#humanity for you.' and Janeway would run out of there so fast after being like You're A bso lutely Right Tuvok Tha nk You.

[bumblingbabooshka]

Me reading fics where Tuvok encourages other peoples’ romantic pursuits:

[myenterpriseisparked]

The Voyager Bunch

Or, Rascals: Voyager Edition

-----

Based on this post

This is dedicated to @jellybeansarecool @bizships @emilie786 @joyful-voyager and @subtle-spock for providing ideas, encouragement, and for generally being really awesome people. Also they are the nicest folks ever. Go follow them.

This ain’t my first fanfiction rodeo, but it is my first Star Trek fanfiction rodeo so I beg for your patience. Also, I am perfectly aware that there are some plot holes in here. This is because I am an animal scientist, not a Starfleet physicist/biologist/whateverist. Swiss cheese also has holes and swiss cheese is good so please consider that.

Click here to read on AO3, if you prefer. Thanks for reading!

-----

Despite having only been a captain for a few years, Kathryn Janeway had seen more unusual occurrences, courtesy of the Delta Quadrant, than most Starfleet captains combined. Some days, she felt a little overwhelmed by the summary of the last three years of experiences. Other days, she was grateful for the callouses such challenges had built over her nerves, preparing her to face even the strangest incidents without panicking.

Today was a day to be grateful, because without having seen everything she had seen, the prospect of her Chief Engineer, Chief of Security, Head Helmsman, and most brilliant Ensign being reverted into child-like versions of themselves would have launched her straight into a spiral of panic.

“How-” Janeway paused for a moment to pinch the bridge of her nose, “how exactly did this happen?”

“Well, ya see, ‘Lanna and Harry and I were in that shuttle and then this big black thing showed up and we flew into it and there was a big flash and-”

Janeway held a hand up, cutting off the shockingly fast string of prattle. “I think I understand that part, Tom, thank you.” She spoke as gently and patiently as possible. “What I don’t understand is how Tuvok got into this.... predicament.”

She turned toward the tallest of the four children, who stood with his hands behind his back in a way that would have been exactly like Tuvok, if the pre-teen boy weren’t fidgeting with the hem of his shirt and looking around the bridge, open mouthed and starry-eyed. “Tuvok?”

The Vulcan turned toward her. “The shuttle was stuck in the anomaly and the tractor beam wasn’t working, so I rammed my ship into theirs to dislodge it.” Tuvok nearly smiled, which was jarring to see on his features, no matter how much younger he looked. “It worked, but I got sucked into the anomaly too. When we came out the other side, we looked like this.”

He motioned to Tom and B’Elanna, who were standing next to him, both of which appeared to be around the age of 5 or 6. Harry, who looked to be about a year old, was currently tucked into Chakotay’s arms, playing contentedly with the rank bar at the large man’s throat.

Janeway looked the group over, ignoring the humored smiled playing at her first officer’s lips. With a sigh, she turned to the members of her senior officer team that were not currently under the age of 13. “I’m open to suggestions.”

“I would like to run some experiments first, but I am wondering if I can age their DNA back to the correct age in a process similar to the one I used to turn you and Mr. Paris back into humans after the, ah, Warp 10 incident,” The Doctor said.

“That might put their bodies back at the right age,” Kes said, brow furrowing, “but their minds appear to have reverted to their new biological age as well. Will the DNA reversal process fix that?”

The Doctor tilted his head. “I’m unsure. I need more time to research and run simulations.”

Janeway nodded. “Get started on that right away. In the meantime,” she turned back to the children and her commander, “let’s get you four something to eat.” 

Neelix jumped to his feet, practically lighting up the room with his enthusiasm. “I’ll fix you kiddos up something real nice!” He dashed over to the door with a wild grin. “Give me ten minutes, and I’ll have the best grilled cheese sandwich you’ve ever smelt!” He saluted the whole room and practically bounced out the door.

Janeway glanced over at Chakotay who, for the first time since he had picked up baby Harry, looked nervous. His worried glance met her own and he tilted his head.

“Well,” Chakotay sighed, “hopefully these guys aren’t as picky of eaters as I was.”

-----

As unappealing as Janeway found Neelix’s cooking to be, it was, apparently, perfect for kids, as evidenced by the unrestrained glee with which Tom, B’Elanna, and Tuvok devoured their sandwiches.

The captain couldn’t help but smile as Tom downed the second half of his sandwich in a few bites and think how the older version of Tom would have been appalled to see himself eating Neelix’s cooking with such enjoyment.

As the older children ate, Janeway found herself spooning some kind of mashed vegetable mix into Harry’s waiting mouth. At first, she was a little uncomfortable with the idea of feeding one of her best officers, but, once she was able to get past the strangeness of the entire situation, she found herself enjoying the funny expressions and eager attitude of the baby in front of her.

“Gosh, he’s such a cute baby.” She said with a grin for the fourth time.

Chakotay leaned over, his shoulder brushing hers as he smiled at Harry. “I’d like to agree with you, Captain, but you keep hogging him so I can’t get a good look.” He turned to look her in the eye, raising his eyebrow teasingly.

She shoved him playfully with her elbow. “You got to hold him earlier in the conference room. It’s my turn.”

“I think your turn ended about ten minutes ago,” he grinned.

“I think I can find something else for you to do if you’re going to take Harry away from me, Commander.” She returned his grin.

“Fine,” Chakotay shook his head with a chuckle, “but I get him later.”

-----

Several hours had passed since lunch and, much to Chakotay’s disappointment, baby Harry was still firmly in Janeway’s possession, perched on her hip and looking for all the world like he belonged there.

Chakotay tried not to think too much about how naturally Kathryn had taken to caring for Harry as he watched her pace the bridge, checking on various scanner readings and flight paths, from his position on the floor by their command chairs. Beside him, Tom and B’Elanna rolled a ball back and forth between them, excitedly chattering about... well... everything.

“Do you think the whales were really THAT big?” Tom spread his arms out to the side.

“Yeah they were!” B’Elanna exclaimed loudly enough that the entire ship could probably hear it. Despite Chakotay’s best efforts to get her to lower her voice, the young girl seemed to only have one volume. “I saw a big fake one in a museum once and it was HUGE!”

“Whoa!” Tom’s eyes widened. “Bigger than this ship?”

B’Elanna tilted her head. “I don’t know, but it was definitely bigger than me!”

The two kids laughed, rolling the ball back and forth faster.

“Hey Tom?”

“What?”

“You’re my best friend!” B’Elanna suddenly reached forward and gave Tom a hug.

Chakotay glanced up at Kathryn to exchange a look of awe before he turned back to the kids on the floor. “But B’E, I thought you just said a few minutes ago that I’m your best friend.” He raised an eyebrow, hiding his smile.

The young girl gave him a look that he had seen far too many times on her older counterpart’s face whenever he said something particularly dumb. “I can have two best friends, duh.”

He laughed. “Fair enough.”

Suddenly, he saw Kathryn’s purposeful walk stop out of the corner of his eye. 

“Chakotay,” her voice was even and tense, “where’s Tuvok?”

Eyes widening, Chakotay glanced around the bridge. Tuvok was no where to be seen.

“Chakotay to Tuvok.” He stood as he tapped his commbadge. “Tuvok, please acknowledge.” They waited a moment and, upon receiving no response, moved simultaneously toward the turbolift. 

“It’s possible he hasn’t figured out how to use his comm.” Janeway tucked Harry closer to her side as they stepped into the lift. “Computer: locate Tuvok.”

“Unable to comply.”

Janeway gave the ceiling a glare. “Why?”

The computer did not respond.

“Maybe the de-aging effect has made it difficult for the computer to locate him.” Chakotay rested a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure he’s alright; he’s probably just exploring the ship; you saw how amazed he was by everything in the conference room earlier.”

She nodded tightly. “Let’s hope so. Where do you think he’s gone?”

“Maybe to the holodeck?”

“Or his quarters.”

“What about the mess hall?”

“He just ate.”

They both paused, mulling it over.

“Alright.” Kathryn straightened. “I’ll check holodeck one and his quarters, you check holodeck two and the mess hall.” She turned back to the lift door. “Holodeck one.”

Chakotay swallowed around the lump in his throat, trying not to think of all the ways a small child could get hurt on a spaceship like Voyager. As the turbolift began to move, Janeway’s badge chirped.

“Kes to the captain.”

Her brow raised as she tapped the emblem. “Go ahead.”

“I think I’ve found something you’re missing.” Kes’s usually lighthearted tone was even lighter, clear amusement seeping through.

Kathryn turned to look Chakotay in the eye, a hopeful smile brightening her face. “I’m on my way.”

-----

Honestly, Janeway was a little ashamed of the fact that she didn’t think to go looking for her best friend among the orchids and other plants in the aeroponics bay, considering his horticulturally-related hobbies. As she and Chakotay stepped into the room, smiles crept onto both of their faces as they watched Tuvok carefully transfer one of Kes’s sprouts to a bigger pot. After patting the soil around the plant firmly, he wiped a hand across his forehead, smearing dirt on his face to match the dirt on his uniform.

Kes smiled up at the command team. “He came down and asked about a hundred questions about our system and then offered to help me with my work while we talked because its ‘more efficient to talk and work than simply talk.’” 

Janeway chuckled at Kes’s approximation of Tuvok’s speech pattern. “Thanks for letting us know, Kes.” She reluctantly handed Harry to Chakotay, who flashed his dimples, and crouched next to Tuvok. “Hello there.”

Tuvok glanced up quickly before resuming his work. “Hello, Captain. Did you know that these Talaxian green beans take only a week and a half to reach maturity?”

“I did not.” Janeway raised a brow and tilted her head. “That’s very impressive.”

“I thought so too when Kes told me.” He patted the soil around another plant and set it aside, retrieving another sprout.

“Tuvok,” the captain reached forward and rested a hand on his shoulder, “I’m glad you’ve found something to do, but you have to tell someone where you’re going before you wander off. We didn’t know what happened to you and Chakotay and I were really worried.”

Behind her, Chakotay’s heart flipped. There was something rather... intimate about the way she had referred to both of them being worried about a child.

“I’m sorry, Captain.” Tuvok nodded his head. “It won’t happen again.”

“Good.” Janeway smiled and stood. “Why don’t you help Kes down here for a while and then come back up to the bridge when you are ready?” She looked at Kes. “That is, if Kes is alright with that.”

The young woman smiled. “Of course, I’d love some help.”

Janeway nodded and turned back to Tuvok. “Be sure to let us know when you’re on your way back up.”

“Of course, Captain.”

She patted him one last time on the shoulder and turned back to Chakotay. They fell into step beside one another and entered the elevator.

As the doors whooshed closed, Janeway turned to Chakotay with the intention of reclaiming Harry, but stopped. A smile grew across her lips as she watched Chakotay bounce Harry gently, allowing the little boy to palm his tattoo in curiosity. Even as one of Harry’s chubby fingers poked him in the eye, Chakotay simply chuckled and took the tiny hand in his own.

He finally turned to look at her. “What?”

Kathryn just shook her head, grinning wider. “I was going to take Harry from you, but I can’t bear to break up this cute little arrangement.” She motioned to the two of them with a long finger.

The corner of Chakotay’s mouth kicked up a little higher. “Captain, did you just imply that I’m cute?”

Her brow arched, but her smile didn’t diminish. “It would be hard for anyone to look unappealing with a cute baby in their arms.”

Her heart stopped suddenly as she realized what she had just said. From the look of Chakotay’s face, he had caught it too. Implying that he and the baby were cute was one thing; calling him “appealing” was another. Before she could say anything else she might regret, Kathryn turned back to the lift door, schooling her features back into the face of the Captain.

If she had turned but a half-second later, she would have seen a wide smile break across Chakotay’s face.

-----

“I’m sorry, Captain, but I need more time. I won’t deactivate myself until I have a solution, but this situation is very delicate and I can’t risk rushing my tests. You’ll need to find somewhere for the children to sleep. Hopefully I’ll have a solution tomorrow.”

Kathryn nodded. “Of course. Thank you, Doctor.”

With a grim smile, the feed from sickbay switched off, leaving her to look at her dark reflection in the black screen. Something like relief swept over help alongside a touch of regret. On one hand, she could really use her senior officers back in functioning shape. On the other hand....

Her eyes drifted back down to Harry, who had pulled a bit of her hair out of it’s ponytail and was curling it around his tiny fist in unbreakable fascination. A smile tugged at her lips as she cuddled him a bit closer. 

She could get used to this.

The thought struck her before she even knew what she was feeling and, as soon as she admitted it to herself, she took that feeling and shoved it as deep into the recesses of her mind as she could. She was the captain of a ship that was constantly in danger and she shouldn’t dwell on things she couldn’t have.

Kathryn sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. “Well, Harry, looks like we need to find you a place to sleep.”

Turning back to the computer, she moved to set him down so she could use both hands to search the crew quarters layouts for a suitable place to keep the children overnight. As soon as Harry’s feet touched the ground, a wail rose from the back of his throat and his face scrunched.

Kathryn quickly scooped him back up. “Harry? What’s wrong?”

The boy’s cry of protest faded into whimpers and he buried his head in her shoulder, clinging to her tightly.

A warm feeling washed over her. “Ah,” she smiled, “I see.”

She pulled him closer and turned back to the computer, tapping buttons with one hand. “You can stay up here with me, then.”

The door to her quarters chimed.

“Come in.” 

Before she could turn to greet her guest, mischievous giggles rose from the door. Eyebrow raised, she whirled around to find Chakotay standing in the doorway, a stack of PADDs in his hand, a tiny engineer on his left leg, and a tiny helmsman on his right.

He stepped forward with far less difficultly than she would have expected, given the extra weight on his legs. He crossed the room quickly and passed the PADDs to her. “The crew reports you requested.”

“Thank you.” She smiled, glancing down at the still giggling forms. “Not to alarm you, Commander, but it would seem that you have a couple of lifeforms attached to you.”

Chakotay’s eyes grew wide in mock surprise. “Really?” He turned his head and shuffled around, as if to look at his back. “Where?”

Tom and B’Elanna’s laughter grew. Suddenly, Chakotay leaned over and scooped the two of them off his legs, lifting them both up over his shoulders as their shrieked in delight.

He turned back to Kathryn with a wide smile. “Not to worry, Captain, I’ve apprehended the life forms.” 

She smiled back with a soft chuckle. “We need to find a place for the life forms to stay tonight.”

Chakotay’s smile faded into a more serious, but not displeased look. “The Doctor doesn’t have a solution yet, then?” He lowered Tom and B’Elanna to the ground. They scampered off to the viewport, excitedly chattering about the stars.

“No, he needs a bit more time.”

Chakotay nodded. “Maybe I could take them for the night, that way someone is there to keep an eye on them.”

Kathryn shook her head. “I have no doubt in your babysitting abilities, Commander, but four children is a lot for one person to watch alone and your quarters are not big enough for Trouble 1 and Trouble 2 to run around in.” She gestured to the kids at the window. 

“Fair point. Maybe I should take Harry and Tuvok then, and you could take Tom and B’Elanna?”

She turned Harry away from Chakotay. “Trying to take my boy again, are you Chakotay?” 

He chuckled and shook his head. “Do you have another idea, then, Mom?”

Her breath caught in her throat, but she managed to smirk at him and continue speaking without any indication that his previous sentence had impacted her. “My quarters are the largest on the ship. If we set up cots here in my living room we could easily both keep an eye on the children overnight.”

“Sounds good to me.” He glanced up at the clock on the wall. “How about I go collect Tuvok from aeroponics and some food from the mess hall while you get the cots set up?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

He gave her one last lingering smile, which she returned, before heading out the door and down the hall.

-----

Apparently the lunch they had shared earlier that day had been misleadingly easy. Supper was, to put it lightly, a challenge.

“B’Elanna, eat your own food and stop taking from Tom’s plate,” Kathryn said firmly.

“But Tom isn’t eating it!”

“I was going to eat it! I’m just a slower eater than you are!”

“Well eat faster then!”

“B’Elanna!” Chakotay set down the spoon he had been using to feed Harry and fixed her with a stern look. “That food isn’t yours, and Kathryn already asked you to stop taking Tom’s food. You won’t be asked again.”

B’Elanna mumbled out an apology and stuffed another bite of her own meal into her mouth.

Kathryn shot Chakotay a grateful smile and turned to Tuvok, who was holding up one of his vegetables to the light. “Tuvok? What are you doing?”

“I’m looking at the xylem and phloem of this plant.”

She bit back a smile. “I appreciate your curiosity, Tuvok, but I need you to stop studying your food and start eating it.”

The young Vulcan turned to her and nodded. “Of course.” He politely chewed and swallowed his food and turned back to the captain. “Did you know that this particular plant is a distant cousin of Terran broccoli? You can tell by the-”

Chakotay smiled as he watched Kathryn listen to Tuvok’s fourth lecture of the evening on plant biology. Neither of them were certain of what he was talking about most of the time, but his enthusiasm for the subject was nearly infectious and neither of them minded listening.

“Chakotay?”

He turned away from the scene across the table and looked at Tom next to him. “Yes?”

“After dinner, will you read to us?”

“Of course.” Chakotay smiled and ruffled Tom’s hair. “Anything particular you want to hear?”

“I want to hear about your missions with the Maquis!” B’Elanna bounced in her seat, all of that barely-contained Klingon energy starting to spill over. 

“Or perhaps you could read to us from a classic story,” Tuvok raised a brow. “I’m fond of the works of Tolkien, maybe Tom and B’Elanna would like ‘The Hobbit’ too?”

“What’s a hobbit?” Tom’s face scrunched in confusion.

“Maybe,” Kathryn interjected before Tuvok could give a detailed recounting of the beloved childhood book, “Chakotay could tell us a story from his tribe.” Her eyes met his across the table. “He is pretty good at recounting ancient legends.”

Heat crept up the sides of Chakotay’s face as he held her stare. “Maybe.”

“Nah,” Tom’s voice broke through the pleasant tension between them. “I wanna know what a hobbit is!”

Chakotay chuckled. “Alright, ‘The Hobbit’ it is.”

-----

It took some time to get the older three to settle into bed, but finally, they began to yawn and snuggle deeper under their blankets. As their heads grew heavier, Chakotay wrapped up his story telling and the command team began to tuck their young companions in for the night.

As Chakotay wished Tom and Tuvok a good night’s rest, Kathryn carefully extracted B’Elanna from where she was snuggled into her side and took her over to her cot. As she got the small girl settled, she suddenly reached up and captured Kathryn in a tight hug. Surprised, Kathryn’s eyes widened, but she returned the gesture in earnest.

“Kathryn?”

“Yes, B’Elanna?”

“You’re my best friend.”

Kathryn blinked and pulled back to look B’Elanna in the eyes with a small smile. “I thought Chakotay and Tom were your best friends.”

“I can have more than one best friend.” B’Elanna’s voice was filled with deep confidence, despite how sleep-laced it was.

“Fair enough,” Kathryn chuckled, pulling the blankets tightly around the girl. “Goodnight.”

She met Chakotay in her bedroom, Harry still in his arms.

“Any time I try to set him down he starts crying.” Chakotay grinned sheepishly. 

She grinned back. “I had a similar experience earlier today.” She reached up and brushed hand over the boy’s soft, black hair. “Its a good thing he weighs next to nothing.”

At Kathryn’s gentle touch, Harry stirred. His dark eyes found Kathryn’s and he reached out for her. With a look of mock hurt, Chakotay transferred the boy to his desired location.

“I’m trying not to be offended right now, Harry.”

Kathryn simply grinned and bounced the baby in her arms gently. “It’s alright, Chakotay. He has excellent taste.”

Chakotay shook his head, dimples flashing. “I suppose I can’t argue with that.”

She turned toward the bed and settled herself on one side, her back resting against the pillows and Harry resting against her chest. “Let’s see if we can get this one sleepy enough to not notice if we set him down.” She looked back at Chakotay, who was still standing, rather awkwardly. She patted the bed next to her with a smirk. “Come on, Commander. Get some rest. We’ve has a big day, wrangling the kiddos.”

He smiled and crossed the room to the other side of the bed, gently sitting next to her, his legs stretched out. “It has been a long day,” he said with a sigh. “But, I can’t say I haven’t enjoyed it.” He tilted his head to look at Kathryn, who was already looking up at him.

“Nor I.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

Suddenly, Chakotay was very aware of how close their faces were. He watched as Kathryn’s eyes slid down to his lips. Before he could do something he couldn’t take back, he took a deep breath and turned away.

“Well,” Kathryn cleared her throat, sounding more like the Captain now, “it’s been fun but we should get some sleep. I’ll keep an eye on Harry here and take him to his cot in a few minutes. You should go ahead and rest, Commander.”

“Of course.” He tilted his head and gave her a small smile. “Goodnight, Kathryn.”

She grinned back. “Goodnight, Chakotay.”

-----

Apparently, Kathryn didn’t stay awake long enough to take Harry back to his cot, as evidenced by the weight on her chest as she stirred awake the next morning. She slowly became aware of her surroundings and the previous day’s events came flooding back to her.

She also became distinctly aware of the warm, comfortable presence beside her. As she opened her eyes, she realized that her first officer’s arm was settled around her shoulders and that his shoulder was currently her pillow. His head rested atop hers and the hand that was not draped around her shoulders was resting on top of Harry’s back next to her own.

The situation was all rather snuggly and, were it not a violation of every professional barrier Kathryn had erected between her and the commander, she would have had no issue in savoring the moment.

Then again.... maybe she could allow herself just a few moments to pretend that the baby in her arms wasn’t her star technical officer and that the man holding her close wasn’t her XO and that this was a perfectly normal situation.

Before she could get too far into her fantasy, however, Chakotay stirred next to her, his dark eyes fluttering open to find her own.

“Good morning,” he said, his voice huskier than her own as sleep clung to it.

“Good morning.” 

They looked at each other for a moment before Chakotay carefully extracted himself from her side, helping her up so she could carefully place Harry in his cot in the living room without waking the boy or the other children who were still sleeping. Without a word, they quietly prepared breakfast and coffee, steeling themselves for another day of handling the kids.

-----

“I’m afraid I’m a bit.... stuck,” The Doctor ground out with obvious difficulty.

The captain raised an eyebrow. The EMH admitting that he was struggling to solve a problem was a rare instance indeed. “How so?”

With a huff, The Doctor turned back to his desk, flipping through experimental results from a stack of PADDs. “Kes was right; the DNA reversal process I initially thought might work will not account for the de-aging of the officers’ brains, so I decided to look at the type of radiation that might have caused this and, to be completely honest, Captain,” he turned back to look her in the eye, “I have absolutely no idea how this even happened. There’s no evidence of radiation, the temporal energy around them is unidentifiable, and I can’t figure out how their cells and their minds were reversed.” He lowered his head. “I���m unsure of how to even proceed from here.”

Kathryn nodded, taking the emotions that were beginning to tumble in her chest and stuffing them as far down as she could. “Very well, Doctor. Take a rest and we can all come back to the issue later once we’ve had time to think.” She rested a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up. “Don’t despair yet; there’s a lot of other brilliant minds on this ship besides your own. We’ll figure it out together.” She smiled and gave his shoulder a squeeze before heading into the turbolift.

As the doors slid open, she found Tuvok waiting in the lift for her. She smiled down at him and stepped inside, calling for the bridge.

“Chakotay to the captain.”

She tapped her badge. “Go ahead.”

“We need you on the bridge, there’s a bit of a situation.”

She raised a brow, glancing down at Tuvok, who was gazing at her intently. “On my way.”

-----

“So they want to.... interview us?”

“They want to interview you specifically.”

“To see if we are worthy of going through their space.”

“Something like that.”

“And going around their space isn’t an option?”

“It would add another 7 months to our journey, so this interview is our ideal option.”

“No pressure, eh, Commander?” Janeway shifted Harry from one hip to the other with a long sigh. “Alright. Hail them.”

After a moment, a blue and red humanoid alien appeared on the screen.

“Greetings, Ambassador.” The Captain flashed a polite smile. “I’m Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager.”

The alien woman inclined her head. “Hello, Captain Janeway, I’m Ambassador Tel Parah of the Doonian Delegation.” Her eyes swept the bridge. “You’re ship is heavily armed, which, according to the laws of our people, requires that we do a personal interview of the commanding officer to ensure that violence or other manners of chaos will not be instigated as you pass through our space.”

“Of course, I understand.” Janeway smiled again. “What questions may I answer for you?”

Over the course of the next 30 minutes, Janeway was grilled on their purpose in passing through Doonian space, the types and numbers of weapons they carried, and the journey they had made so far. Just as Janeway thought there wasn’t possibly anything more she could tell them, Ambassador Parah paused and looked up from the computer device in her hand to study Janeway. After a moment, she spoke again.

“Just one more thing, Captain Janeway,” a slow smile slipped onto her face, “What’s your son’s name? He’s absolutely precious.”

Janeway raised her eyebrows in surprise and glanced down at Harry, who she had nearly forgotten was still in her arms. At some point, he had removed her combadge and was currently turning it over and over again in his tiny hands, taking a moment here and there to bite parts of the object he must have found particularly interesting. Kathryn exchanged an amused glace with Chakotay, who shrugged off screen, before turning back to the ambassador. 

“This is Harry.” Janeway smiled, turning the boy so the ambassador could see him better.

The other woman smiled widely. “How adorable. He has the brightest eyes.”

“He does.” Kathryn smiled back down at him.

“You know,” Parah leaned back in her chair, “I usually don’t allow anyone through our space that isn’t from a system or planet we are already know and trust and so I wasn’t planning on letting Voyager pass. However, when I saw your baby and how well-cared for and happy he seems, I felt that I could trust you somehow.” She smiled again. “We value children highly in the Doonien Delegation. Children are often a reflection of a parent’s character. I can tell by Harry’s disposition and curiosity that you are of a fine character, Captain.”

Janeway cuddled Harry a little closer, heart warming. “Thank you, Ambassador, I take that as a high compliment.”

“As you should.” Parah leaned forward again. “You may pass through our space. We will have you stop at three checkpoints on your way though which I will send you the coordinated for in a moment. Have a safe journey.”

The screen went blank and Kathryn turned to Chakotay.

“Should I feel bad that I let her believe Harry is my son?”

Chakotay chuckled, stepping close enough and lowering his voice enough that the rest of the bridge could pretend not to hear him. “Are you saying he’s not?”

Her gaze grew softer. “I guess he’s sort of been like a son to me since we got on board.” She looked back down at him. “I feel very protective of him.”

Chakotay rested a hand on her shoulder. “I know.”

They smiled at each other again. Chakotay opened his mouth to say something more but, suddenly, there was a tug at Kathryn’s elbow.

“Captain? Now that the negotiations are over, I think I have an idea about how to fix Tom, B’Elanna, Harry, and me.” Tuvok’s eyes were bright and eager.

“Alright,” Captain Janeway smiled down at him. “Let’s get The Doctor up here and we’ll hear your idea together.”

-----

Chakotay exchanged glances with The Doctor and the Captain over the table as he bounced both Tom and B’Elanna on his knees. “Could that really work? It seems almost too easy.”

“Well, if this is a phenomena that’s inexplicable and is tied only to the anomaly the shuttles passed through, I feel like sending the children back through isn’t our worst idea.” The captain rubbed the back of her neck. “Doctor?”

The holographic man continued typing into his PADD for a moment before stopping and reading. “I- I honestly think this could work.” He slid the PADD over to Janeway. “It’s hard to predict, since we have no idea what exactly caused this, but if we send the shuttles through the anomaly opposite of the way they first went through, I think it just might turn them back to their usual ages.”

“How do we know it won’t just make them even younger?” Chakotay watched as B’Elanna slipped off of his knee, pulling Tom along with her to go play in the corner.

“We’d have to run some tests to be sure that they don’t. Perhaps we could send a plant through first, or some other organic life form.” The Doctor took the PADD back and made a note.

“We would also have to make sure that, if the tests show some promise, Tuvok can take the shuttle back through the anomaly.” Janeway turned to the boy sitting at her right. “Well, Tuvok? Do you think you could pilot the shuttle?”

He shook his head. “Since I don’t have my older self’s memories I don’t think I could.”

“We could use the tractor beam to send the shuttle through,” Chakotay said. “If we give them enough of a push to go through the anomaly, they should be able to pilot themselves back to Voyager once they get out the other side and have returned to their normal ages.”

Janeway raised her eyebrows. “Well, it’s worth a shot and I don’t have any better ideas. Commander, set a course for the anomaly. Doctor, prepare the experiments.”

-----

Tom and B’Elanna seemed to sense that something was up as they suddenly became even more clingy. The whole trip back to the anomaly, B’Elanna shared the captain’s chair with Kathryn, insisting with all of her Klingon passion that the older woman tell her more stories from earlier in their journey through the Delta Quadrant. At the helm, Tom hung on to Chakotay’s arm, watching the stars go by and asking Chakotay a hundred questions about piloting starships. Tuvok sat in Chakotay’s usual seat, interjecting with questions of his own here and there, and Harry sat on Kathryn’s knee, chewing on her jacket sleeve, her combadge still clutched tightly in his left hand.

After they reached the anomaly, it took a couple of hours for The Doctor to complete his experiments and, once he had declared that plants that had gone through the anomaly twice were returned to the same age the started as, they began preparing the children to enter the anomaly themselves. 

“Will it hurt?” B’Elanna asked in the smallest voice she had ever used in her life as Kathryn tucked the small Starfleet uniform that she had come through the anomaly with around her shoulders.

“It won’t,” Tuvok said. “It didn’t hurt when we came through the first time, did it?”

She shook her head, but didn’t look very reassured.

“It’s okay, ‘Lanna!” Tom grabbed her hand. “I’ll be right beside you.”

Kathryn stood and took a step back, feeling almost as if someone had filled her chest with some of Neelix’s heavy stew. She had to let them go, of course, this wasn’t the way they were supposed to be, but she was certainly going to miss seeing the level of innocence her officers had now. B’Elanna was unburdened by trust issues, Tuvok was passionate and bright, and Tom - well, she supposed he hadn’t changed all that much, but at least he seemed to be genuinely happy, not just putting up a front of humor to protect himself.

It would be hard to see them go back, but maybe, now that she understood how the world and time had changed her friends, she could help them.

She was shaken from her thoughts by a tug at her collar. She looked down to see Harry pulling at her pips, completely enamored by the gold metal.

“Oh, Harry.” She nearly choked on his name. Since he was so young now, she didn’t have any insight into his personality after having seen him as a baby, but she was going to miss his innocent curiosity and familiar weight on her hip.

Before she could think too much about it, she handed Harry over to Tuvok. The younger boy scrunched his face up and whimpered at the change of hands, but Tuvok bounced him gently and he settled down, reaching for the pointed tip of Tuvok’s ear.

Kathryn took a step back, feeling Chakotay step up behind her so that they were nearly touching. “Best of luck, you four.” She gave them her most reassuring smile. “See you on the other side.”

She and Chakotay hurried up the bridge and gave the go ahead for the ensign who had taken over Harry’s post to begin using the tractor beam to move the shuttle out into the anomaly. They stood side-by-side on the bridge and watched the shuttle go through. At come point, they grabbed each other’s hands and squeezed each other tightly.

There was a flash as the shuttle passed through the anomaly. After a few terrifyingly quiet moments, the shuttle came bursting out of the other side and a voice crackled over the comm.

“Cochran to Voyager,” confusion leaked through Tom’s voice. “What the hell just happened?”

Kathryn and Chakotay smiled at each other in relief. “What’s the last thing you remember, Tom?” Chakotay asked.

“B’Elanna, Harry, and I were coming back to Voyager when we- wait a second, how did you get here, Tuvok?”

Janeway laughed. “Why don’t we get you four back on board and then we’ll explain everything.”

“Copy that. See you in a few.” Tom’s voice grew quieter, like he was leaning away from the comm. “I have a feeling this is going to be one heck of a story.”

-----

After everyone had been debriefed and left to process the last two days of strangeness, Chakotay found Kathryn in her favorite spot; on her couch and staring wistfully out at the stars as they drifted past. She had shucked her jacket and taken her hair out of it’s clip, leaving her in her grey turtleneck with her hair falling around her shoulders and face.

“Got a lot on your mind?”

She turned to smile at him, a note of sadness in her eyes. “It’s been an interesting couple of days.”

He settled on the couch a ways down, turning to face her. “It sure has.” He was quiet for a moment. “I’m going to miss our kids.”

“Me too. It was fun having little ones around, playing at being a parent.” She fidgeted with the seam on the couch. “It was different and they sure did give us some challenges,” she chuckled, “but I loved it.” 

“Have you ever thought about having kids of ou-” he coughed, “your own?” 

Her crystal blue gaze caught his. “Yes.” She smiled and looked out the window again. “I always thought someday I would be a mother.” With a snort and a smirk, she continued; “Of course, I never thought I’d be mothering my helmsman, security officer, engineer, and technical officer.”

Chakotay laughed softly. “I think you were mothering them before they were turned into actual children.”

“Perhaps.” A pause. “What about you? Did you ever think about being a father? Outside of the whole instance with Seska, of course.”

He nodded. “When I was in the Maquis, no. My life was too fast-paced to be a proper father. If I was going to be a dad, I wanted to do it right and I couldn’t have done that from a Maquis ship.” He took a deep breath. “After joining this crew, though.... I’m in a better place now, and I think I’d be thrilled to be a father.” He looked over at Kathryn to find that she was already looking at him with something like wonder in her eyes. He held her gaze for a moment and, finally finding a bit of courage, he said: “I’m more at peace.”

A smiled played at the corners of her lips, and her eyes looked a little like they were silver-lined, though Chakotay couldn’t quite tell for sure in the low light of her quarters.

“You were really good with the kids. You would make an excellent father, I have no doubt.”

He smiled. “You would make an excellent mother. You’re a natural.”

“Thank you, but I barely felt like I knew what I was doing.” She chuckled.

“You could have fooled me.” He grinned for a moment, before his countenance grew more serious. “I hope you get your wish someday, Kathryn. I hope you get to be a mother.”

She was quiet for a moment, and Chakotay suddenly felt his chest tighten. Had he said too much.

Before he could fall too far into his panic, her hand slid over to his, giving it a squeeze. He looked up into her eyes, which definitely had tears in them now.

“I hope you get to be a father too Chakotay. Someday.”

He squeezed her hand back and they both fell into a comfortable silence, enjoying the view of the stars outside Kathryn’s window.

[angsty-violet]

Agony - Chapter 6

Agony Masterpost

@whumptober2020

Despite Tuvok’s incredible resistance to pain, even he had a breaking point. The first time he every begged it to the stop was during another cold treatment. The temperature lowered beyond his ability to cope.

“No more.”

The words were hardly more than a desperate whisper. Despite that, he knew that Kell’an would hear it anyway. Almost immediately, the temperature began to rise. Tuvok didn’t know if that was because Kell’an had capitulated to his begging or if it was just the end to this particular exercise.

Either way, he was terrified about what would happen when Kell’an returned to the room. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. He didn’t bother opening them when the alien returned and began to open the cage he was in.

“You know, I’m almost disappointed. You were doing so well, not begging, taking everything that I threw at you. Despite that, I’m still quite proud of you. You made it much further than any of my other experiments. Plus, this is the first time I’ve ever heard you beg for me to stop it. Most start with the first torture. Not you, though. You are absolutely exquisite. Very impressive. Back to the wall with you. I’ll return once I’ve made my final rounds, and you can have something eat. Have to keep your strength up.”

Tuvok watched as Kell’an left the room again, cheerful and upbeat. He rested his head against the wall and sighed. He was desperately hoping that the Voyager had found and understood his message. However, even if they had, they might have still be far away. It could be that they wouldn’t reach his location for weeks or months. Especially if Kell’an’s ship could move faster than their own.

That had seemed the case during his occasional moments of lucidity during the trip. They had moved out of the system they were in and towards their current position so fast that Tuvok didn’t recognize the stars around them. He always made sure to scan and memorize the upcoming areas as far out as possible. The fact that he didn’t recognize the space he was in at all was telling.

Although it actually boded well. It meant that they hadn’t traveled in the opposite direction of Voyager’s course. With how sparsely populated this part of space was, they were most likely to have continued in approximately the same path that Voyager would. It might mean that his message would be received later, if not Today. That would be fine with Tuvok. As long as they knew where he was, he could believe that they would come to get him.

Although perhaps they wouldn’t. It might be more effort and life than he was worth. The Captain might choose to continue on rather than mount a rescue attempt. She might not want to risk more crewmates for a single member.

Tuvok decided that that might be the best option available. He didn’t want his crew to lose their lives over him. Especially since he wasn’t that well-liked or respected anyway. Tuvok felt that he might have made a rash decision when it came to sending the message. If he hadn’t, there would be little to no chance of them finding where he was. That would optimize the likelihood that they wouldn’t ever locate him, try to rescue him, and incur possible loss of life.

Tuvok sighed and silently chastised himself. He was 120 years old; he was not a young, impetuous Vulcan. He did know better. He should not have left that message buoy. He should have calculated possible crew loss of life against his own loss of life and chosen not to allow them to risk themselves.

Tuvok knew that the incorrect decision was in part because of the pain being inflicted on him. His thoughts weren’t as clear as they would be without it. As he was in an immense amount of pain on a fairly regular basis, it was causing his logic to break down. Tuvok resolved to not allow it to happen again. It was sensible for humans to act brash and emotional, to think of themselves. It was not for Vulcans.

It would not happen again.

  “Crew of Voyager, I have a vital message for the entirety of you. As you all know, a few days ago, Lt. Commander Tuvok was taken while on an away mission. After scanning the whole of the planet, we discovered there were no Vulcan life signs. We believed that he had been moved off the world. Following what we thought would be his wishes, we continued on our path home. Despite moving on, I still held hope that we would discover signs of him along our route.

“Today, we have discovered a message we believe he sent. It was encoded in Starfleet binary and held his clearance code. Therefore, we are pursuing this lead. I will note that it is almost directly in our path home. There will be little to no change in our mission home. However, whoever took Tuvok displayed advanced technology, more advanced than ours. Therefore, we run a high risk of running into a species we can’t beat in battle and might be risking our lives.

“I will not make this decision unilaterally. If you believe that we shouldn’t pursue this lead, I want you to speak up right now.” Janeway listened to see for any dissenting voices. There wasn’t a single one. She closed her eyes, overwhelmed by the pride her crew made her feel.

“I take your silence as the belief we should go after him. While on our way there, we will do everything in our power to make the ship ready to meet up with a more technically capable species. The single came from about 30 lightyears away. That gives us about two weeks to prepare as much as possible. Should any of you change your mind in those two weeks, you have my permission to speak frankly with me. You will soon be receiving orders on making our ship as ready as possible for a possible confrontation. Janeway out.”

[summahsunlight]

This Way Became My Journey, Ch. 18

The Karvaian Prime Minister, Ayrel, was a tall, lanky man with pale skin, deep nasal ridges, and long, jet black hair, tied back at the nape of his neck. He wore long crimson robes made out of a material that looked like cotton, but felt like silk to the touch. Kathryn Janeway couldn't help but notice that his large presence also made the spaces usually occupied by Commander Chakotay and Counselor Barrett seem non existent.

When they had emerged from Rupor space, Janeway had ordered to rendezvous with a Karvaian vessel that would bring the Prime Minister to her so they could meet. It had taken Voyager three hours to meet up with the slower Karvaian vessel. She had skipped the pleasantries when Ayrel had transported to Voyager and brought him to the briefing room, where the senior staff, or what remained of them, were gathered at the table.

"Is it your custom, Captain, to have this many people present for a treaty negotiation?" Ayrel asked her, his black eyes scanning the room.

"Sometimes," Janeway answered, simply. "But we're not here to discuss the treaty, we're here to discuss the Rupor, and you know that." She gestured toward an empty seat. "Please, why don't you have a seat Prime Minister."

Cautiously Ayrel took his seat at the opposite end of Janeway. "To be honest with you Captain, I'm not sure I'm going to be much help. My people have sworn off dealing with the Rupor; they are ruthless warriors who will stop at nothing to keep outsiders out. So, we stay out of their space and they stay out of ours."

Janeway raised an eyebrow in a gesture that was eerily Tuvok. "You mean to tell me that you've known about the Rupor and what they are capable of?"

A look of guilt washed over the Prime Minister's face. "Well, yes, I suppose."

"And you failed to tell me or my diplomatic party the dangers of crossing out of Karvaian space?" Janeway questioned, her voice laced with controlled anger. "We tracked our shuttle to the surface of a planetoid. Unfortunately, the Rupor swarmed us and we had to retreat back into...friendlier space. My officers, if they aren't dead already, are not going to survive much longer out there, which means we have to act fast."

"I'm truly sorry about your loss-,"

"I don't think you quite understand, Prime Minister," Janeway interrupted. "It's not my people's way to leave officers behind. And I want you to know that I will exhaust every last possibility to rescue them. Your help would be greatly appreciated."

Ayrel looked around the group, noticing the same determined look in their eyes. He had never encountered such devotion and loyalty in the Delta Quadrant, and it prompted him to divulge a bit of information to their leader. "Several years ago one of our transport vessels had to alter course to avoid an ion storm, it lead them into Rupor space. They took refuge in a nebula until they came up with a way to modify their shields so the Rupor could not detect them. In effect it cloaked them. I would be willing to have my engineers beam over and help your people make the same modifications to Voyager."

A smile spread across Janeway's face. "Thank you Prime Minister, that would be wonderful."

Ayrel gave her a small nod of his head. "I'll send a team over right away. Hopefully you can be underway by morning."

By morning? Janeway thought, miserably. She had hoped to be underway a lot sooner than that.

"Is there anyway we could have the modifications done before then?" Tuvok asked. "Captain Janeway was correct when she said our people have very little time. We would like to be on our way as quickly as possible."

"Commander Tuvok's right," Harry Kim spoke up. "The sooner we get the modifications up and running, the sooner we can head back to the planetoid and find our missing people."

"I can pull people off of repairs if I have too," B'Elanna Torres said, "if it means the modifications can be done faster."

"We could also do them in route to the planetoid," Tom Paris suggested. "If we travel at maximum warp we could be back there by twenty three hundred hours."

Chakotay, I wish you were here to see them working together like this, Janeway mused, with a sense of pride running through her veins at her how her senior officers were sticking up for each other and working together.

The Prime Minister looked her gravely in her eyes. "I'm afraid, Captain Janeway, that tomorrow morning is the best I can offer you. The modifications are extremely complex; they have to be since you are trying to hide from the Rupor." His dark eyes became sad, "I'm sorry, I know that this must be difficult for you and your crew."

More than you know, Janeway thought, coldly. "Well then, let's not waste anymore time here because time is precious right now. Tuvok, escort the Prime Minister back to the transporter room and await the engineering team. B'Elanna, get your people ready to make the modifications. Harry, I want you to help B'Elanna; Tom, set a course back to Rupor space and come to an all stop just outside their borders. I want to be close by when those modifications come online. Dismissed."

She watched as the senior staff and the Prime Minister left the table, leaving the room and leaving her alone with her thoughts. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she could feel a headache forming behind her right temple. Tomorrow morning seemed so far away. And the prospect of what they could find on that planetoid frightened her.

"Paris to Janeway, we're ready to get underway ma'am."

Opening her eyes and standing up, Janeway pushed the chair away from the table and tapped her combadge. "Understood, I'm on my way." With one last look around the briefing room, she stepped out onto the bridge and called in a crisp command voice, "engage Mister Paris."

When Chakotay returned to "camp" around midday from his trek up the mountain to find water, he was surprised to find two things. One being that Sarah had developed a fever, despite his attempts to stall the infection's progress, the other thing being the sensors were blaring.

"They've been doing that for about five minutes," Sarah muttered. "If I was able to get up I would have checked them."

He had not even realized that the sensors had survived the crash. They're probably the only thing on this shuttle that did survive the crash, Chakotay thought. If he had known they were semi-operational, he may have been able to calibrate them to send another signal to Voyager. It had nearly been two days and they had heard nothing from Janeway or the others. Putting the storage containers of water down, he went to check what the problem was.

"Is it Voyager?"

"No," he swallowed. "An alien ship has just entered orbit, same warp signature as the one that shot us down. I think our friends have found us."

It felt like it was an eternity that she stood outside the Captain's quarters, nervously holding onto a PADD, contemplating whether or not she should reach out and press the chime. B'Elanna Torres wrung her fingers anxiously about the edges of the PADD and then with a deep breath reached out and pressed the chime. After several seconds, and no response from Janeway, she wondered if the Captain was even in her quarters. But she was sure that she had seen the woman leave the bridge hours before to relieve Tal Celes from baby-sitting duties.

B'Elanna reached out again and pressed the chime. From inside the quarters she heard a slumber filled call come back allowing her access to the room. Great, I woke her up, B'Elanna thought as the doors to the Captain's quarters swished open. The older woman looked confused to see her there and raised an eyebrow. "Lieutenant Torres?"

The PADD that the young woman had been holding onto was suddenly thrust into Janeway's hands. "I thought you'd like to see the latest report on the modifications to our shields."

Janeway took the PADD from her and pretended to be reading it over, but in reality was watching as B'Elanna anxiously took in the room, her dark eyes studying every last detail. Setting the PADD away from her face, she said, softly, "You didn't come here to just drop off a PADD; what can I do for you B'Elanna?"

B'Elanna's dark eyes snapped to her face. "I… how did you know?"

The Captain smiled and placed the PADD down onto the coffee table. "I've been in Starfleet long enough B'Elanna, but perhaps, call it mother's intuition."

"Mother's intuition?"

"A lot of people don't realize that being a captain and being a mother are quite similar," Janeway replied, with a gentle smile. "A captain is required to be the guiding force of their crew; a mother is…by nature the guiding force for her children. In that sense a captain always knows when there is something pressing her crew, just a like a mother knows that something is bothering her children. Now, what can I do for you B'Elanna?" she repeated.

It was at that moment that B'Elanna realized how human Kathryn Janeway appeared. When she had been forced to live on Voyager she had thought of Janeway as nothing but a self-centered, emotionless, Starfleet captain, hell bent on her principles. But right now, with her hair matted from sleeping probably on the chaise lounge where the baby now slept, her blue eyes reflecting exhaustion and worry, and her brow furrowed in concern for B'Elanna, the young Klingon was suddenly aware that she had perhaps misjudged Janeway. "I guess��I guess there are some things that I needed cleared up; you were the most…logical person to come too." Damn, now I sound like the Vulcan.

"I guess that depends on what you want cleared up," the older woman replied.

"Is it true?" B'Elanna questioned, "That you have no intention of going back to that planetoid to look for Chakotay and Barrett?"

A dark look came over Janeway's face. "Where did you hear that?" she asked, in a seething tone.

"That's the rumor going around the ship," B'Elanna replied, then added, for good measure, "ma'am."

"I don't know what you've been told, Lieutenant, but I am completely committed to getting my people back," Janeway responded, with an edge to her voice. "As a senior officer, you should realize that."

"I…you're right, I'm sorry for disturbing you ma'am," B'Elanna said, stepping back towards the door to leave.

An apologetic look came over Janeway's face. "No, B'Elanna, wait, I'm the one who's sorry; for a lot of things. It's been a long couple of days and I'm afraid that my mood is reflecting that."

"If you ask me," B'Elanna said, before leaving, "you shouldn't have to apologize; information was kept from you and now two officers are missing. You've held it together longer than I could have, and quite possibly a lot of other people as well…I should be getting back to those shields, good night Captain."

"Good night, B'Elanna," Janeway whispered watching her chief engineer leave hurriedly through the doors and disappear down the corridor.

"Paris to Janeway."

Janeway tapped her combadge. "Go ahead Mister Paris."

"You wanted to be informed when we reached the Rupor's borders, we're there ma'am," Paris responded, his voice drowning in exhaustion. The entire crew had been putting in double, even triple shifts in order to get the repairs and necessary modifications to the shields done. Tom had been sitting at the helm for nearly twenty four hours.

"Understood, hold our position here, and Tom…," Janeway ordered, "get some rest."

"Yes ma'am, Paris out."

Rubbing her eyes, Janeway decided it was probably best to heed her own advice. Snuggling up onto the chaise lounge with Ava, she reached out and pulled the baby close to her, closed her eyes, and drifted back into a fret filled sleep.

"I don't know how much further I can walk, Chakotay," Sarah mumbled from his side.

They had abandoned the shuttle what felt like hours ago and started the long trek up the mountain so they could make an even longer trek down the other side. But they had been forced to abandon the shuttle. The aliens that had shot them down had entered the system again, no doubt wanting to finish off the job. Chakotay had tried, to the best of his abilities, and using some old Maquis tricks, to make it look like they had died in the crash. Of course, if Voyager did indeed come looking for them, they would also think that they were dead.

We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, Chakotay thought as he steered Sarah into a cave, lugging the little equipment that he had managed to salvage from the shuttle, with them. Helping the young counselor down to the rocky ground, he shrugged off the med kit and pulled out the tricorder, running the hand scanner over her body. "Your fever's up and it looks like the infection is spreading. We'll make camp here tonight; there isn't much daylight left we won't be able to keep going once the sun goes down. Hopefully our friends took the bait and have left."

"In other words, my fever is the least of our problems," Sarah muttered, exhaustion clearly written on her face. Chakotay immediately felt guilty, perhaps he had pushed her too hard, she was after all seriously injured, on top of fighting an infection, and he had made her hike up a rocky mountain. He could almost here the holographic doctor's protests back on Voyager.

He gave her one of the blankets. "Let's hope it's our only problem."

"They aren't coming for us," she whispered, her eyes beginning to slip shut.

"Who? The aliens?"

"No, Voyager."

"Don't say that, Lieutenant, let's keep a little optimism here," Chakotay said. "That's an order," he added, as an afterthought.

Her eyes snapped open and looked at him, the sharpness long ago dulled out by the infection and fever. "I was taught at the Academy that sometimes, optimism is a lost cause, that as a counselor its best to dish out the reality."

"Well, what do those Academy professors know, any how?"

When there was no response from her Chakotay glanced to his right to see that she had drifted off to sleep. Its for the best, he mused, realizing that she was not going to fight the infection while babbling to him, she needed to sleep, to conserve what little strength she had left while they waited to be rescued. Voyager, where are you? That thought had haunted him since they had started their trek up the mountain, to get away from the aliens. He had thought Janeway would have been here by now, not letting some hostile race stand in her way. Had Voyager suffered the same fate as them? Was the starship nothing but a pile of debris in the middle of space, blown apart by a race that seemed intent on killing everyone that entered their system?

He rubbed a hand over his face, listening to the sounds of Sarah's labored breathing. His first away mission as Voyager's first officer was one disaster after another. Who knew that they would be fighting for their lives on some barren planet, seventy thousand light years from home, when they had originally set out on some diplomatic mission for Janeway? Certainly not him; after all diplomatic missions were usually peaceful missions.

Of course, nothing seemed to go according to plan out here the Delta Quadrant. Chakotay should have expected a mishap here and there. Is this what your life has come to Chakotay? Getting stranded on a barren planet with a dying woman is just a mishap? Was he so used to tragedy that a situation like this barely fazed him? He wondered when that had happened. Had it been when his father died? The suffering he had endured with the Maquis? Being stranded in the Delta Quadrant away from his family and friends? The shuttle crash? The list seemed to go on and on and he couldn't pinpoint the moment that he had turned his emotions off so tragedies were nothing but mishaps.

In the waning light of day he began to drift off to sleep, unaware that the tricorder was beeping a warning near by.

[voyagerafod]

Star Trek Voyager: A Fire of Devotion: Part 4 of 4: Hotter Than Hell: Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Almost as soon as it became clear that the Class-4 cube, while not destroyed as they had hoped, was not pursuing them, Tom Paris got to work on building a second Delta Flyer. As is usually the case, the second Starfleet/Borg hybrid shuttle was finished considerably faster than the prototype. In Tom’s opinion, this one was even better than the first, though some of the improvements were ones he had planned on making to the original before it had been sacrificed to get Captain Janeway and her team onto the cube.

“The asteroid field is densest over here,” Tom said, pointing to a display.     “You want to take a test run through that mess?” Harry Kim said.     “You doubt my skills?” Tom said.     “Not really,” Harry said. “I’m just not sure we should taxing her so much so soon. This is the Flyer II’s first time out.”     “As good a time as any to see if she can handle tight spaces,” Tom said.     “Okay, if you say so.”

After a few circling runs around the larger rocks of the field, Tom levelled the Flyer out, and was prepared to call it a day, when the proximity alert noise sounded.     “There’s a vessel coming up fast off our starboard bow,” Harry said.     “Shields,” Tom said.     “Range, 50 kilometers.” Harry said. “10. It’s pulling along side.”     Tom glanced out the viewport to see the vessel pulling up. It was slightly smaller than the Flyer, sleek, with a clashing color scheme that Tom would never have thought of for the Flyer, with good reason, but wasn’t offensive to his eyes.     “Nice ship,” he said with some sincerity.

“It’s scanning us,” Harry said.     Tom opened a hailing channel to the ship. “This is Lieutenant Tom Paris of the Delta Flyer II. Please identify yourself.”

A feminine sounding voice replied, though Tom knew better than to make assumptions.     “Vectored exhaust ports,” the other ship’s pilot said, “accelerated driver coils… Your vessel must be fast.” Whoever it was sounded impressed, and Tom couldn’t stop himself from gloating a little.

“Well, I certainly like to think so,” he said.

“Check your scanners,” the other pilot said. “You’ll see a comet on the other side of the asteroid field. I wonder which of our ships could get there first.”     “Sounds like a challenge,” Tom said, smiling.

“Are you going to accept?”

“Tom, no,” Harry said

“Tom, yes,” Tom said. “This is a test flight, right? What better way to test the new ship than to see how it stands up to a little competition.”     “Oh Jesus tap-dancing Christ,” Harry muttered.

Tom chuckled. “Okay, that’s a new one. Where did you pick that line up from?”

“So?” the other pilot said impatiently.     “You’re on. Are we going to count to three or-”     The other ship took off at maximum impulse, cutting off Tom’s question.

“Oh, so that’s how you wanna play it huh?” Tom said, before pushing the throttle forward. It didn’t take long for them to catch up to the other ship, but right away Tom noticed something about it that could give them an edge of over the new Flyer.

“She’s a lot more maneuverable than we are,” he said.     “Well,” Harry said. “If we’re going to go through with this, I might as well point out we can even the odds. The new impulse thrusters.”     “Now that’s the spirit Harry,” Tom said. “Let’s do this.”

The ship lurched slightly from the sudden burst of speed that came once Harry activated the new thrusters. Within seconds they had closed the gap with the other vessel to just fifty meters.

“Bring the backup generators on-line,” Tom said, “and reroute power to the thrusters.”

The Delta Flyer II surged forward, easily passing the other vessel. Tom felt the huge grin on his face and glanced back to see that Harry was smiling now too. He was about to suggest to Harry that he shouldn’t worry so much about the new Flyer, when he saw out the port side viewport that the other vessel's starboard nacelle was on fire. As the ship was flying through a vacuum at the moment, that was naturally a point of concern.

“Uh oh,” Tom said. Harry looked down at his console and hit a few buttons.     “The other ship’s cabin is filling with nyocene gas,” he said.     “Stand by for emergency transport,” Tom said.

The sound of a transporter beam filled the cabin, and Harry, emergency medkit already in hand, was there when the pilot, an alien woman, materialized. She leaned against the nearest bulkhead, coughing while Harry ran a medical tricorder over her.     “You okay?” Harry said.     “I’m fine,” the pilot said between coughs. “I guess this rules out a rematch.”     Tom and Harry shared a look, the latter looking surprised, but Tom wasn’t. He was a pilot at heart, and he knew one of his own when he saw one.

“What happened?” he said.     “My power transformer overloaded,” the pilot said.     “We could probably find you a spare back on Voyager,” Harry said. “That’s our primary ship.”     “We were about to head back there anyway,” Tom said. “This was just supposed to be a test flight.”     As Tom expected the pilot looked more hurt hearing that than she had over nearly being poisoned with nyocene.     “You’re telling me I lost a race to a prototype?” she said. “Ugh, I am never going to hear the end of it back home.”     “We won’t tell,” Tom said as he manipulated the controls to turn the Flyer around. I can’t wait to tell B’Elanna how well the new impulse thrusters worked, he thought. “I’m Tom Paris, by the way. My co-pilot and good friend here is Harry Kim. What’s your name?”     “Irina,” the pilot said.

---

“I’ve been looking forward to my holodeck time all week,” The Doctor said, trying to walk away from B’Elanna Torres, wishing he hadn’t decided to leave his mobile emitter on the desk for this shift. “Why can’t you borrow three hours from someone else?”

“Yours are the last piece to the puzzle,” B’Elanna said. “Tom and I have finally managed to get a weekend off together. I’ve been trading favors with members of the crew so that we could get the holodeck to ourselves. Even Sam, Seven, and Naomi gave up theirs for the week.”     “Ah, a romantic getaway,” The Doctor said.     “Exactly,” B’Elanna said.     “Well, unfortunately for you I’ve chosen this week to indulge myself in a new hobby. Something human doctors have been enjoying for centuries.”

“Oh for the love of…”

“It’s called golf,” The Doctor said, picking up a ball and club he’d replicated for himself. “I’ve already booked a tee time.”     “Well,” B’Elanna said, sounding dejected. “If your tee time is more important than our happiness, our first chance to be alone in months…”

The Doctor knew a guilt trip when he saw one. Unfortunately, unlike viruses, energy weapons, or weather, B’Elanna’s sad face was not something he was immune to. He put down the ball and club.     “Fine,” he said, “you can have my three hours.”

“Thank you,” B’Elanna said.

---

    The next window of communication with Starfleet was still over a week away, but Seven of Nine couldn’t help but notice that Samantha was nervous. Since the window would be relatively short, and there were many crewmembers with loved ones back home, a lottery of sorts was held, and Samantha had drawn a low number, meaning she would be among the first to contact someone during said window.

  �� “Sam,” Seven said, “Are you worried about introducing me to your parents?”     “Worried? No, well, yes, to Mom. Dad should be okay. If he’s there I mean, he re-enlisted when the Dominion War started and the last letter we got from home said he was still in command of the John Laurens. And, well, honey, there’s something I should’ve told you awhile ago and, um…”     “Sweetie, you’re babbling,” Seven said. “You told me to let you know when you were babbling.”     “Yes, well, you know me. My babbling capabilities are infinite,” Sam said with a nervous chuckle.     “If this is in reference to the death of her brother at Wolf 359,” Seven said, “you told me about that already. I don’t doubt that the situation may be uncomfortable initially, but once Linette Wildman understands that I have been free of the Collective for three years now-”     “There’s something I left out,” Samantha said, looking embarrassed, and slightly chewing on her lower lip the way she did where there was something she knew she should say, but was unsure how.

    “What do you mean?” Seven asked.     “Uncle Doug wasn’t just my Mom’s brother. He was her twin brother,” Sam said.     “I don’t understand why that… Oh,” Seven said, taking several moments longer than she cared to admit to make the connection. She might not have made that connection at all, had she not spent the past three years sharing a vessel with a set of twins, the frequently rumor-plagued Delaney sisters. Jenny and Megan. The two often worked in astrometrics during Seven’s regeneration cycles, but despite their infrequent meetings she had come to respect them as officers and as scientists. She was also very aware of the deep bond between the two, and that was why she was suddenly nervous herself about speaking to Samantha’s mother.

    “Oh dear,” Seven said, unable to think of anything else to say.     “I know it’s been years since Wolf 359, but Annie, she was still a mess when I left for Voyager, I don’t know if my having been MIA for three years with no idea if I was alive or dead made it worse or not, but it certainly didn’t help.”     “Did she say anything in the letters you got from the Alpha Quadrant?”     “No,” Sam said. “I know she’s alive, and at home, but she didn’t actually send me any messages herself, that was all from Dad.”

    There was an uncomfortable silence that followed. Sam took Seven’s hands in hers and gently squeezed. Seven squeezed back.

    Whatever happens, she thought, she’s Sam’s mother. Treat her with respect, no matter what she says to you. Remember that anything she might say is motivated by a type of loss I could never understand.

---

    The Delta Flyer and Irina’s ship made it to Voyager’s shuttlebay safely, and as soon as Irina had been cleared by both The Doctor and Tuvok to move about the ship except for certain restricted areas, she and Harry immediately got to work on repairing her ship from the inside while Tom worked on the outside. The officers in charge of the shuttle bay made it clear that faster would be better, and Harry didn’t blame them. Between the regular shuttles, the Flyer, and Neelix’s old ship, the place was constantly more crowded than Federation safety standards allowed for. It had been that way for years, and this new vessel was only compounding the matter.

    “Could you hand me the viridum injector?” Irina said to Harry.

    “Sure thing,” Harry said. “Let’s see, where is... Ah, here we go.” He handed the device to Irina who took it and applied it to her console with a smooth, swift motion. Harry sat in the seat next to her’s.     “Comfy chairs,” he said.     “My co-pilot certainly thinks so,” Irina said, not taking her eyes off her work.

“Your co-pilot?” Harry said.

“I was on my way to meet him when I ran into you,” Irina replied.

Harry realized that Irina wasn’t giving him much to do in terms of help, but he also needed to stay since some of the equipment she was using was Starfleet equipment that he would need to take back once repairs were complete. Lacking an actual task, he decided to settle on some small talk. She might not reply but it was better than nothing.

“So, tell me about where you’re from,” he said.     “It’s a small trinary system, about half a parsec from here,” Irina said.

“Three suns,” Harry said. “Wow. We have systems like that where I’m from, but as far as I know, none of them are populated. Did your people originate there, or is it a colony?”

“Are you always this inquisitive?” Irina said, smiling.     Oh, she thinks I’m flirting, Harry thought. Better dial it back. “I’m a Starfleet officer. We’re all about questions. Knowing the unknown is what drives us.”     “That almost sounds like a recruiting speech.”     “Well, it’s part of the speech yeah,” Harry admitted. “But I wasn’t asking you to join us or anything.”

The sound of a ladder being ascended cut off any reply.     “Your new power transformer is installed and ready to go,” Tom Paris said as he climbed into the cockpit area.     “Thanks,” Irina said. Harry couldn’t help but notice her smile had widened when she spoke to Tom.     “Your impulse drive is a real beauty,” Tom said.

“I designed it myself,” Irina said, leaning back in her seat with an almost human like display of pride.

“I couldn’t help but noticing your warp system seems so rudimentary,” Tom said.     “Warp’s fine if you like going fast in a straight line,” Irina said. “But to me that’s just physics, not flying. Besides, for the kind of flying I’m here for warp is not a factor.”     “Pun intended?” Harry said.

Irina rolled her eyes, and moved on without acknowledging Harry’s comment.

“The race course is only two billion kilometers long,” she said.

“Race course?” Tom said, sharing a look with Harry.     I’m intrigued as well, Harry thought.

“You don’t know?” Irina said.     “We’re not from around here,” Harry said.

---

    B’Elanna could tell when Tom was excited even without seeing his face. He walked in a certain way she could never really adequately put into words, but nonetheless, she knew it when she saw it and when he walked into the briefing room after having requested a gathering of the senior staff, she saw it.

    Once he started explaining what he wanted to do, she understood why.

    “It’s called the Antarian Trans-Stellar Rally,” he said, pointing to a map that he had called up on the monitor. “Three segments, covering 2.3 billion kilometers.”     Harry, standing next to Tom, spoke next.     “With obstacles ranging from dwarf star clusters to K-class anomalies.”     “Two-man crews, and most importantly, each ship is limited to sub-light speeds,” Tom said, his excitement threatening to get the better of him “It is the ultimate test of ship design and piloting skills.”     “Not to mention a serious drain on Voyager’s resources,” Tuvok said, looking down at the PADD Tom had handed him before the start of the meeting. “You’re suggesting we reassign 15 crewmen to modify the Delta Flyer?”     “The race has very specific guidelines,” Tom replied. “All of the ships have to use enriched deuterium fuel, which the Flyer’s not equipped to do, but Irina, she’s that pilot we rescued, she agreed to lend us a fuel converter.”     Chakotay’s face suggested he had the same concerns that Tuvok did, but the Captain gave no visible indication of what she would say. B’Elanna herself wasn’t sure if she wanted her to give Tom the okay or not. The timing was too close for her comfort; Tom could complete the race and still make it in time for their weekend on the holodeck, but if just one thing went wrong with the Flyer during the course…

    “Captain,” Tom said, “this race is more than just a sporting event. Until recently this region was a war zone. Four different species fought for nearly a century to control it.”     “Now,” Harry said, “for the first time they’re competing peacefully. To commemorate the new treaty that ended the war.”     “This race embodies everything the Federation values,” Tom said, “a peaceful coexistence, a free exchange of ideas-”     “I think it’s a great idea,” Janeway said, much to B’Elanna’s surprise, and based on Chakotay’s face and Tuvok’s raised eyebrow to theirs as well. The Doctor, who had been there the whole time but didn’t seem to care, finally was paying attention, though he didn’t say anything.

“You do?” Tom said, looking unsure if he should be glad the Captain accepted his pitch, or disappointed that he didn’t actually get to finish it.     “You do?” Tuvok said.     “Absolutely,” Janeway said, smiling in a way B’Elanna hadn’t seen since before the Unimatrix Zero mission. “This competition is just the sort of break we need. It’ll give us the chance to make some friends, which we could always use more of in this region, and give the crew a chance at some real R&R. Request granted.” She gently tossed the PADD Tom had given her back to him.     “Thank you, Captain,” he said.     “One thing, gentlemen,” she said. “Now that we’re in this race, we’re in it to win. After all, Starfleet’s honor is at stake.” She winked at Tom and Harry before heading for the door.     “Don’t worry,” Tom said. “It’s in good hands.”     “No pressure, right?” Harry said jovially. Tuvok simply followed the Captain while Chakotay started reading his own PADD, presumably to brush up on whatever information Tom hadn’t gotten to do to his premature victory.     “Obviously I will insist that you have a full stock of medical supplies on board,” The Doctor said. “I won’t even bother pointing out the potential dangers of this race course, since you doubtless already know and, to borrow a phrase, don’t give a rat’s extremities.”

Tom and Harry headed out, and B’Elanna followed, the three making their way first to the turbolift, then to the shuttlebay.     “So, I didn’t get the chance to meet Irina, or look at her ship,” she said. “She’s not going to give you too much trouble I hope.”     Tom chuckled. “Yeah, I’m not too worried. I’m just glad she’ll be on her own ship and not flying with me.”     “What do you mean?” B’Elanna said.     “Let’s just say our new friend is a bit of a flirt,” Harry said.     “Oh, really,” B’Elanna said.     “That’s putting it mildly,” Tom said. “I didn’t pick up on it at first because I thought she was just talking about her ship. I must be getting soft in my old age.”     “I don’t have to worry about her trying to poison me and merge with you, do I?” B’Elanna said.     Tom sighed. “One time that happened.”     “I can confirm that Irina is not some crazy A.I.,” Harry said. “Well, not an A.I. anyway,” he added with a smirk.     “I assume you let her down gently,” B’Elanna said.

“I tried to. I mentioned you, by name, when I said I was with someone. That only made her flirt more though. I eventually lied and said we were already married to try and get her to back off.”

“Didn’t work I take it?” B’Elanna said.     “Not even a little,” Tom said. “She’s one of those types I guess.”

“Not to be mean, Tom,” B’Elanna said, “but didn’t you hook up with a married woman or two before we got together?”     “I was kind of hoping you’d forgotten about that,” Tom said.     “There’s the silver lining for you, Tom,” Harry said. “Irina probably won’t try to frame you for murder.”     “Really? You’re going to bring that up?” Tom said.

“Look,” B’Elanna said, putting her arm around Tom’s waist, “just tell her I used to be a terrorist and that I know how to handle sharp objects. That should get her to back off.”

“One can only hope,” Tom said.     Before the three of them made it to the shuttlebay, B’Elanna realized something about the phrasing Tom had used earlier in the conversation.     “Hang on a sec,” she said, “what did you mean by ‘already married?’”

---

    “And that’s why I’m not going to be Tom’s co-pilot for the race anymore,” Harry said, raising his drink at the table in the mess hall he was sharing with Seven, Samantha, Joe Carey, and Sue Brooks.”     “Leave it to Tom Paris to get engaged by accident,” Brooks said.

    “Given the volatile nature of their relationship,” Seven said, “I would’ve predicted homicide before matrimony.”     Harry and Sue each stifled a laugh, while Samantha playfully punched Seven in the arm.     “Honey, that’s not fair,” she said.     “Am I wrong?” Seven said.     “Look,” Harry said, “let’s just be happy for my best friend, shall we? He’s going to win this thing, then as soon as they get back, wedding.”     “Will they be back in time for the window of communication with Starfleet?” Carey asked.     “No,” Harry said, “the window lines up with the post-race ceremonies. But they both drew high numbers in the lottery anyway, so it kind of doesn’t matter this time.”     Seven looked like she was about to say something, but her eyes shifted at the sound of one of the doors to the mess hall opening, and the Delaney sisters both walked in, talking about something.     “Excuse me,” Seven said. “I have a matter to discuss with the Delaneys. I will see you all at the Delta Flyer launch.”     “Okay sweetie,” Samantha said.

    “Something about astrometrics?” Harry said.     Samantha looked back and forth, seeming unsure how to respond. “Well, I don’t know if I should say anything.”     “This about your Uncle?” Harry said.     “That obvious?”     “Seven didn’t know your Uncle and your Mom were twins before now?”

    “It never came up,” Samantha said. “And honestly it didn’t seem all that relevant. If I’d known when we started dated that we’d be able to talk to home in just a few short years I would’ve told her then. I think Annie is really worried that my Mom’s not going to like her.”     “That’s normal I suppose,” Carey said. “I was nervous first time I met my in-laws.”     “Yeah,” Samantha said, narrowing her eyes. “Pretty sure your wife didn’t used to belong to a people who killed one of your relatives.”     Carey nodded. “Okay, fair point. Our situations really aren’t that similar at all.”     “Look,” Harry said, “I’m sure it’ll be fine. Your Mom will understand that Seven had no control over her actions when she was a drone, and regardless Seven wasn’t even at Wolf 359.”

    “Knowing and accepting are two different things, Harry,” Samantha said. “But I hope you’re right.” She glanced over at Seven, speaking to the Delaney sisters. “And hopefully those two can give her the insight she’s looking for.”

---

    Janeway listened as the coordinator of the race, Antarian Ambassador, O’Zaal, relayed his concerns regarding the race that her people had just entered. When the Ambassador had first requested this meeting she’d been concerned that he would request that her people bow out, leaving the competition to races from the formerly war torn region, but it didn’t take long for those concerns to be assuaged.

“One of the species in the race, the Aksani, want to host the post-race ceremony, and say they will break the peace if refused. But it had already been agreed upon that another species, the Chessu, would host it. This is quite the mess, Captain.”

“It sounds like it,” Commander Chakotay said.

“The peace is so fragile,” O’Zaal said, “every decision I make, no matter how trivial, is looked upon as symbolic.”

“Winning is easy,” Janeway said, “governing’s harder. It’s a story that happens all too often. Even in my world’s history. Maybe we can help you.”

“I was hoping you could,” O’Zaal said. “Your people are new to this region. With no ties to any of our races, you’re in the ideal position to be an arbitrator.”

“The easiest thing to do,” Janeway said, “is to provide neutral ground for the pre- and post-race activities. Our mess hall is designed to be adjusted in a hurry, we can have it ready to accommodate the launch party in under an hour.”     “I was hoping you would say something like that, Captain,” O’Zaal said. “I cannot be accused of showing favoritism to the Federation seeing as before yesterday I never even knew you existed.”     “I’ll tell Neelix to prepare for guests,” Chakotay said, smiling.

---

    “I look ridiculous in this,” B’Elanna said, looking down at the white, gray, and black uniforms she and Tom would be wearing on the Delta Flyer for the race. “Any particular reason we couldn’t wear our regular uniforms? Or even our civilian clothes?”

    “You look great, B’Elanna,” Tom said, looking around at the crowd of aliens and Starfleet personnel mingling in the mess hall for the pre-race ceremony. “Oh. There she is.”

    “Who? Oh, Irina. She seems friendly.”     “Too friendly,” Tom said. “Remember, far as she’s concerned we’re already married.”     “You don’t really think she’d be so brazen as to flirt with you right in front-” B’Elanna stopped talking when she saw the look Irina was giving Tom as she approached them. “Okay, I guess she will be.”     “Like I said,” Tom whispered, “she’s not a bad pilot, but she’s not so good at taking a hint.”

    “Tom,” Irina said, extending her hand, which Tom took and shook politely. “Good to see you before the race. And this must be B’Elanna Torres. Pleasure to meet you.” She offered the same hand to B’Elanna as well, smiling.     If she’s faking being nice to me, B’Elanna thought, she’s a damn good actor. Hell, with a smile like that I’d consider dating her.

    “Nice to meet you,” B’Elanna said. “Looking forward to see what you can do in person.”     “That’s right,” Irina said, “I’d almost forgotten, you’re Tom’s co-pilot now. Any particular reason Harry Kim couldn’t make it?”     B’Elanna looked at Tom, who was laughing nervously.     “Oh, nothing major,” Tom said. “I just remembered that I hadn’t taken the missus out in the new Flyer yet, and this is as good an excuse as any.”     That was weak, Tom. “In a way, this ship is kind of like our baby,” B’Elanna said, putting an arm around Tom’s waist, and hoping she could save him from further embarrassing himself with bad excuses.     “Well,” Irina said, “I’ll try not to be too hard on your baby then. I do still intend to win, after all.”     “Yeah, well,” Tom said, confidence entering his voice, “we’ll see about that.” He smiled, and B’Elanna could tell that he was not faking it. He really expected to win. That didn’t worry her though. The Delta Flyer II was a great little ship, and while she hadn’t contributed as much to it as Tom or Seven of Nine or Harry had, she was still proud of it.

    “Oh, speaking of things to look out for,” Irina said, her gaze falling on one of the other pilots, a blue-suited one staring out the viewport with his arms crossed, making a point of not talking to anyone. “His name’s Assan. He was a fighter pilot in the wars, one of the most ruthless. I doubt he’ll outright cheat, but he’s going to be as rough as he thinks he can get away with, I’m sure of it.

    “Oh, hey, I see Joxom,” Irina said, changing the subject so quickly B’Elanna almost didn’t register it. Irina ran over to another alien, one the same species as her, and gave him a more than friendly hug. She and Tom shared a look.     “I wonder if he knows-”     “Tom, be fair. Her species could be polyamorous,” B’Elanna said.     “Maybe,” Tom said. “All the same, the more he’s around the more comfortable I’ll be.”

    “It’s not like you to be this judgemental, Tom,” B’Elanna said.     Tom chuckled. “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s focus on winning the race, then on getting married once we win.”

    “Damn straight,” B’Elanna said. “Oh, before I forget, Seven has been helping with race preparation in astrometrics.”

“She told me about that, actually,” Tom said. “Said she’s analyzing the course to find ways to cut time. Already sent a few ideas to the Flyer’s computer. Too many ideas really. Is she nervous about something? This doesn’t seem quite like her.”     B’Elanna took in a deep breath. “Well, from what I hear, she’s going to be talking to the in-laws during the next communication window with the Alpha Quadrant.”     “Ah,” Tom said. “Wants to make a good impression on Sam’s parents?”     “You didn’t remember?”     “Remember what?”     “Sam lost an uncle at Wolf 359. Her mom’s brother. Twin brother, actually.”     “Oh, shit,” Tom said.     “Yeah,” B’Elanna said.

---

    Under most circumstances, the sight of more than a dozen fully armed starships lined up facing each other would be a sign that something terrible was about to happen, but to the pilots of the smaller vessels lined up for the race it was an impressive send-off. Tom looked at the ships, a line on the port, and a line on the starboard. Voyager was at the far end of the port side line up, it’s clean white hull standing out amongst the various shades of dark grey and light brown vessels making up the rest.

    “On the one hand,” Tom said, “it’s a shame Harry is going to miss this. On the other, this is going to be one hell of a story for us to tell the grandkids.”     “Don’t get ahead of yourself, Lieutenant,” B'Elanna said as she did a final pre-flight check. Tom couldn’t quite remember the last time he’d seen her this excited about something. Certainly it had been before her physical therapy after having a number of Borg implants removed. He still winced sometimes thinking about how that must’ve felt. She didn’t like talking about the experience, and he respected that choice, but he couldn’t help his curiosity.

    “Ready to bring that impulse drive online?” Tom said.     “Been ready for a few minutes,” B’Elanna said. “I didn’t want to start them up too soon. We’ve still got a few stragglers coming in before the race starts, and I don’t want to waste an ounce of fuel. And before you say anything, yes I know we have more than enough to cover the race, but I don’t want to take any chances.”     Tom smiled. “Whoever thought we’d live to see the day when B’Elanna Torres was the cautious one.”     “Eight years ago I never imagined I’d be taking pride in a Starfleet designed engine,” B’Elanna said. “Things change.”

    “Well, hopefully your hatred of losing hasn’t,” Tom said.     “Oh, we’re going to win,” B’Elanna said. “Don’t doubt that for a second.”     Once the pre-flight check was done, Tom waited for the signal. A few moments later, the sound of Ambassador O’Zaal, speaking from Voyager’s bridge on an open channel to all vessels involved in the race, filled the cabin.

    “Welcome to the first running of the Antarian Trans-Stellar Rally. This moment marks a hopeful point in our shared history, a chance to put aside old animosities and come together in a spirit of peace and friendly competition. Good luck to all of you. Prepare for the starting signal.”

A few seconds later, Voyager fired a low-yield photon torpedo that detonated a few hundred meters in front of the starting point.     “And we’re off,” Tom said, pushing the throttle forward.

---

    Seven of Nine found herself grateful for the distraction as she listened to Neelix excitedly announce updates on the Delta Flyer’s progress in the race over the ship’s comm systems from astrometrics. She operated the consoles, leaving the theatrics to the much more suited crewmember. She doubted she could muster up quite that much enthusiasm if she tried. It was much easier to be so emotionally free when it was just her and Samantha.

Much better to think about this than about what to say to my mother-in-law, Seven thought, as Neelix shouted gleefully about the Flyer taking a strong third place. That put them well ahead of the next nearest challenger, with relatively little distance separating it from the two in the lead; Irina and Assan.

The sound of the door to astrometrics opening caught Seven’s attention. The Captain and Lieutenant Kim walked in but didn’t say anything, instead leaning against a pair of consoles and watching Neelix announcing the race. Seven wondered why they couldn’t just listen over the comm like everyone else, but decided that asking wasn’t worth the effort. The answer wasn’t that important. She looked at the screen, watching the icons representing each vessel, focusing on the gold icon representing the new Delta Flyer.

“You certainly have a knack for announcing, Neelix,” Captain Janeway said.     “It’s all in the delivery, Captain,” Neelix said. “Though I have to give your people much of the credit. Remember when Kes and I were monitoring all those Earth programs a few years ago when we found ourselves thrown back to your world in the 1990s?”     “Ah yes,” Janeway said, smirking. “The day my fascination with time travel started its sharp decline.”     “I picked up a few things from some of your sports programs,” Neelix said. “Oh, looks like the Flyer is coming up on the Möbius Inversion.”

---

    “The Inversion’s supposed to have level 6 subspace distortions and gravimetric shear,” Tom said. “We’ll have to be careful around that.”

    “It covers the last third of this leg of the course,” B’Elanna said, “so being careful inside the wormhole will be easier said than done.”

    “You know,” Tom said, looking at the Möbius Inversion as it grew larger in the viewport, “it occurs to me that statistically speaking we have run into way too many wormholes here in the Delta Quadrant. Kinda makes the Bajoran one seem less special.”     “I haven’t really thought of it that way,” B’Elanna said. “Usually I just end up being disappointed that none of the ones we come across are a shortcut home.”     Tom shrugged, and was about to mention that on the positive side one of those wormholes did at least knock two years off their trip a while back, but the Flyer began vibrating slightly as it approached the event horizon of the Inversion.

    “Hold on tight,” Tom said, gripping the controls tighter than he probably should’ve.     “The radiation of the Inversion is going to block Voyager’s sensors,” B’Elanna said. “They won’t be able to track our progress until we reach the other side.”     “That should only be about fifty meters away,” Tom said.

    “Forty meters away,” B’Elanna said a few seconds later, “and the two lead ships right ahead of us.”     “I can see them,” Tom said. “A little too close for comfort seeing as I don’t need sensors to do that.”

    “And close together too,” B’Elanna said, “but I think we can get through them. I’m reversing our deflector polarity. It’ll repel their shields. Why wait for an opening when you can make one?”

    “Sounds too risky,” Tom said.     “Too risky? Who are you and what have you done with my fiancé?” B’Elanna said as she moved to another console and began manipulating controls.

    “What’re you doing?” Tom said.

    “Deploying auxiliary thrusters,” B’Elanna said. “We’ll need the extra maneuvering power to get through the gap.”     Tom opened his mouth to protest, but decided it wasn’t worth it and refocused himself on flying the ship. It shuddered violently but briefly as it sped in between the two lead ships, knocking them aside slightly but not enough to throw them completely off course. Tom was grateful for that. He would hate to win by having the competition exploding behind him.     “That was way too risky,” Tom said, turning to look back at B’Elanna. “I hate to sound rude, but I’m the pilot, I’m the one who should be making those calls.”

    B’Elanna did look upset at first, like she was about to argue, but whatever counterpoint she was going to offer evaporated before she could say it.     “I saw a chance and I took it,” B’Elanna said, quietly. “You’re right though, you’re the one flying this thing, I should’ve asked.”     “Good,” Tom said. He smiled and added, “Great move by the way. We have a comfortable lead now.”

    “Attention all racers,” Ambassador O’Zaal’s voice said over the Flyer’s comm. “There’s been an accident. Stay in order and shut down your engines.”     Tom did as instructed quickly, hoping that whatever happened wasn’t serious. He glanced back at B’Elanna and could tell by looking at her that she was worried that it had been her fault, and that whoever was wounded had been on either Irina or Assan’s ship when they blew past them in the Inversion.

---

    With O’Zaal just a few steps behind her, Janeway entered sickbay where The Doctor ran a medical tricorder over a wounded Joxom, Irina’s co-pilot.

    “Report,” Janeway said.     “His condition is stabilizing,” The Doctor said. “I should be able to start dermal regeneration in a few hours.”     “This was Assan’s fault,” Irina said, standing near the biobed where Joxom was being treated.     “Why do you say that?” O’Zaal said.

    “He collided with me so many times my shield generator overloaded,” Irina said. “Joxom’s console exploded. He’s lucky he’s alive.”

    “Janeway to Tuvok, have the pilot Assan brought to the briefing room, ASAP. Ambassador, I imagine you’ll want to be there as well.”

    “Want, and need, Captain,” O’Zaal said. “We need to get as full a picture of what happened as possible.”     Janeway nodded. “We’ll want Tom and B’Elanna as well. They were ahead of both ships, their flight data might have picked up information we need for the investigation. Irina, come with me.”

    “Of course,” Irina said, taking one last long look at her co-pilot before following.

---

    “The only thing I’m guilty of,” Assan said, sounding smug to Tom, “is coming in second. A situation which will be remedied in the next leg.”     If he has any concern for Joxom at all, Tom thought, he’s hiding it well.

    “You’re doing a poor job of defending yourself,” O’Zaal said, visibly nervous.     “We may have had something to do with this too,” B’Elanna said. “We grazed both of their shields in the Möbius Inversion.”

    Tom felt as much as saw all eyes in the room turning on him and B’Elanna; Assan, Irina, Tuvok, the Captain, O’Zaal all looked at them, surprised at B’Elanna’s declaration of guilt. Tom doubted very much that she was to blame, but he had to admit that he was clearly too biased on the matter. He hoped as much as believed that this was not her fault.

    “Intentionally?” Janeway said.     “It was a tight course,” Tom said, “everyone was flying very aggressively.”

    “Your team is not responsible, Captain,” Irina said. “My generators were already overloading when they made contact.”

    “Perhaps none of you is to blame,” Tuvok said, looking down at the PADD in his hands. “My security team found a device interfaced with her ship’s shield generator.” Tuvok touched a button on his PADD and a picture of the device in question appeared on the main briefing room monitor.

    “What is it?” Janeway said.     “According to Lieutenant Anderson’s analysis,” Tuvok said, “it is a phase inverter, designed to cause a system overload.”

    “It’s hard to believe someone would go this far just to knock a competitor out of the race,” Janeway said, though to Tom’s ears she didn’t sound confident of that.

    “This may be more than a simple case of cheating, Captain,” O’Zaal said, sounding worried. “I think someone’s trying to end the peace.”

    “Maybe I’m missing something here,” Janeway said, “but we’re talking about a single act of sabotage. How does that threaten your treaty?”

    “By itself, it wouldn’t,” O’Zaal admitted, standing up and starting to pace with his hands behind his back. “But we’ve received threats of a more serious nature.”     “From whom?” Tuvok asked.

    “Groups opposed to the alliance,” O’Zaal said. “Arms dealers, isolationists, political extremists. Up until now I wasn’t sure how seriously to take them.”

“Clearly they post a security threat,” Tuvok said.     “Yes, yes,” O’Zaal said. “We’ve done everything we could to protect the racers, but that might not be enough. I don’t want to risk any more lives. We should cancel the race or at least postpone it until we can guarantee everyone’s safety.”

Tom didn’t like that idea one bit. Even setting aside that he and B’Elanna were in the lead, this race was of vital symbolic importance to the inhabitants of this region of space. Giving in to extremists, assuming that’s who was behind the sabotage instead of just some cheater, could only hurt the peace in the long run.

“No,” Irina said. “If we stop now we’ll be letting these extremists win.”

Exactly what I was thinking, Tom thought.

“She’s right,” Assan said, without a trace of the egotism in his voice he’d had in everything else Tom had heard him say.

O’Zaal didn’t look optimistic, but he nodded. “Very well then. If that’s the consensus we’ll resume tomorrow as scheduled.”

---

    “There you are,” Harry Kim said as he saw Tom, B’Elanna, and Irina walking side by side in the corridor, clearly on their way to the shuttle bay. “Congrats on taking the lead, Tom. I was sorry to hear about Joxom though. Glad to hear he’s recovering.”

    “Thank you, Harry,” Irina said.

“By the way, did you get my request?”     “What request?” Tom said.     “I was about to tell you,” Harry said. “I asked if I could be Irina’s new co-pilot while Joxom recovers.”

    “Oh, that’s very nice, but you don’t need to-”

    “Well, hey you still want to win, don’t you?” Harry said, smiling.     “This is payback for me replacing you with B’Elanna isn’t it?” Tom said.     “Only a little bit,” Harry admitted. “But also, Irina did us a solid with that converter, and I’d hate to see her have to drop out. I checked with the race officials, and they say it’s all good, so long as Irina herself signs off on it of course.”

    “Um, sure,” Irina said. “Though my ship’s damaged, so it may end up being an empty gesture.”     “You don’t know our Harry,” Tom said. “Once he’s set his mind to something…”

    “He’ll not only fix your ship,” B’Elanna said, “he’ll polish the bulkheads.”

    “Well, okay then,” Irina said, smiling. “Welcome aboard Lieutenant Kim.”     “I’ll try not to gloat too much when we win,” Harry said to Tom.     Tom just shook his head.     “Humans,” B’Elanna said, rolling her eyes.     “Says the half-human,” Tom said, playfully poking B’Elanna in the arm. Harry laughed at them as he and Irina made their way to her ship while the others went to the Delta Flyer.

---

    With the race back in full swing, Tom and B’Elanna held onto their lead, but Irina and Harry, as well as Assan, were doing an admirable job of catching up. At least they were until Harry suddenly noticed that Irina’s ship was gradually losing speed.

    “We’re slipping,” Harry said. “Assan just pulled ahead of us.”

    “Don’t worry about it,” Irina said. Something in her tone made Harry uneasy, but he got distracted by an alert noise from his console before he could think of reasons why that might be.

    “I’m reading malfunctions in the EPS relays,” he said. “But we double checked all of them last night.”

    “We must’ve missed something,” Irina said. “At this rate, we’re going to be out of the race in a couple of minutes.”     Harry wasn’t one hundred percent sure, but the way Irina said that suggested she wasn’t all that concerned about losing, a complete 180 degree turn from where she’d been last night while they’d worked on her ship together. Now he was certain something was wrong.

    “I think I can reroute power through the impulse manifold,” Harry said.

    “No,” Irina said suddenly, reaching out to stop him.     “Why not?” Harry said, fully suspicious now.     “It could damage the reactor coils,” Irina said.     “I was in engineering before I was an operations officer,” Harry said. “I know for a fact that reactor coils have nothing to do with impulse manifolds.”

    “These systems are different than what you’re used to,” Irina said, looking out the viewport and continuing to operate the controls as normal.

    “Why-” Harry’s question was cut off by another alarm sound.     “I think it’s the injector ports,” Irina said, bolting out of the pilot’s chair and heading for the back of the ship. Harry looked at his console.     “No, it’s an overload in my console,” he said, pushing himself back just in time to avoid the explosion. The same kind of explosion that had injured Joxom. Harry found himself wishing he had a phaser with him. “This wasn’t an accident,” he said, turning to look at Irina, who now held a weapon on him.

    “I’m sorry Harry,” she said. “I really am.”     A hologram, a dead woman, a Borg, the wrong twin, now this, Harry thought. If I believed in a God I’d think he was punishing for thinking about other women than Libby.

    “So this is one of those days then,” he said aloud. He wanted to be angrier than he was, but really he was just disappointed in himself for having fallen into a trap. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to tell me why you sabotaged your own ship twice.”

    “I don’t mind at all, actually,” Irina said. “I don’t need to kill you to accomplish what I came to do. If I did, you’d already be dead.”     “Fair point,” Harry said, hoping that Irina didn’t catch his glance towards the pilot’s console. He wasn’t quite close enough to just reach for it, but if he was quick enough he could leap to it and turn the ship fast enough that the inertial dampeners wouldn’t compensate and Irina would hopefully lose her balance. It was a huge gamble, so he needed to do the math in his head to ensure the best chance of success. The longer Irina talked...

    “If you’re hoping to call for help,” she said, gently motioning her gun at the communications panel which happened to be next to what Harry was actually looking at, “don’t bother. I disabled it before we launched. You won’t be able to fix it in time.”

    “In time for what?” Harry said.     “For the Delta Flyer to reach the finish line,” Irina said. Then she sighed. “Okay, that was too cryptic. I said I’d tell you, so I will. When the Delta Flyer passes the finish line, it will be passing very close to more than a dozen ships full of people, all congregating for this ‘peace’ Ambassador O’Zaal keeps going on about.”     “You’re one the extremists,” Harry said.

    “I prefer to think of myself as a purist,” Irina said. “Some of us were happier when all the other species were separate. We don’t want to be like you and your Federation.”     “The way you were flirting with my best friend, in front of his fiancee no less, you certainly could’ve fooled me,” Harry said, not caring that he’d revealed the truth about Tom’s marital status. He was pretty sure now Irina didn’t actually care.

    “I needed someone to deliver the explosive,” Irina said. “Who better than a show-off pilot who wants to win a big race?”

    “The fuel converter you gave us,” Harry said. “It’s a bomb. How the hell did we manage to miss that?”

    “Your friend Tuvok might’ve caught it, but you never actually had security look at the device I gave you. Sloppy work, Lieutenant junior grade Kim,” Irina said, practically spitting every syllable of Harry’s name and rank.     “I’ll be sure to pass that information along to Commander Tuvok,” Harry said.     “Once your Captain guarantees my safety, I’m sure you will,” Irina said.

    Now’s as good a time as any, Harry thought. He opened his mouth as if to reply to what Irina had just said, but then lunged for the console. A blast from Irina’s weapon grazed over him close enough that he could feel the heat of it, but she had clearly missed. He then lunged at her as she tried to right herself after the sharp turn, and despite their equal height, he had Starfleet hand-to-hand combat training to fall back on. Granted, he had only barely passed that exam, but it was enough and within seconds he’d wrestled the weapon away from Irina. He stepped back, the weapon levelled at her while she was still on the floor, propping herself up with her elbows.     “You’d better shoot me,” Irina said. “Because if I get that gun back-”     “Give it a rest,” Harry said, turning the pilot’s chair with one hand so that he could see the console and keep her in his peripheral vision. “You may have disabled your comm system, but this wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had to get creative in contacting another ship.”

---

    The Delta Flyer shuddered suddenly, which gave Tom pause, as they were nowhere near an obstacle that could do that.     “We’re being scanned by some kind of modulating pulse,” B’Elanna said. “It’s from Irina’s ship.”

    “Maybe it has to do with why they slowed down all of a sudden,” Tom said. “They must need help. Their comm system may be down if this is how Harry’s trying to get in touch with us.”

    Tom wanted to win the race, and Assan was mere meters behind him, but he knew that if it came down to it he’d choose rescuing his best friend over crossing that finish line first without hesitating. He already was prepared to turn around when B’Elanna continued.

    “There’s something odd about the amplitude,” she said. Soon a sound filled the cabin, and Tom recognized it immediately.     “Morse code,” he said.     “What?”     “It’s an old style of communication they used on Earth back before even radios were in regular usage. Harry’s trying to send out an S.O.S.”     “I do know what S.O.S. means,” B’Elanna said. “They’re in trouble.”     “Preparing to bring us about,” Tom said, looking at the small monitor next to his console. “Put the modulation on my screen.” B’Elanna did so quickly and as Tom turned the controls he used his knowledge to parse out what Harry was sending. It wasn’t an S.O.S., he could tell that much, the pattern didn’t fit. “Fuel converter rigged?” he said in shock.     “Rigged? How?” B’Elanna said.     “I don’t know, that’s just Harry’s message. Fuel converter rigged.”

    B’Elanna began rapidly tapping buttons on her console. “The converter is leaking veridium isotopes.”

    “Why didn’t the computer warn us?” Tom said.     “The on-line sensors have been tampered with,” B’Elanna said, “but we have a bigger problem. I don’t think I can contain the leak. The veridium is already reacting with the warp plasma.”

    “That’ll cause a warp core breach,” Tom said. “We’d better eject it.”     “Too late to eject the converter,” B’Elanna said. “We’ll have to eject the core.”     “Once we do we’ll have less than a minute to clear out of range,” B’Elanna said.     “I don’t think we’ll make it,” Tom said, feeling surprisingly calm given the circumstances. “Neither will anyone else within a million kilometers. There’s a nebula near by. I’m taking us towards it.”

    “How will that help? Besides taking us out of range of all the ships at the finish line I mean,” B’Elanna said. She had obviously figured out as much as he had that the dignitaries there were the target of this explosion.

    “It’s a J-class,” Tom said. “Filled with ionized gas. Should contain the explosion.”     “So much for our wedding plans,” B’Elanna said.     “Well, let’s just hope our heroic deaths earn us both a place in Sto'Vo'Kor,” Tom said.     “I’m not giving up just yet,” B’Elanna said. “I’m still trying to get the ejection subroutines on-line. Looks like Irina sabotaged that too. I’ll make sure to tell her she did a good job of hiding what she did before I wring her neck.”

    “Warp core breach in twenty seconds,” the computer’s voice said.

    “Just one more… got it!” B’Elanna said. “Warp core ejected!”     “Nine, eight…” the computer continued.     “It’s in the nebula,” Tom said, pulling the controls as hard as dared. “C’mon, c’mon, c’mon,” he muttered to himself as the countdown reached zero. “I love you,” he said as the shockwave caught up to the Flyer.

---

    Janeway graciously accepted the consolation from Ambassador O’Zaal as Assan’s ship flew past the finish line first. She was about to thank him for the opportunity when Voyager shuddered slightly.     “What was that?” Neelix said, his presence in the mess hall being why Janeway hadn’t known until now just how far behind the Delta Flyer had fallen.     “Janeway to the bridge, report,” she said after tapping her comm badge.     “That was the shockwave of an antimatter explosion,” Tuvok said. “Approximately 1.2 million light years from here.     “I’m on my way,” Janeway said, handing her glass of champagne to Neelix before heading for the door.

    As soon as she reached the bridge, Tuvok informed her of the situation as best he knew it. That the Delta Flyer had changed course suddenly, that Irina’s ship with Harry Kim on board had inexplicably stopped before the end of the race, and that the Flyer’s position was currently unknown but that it was last spotted near the site of the explosion.

    Janeway wasted no time in ordering that they go immediately to find them, fearing the worst.     “Captain,” Seven of Nine said “we’ll be passing by Irina’s vessel on our path. Shall we bring her and Lieutenant Kim aboard?”

    “Good thinking,” Janeway said, “Do it.”

    A few moments later, Harry’s voice came over the comm, calling for security to the shuttle bay. Janeway gave Tuvok a nod, and he left the bridge without a word.     “Well,” Janeway said, worry about Harry and why he needed security fighting with concern for Tom and B’Elanna for control of her focus. “This day took an odd turn.”

---

    Seven of Nine found herself in the regretful position of wishing that Tom and B’Elanna had been more injured when they and the Delta Flyer had been recovered. She believed that she could use concern for her shipmates as an excuse to avoid what was coming, but she just couldn’t do that to Samantha. This moment was very important to her.

    “So, I hear the post-race festivities are still on,” Samantha said, leaning against the bulkhead. She, Seven, and Naomi waited outside astrometrics for Ensign Brooks, who was in line ahead of them, to finish.     “Correct,” Seven said. “It would appear that Irina’s plans failed in more ways than one. Her homeworld’s government seems more willing than ever now to contribute to the peace.”

    “That’s good,” Sam said.     “Mom,” Naomi said, “are you sure Icheb can’t join us?”     Sam smiled as she stroked her daughter’s hair. “Sweetie, your grandma’s already going to have a lot to take in. Seeing you for the first time, me getting married again… I think introducing her to an adopted grandson at the same time might be a bit much.”     Perhaps I should let the two of you speak to her alone, Seven thought of saying, but inwardly scolded herself for thinking it. She hated feeling this uncomfortable about something that should be a positive.

    “Okay,” Naomi said, grudging acceptance in her voice, though Seven had already heard her say the same thing in the same way only a few hours ago. Naomi was not shy about sharing her disappointment.

    “You okay, Annie?” Sam said. “You look a little nervous.”     “Because I am,” Seven said. “Though I suppose that is a fairly common human response to such situations.”

    “You’ll do fine,” Sam said. “To be honest, and Naomi you are not to breathe a word of this to anyone, it’s my Mom I’m worried about. Like I said before, she was never quite the same after Uncle Doug died. I’d be lying if I wasn’t terrified about how she’ll react when she sees you.”     “Don’t worry, Mom,” Naomi said, trying to reassure Samantha in a manner Seven found endearing. “Grandma will see how nice Seven is. She won’t be mad once she knows that Seven isn’t a Borg drone anymore.”

    “We’ll see,” Sam said, “we’ll see.”

    The sound of the door to astrometrics opening caught Seven’s attention. A smiling Ensign Brooks stepped out, though she did appear to have been crying as well.     “You’re up,” she said.     “You okay, Sue?” Sam said.     “Oh absolutely,” Brooks said. “I just saw my nephew for the first time. He was born just a few weeks after we ended up in the Delta Quadrant. I was so happy to see him I cried. I know it’s silly-”

    “Hey, hey,” Sam said, “it’s perfectly normal. Don’t do this to yourself. And don’t worry, you’ll see him in person someday soon, I know it. With as many years as we’ve been shaving off the trip home lately, I bet you’ll be there to see him off to the Academy.”     “You know what?” Brooks said. “I think you’re right. Have fun talking to your parents, Sam,” Brooks said.

    “Thanks,” Sam said. After taking a deep breath, she added, “All right, let’s do this.”     Sam, Seven, and Naomi entered astrometrics. Megan Delaney was standing where Seven normally would at a console as far from the viewscreen as she could get. It was a good chance anyone on the other end of the communication could still see her though, but someone had to be there in order to handle the adjustments required to keep the communication link stable.     “I’m arranging the call as we speak,” Megan said. “I’ll have your parents home comm on the screen in under a minute.”     “Thanks, Megan,” Sam said.     Seven felt Sam squeeze her hand as the image on the astrometrics lab screen went from a black screen with the Federation logo, to brief static, to a woman’s face.

    “Hi, Mom,” Samantha said, smiling.     “Samantha, it is so good to see you again sweetheart,” Linette Wildman said, smiling, but looking tired, like she’d just woken up from oversleeping. “I was hoping I’d hear from you soon once we found out you were alive from your EMH.”

    “It’s great to see you too, Mom,” Sam said. “Where’s Dad?”     “James wasn’t able to make it back,” Linette said. “He wants me to send his love though.”     “Right, I’d heard he came out of retirement after the war started,” Sam said.     “That’s right. He decided to stay after the Dominion surrendered though, and I can see why. We lost a lot of experienced Captains during the war. How’s Nancy?”     “Your sister’s fine,” Linette said. “Anti-social as usual.”

    So far so good, Seven thought.     “Mom, I’ve got a few people I’d like you to meet,” Sam said, gently nudging Naomi to stand in front of her. Naomi smiled nervously and waved at the screen.     “Hi, grandma,” she said.     “Well hello there, Naomi. You really have grown so fast haven’t you? And I can see you have your father’s horns. You are just so adorable.”     Seven allowed herself a small smile.

    “Thank you,” Naomi said. Linette’s smile rapidly faded when her gaze shifted to what would be her left.     “You must be the new spouse, I suppose,” she said.

    “Mom,” Samantha said, “This is Annika.”     “A pleasure to see you, Mrs. Wildman,” Seven said, trying not to sound as uncomfortable as she felt by the sudden shift in her mother-in-law’s tone.

    “Uh-huh,” Linette said, not sounding convinced. “So, Sam, is there any reason the Borg has to be here? Can’t I just talk to my daughter and granddaughter?”     Seven glanced over and saw the expressions of happiness on Sam and Naomi’s faces fade almost simultaneously.     “Mom, Annie and I are married. She’s part of this family. She has every right to be here. If this is about Greskrendtregk-”

    “A little bit, yeah,” Linette said. “Is three years all it takes for you to get over a man you have a child with?”     “It’s more complicated than that, Mom,” Sam said. “I know this is a complicated situation but-”     “It shouldn’t be,” Linette said. “You were already married. I can’t believe the Federation would let this thing you have going with this Borg stand.”

    Seven saw Sam’s face starting to turn red, though whether it was from embarrassment or anger at how her mother was behaving, she couldn’t tell. She took a deep breath, and responded.     “Mom, would you want to be the ones to tell the Denobulans, or the Elerians, or the Sklorno that their relationships are invalid?” she said, referring to only three of the numerous polyamourous species that held membership in the Federation. “And besides, Greskrendtregk moved on too when he thought I was dead. Ktarians process emotional trauma faster than humans. He’s sent letters, we’re fine. You make it sound like I just left him for some random woman.”

    “No, not random. A Borg. The people who killed your Uncle and his entire crew at Wolf 359,” Linette said.

    And there it is, Seven thought. A part of her had hoped this wouldn’t come up, but deep down she knew it was inevitable. Seven heard a soft whimper, the sound that Naomi made when she was trying very hard not to cry.     “Maybe I should leave,” Seven whispered to Sam.

“What were you thinking, Sam, really?” Linette said before Sam could respond. “After what happened to Doug? After everything the Borg have done to the Federation all it takes for you to forget is one of them to come along and shove her tits in your face-”     “Mom!” Sam yelled, sounding angrier than Seven could ever remember her sounding in the several years she’d known her. “You have no right to talk to her that way. She wasn’t there, and even if she had been she was a drone. She had no control over what she did while she was a Borg. But she’s free now, and she is my wife. She is a part of this family. If you don’t like her, fine, but do not talk about her that way. Especially don’t talk about her like she’s not here.”     “Okay,” Linette said. “What do you have to say for yourself then, Seven of Nine?”     I have never been this uncomfortable in my entire life, Seven thought.     “Um, well,” she said, “I’m sorry for what happened to your twin. I can’t begin to imagine how-”

“No, you can’t,” Linette said. “You’ve only been human for, what, three years now?”     “Oh my god, Mom, please stop,” Sam said, her head in one hand, the other holding Naomi close. Naomi clung tight to Sam’s leg, looking as uncomfortable as Seven felt.

“I think I have the right to know what kind of woman she is, Samantha. She is my daughter-in-law now, like it or not.”     “It has been approximately three years since I was freed from the Collective, yes,” Seven said.     “Yet you still talk like one of them. How do I know one day you won’t try to jam one of your assimilation devices into my little girl’s neck?”     Seven never got the chance to respond, as Sam slammed her hand down on the console to cut off the channel. Seven winced at the sound of the impact. As loud as it was, Sam must’ve hurt her hand when she did so.     “Sam?” Seven said, reaching out to touch Samantha’s arm. Sam was taking in deep breaths, her eyes closed.

    “Mom,” Naomi said softly, “why was grandma being so mean?”

“She’s a- she’s never been the same since her twin brother died, sweetie,” Sam said. “She wasn’t always like this, I swear,” she added, looking at Seven when she did so.

Seven pulled Sam in close for a hug.     “I’m so sorry that didn’t go as you’d hoped,” she said.     Sam didn’t say anything, she simply started crying.