out of his thoughts and back into reality.
"As would the crew," Chakotay muttered. He wasn't looking forward to receiving Security's report for this week. Although he did not know the exact details, Chakotay was aware that Tuvok and other members of the senior staff had observed many disruptions in duty. Most did not escalate into violence, but they served to slow down the ship's efficiency. "Let's check it out. Tom, change course accordingly," he ordered.
"Aye, changing course,' the helm officer said and Chakotay thought it was a rather icy reply. His girlfriend was B'Elanna Torres and also Chakotay's friend. At least, he thought, she was up to a few days ago.
Chakotay sat back down in the command chair, releasing an audible sigh as he did so. I'm taking command, Kathryn, he heard the words echo in his mind again, as they have every day for the past two weeks. He kept telling himself that he did the right thing, that Janeway had crossed the line, but Chakotay was still unsure. Everything was done according to regulations, he told himself. He tugged at his tunic, knowing the crew was very uneasy about their new commander, in order to try and maintain his composure.
'Entering visual range,' Kim announced from his post, interrupting Chakotay's thoughts. Harry keyed in the appropriate commands to make the image appear on screen, expecting the next order.
'On screen,' Chakotay ordered, confirming Harry's intuition. With the touching of a final button, the image of a space station appeared on the forward viewer but it was very small. 'Magnify and enhance,' the Captain further ordered and the image of the station was larger and with much greater clarity than before. It was by no means new, which could be evidenced by the rust colored hull it bore.
'There's heavy subspace traffic surrounding the station, Captain,' Tuvok reported from his position to the left of Chakotay. 'It is consistent with a space station of this size.'
'I'm receiving a hail from the station, Captain,' Kim said.
'Put it through,' Chakotay responded, straightening his tunic again.
The viewer image changed and the station manager, a burly man with dark tousled hair and a horizontal ridge on his dark tan forehead, appeared on the screen. 'Greetings, I am Kalian, manager of the Marconian Space Station' he said, Voyager's universal translator immediately able to identify the speech in the language and convert it to Federation Standard English.
'Captain Chakotay of the Federation starship Voyager,' he replied in normal Starfleet greeting when encountering new races. Chakotay stepped down the double stairs and stood directly behind the helm console. 'Our ship is damaged and we are requesting permission to dock at your facilities,' he stated, deciding to get straight to the point.
'Welcome, Captain,' the man replied. 'Your ship is unknown to us, but you are welcome in our space. Standby, I will check our rosters to see if we can accommodate your vessel,' he said and the screen changed to show the letters 'Standby?'
'Well, at least they're polite,' Tom observed from the helm sarcastically. Getting a friendly hail in the Delta Quadrant was no easy task. In this quadrant, even fellow Federation ships could attack you without warning.
'Ayala?' Chakotay questioned, ignoring Paris.
'I can find no weapons of any kind, sir. At least none that our sensors can pick up, anyway. I'm picking up two open docking spaces, but the only one that seems capable of supporting Voyager is on the station's port side.'
'Understood,' Chakotay replied. He looked back at the screen, but it remained unchanged. 'Ensign Kim,' he continued, 'can you identify any of the ships presently docked at the station? Any threats?' he asked.
'No, Sir,' the black-haired young ensign said. 'There are two cruisers, both with minimal weaponry. The rest of the vessels are private ships, most likely used for civilian interplanetary transport and trading,' he concluded. 'We haven't encountered any ships with these markings before.'
He nodded at the ensign, wishing that Seven of Nine was on the bridge to give them some information on this species, assuming the Borg had encountered them at some point. He noted this region of space seemed fairly peaceful, though, and if the vessels docked at this station were any indication, this sector would be a fairly non-eventful part of their journey home. His thoughts were interrupted as the screen beeped and Kalian re-appeared on the viewer.
'Captain Chakotay,' he said, 'we have a port capable of supporting your ship at dock station A13. How long does your ship expect to be docked at our station?'
Chakotay hadn't spoken with B'Elanna about the repair time estimates, and inwardly kicked himself for letting personal discomfort interfere with the function of the ship. 'Seven to fourteen days should be adequate time for us, Mr. Kalian.'
'I've logged you for fourteen days, Captain,' he confirmed. 'You may proceed to your docking port when you are ready.'
'On behalf of Voyager, thank you for your hospitality,' he said diplomatically, glad that at least one person had called him Captain today.
'It is our honor to host such a prestigious ship as yours,' Kalian replied. 'I am sending you a copy of the station's rules and regulations, as well as the station's layout. Please enjoy your stay,' he concluded, closing the channel.
'I'm getting the specs now,' Kim confirmed, tapping some keys on his board to download the information into Voyager's computer core.
'Transfer them to the terminal in the ready room,' he ordered. 'Mr. Paris, set course for the docking station, one quarter impulse power.'
'Course laid in,' he replied.
Chakotay walked back up the steps and sat down in his command chair. 'Engage,' he said, feeling a little uneasy with the words as they slipped off of his tongue.
Kathryn Janeway sat on the surgical bay's bed within sickbay, studying the PADD in her hand. She was working on a theory that, if successful, might be able to successfully integrate the slipstream propulsion drive with the warp core's dilithium matrix. If I'm not able to get Voyager home from commanding her, she thought, at least I can try my hand at the engineering aspect of it.
'All hands,' she heard the voice of her former first officer say over the intercom. It was the first time she had heard him since he stripped her of rank. 'We are preparing to dock with the Marconian space station. Secure your stations and prepare to switch to the station's internal power grid.'
Janeway made a mental note of the message and continued in her work. At the moment, she was concentrating on trying to integrate the slipstream drive within Voyager's existing warp drive while maintaining operation status on both. It would be advantageous to have both primary warp power and slipstream capability in the event of an emergency situation, if the slipstream was down.
The doors opened to sickbay, distracting Janeway just as she started to enter some new calculations. She put the PADD down and sighed. She didn't look to see who had come to sickbay; she only knew that whoever it was interfered with her work.
'Computer,' she heard the voice of the ship's resident Talaxian, Neelix, call, 'Activate the EMH.'
Janeway turned to see the form of the doctor appear in sickbay. 'Please state the nature?never mind,' he said, looking at the two crewmen, who were separated from each other by Neelix. Following his gaze, Janeway looked over as well.
Ensign Ashmore, a dark-skinned human who worked in engineering, leaned back against the biobed to the right of the Talaxian, blood trickling from his nose and into his mouth, but by the look of anger on the Ensign's face he didn't seem to care. He was also cradling his right arm. To Ashmore's credit though, he wasn't wincing from the pain of the fracture. Ensign Brooks, with her long blond hair hanging in front of her face, leaned on the biobed to the left of Neelix, with her right leg lifted from the floor and a nasty bruise forming on her left eye.
Janeway, seeing two of her crew damaged, no longer cared that she was no longer in command, nor that she did not have a rank. She moved as far forward as the force field would allow and looked at both of them, and then at Neelix. 'Report,' she ordered.
Before Neelix could respond, Ensign Brooks decided to explain first. 'Ensign Ashmore and I got into a rather heated debate and it got out of hand, Captain,' she said, putting extra emphasis on the rank as she looked over at her counterpart.
'How long is it going to take for you to realize she isn't the Captain, Brooks?' he returned.
The Doctor, not knowing what else he should do, picked up a medical tricorder and began to scan Brooks for injuries?other than the obvious ones.
Janeway, not especially disliking the rank usage, raised her hands. 'People, lets calm down. Neelix, help Ensign Ashmore to the biobed over there near the door,' she ordered again, regaling in her momentary command position, even sensing a bit of the voice back.
He looked to Neelix and smiled. 'She can't give you orders, Neelix,' he told him. 'I'm staying right here,' he continued, literally putting his foot down on the floor.
Before Janeway could respond, though, the Doctor walked over and stood directly in front of the ensign. 'Perhaps not,' he said, 'but I can. Now if you please follow Ms. Janeway's instructions and assist the ensign to the bed,' he ordered Neelix. 'Ensign Brooks, you may lie down on this biobed,' he said, glad that at least one of his patients was cooperative.
'Doctor, perhaps you should call for Chakotay and Tuvok as soon as the docking procedure has completed. As much as I admire the crew's loyalty to me, I would rather have the violence stopped,' Janeway suggested.
'Perhaps I will,' the doctor replied thoughtfully. 'I'm tired of treating broken noses and fractured ligaments,' he continued, adding a sarcastic tone that only he could.
'Captain,' Brooks said, turning her head to look in Janeway's direction, 'can I ask you a question?'
Janeway, while proud that the ensign still called her by that rank, knew that it wasn't proper protocol. 'Ensign, as much as I appreciate you using my old rank, I no longer deserve to be called that. Chakotay relieved me and should now be addressed as crewman.' Although it hurt her to say those words, she knew that it was the truth.
'But you are our Captain. Starfleet rank doesn't matter to the crew, ma'am,' Brooks replied. 'I'm not calling you 'Captain' in rebellion of Chakotay's actions against you, I'm calling you 'Captain' out of respect.' The doors to sickbay opened, but she didn't take notice. 'This ship can only have one Captain, and that person will always be you, ma'am.'
Janeway was touched by the words, but she didn't have time to give them much thought because when she looked up, Captain Chakotay and Commander Tuvok stood near the entrance to sickbay. 'What happened, Doctor?' Chakotay asked, his eyes glancing over in Janeway's direction every so often.
While Neelix went on to explain to Chakotay and Tuvok what happened, Janeway gave a comforting smile to Ensign Brooks before stepping back into the bay. Did Chakotay hear all of what Brooks said? She thought. Janeway noticed Chakotay nod and then turn to say something to Tuvok. The Vulcan merely nodded and walked out of the door.
Chakotay began to walk toward Janeway, each step slow but deliberate before he finally stood before her. 'Hello, Kathryn,' he said not knowing how else to open the conversation.
Janeway looked down at her feet for a moment in the way a little kid would, and said, 'Chakotay, I want you to know that I was out of line in the conference room.' She looked up at the man that used to be her first officer and hoped he would accept that.
Chakotay grinned, reminding Janeway of the meetings they had in her ready room. 'Actually, I was going to say the same thing Kathryn. We were both stressed and just let our anger out on each other.'
Janeway sighed and looked over at Ensign Brooks as the Doctor was repairing her leg injury. 'The crew isn't taking the transition very well,' she stated and then looked back at Chakotay. 'How do you intend to convince them when it looks like they can't even convince each other?'
'They'll follow my orders, Kathryn. They're Starfleet,' he returned, thinking that those two words were enough.
Janeway sighed and leaned back on the biobed. She had anticipated that the crew would react in different ways to the change in command, but never to this extent. Usually changes of command were hard on the crew, but they usually adjusted within the first few weeks. But this is a different situation, she told herself. Her ship was stranded in the Delta Quadrant, her crew was a mix of Starfleet and former Maquis officers, and she had been removed from command unwillingly ' all of those circumstances made this situation a very complex problem for the strong little starship. 'Chakotay, we have to find a way to bring them together,' Janeway said finally. 'The crew's opinion affects everything from crew efficiency to ship morale levels. If we can't find a way to bring them together, the situation might get much worse,' she warned.
Chakotay took a step closer to the force field. 'Kathryn, you've told me yourself ' this ship can't be run by crew consensus. Somebody has to take command.'
'I did say that,' she responded, her voice barely a whisper, 'but it was a long time ago.' Janeway walked up to Chakotay, the field all was that stood between them now. 'Since then, I've learned that this isn't your typical Starfleet ship. We've built more than a good crew here ' we've built a community. And right now that community is torn. If we cannot re-unite the sides, the ship will fall into chaos. Think about it. We'll have factions, different sides, and the security reports will keep getting longer and longer. You can't just lock up everybody who causes a disruption, Chakotay. If you can't heal the problems this crew is facing right now, everything that we have accomplished during the past five years will be lost,' she told him, her voice increasing in intensity every sentence, until both of the wounded crewmembers and the Doctor were paying close attention to her words. 'Five years ago, I made a promise to this crew ' to get them home. Even through all this, I don't want that promise to be compromised, Chakotay. A way must be found to repair the rift, and it can only be done if we work together.'
Chakotay knew what the former Captain said was true. Even though he hadn't seen Ayala's security report for this week, Tuvok had briefed him on the contents of it. Insubordination, fistfights, and even a couple of brawls in the mess hall had filled up the four pages of text. He sighed, knowing that once again Kathryn had stated the truth, even if it wasn't exactly what he wanted to believe. 'You know Kathryn, when I took command I thought the crew would treat it like any other transfer of command. But it appears that isn't the case, as the security and medical logs can attest to. It is clear we will have to work together to solve this ' that is, if you don't mind working with me.'
'Chakotay,' she responded, 'I won't deny the truth. What you took away from me was more than just my rank. When I was a child, I remembered how much my father loved Starfleet and how much time he devoted to it. He had become an Admiral before I was born and never got to see him command a ship. I didn't realize then how much command becomes a part of you. He devoted his life to Starfleet, Chakotay. It was part of him. Even though I never had the chance to see him command a vessel, he told me stories of his commands, and even gave me a few lessons I still keep to this day. Like him, commanding a starship is a part of my life. When you took away my rank, you didn't just take away the title or the position. Part of my life ' a large part ' was taken from me. Chakotay, I'm not sure we'll ever regain the trust we had before, and I don't know if I'll ever come to terms with what you did completely, but I will work with you if it means getting the crew home.'
Chakotay stared at Janeway, trying to compose a response to what was said. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of much to counter it. He saw the passion of command in her eyes over the years and knew that what she was saying was true. "I...I don't know what to say, Kathryn," he finally replied, not sounding in control of the situation at all. "How do you propose we do this?"
Janeway started pacing around the biobed, her arms crossed and thinking about the possibilities. Certainly Chakotay wasn't about to give her back the command she wanted so much to reclaim, but perhaps it would not be too much to ask to at least be in Starfleet. She had an idea, but decided to go about it slowly, getting his impression a little at a time. "I don't think I can remain outside of Starfleet, Chakotay and I don't think the crew would accept it either. I believe the healing process - for both us and the ship - must start with my reinstatement into the fleet."
Chakotay was surprised the request from the former captain. He had removed her from Starfleet so she wouldn't have to face all the court martial charges that would be brought against her when she got home. "Kathryn, I removed you from command because I was trying to protect you from the court-martials you would be receiving when we got this ship home. I didn't want you to be punished by Starfleet for your actions. You got us this far, Kathryn, and the crew owes you. But you don't deserve to be punished for it."
Janeway considered this statement for a minute. She had thought on occasion about the punishment that command would give her when they finally returned home. On each occasion she thought about it, however, she came out with the same conclusion. "I've thought about that before, actually. But I always decided that the promise I made to the crew stood above any punishment that command might want to dish out to me. Chakotay, ever since I integrated our crews, I've violated countless rules and regulations that command will scrutinize over with a fine-toothed comb but it doesn't matter to me. I will defend this crew with my dying breath and will not leave those hearings until those admirals see the situation my way. I will accept responsibility for my actions, Chakotay that I've always known. I must be re-instated, Chakotay. You can't expect me to live out the rest of the journey as a crewman."
"No, I suppose that I can't, Kathryn," he acknowledged. "However, I don't know what position I'd put you in. But I'm sure you already have a plan," he said, offering a genuine smile to Janeway.
"I have an idea." Janeway circled the biobed once more before returning to her position right in front of Chakotay. "I've been looking back at the decisions you have made, and don't believe command would stand for removing me from Starfleet over my decisions. Yes, I was out of line. And yes, maybe I went too hard on Ensign Lessing, but being kicked out of the fleet entirely? Surely you know that is going to come under intense scrutiny in and of itself. But I'll tell you what," she offered. "If you re-instate me as Voyager's first officer, I could accept that and command probably would as well. And Tuvok would stop pouting about not being Security Chief."
Chakotay actually let out a small laugh at Janeway's last comment. "Well, he hasn't exactly been pouting but he does miss his position."
"I'll bet," she returned, smiling.
"I don't know, Kathryn," he said, addressing her proposal. "I remember when you first offered the position of first officer to me. I was shocked that you would put your trust in me, a Maquis officer, to be the second highest-ranking officer on the ship. We made a good team because we trusted each other. But you said it yourself, Kathryn - I've broken your trust. And you've broken mine as well. I don't think we'd make a suitable team and I'm not willing to jeopardize the safety of the ship."
Janeway's shoulders slumped about a half of an inch. "I need to be on the bridge, Chakotay. That is where I belong and the crew knows it. I'm offering you a easy way out of this, Commander," she told him, using his old rank. "It's the best thing for both of us. You must comply," she concluded, using one of Seven's phrases.
"Kathryn, I just don't think its possible," he replied, ignoring her misuse of his rank.
"Then put me back in command of Voyager and I give you my word that I won't mention it in the logs," she offered, knowing the moment she said it that it was the wrong thing to say.
Chakotay sighed. "You know I can't do that, Kathryn."
"Dammit, Chakotay," she said, raising her voice, "I can't deal with this. I need to be back in Starfleet, I need to have a job again. I need to feel useful to this ship, Chakotay. I have to get them home because I made them a promise."
"I'll get the crew home, Kathryn, don't worry about that," he returned, some of her irritation rubbing off onto him. "As for your request, I'll bring it up at the next staff meeting and see what the senior crew thinks of the idea."
Janeway's look was like fire, staring into Chakotay's eyes. If it were anyone else, they would be dead just by the force of the stare. "That's just not good enough, Chakotay," she retorted, her words piercing the air like torpedoes in space.
"It'll have to be," he yelled to her. "I'll bring it up at the meeting, nothing more. I'll let you know of the decision but right now I'm late for my security briefing." He turned and walked away, but looked back at the former Captain right before exiting. "Goodbye, Kathryn," he said before walking through the sickbay doors.
Chakotay watched him go and noticed the Doctor staring at her. "Attend to your patients, Doctor," she said without emotion as she walked to the wall of the surgical bay, not knowing how this situation would be resolved after all was said and done and wishing she knew what was going on with Seven.
Kathryn Janeway opened her eyes, the now very-familiar Sickbay ceiling greeting her on this morning as it always did. By the way the lights were still dimmed, Janeway knew she had awoke before Alpha shift began, unlike her usual time of halfway through it. She sighed and threw her legs over to the side of the bed, jumping off it and down to the floor. "Computer," she ordered, "Activate EMH."
"Please state the nature of the medical emergency," the Doctor said, the response pre-programmed into his matrix. Then, seeing Janeway, quipped, "My, my, you're up early this morning."
Janeway was not able to make small talk this early in the morning. Glancing at the chronometer on the bio bed's display, which showed 0630 hours, she only had one thing on her mind. "Coffee," Kathryn said as she ran her fingers through her hair, trying to restore it to its former style. When Janeway noticed the Doctor still hadn't moved, added "Now."
"Very well," the Doctor said, walking over to the replicator and entered in the necessary commands. A moment later, he returned with a silver mug of coffee that the former Captain eyed with anticipation. He lowered the force field and gave her the drink.
"Thanks," she told him, taking the mug from the Doctor as he went over and re-activated the force field. He began to make his way to his office, but there was something else that Janeway wanted to ask. "Doctor, do you have a moment?" she asked.
"Of course," he responded and turned around, approaching the former Captain.
"I haven't seen Seven in over a week," she stated. "I realize she is protesting Chakotay's decision by confining herself to Cargo Bay 2, but this is getting ridiculous. Could you try and get her up here, Doctor?" she asked, hoping that he would realize what she was really asking.
"I will inform her of your request," he replied.
"That's not enough, Doctor. I need you to find an excuse to bring her to sickbay - crew checkups or something," she told him, waving the hand that did not have the coffee in it. "She probably doesn't even check her console in the mornings anyway."
"Are you suggesting I fabricate a reason to get her here just so you can talk with her?" the Doctor asked, astounded at the audacity of the request.
"I'm asking for you to help her out of that Cargo Bay, Doctor. From her point of view she is no longer a member of this crew and unless you find a way to make her feel differently, she won't show up at the next staff meeting. Doctor," she pleaded, "I'm not asking this of you as ship's CMO, I'm asking this of you as a friend."
The Doctor studied Janeway's face and saw the eyes that longed to leave these walls. "I'll see what I can do," he told her sympathetically and walked into his office to begin his day.
She walked to the back of the bay and sat down with her back against the wall, wondering why Seven hadn't come to see her at all. Even if she wasn't going to work for Chakotay, she could certainly come to Sickbay and visit with her. Unless what Janeway initially feared was in fact reality - that she had disappointed Seven by getting her command taken away and she was purposefully avoiding the former Captain. What am I supposed to do without her? she asked herself. Where am I going to go when I get out of here and how will I cope if Annika isn't here anymore? The thought of that future was too hard for the compact form of Janeway to bear to think of. Losing command of Voyager seemed miniscule now that she was faced with the possibility of losing the one she loved because of her actions.
The lights in sickbay brightened to full intensity, stinging Kathryn's already watery eyes and indicating the beginning of Alpha shift. She pictured Seven's regeneration cycle ending, the slender form of the ex-Borg stepping off of the dais. Janeway recalled all of the late nights she had passed by Cargo Bay 2 and how something pulled her inside those doors every time. She would watch Seven in her regeneration alcove, eyes closed, and wonder what the young woman could be dreaming about. Janeway, on occasion, would interrupt her cycle because of something that they needed to discuss and she would always leave the bay feeling a little better and surer of herself than she did before. How could she face the possibility that Seven no longer felt the same way? Kathryn put her eyes to her face, trying to hold back the tears that were collecting inside of her, but was unsuccessful at the attempt.
After a few minutes, Janeway stopped keeping track of the time, and moments turned into hours. When she finally looked up again and wiped the tearstains from her eyes, Sickbay was bustling with activity. Most of them were minor injuries and so Kathryn wasn't too concerned. Picking herself up off of the floor and straightening her tunic, she did her best to regain her composure in the presence of the crew. She walked over to the bio bed's display and it was nearly time for lunch. Another lunch I'll eat alone, she thought, wishing she could be in her quarters with Seven eating and discussing how each of their days were progressing, but her own foolish actions had destroyed that possibility.
The Doctor was busy treating some scrapes on a young Ensign and Janeway decided not to bother him for her nutritional supplements right now. Instead, she gave a reassuring smile to one of the crewmen on the biobed, albeit a forced one at that. She had no idea what had happened, but there were about six people total being treated. Since none of the injuries were major and, as far as she knew, they were still docked at the Marconian station, Janeway decided it was probably another crew brawl.
The doors to sickbay opened up again, and Lieutenant Tom Paris and Ensign Harry Kim walked into Sickbay, looking fresh from a fight. Paris has a black eye that beats any that Janeway has ever seen and Kim's lip was split wide open.
Kathryn began piecing things together as the rest of the patients cheered and those who could clap applauded the two. Paris raised his hands to end the commotion and the Doctor looked as irritated as Janeway had ever seen him. When the two senior officers noticed the death glare that their former Captain was giving them they looked to the Doctor, but the he was too busy to treat them at the moment. "Mr. Paris," she yelled to him and motioned for the two to walk over to her. "What the hell happened?" she asked.
After trying to explain the whole thing to Chakotay already, neither of them wanted to explain it to Janeway. Even though she wasn't the Captain anymore, her glare was worse than Chakotay's. Paris looked down for a moment, and then smiled. "Me and Harry made an error when judging their culture while playing one of their games, ma'am, and well it got out of hand." He thought about it, and then added, "Chakotay's already confined us to quarters for the remainder of leave after we get patched up here."
"Alright, Gentlemen," she told them, knowing that she was powerless to do anything anyway. "Get your wounds treated," she said and they began to walk away. But Janeway needed to know one more thing, and her lips curled up slightly as she opened her mouth. "Mr. Paris," she said as the helm officer turned around. Harry's expression was one of fear, thinking that Janeway had changed her mind and was going to chew them out until it would hurt to sit down. "Who won?"
Paris smiled and Janeway could tell he'd been asked this question more than this occasion. "Voyager did, ma'am," he replied.
"That's what I wanted to hear, Lieutenant," she said, smiling, and the two officers walked over to the rest of the crew and began to explain the details of the brawl in a way that only Tom could.
With all of the bodies maneuvering around in Sickbay, Janeway didn't pay much attention to the doors opening again to admit a tall, slender woman dressed in a dark blue and silver jumpsuit. At the moment, she found the Doctor quite amusing as he tried to calm down the celebration that was erupting in Sickbay, making it hard for him to treat the patients. Finally, though, she decided she had seen enough and turned around, resting her hands on the surface of the bed. She wished she could see Seven and wished that she could take back the decisions that got her into this position to begin with.
Seven of Nine, formerly of the Borg collective, walked through the doors of Sickbay and stepped into chaos. Members of the crew were talking and cheering, and she noticed Lieutenant Paris and Ensign Kim in the middle of it all. She raised her ocular implant that was above her left eye, curious as to why she should be surprised that those two were the cause of all of the commotion. Her eyes combed the crowd, trying to pick out the Doctor amidst all of the other heads. They briefly resided on the back of a small, compact form leaning against the surgical bed before resuming their hunt. She finally spotted the Doctor in his office, of all places, studying a PADD.
It perplexed her why he would be in his office in the midst of all the patients out in the main ward. She walked over and stood in the doorway. "Doctor?" she asked.
He looked up, placing his PADD down on the desk. "I'm surprised you found me," he remarked sarcastically, "with our two resident bullies causing such a uproar.'
Seven looked back out through the glass into the main ward. "They require treatment," she said matter-of-factly.
"Tell that to them," he remarked. "Don't worry, I'll treat them when they settle down."
Seven was confused but decided to bring it up later. She took a deep breath and walked up to the desk. "Your communiqu頳aid it was urgent I report to Sickbay," she stated, changing the subject.
The Doctor leaned back in his chair and sighed, even though he did not need too because he did not breathe. "It is urgent, Seven," he explained, "but it isn't you that is in need."
"Indeed?" Seven replied mechanically. It was hard enough for her walk among the crew to get up to Sickbay, and was even harder when she saw the back of Kathryn in the surgical bay, head down in defeat. She did not want to hear the Doctor tell her that this was a 'social visit.'
"It's her," he said, pointing to the sunken form in the surgical bay. "I think she's been able to recover from the shock of losing her command, but she hasn't had many visitors at all and I think she is wondering if anyone even cares about her anymore."
"I," Seven started to respond as she looked at Janeway. "I didn't know how to make her feel better," she told him.
"Don't tell me," he replied. "Tell her."
Seven nodded and walked out of the office and over to the surgical bay, standing right outside the force field. At first she didn't say anything at all, merely watched her partner and noticed how helpless she looked at this moment. "Kathryn," she said softly, wanting to step closer but being separated by the field.
Janeway swung around and Seven could see her eyes were watery, the beginning of tears forming. "Annika," she replied, her voice not as strong as Seven remembered. "Oh, Annika, I thought you had left me. I'm sorry for being such a disappointment," she told her, the older woman's voice cracking as she talked.
"You do not need to be sorry, Kathryn," Annika replied, attempting to comfort her hurting partner even though physically separated. "You have never disappointed me. All that matters is that I am here now."
Janeway wiped the water from her eyes and looked up at the ex-drone. "But I lost my command, Seven," she said. "My actions were wrong. All the things I've told you not to do, I did myself. You have every right to be disappointed with me and leave."
"Do you wish me to leave?" she replied, hoping that is not what Kathryn was trying to say because she did not want to leave.
"Oh no, Annika," she said. "Please stay. I was just saying that with all I've done, you could have left me."
"I will never leave you, Kathryn," Annika reassured her. She was getting tired of the force field that Chakotay ordered always separating them and wished she could pull Kathryn out of that wall and run away in a shuttle, leaving Voyager and all their problems behind them. She knew, however, that her partner would not agree to that decision.
'I know,' Kathryn replied. 'I just get scared here that you might. I'm not the Captain anymore, Seven.'
Annika cocked her head to the side. 'I did not fall in love with the Captain of Voyager. I fell in love with Kathryn Janeway.'
'Thank you,' she said softly. 'I really needed to hear that.' The next minute was spent in silence between each other, just enjoying the fact of not being alone anymore. 'Seven,' she said, using the Borg's more formal name in a tone that conveyed she had changed into command mode. 'I talked to Chakotay earlier today and after arguing he finally decided to put me back into Starfleet.'
Seven was confused. 'Is that not good news?' she asked, clasping her hands behind her back in her normal fashion of standing, noticing that Kathryn did not say it with enthusiasm.
'Well, yes,' Janeway allowed. 'However, I sense that whatever position it will be, 'Captain' will not be listed in the choices. Chakotay is going to bring up the issue at the next staff meeting,' she continued, raising her voice to convey the importance of this matter.
'I have?' she started, not quite sure how to tell Kathryn this. 'I've been removed from active duty. I am no longer privy to staff meeting conversations.'
Janeway's head dropped slightly and her shoulders became a little less square. 'I see,' she said. 'Seven, I'm not sure what the senior crew thinks of me, with the exception of B'Elanna. I know with her Klingon-Human psychology she will fight to get me back in command as hard as she can but if there is nobody else there then I don't know what will happen. Chakotay will never allow me to be part of that meeting.'
'So you were hoping I could act as your representative?' Seven asked as she began to fit the pieces together. The disappointment she saw in Kathryn's eyes stung her and she was using all of her strength to remain her composure.
Kathryn merely nodded her head and ran her fingers through her hair, trying to straighten it out.
'I will speak to Tuvok immediately,' she said, not wanting to discuss things with Chakotay, as she was afraid she might deck him. 'I will be put back on active duty in time for the next staff meeting if I can speak to him now.'
'Annika, you don't have to do this for me,' Kathryn told her. She didn't want the Borg to feel pressured into resuming her duty and was trying to offer her partner a way out of the situation.
'I wish to do this for you.'
'I don't know what to say, Annika,' Kathryn replied. Janeway was speechless as she looked at the tall form of her partner. She did not know how she had been so lucky to find this woman who had brought her life so much more meaning but the only reason she was surviving now was because she knew Seven was on the other side of the forcefield waiting for her to be able to leave this place.
'You do not have to say anything, Kathryn. The next staff meeting is in two days. I will be present at it to defend you,' she informed her. She sighed, not wanting to leave but knowing she had to if she wanted to catch Tuvok during his rounds. 'I must go.'
'I understand,' she said, knowing what the Borg had to do. She looked at the chronometer on the panel and wondered where Tuvok would be now. 'Tuvok should be on Deck 11 at this time.' He wasn't security chief anymore, Janeway knew, but she had a hunch he would be covering the rounds with Lieutenant Ayala.
Seven thought about that. 'Computer, what is Commander Tuvok's current location?' she asked.
'Commander Tuvok is on Deck 11, section 4 delta,' the feminine voice of the ship's computer responded.
'You were correct,' Seven replied, amazed that after all this time being isolated she could still remember every detail of the ship's function.
'I know,' she said and a faint glimmer of a grin appeared at Janeway's lips.
'We will get through this, Kathryn,' Seven reassured her. 'Like we always do. I must go,' she repeated. 'I will stop by directly before the meeting to talk again.' She turned around and began to walk out. 'Remember that I love you, Kathryn. That is all that matters.'
'I know,' the faint voice replied. 'I love you too, Annika.' She watched the Borg walk out the door and leave her line of sight. She wanted to escape this cell so she could hold Seven and release all of the tension and aggravation the past month had brought her. But she couldn't because she was trapped inside of this place, unable to walk, unable to be the Captain. Why? She asked herself. What did I do so terribly wrong?
Commander Tuvok and Lieutenant Ayala walked down the corridor towards the turbolift, checking for security concerns as they did so. Tuvok decided that for the first few weeks of Ayala's rounds, he would accompany him and train him on the tasks. Or was it perhaps that he did not wish to stop doing his rounds? The Vulcan shook the thought away as being illogical.
'Commander Tuvok, Lieutenant Ayala,' a familiar feminine voice said from behind.
Tuvok turned his head to see the tall features of Seven of Nine matching them stride for stride in the corridor. 'Seven of Nine,' he returned as they continued to walk towards the turbolift.
'Commander, there is a matter I wish to discuss with you,' she stated as the trio approached the turbolift.
'Meet me in my quarters after my rounds have completed,' Tuvok replied, stopping in front of the doors to the lift and turning to face her.
Seven tilted her head. 'It is imperative I speak with you now.'
Tuvok looked to Ayala. 'Continue your rounds, Lieutenant. Have your report to me by 0600 tomorrow.'
'Aye, Sir,' Ayala responded and entered the lift, the doors closing behind him.
'What did you wish to inquire about?' Tuvok asked and started to walk down the corridor.
'I understand that a staff meeting is going to be held to determine the Captain's future in Starfleet in three days. I wish to attend,' she stated with no emotion. Tuvok had always regarded Seven as a highly logical being, and so she always felt comforted by the fact that she did not have to use emotional overtones when she addressed him.
'That is correct,' Tuvok confirmed. 'However, since you are no longer on the active duty roster, your attendance at the meeting would be difficult to procure.'
'That is why I am requesting that I be reinstated and resume my responsibilities in Astrometrics,' she replied. 'How soon can my file be reinstated?'
'The next time the Captain and I are scheduled to do crew reports is in five days from this date. I will note your request and bring it up at that time.'
Seven felt like sighing, but refrained from doing so in Tuvok's presence. 'That will be to late. The meeting occurs before that time. Captain Janeway needs a representative at the meeting to speak for her. I am offering my services in that capacity, but I must be reinstated to active duty in order to do so.'
'Doing so without Captain Chakotay's approval would be a breach of protocol which I cannot commit,' Tuvok returned as the two continued to walk briskly throughout the corridors of Deck 11.
'I have studied Starfleet crew rosters,' she told him. 'It only requires the change of a single value. That value can be changed by either the Captain or the first officer of the vessel.' Seven had looked over Starfleet protocols and procedures at the start of Kathryn's confinement, hoping to find a way through a 'loophole.' She had found none in the end, but her eidetic memory stored all the protocols and thanks to that she could recite them at will.
'Your knowledge of Starfleet protocol is impressive, Seven,' Tuvok said. 'You are correct, I, as the first officer, am able to make changes to the crew roster. But to do so without any logical reason or approval from the Captain is not advisable, nor have I suggested it in the past.'
The two approached the turbolift and waited for the doors to open, as the lift was currently in transit somewhere else in the ship. 'All members of the Senior Staff are required to be at the staff meeting,' she stated. She sighed and looked at Tuvok, who was standing at attention as usual. Seven couldn't know what was going on in his mind and didn't know the emotions he was no doubt struggling to control. His commanding officer for over six years and friend for many more than that was confined in Sickbay in part because of his decision, but he continued to act as though nothing had transpired over the past month. 'I am not asking you this merely as an officer, Commander,' she told him as the lift doors opened and Tuvok stepped inside. 'I am asking this of you as a friend.'
'I understand your situation,' he told her, stepping into the lift. 'I also consider her my friend as well. But regulations must be followed, Seven, and when they are broken they must be treated with the proper consequences. Captain Chakotay acted in the best interests of this ship when he relieved Kathryn Janeway of her duties.'
'I'm not asking for your reasons for betraying her, Commander,' she retorted, 'I am requesting that I am allowed to attend the meeting that decides her future. She will not be able to attend herself, so I have decided to act on her behalf. I will not let her down,' she concluded. That final comment was a blow to Tuvok, she knew, and the moment she said it she regretted it. Seven saw the minute flinch in Tuvok's facial expressions as he heard the comment.
'Report to Astrometrics,' he ordered. 'I will contact you after I have spoken with Captain Chakotay.' He stepped back from the turbolift doors, allowing them to close.
Seven stared at the doors for a few moments before turning around and walking away.
Commander Tuvok, Voyager's first officer, was seated in his chair at the command center of the bridge overlooking sensor readings on the console. On the screen, a tiny shuttle began to emerge from a violent ion storm that was threatening to tear it apart.
'Commander,' Kim said from the Ops station, 'I'm receiving an emergency hail from B'Elanna's shuttle, audio only.'
Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres, Voyager's Chief Engineer, had been assigned to recover a multi-spatial probe the ship had launched earlier. Somehow the probe had gotten off course and drifted away from the ship. Against orders, B'Elanna had chased it into the ion storm and now seemed to be having difficulty departing it, as ion storms were a nightmare for starships and shuttles alike. 'Put it through, Ensign,' Tuvok ordered.
'Voyager, I could use a little help over here,' the commanding voice of B'Elanna came over the static filled channel. Her voice was filled with sarcasm, but she was just trying to downplay her situation.
'Could you be more specific, Lieutenant?' Tuvok inquired as he rose from his chair and looked at the viewscreen, which now showed the shuttle trying to escape the ion storm and make its way back to Voyager.
'I'm approaching your position, Tuvok, but that ion storm blew out my deflector field. I've lost helm control and I'm venting plasma from -,' she said as the channel cut.
'She's lost communications and life support,' Harry reported from Ops as he studied his display panels.
Tuvok nodded at Kim, giving the approval. 'Captain Chakotay, report to the bridge,' he signaled. 'Initiate a tractor beam on the shuttle as soon as we are in range, Ensign,' Tuvok ordered as Chakotay stepped onto the bridge.
'Report,' he said immediately.
'The shuttle has lost life support and communications,' Tuvok replied.
'We will enter tractoring range in twenty-seven seconds,' Harry said.
'Tom,' Chakotay said as he moved up to the conn, 'get down there with a medical kit to treat Lieutenant Torres when the shuttle arrives.'
'Acknowledged,' Paris replied. He was out of his seat and into the turbolift by the time he had finished the word, needing to make sure B'Elanna was going to be okay.
'We are now entering tractoring range, Captain,' Kim reported. 'Initiating tractor beam,' he continued, not waiting to be ordered to initiate the beam. Five years ago he would have waited for the order, but the experience he had acquired taught him that sometimes carrying out an action before the order was given helped.
'Bring it in, Harry,' Voyager's captain ordered as he walked down the steps and sat down in his command chair. He sighed. Why did B'Elanna have to risk everything on a probe? Chakotay leaned in closer to Tuvok. 'Have B'Elanna report to my ready room at her earliest convenience,' he said curtly as he rose from his chair and crossed the length to the ready room doors.
After clearing the bridge, Chakotay sat down behind the desk and sighed. Not only did he have the fate of the ship's former Captain in his hands, its Chief Engineer was playing games with her life. Why wasn't I on the bridge? He questioned himself. Chakotay had awaked fifteen minutes late, after hitting the equivalent of the 'snooze' button on the console next to his bed. He hadn't been sleeping much lately, as the thoughts of the last month weighed heavily on his mind. Still, he thought, that was no excuse for my behavior. How can I command Voyager when I can't even command myself?
The chime to the ready room disturbed him from his thoughts, leaving the question unanswered. 'Enter,' he said with anger lining his voice and Torres entered the room.
'You wished to see me, Chakotay?' she inquired.
Chakotay heard the clipped tones of her voice and, from years of serving with her, knew that she was not in a good mood. She was also holding something back from him, but if she wasn't willing to talk then Chakotay wasn't going to push her. 'Why did you chase after the probe in that ion storm?' he asked. 'You could have been killed.'
'That was our last multi-spatial probe, Chakotay. Once it's gone that's it. We can't get anymore from the nearest Federation starbase. I didn't want to lose it,' she yelled.
'I'm not prepared to lose Voyager's Chief Engineer either,' he returned as he stood up and walked around to the other side of the desk. 'B'Elanna, multi-spatial probes are not the biggest things we have to worry about right now. Next time take it easy. That's an order.'
B'Elanna knew that was an order and one thing she learned after years of working with Chakotay is that arguing the point would be useless. 'Aye, sir,' she replied and straightened, walking out of the room. She nearly hit Tuvok doing so, as the Vulcan was entering.
'What can I do for you, Commander?' Chakotay sighed and walked back to his desk, reclining in his chair.
Tuvok clasped his hands behind his back and approached. 'Seven of Nine approached me yesterday about returning to active duty. By the time I returned to the bridge you had already logged off duty and I did not wish to bother you in your quarters. I have granted the request.'
Chakotay wasn't angry with his first officer, as the procedure was well within regulations, but it was courtesy for the Captain to be made aware of the decision before it was made. 'I see,' he replied.
'I did not do this to undermine your authority, Captain,' Tuvok re-assured. 'As the staff meeting is tomorrow I felt it prudent not to wait for the next crew reports day to arrive.'
Chakotay nodded. 'I understand, Commander.' Although he suspected the real reason Seven put the request in was to speak for Janeway at the meeting. Add one more to the fire, he mused, knowing that the result would be unanimous for Janeway to be placed back in command. 'Is that all?' he asked, noticing the red-shouldered first officer still standing there.
Tuvok nodded, signaling that it was.
'You're dismissed, then,' he ordered and Tuvok turned and left the ready room. For Chakotay, the past thirty days had been the most hectic of his life. Between this latest incident with the probe and all the reports of insubordination and brawls in the security and crew reports, the captain was overwhelmed not just with responsibility but a ship wide morale problem. He knew he was right for taking Janeway out of command. She crossed the line, he reminded himself. But did he, too, cross the line when he booted her out of Starfleet?
Engineering was buzzing with activity when B'Elanna entered through the twin doors at its rear. The experiences she had while in the brief coma had been occupying her mind and Chakotay's reprimanding didn't help. At least being back in Engineering took away some of the thoughts, but the horrible thought of seeing her mother on The Barge of the Dead still shook her.
'Welcome back, B'Elanna,' Carey said as he spotted her entering and handed her a PADD.
Torres took the PADD and walked up to her console, checking some of the readings. Carey and B'Elanna had been fierce opponents when she was assigned to Engineering in the beginning, but held a grudging respect for the engineer after she was promoted. Over the years, they had developed a friendship and she was glad to have him as her second in command. 'Good work, Carey,' she complimented him when she noticed that everything was running at peak efficiency.
'Thank you, ma'am,' he replied.
She motioned for Carey to follow as she walked into the corner of her office. 'Listen, Carey, my experience in the shuttle has left me a little shaken,' she breathed. 'I'd appreciate it if you could maintain command for the rest of the shift. I'm just going to stay over here and do some research.'
'Of course, Lieutenant,' he replied. There was a moment of silence as B'Elanna started to work on her research, pulling up some old Klingon scrolls. 'B'Elanna, there's one more thing.'
'Yes?' she asked. Torres was not in the mood for small talk or exchanging pleasantries right now. Nor did she care to hear about the latest fight in the mess hall.
'How's Captain Janeway?' he asked.
B'Elanna could see the concern in his eyes. Hell, more than half of the engineering crew was concerned. She knew that if Chakotay's final decision were to keep him in command, the Engineering crew would be the hardest department to convince. A couple of men on her team were in support of Chakotay and they always seemed to start an argument, bringing efficiency down. Both of them were in the brig during today's shift at her request and it seems efficiency had improved a lot. 'She's holding on. I can't imagine what she's feeling. After getting the crew this close to home she is booted out of Starfleet. I even thought about resigning my commission. The Captain is hopeful that tomorrow's meeting will sort everything out, though. I certainly hope it does.'
'Me too, Torres,' he replied. 'You will inform us of the details, won't you?'
'Of course,' she said. It was not Starfleet practice to leak the contents of staff meetings but she knew what it was like to be left out and didn't want her people to feel the same way. 'Now if you'll excuse me,' she continued, waving him off, 'I've got some research I want to do.'
Crewman Kathryn Janeway awoke in Sickbay and looked at her surroundings. It looked the same as it had nearly a month ago when she was first brought here. When I leave this place, she thought, I won't be coming back for a long, long time. 'Computer, what is the time?'
'1130 hours,' the feminine voice of the ship's computer replied.
'No, I mean the stardate,' she said, a slight irritation making its way into her already raspy voice. She sat up on the bed and ran her hands through her hair, trying to bring it into a less disheveled state.
'Stardate 53083.'
Damn. Twenty-eight days. Then she looked around her surroundings. Wait a minute, she thought, confused, this isn't the surgical bay. She was adjacent to the bay in one of the medical beds. She didn't bother to test whether or not the force field was up because she wasn't extremely anxious to get out of here anymore now that she knew what awaited her outside those doors. 'Computer,' she said, her voice still rough from sleep, 'activate the EMH.' It was one of the few commands she could execute.
'Please state the nature of the medical emergency,' the Doctor said, appearing in front of her as the holo-emitters materialized his matrix. Then, noticing it was Janeway, said, 'Oh, you've awakened.'
'Why am I over here, Doctor?' she asked.
'Lieutenant Torres decided to play with an ion storm,' he replied sardonically. 'She didn't win,' he added, as though there was any question of that.
'How's the ship?' she asked, at once worried about what she still considered was her ship. 'The crew?'
'Not to worry,' the Doctor said as he walked over to the console, 'she was inside a shuttlecraft. Her injuries nearly killed her but I was able to revive her from the coma she was in. Chakotay has already reprimanded her,' he added to escape another question he knew would have been asked.
Janeway nodded her head. 'Seven?' she asked.
The one word question said many things and could have had many different answers, but the Doctor knew to what she was referring. 'Not a word,' he shook his head. 'I'm sure she'll be down to see you. If she has been re-instated, she'll be working until 1600 hours.'
'Doctor, I may have been out of commission for a month, but I still remember the crew rotations,' she snapped. As the end of her thirty-day confinement loomed on the horizon, she noticed her temper begin to get a little out of hand. It's called agitation, Katie, her voice murmured in Janeway's head. Kathryn tilted her head and looked at the Doctor with a frown. 'I'm sorry, Doctor. It's just that this whole process is making me?agitated.'
'Understandable,' the Doctor replied as he pecked away at a PADD, B'Elanna's official medical report. He walked over to the console and hit a few buttons, disarming the force field around Janeway. 'You may go back to the surgical bay if you wish, Crewman, it won't give you as bad a feeling of claustrophobia,' he offered.
Janeway knew that letting a prisoner ' and that's what she was, basically ' do this was a violation of protocol, but Kathryn did not try and escape. Where would she go? Instead, she nodded at the Doctor and walked over to the surgical bay. When she was inside, the Doctor re-instated the field. 'Thank you, Doctor,' she said.
The Doctor only nodded in acknowledgement and walked into his office carrying the PADD. Kathryn fidgeted about the surgical bay for the duration of the day and was feeling mixed emotions about the coming days. On one side, she would be out of this cell and be assigned quarters to stay in at least, but on the other she would be walking and living on a ship that she would no longer be the Captain of. Command was a part of her life. Living without it seemed nearly impossible. The only person I'll have to get me through this is Seven, she mused. If I only have her, it'll be enough.
Seven of Nine worked at her console in Astrometrics, trying to plot the most efficient course home for the Voyager crew and avoid any potential problems in the sector they were entering. The familiarity of the controls had been soothing to the ex-Borg and working had improved her mood, but she still missed Kathryn and wanted her by her side. The doors opened and Seven turned her head to see the only other Borg still on the ship, Icheb, enter. He, in addition to his Starfleet Academy training, had volunteered for the position of monitoring Astrometrics during the Beta shift. Though not officially assigned by the ship's logs, she though it would be good experience for him.
'Seven,' he said, 'It is good to see you again. When
Commander Tuvok had informed me you resumed your duties, I asked him if I
could volunteer for the Beta shifts again.
'What was his reply?' Seven asked, turning around to face the teenager. The term teenager was meant only in his physical development, as his time with the Borg had given him access to knowledge most people of his age would not be able to hold.
'He deferred the question to you, saying it was at your discretion.' He held a PADD out to her and continued, 'he also asked me to give you this.'
Seven took the PADD. 'Understood,' she said and nodded to him. 'I've been scanning the next few systems on Voyager's course home. Engineering has requested a renewed deuterium supply so continue to search for deposits.'
'Acknowledged,' Icheb responded and walked up to the main console, logging in as the operator of the post during Beta shift.
The doors parted as Seven walked towards them. 'Icheb,' she said, swiveling herself around to see the young man. 'It was good to see you again too.' Icheb nodded and she left.
Seven read the PADD while walking down the corridor. It was for Kathryn, but he said that he didn't have the opportunity to give it to her personally. As she was heading for sickbay right now, she would give it to Kathryn when she arrived.
Kathryn Janeway was pacing back in forth in the surgical bay all day. Seven didn't show up yesterday and it was looking that she wasn't going to show up today either. She sighed and looked up at the ceiling. Where is she? She asked the powers that be.
As if in direct response, the doors parted as the slender Borg walked in and approached the console. 'Computer, activate the EMH,' she ordered. Janeway realized that it wasn't a necessity to activate the Doctor, but since he was their CMO it was courtesy for him to be informed of anything that happened on the ship, or so he had said.
'Please state the nature of the ' oh hi Seven,' he said, interrupting the welcome subroutine when he noticed who his visitor was. 'What can I do for you?'
'Commander Tuvok asked that this be delivered to the Captain ' Kathryn,' she corrected, realizing the propensity for confusion that the phrase might have created.
The Doctor nodded and gave Seven permission to do so.
'Tuvok?' Kathryn asked with a gleam of hope in her eyes. Maybe he's trying to get me out of here, she thought fancifully. She shook it off the moment she thought of it as being unlike him. Seven disarmed the forcefield and Janeway took the PADD from her.
Seven watched as Janeway read it, trying to register the emotions on her face and try to get some idea of what was said. Kathryn smiled as she put the PADD down.
'What did it say, Kathryn?' Seven asked with curiosity.
'It wasn't just from Tuvok, Seven,' she said, her voice a little hoarse. 'It was from my mother and my sister, Phoebe.' Tears started to well up in her eyes. 'It must have gotten sent to Chakotay on accident. She asked me how things were going ' if I was keeping my crew in line.' She looked up at Seven and would give anything to be in those arms right now. 'What am I supposed to tell them?'
'Kathryn, you must tell them the truth. Tell them what has happened they will understand. They are your family, Kathryn, they will not hold it against you,' Seven comforted.
Janeway chuckled. 'You don't know my sister,' she replied wryly. She'll never let me forget this one. Putting her command mask over her emotions and wiping the tears from her face, she told Seven without saying that she was back in command mode and cleared her throat. 'Were you successful?'
Seven knew that Kathryn was going to blame herself for the rest of the night and subject herself to an emotional breakdown. Usually, she would be there to help her partner but it was not possible while behind a forcefield. 'I have been added to the active duty roster by Commander Tuvok,' she reported. 'The meeting is tomorrow and I will act as your representative, although I doubt I'll be the only one fighting for you.'
Kathryn half-smiled. If only she could be that confident in her crew to stand up for her. Then again, how could she expect the crew to stand up for her when she wasn't sure she could stand up for herself?
'You are welcome, Kathryn,' Seven replied softly. 'We will be out of this situation soon. I've been experimenting with some new culinary recipes that you will have to try pending your release,' she teased, trying to cheer Janeway up a little.
'Thanks, Annika.' Kathryn was probing Annika's eyes in order to try and see what the Borg had been up to. 'Well,' she said finally, 'what's the recipe?'
Janeway saw the beginnings of a smile start to form on Seven's lips. 'It is a surprise. You will have to wait and see.'
Kathryn gave Seven the puppy-dog look she always gives to get her way, but she had never had much success with it on Annika. 'Come on, darling, what is it?' she tried again.
'That will not work, Kathryn,' she informed her. 'You have tried your 'puppy-dog' look before with no success. I am at a loss as to why you continue to use it.'
Janeway raised her hands in defeat. 'Can't blame me for trying,' she teased.
Annika grinned. 'No, I suppose I cannot.' She straightened and it was a sign to Janeway that she was preparing to leave. 'I must go. Lieutenant Torres has requested my help in Engineering. I will stop by tomorrow before the meeting and after as well.'
'Thank you, Annika, for all you've done for me,' she said. Kathryn never would have believed it a few years ago if someone had told her that a ex-Borg drone would be representing her at the equivalent of a mental competency hearing on her command ability. But she believed it now, and she would be forever grateful to her for doing this.
'It was not a matter of choice for me, Kathryn. You belong in command. I shall see you later.' With that, she turned and walked out of sickbay, leaving Janeway feeling a lot better about her predicament than she had only days before.
'It's a controlled procedure,' Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres explained to Captain Chakotay in the conference room. The two of them were alone and Torres was pacing back in forth across the deck waving a PADD in her hand. 'I'll be under constant supervision. The Doctor can simulate the conditions of the ion storm.'
'I'm sorry, B'Elanna,' he apologized, 'but I can't allow you to put your life in danger because of some hallucination you had in your coma. You're our Chief Engineer and the ship needs you. We've had this conversation before,' he continued, his voice rising in intensity. The staff meeting was scheduled to begin in ten minutes and here he was arguing about Klingon religious rituals.
'Are you telling me I can't pursue my own religious beliefs?' she asked, not believing what she was hearing.
Chakotay shook his head. 'This is not a debate about freedom of worship,
B'Elanna!' he yelled.
'That's exactly what it is!'
'Limits must be applied, Lieutenant. Do you even know what you sound like? If a person's religion demanded he kill someone as a sacrifice, do you think I'd let him go through with it on this ship?'
B'Elanna's eyes light up with fire. 'That's not the point, Chakotay, and you know it.'
'Isn't it? You want to let the Doctor simulate the same near death experience so you can return to the Barge of the Dead to save your mother's soul and you think that it is within boundaries?' Chakotay asked. 'I don't think so. Your request is denied.'
'Damn it, Chakotay,' she continued, not letting his denial stop her. 'I condemned my own mother,' her voice cracked.
'You must interpret your dream, B'Elanna. It wasn't real,' Chakotay told her. It was an absurd idea ' why couldn't she see that?
'It was real, Chakotay. It was real to me.' B'Elanna swiveled her head around and looked him square in the face. 'You've got to let me correct this.'
Chakotay shook his head. 'I'm sorry. I won't allow it.'
'But Chakotay ''
'End of discussion,' he interrupted. 'Dismissed.'
'Fine,' Torres snapped. 'Captain Janeway would have understood. Maybe she could have helped me. You're nothing but a poor substitute, Chakotay,' she growled and stormed through the door and out onto the bridge.
Chakotay sat down at the head of the table and sighed. You're just a poor substitute. B'Elanna's words echoed over and over again in his head. Was it possible Janeway would have been able to help her more? After one month, he was still trying to come to terms with this. He still lived in his first officer quarters. Janeway's quarters had remained untouched for over a month. It just didn't feel right for him to move in. She could have helped me, B'Elanna had said. Suddenly, the doors opened to reveal Tuvok with a PADD in hand, disrupting him from his thoughts.
'Is anything wrong, Captain?' he asked curiously.
Chakotay shook his head and waved off the question. 'I'm fine, Tuvok. You're early,' he commented, as the meeting didn't start for another five minutes.
'Indeed,' he responded in his default Vulcan monotone. 'I have researched all Starfleet policies in reference to Janeway's situation and compiled my findings for your review, Sir.'
Chakotay took the PADD and skimmed over it. 'What did you find?' he asked, not willing to read the entire report when he could hear it from Tuvok in a few sentences. If the Vulcan was nothing else, he was concise and to the point.
'Although Janeway's action were beyond the realm of Starfleet regulations and punishment was required, I believe that by removing her from commission altogether you went beyond your duties as first officer, and I went beyond mine as Security Chief.'
Chakotay didn't say anything, but only nodded. 'Speculate, Tuvok,' he ordered. 'What would Starfleet have done?'
Tuvok took a breathe before beginning. 'Starfleet would have ordered a general court martial, at which they would hear the facts of the infraction from the crewmembers who have witnessed it. If the Captain was found guilty, she would most likely receive a demotion and a general reprimand logged in her profile.'
The doors to the conference room parted once again, and the rest of the senior crew walked in and took their respective seats. Chakotay could feel B'Elanna's eyes staring icily at him from across the table as well as Seven's. Just who is on trial here? He questioned himself. He nodded at Tuvok, signaling he understood, and the Commander took his seat. 'Alright, people,' he began. 'We all know why this hearing has been called. Janeway's observational period is almost up. She has requested to be placed back into Starfleet. I want suggestions.'
Seven spoke up first. 'The solution seems obvious, Commander,' she said, still referring to his old rank. 'Re-instate her into Starfleet and let her resume her command.'
'Hear, hear,' Torres echoed sarcastically.
'That's not an option, Seven,' he replied. Despite telling the Borg numerous times to address him as 'Captain,' she still disobeyed. It was beginning to irritate him, but he didn't comment on it in front of the others. B'Elanna's sarcasm wasn't helping. 'We can't put her back in a command position after her latest actions. She's demonstrated that she cannot follow Starfleet regulations anymore. I can't put her back in that position.'
'But, sir,' Kim chimed, 'we've all broken our share of regulations in order to get us home. Janeway made a promise to this crew that she would get us home. Shouldn't we let her fulfill her promise?'
'She nearly killed a man, Ensign,' he said back.
'Chakotay,' Paris said, 'When I met Janeway she seemed arrogant and uptight. I wasn't even sure of her abilities until she told me she served with my father. Chakotay, nobody serves with my father unless they know their stuff. She wouldn't have let him die.'
'You weren't there, Ensign,' he retorted. 'If I hadn't intervened, it's possible Lessing would be dead by now. I had to pull her back. Starfleet regulations clearly state ''
'Oh come on, Chakotay,' B'Elanna interrupted, 'since when have you lived up to regulations yourself? You we're Maquis ' you left Starfleet years ago and turned your back on regulations. How can you say they are your guiding principles now?'
'Because I'm the Captain,' he replied. Chakotay knew it was a shallow reply but he didn't know how else to answer the question. 'She won't be placed back in command. Is that understood?'
The other officers in the room reluctantly shook their heads one by one until all had agreed.
'Perhaps if we place her in another position instead of Captain temporarily, and see if she is capable to resume her duties in one month from now,' the Doctor, who spoke up for the first time, suggested.
'I don't think so,' Chakotay responded. 'We can't allow her back in command.'
'Captain,' Tuvok said, 'I must agree with the Doctor. I have known Kathryn Janeway for many years and, over that time, have observed that command is not just a duty for her, it is part of her life. We must take into account the possibility that she will be able to command Voyager again in the future.'
'All right,' he sighed. 'Let's build on this idea. Suggestions, anyone?'
'Well,' B'Elanna said, the sarcasm gone from her voice, 'the best way to evaluate her command abilities would be to place her as Voyager's first officer. It would stop Ayala from having to shuffle the entire Security staff at least,' she grinned.
'Kathryn once told me you have to be able to trust your first officer in order to work as an efficient team. The simple fact remains that the trust between us has been breached beyond repair. Tuvok will continue to remain my first officer,' he replied sternly, leaving no possibility for discussion.
'Perhaps she could be of use in Security,' Tuvok offered. 'Captain Janeway has always been a master tactician.'
'I don't want her to be that close to our weapons and security systems,' he replied.
'Astrometrics,' Seven offered from the other end of the table while looking directly into Chakotay's eyes.
'Astrometrics?' Chakotay echoed.
'Correct. Captain Janeway has worked with Lieutenant Darren Ditillio prior to her posting on Voyager. He would go on to become the Federation's foremost authority on astrometric technology.'
'Ditillio,' Paris repeated. 'Seven, wasn't he the one who designed the Stellar Cartography labs found on Galaxy class starships?'
'Yes, he was,' Seven answered as she looked at her PADD. 'Kathryn Janeway helped form the basic stipulations of the technology. She was pulled away from the assignment before it could be completed, however. The Captain has also worked with Vulcan scientist T'Por in the field of astrophysic theory. Her senior project at Starfleet Academy was on massive compact halo objects that earned her a posting with Admiral Paris on the Icarus.'
'Seven is right, Chakotay,' B'Elanna echoed. 'Janeway's always been a scientist. She should be posted in the sciences department.'
Chakotay nodded. He remembered back in their first year in the delta quadrant during a briefing seeing B'Elanna and Janeway go head to head on a scientific principle, shortly after he had recommended that she be considered for Chief Engineer. They had been friends ever since. He took a breath and looked over at his new first officer. 'Commander Tuvok, you'll be in charge of the transfer. Assign her the rank of Lieutenant and get her some quarters. Seven of Nine will be in charge of her duty shift rotation.'
Tuvok nodded. 'Aye, Captain.'
'Very well. We will reconvene on this matter in thirty days to determine Lieutenant Janeway's progress and whether she is able to command again. Dismissed,' he ordered and everyone cleared the room, leaving Chakotay alone to contemplate his decision.
Kathryn Janeway opened her eyes and stared once again at the bright lights on the ceiling of Sickbay for what was hopefully the last time. She sat up in the bed and swung her legs over the edge. She looked out throughout the room but could not find the Doctor. 'Computer, is the EMH online?' she asked.
'Affirmative,' came the feminine response.
'Location,' she ordered as she stood up on the deck and stretched her arms.
'Deck six, section nine-delta.'
Janeway was perplexed. With the security restrictions in place, she should not have been able to access that particular subroutine. The first question she asked was a standard one and the computer wouldn't have a problem answering but the 'location' command should not have been available to her. If the security system was down, she wanted to know why. 'Computer, open up a communications channel. Janeway to the Doctor,' she said, knowing that it would work. The computer gave a chirp, signaling it understood.
'Ah, I see you're awake,' came the Doctor's reply from the other end of the link as cheerful as ever.
'Doctor,' she said, 'is there any reason why the security system would be down in Sickbay?'
'Not that I'm aware of,' he returned.
Janeway sighed. 'Then how am I able to open up a commlink to you, Doctor?' she asked.
Now it was the Doctor's turn to sigh. 'Because you have computer access to do so. I planned on being there when you awakened, but Mr. Kim didn't see the bulkhead this morning on his way out. You should have adequate access to disable the forcefield. There is also a change of clothes in my office. Once you are done, please meet me here.'
Janeway nodded. 'Understood, Doctor,' she said, ending the link. Obviously they had come to the conclusion as to her duties, but from the sound of the Doctor's voice it wasn't a full reinstatement. 'Computer disengage forcefield, authorization Janeway-Pie-One-Seven.'
'Forcefield disengaged,' the computer reported as the slight smell of photons was released as the field dropped. Janeway smiled and took a deep breath, glad that her authorization codes could do something again. This was also her first time outside confinement in nearly thirty days. She went into the Doctor's office and found a teal uniform and two pips. At least I'm a senior-grade Lieutenant, she thought as she changed into the uniform and affixed the two pips lastly. Despite the fact that she had been demoted and was no longer in a command uniform, it still felt good to be wearing one. She also noticed the insignia badge and slapped it to her chest and left sickbay.
Kathryn felt weird strolling the corridors and knew that it must look weird to the crewmembers to see a Lieutenant carrying such a command walk with her as she made her way to Deck six. The reactions she got from the crew were mixed. Some smiled, happy to see her back on her feet while others frowned as they saw the uniform and rank she was wearing. She nodded to all of them and gave them a considerate smile. She approached Kim's quarters and rang the door chime.
'Come in,' the throaty voice of Harry Kim said from the other side. He sounded terrible.
Janeway walked through the doors and had to stifle a laugh as she saw Kim, sitting down on the sofa with a hand on his head. She could make out a bruise on his temples as he looked up at her. He stood up and stood at attention.
She remembered that although she had been demoted, she still held a higher rank than Harry and wondered why she never had promoted him. 'At ease, Mr. Kim,' she said, glad to hear the crisp voice back.
'Thank you, ma'am,' he replied. 'I was feeling a little lightheaded this morning and bumped into the bulkhead.'
'More like slammed, Mr. Kim,' the Doctor responded sarcastically.
'Don't worry, Ensign, we all have those mornings.' Janeway saw that while Kim still looked up to her as an officer, his eyes almost seemed to wander away whenever he had the chance. It's this damn uniform, she cursed.
'Don't make any sudden moves today, Ensign,' the Doctor ordered. 'You may report for duty, though.'
'Thanks, Doc,' Kim said and they all walked out into the corridor. Kim said goodbye to the two and the Doctor led Janeway in the other direction.
'I'm glad to see you're adapting well, Lieutenant,' the Doctor said. 'I want to let you know, everyone stood up for you at the briefing. We tried to get you back in command but Chakotay wouldn't allow it.'
Janeway nodded and looked at the Doctor. 'Tuvok?'
The expression on his face was response enough for Janeway. 'He suggested that Captain Chakotay keep the potential for your reinstatement as Captain opened.'
'But he didn't stand up for me,' Janeway finished and shook her head. The fact that her longest known friend on Voyager not only removed her from command but did not petition her return felt like a dagger in her heart. They've had disagreements with each other in the past but this was the worst thing that Tuvok had done to her ' even worse than is blatant disobeying of orders in stealing the transporter technology in their first year in the Delta quadrant.
'I'm sorry,' the Doctor consoled and stopped in front of a set of doors.
'Why are we stopping here?' she questioned, but had a feeling she already knew the answer. Deck six was crew quarters and it was on the same level as Astrometrics.
'These are you're new quarters, Lieutenant.' He stepped back and in silence told Janeway she would be entering them alone. 'The Captain has given you one week to move your belongings out of the Captain's Quarters. I must return to sickbay.'
'Understood, Doctor,' she replied. 'And Doctor,' she continued, 'Thank you.' She smiled at him as he nodded and walked away. Well, Katie, her inner voice said, this is it. Without further hesitation, she stepped directly into the quarters and found them empty. The furniture was arranged in the same way it was in the Captain's Quarters, if not a bit more cramped. There wasn't a complete ensuite here, though, as the bed was at the very edge of the living area. A small bathroom with shower was at the far left. She looked over to the right and saw a desk and a replicator. She did a double take and noticed some things not standard with normal quarters, though ' such as an extra desk and a kitchen area packed in the little space.
On the small dining table, in the center, stood a single crimson rose with a hand-written note tied around the vase. Welcome to our new home, Kathryn, the note said. She picked up the vase and put the rose to her nose to smell its fragrance. A tear escaped her and she began to sob. Kathryn felt a pair of strong yet gentle hands envelope her waist as she felt Annika console her.
'It will be okay, Kathryn,' she said. 'We will adapt.'
Kathryn put the vase back down at the table and turned around in her partner's arms, looking into her eyes. 'Annika,' she said. It was one word ' a word of recognition and also a word of approval as they leaned in and their lips touched for the first time in over a month. She felt the shock throughout her body as she lost herself in Annika's kiss and they explored each other's mouths.
'Kathryn,' Annika replied as she continued to kiss the woman she loved. She noticed Janeway was beginning to breathe harder and she moved her hand up to touch her breast.
'Seven,' she interrupted, 'I want to envelope myself in you right now but I'm going to need my energy,' she smiled as she guided Annika over to the kitchen. 'I haven't had a home-cooked meal in over a month?I was hoping you could provide me with one.'
'Of course,' Annika said, returning the smile. She went to the replicator and created two eggs and got a bowl out of a cupboard below the counter as she began to cook breakfast for her partner.
Janeway leaned over the counter and watched Seven crack the eggs and place them into the bowl. She grabbed a whisk from a drawer and started to beat them. Janeway looked up into Annika's eyes and wondered what she had done to receive a love like this. Even though she was no longer Captain and no longer occupied those quarters, she was home.
'Kathryn, please set the table,' Annika ordered, as she always did.
Janeway walked over and picked up the dishes off of the back counter and grinned. Yep, she was definitely home.