Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek or any of the characters (except Counselor Sumazi which I made up) and I'm not making any profit from this.
When Captain Chakotay woke up in his bed in his quarters aboard the USS Voyager, everything felt just like it usually felt. He didn't notice anything strange until he got out of bed and was getting dressed. His bedside table, which normally had four photo frames on it now had only one. He'd had photos of his family, friends and colleagues. Now, however, the only photo on the small table was one of Admiral Janeway standing outside Starfleet Headquarters in San Fransisco. Underneath it was a text:
"Vice Admiral Kathryn Elizabeth Janeway, born May 20th 2335, died 12th June 2380. Rest in peace. Your memory will live on in our hearts and your sacrifices will not be in vain."
As Chakotay read it his heart skipped a beat and he almost forgot to breathe. This was impossible. He could clearly remember speaking with her over subspace just yesterday. She'd been talking about staying on the ship for a few days, something he had very much been looking forward to.
No, this was definitely not real. He was absolutely certain that this was a practical joke, only he didn't find it amusing at all. When he found the person responsible for this, they would be in a world of trouble. Kathryn Janeway's death was not something you joked about, especially not to Captain Chakotay.
He stood up and went over to his replicator. Then he noticed something else different. His walls, which were usually adorned with artifacts relating to his tribe and his heritage, were completely bare. There was not a single artifact or photograph on them, in fact the only decorative item in the entire room was that one picture of Admiral Janeway on his bedside table.
Quite suddenly his thoughts about who could have done something like this were interrupted by the sound of Commander Paris's voice over the intercom, "Paris to Captain Chakotay."
Chakotay tapped his combadge and replied, "Go ahead, Commander."
"You have an incoming transmission from Admiral Nechayev, sir."
"Put it through to my quarters, Commander," Chakotay replied as he walked over to a console on one of the walls. He pushed a few buttons and a moment later Admiral Nechayev's face appeared on the screen.
"Captain, how are you holding up?" she said, sounding as though she genuinely cared and wanted to know.
"I'm fine, thank you, Admiral," the Captain replied, somewhat surprised. He had never known Admiral Nechayev to show such care.
"No, I mean really," she said in a serious tone. "It's perfectly understandable if you feel absolutely terrible, Captain, given everything."
Again Chakotay was surprised. Everything what? He gave the Admiral a puzzled look.
"You recently lost one of your closest friends, Captain. It would be logical for you to feel awful. I'm still surprised that you haven't taken any time off since her death." The Admiral explained what she meant, but Chakotay didn't really understand. Was she saying that she believed Admiral Janeway was dead? Admiral Nechayev wasn't the kind of person who joked about something like this, in fact he wasn't sure if she had ever joked about anything.
"I'm not sure I understand, Admiral," he said. "Since whose death?"
The Admiral looked utterly perplexed at the Captain's question, which, unfortunately, confirmed that she was not joking at all.
"Since Admiral Janeway's death, Captain," she said sternly. "Maybe I have underestimated the psychological impact it's had on you. Report to Counselor Cambridge immediately. That's not a suggestion, Captain," she added.
Who is Counselor Cambridge? Chakotay thought. The Counselor serving on Voyager was a young half human half Dormanian woman, Ayumi Sumazi. She had been one of the Counselors who performed psyche evaluations on Voyager's crew when they got home from the Delta Quadrant. But Chakotay knew better than to argue with Admiral Nechayev, so he just nodded and said, "Yes, sir."
"Very good, I'll be in touch with new orders in a few hours, Captain," the Admiral said. "Nechayev out." And her face disappeared from the screen.
When Captain Chakotay woke up in his quarters aboard the USS Voyager he didn't notice anything unusual. It wasn't until he got up and was, rather reluctantly, getting dressed that he noticed that his bedside table was different. He clearly remembered that when he went to bed there had only been one photograph there, the same one that had been there for the past six weeks, a photo of Admiral Janeway, standing outside Starfleet Headquarters in San Fransisco, underneath which was a text which read:
"Vice Admiral Kathryn Elizabeth Janeway, born May 20th 2335, died 12th June 2380. Rest in peace. Your memory will live on in our hearts and your sacrifices will not be in vain."
Chakotay had studied every detail of that photo and knew the text by heart. But it wasn't there anymore, instead there were four different photos, of his mother and sister, Tom, B'Elanna and Miral, his father and the senior officers who had served together in the Delta Quadrant.
As he walked around the room, he noticed that the walls, which weren't supposed to be decorated at all, were adorned with several artifacts relating to his tribe and his heritage. There were also a few more photographs. It occurred to the Captain that this must be some sort of a practical joke, no doubt someone had sneaked into his quarters and changed his decorations, just to mess with him. But he was not amused at all.
His thoughts were interrupted when Commander Paris's voice crackled over the intercom, "Paris to Captain Chakotay."
Chakotay tapped his combadge immediately and replied, "Go ahead, Commander."
"You have an incoming subspace transmission from Admiral Janeway, sir."
Chakotay's heart skipped a beat and he stopped breathing for several seconds. Did he say Admiral Janeway? If the Commander was making a joke, Chakotay was not laughing. Joking about something as serious as Admiral Janeway's death was not funny at all.
When the Captain didn't answer right away Commander Paris said, "Sir?"
"Put it through to my quarters," Chakotay managed to say. Then he walked over to a console on the wall, pushed a few buttons and Admiral Janeway's face appeared on the screen.
Chakotay's heart skipped another beat and he felt himself barely able to stand up straight. His whole body felt heavy and he wasn't sure if he should believe his eyes or not.
"Good morning, Captain," the Admiral began smiling, but then her eyebrows crinkled in a worried expression and she said concernedly, "Are you all right, Chakotay? You look like you've seen a ghost."
Chakotay just blinked a few times, staring. He avoided looking into her eyes, but studied every other detail about her, making sure this wasn't a recording or a hologram or something of the sort.
"Yes, I'm fine," he lied, trying to sound like he actually was. "I just had a bad dream."
She seemed to accept his lie because the worried expression disappeared from her face.
"How would you like a trip to Bajor, Captain?" she asked, smiling again.
Bajor? I just came from Bajor two days ago Chakotay thought to himself. But maybe the Admiral didn't know that.
"I just came from Bajor, two days ago, Admiral," he said rather confusedly. "Why would you send me there again?"
"You've been in orbit of Earth for over a week, Chakotay," she said with a chuckle. When Chakotay's confused expression didn't change, her smile faded, she leaned closer to the screen and said, "Are you sure you're all right? You look very pale. You should go to sickbay, let the Doctor take a look at you."
There was such concern in her voice that Chakotay had a very hard time fighting the tears that were burning in his eyes. He swallowed hard a few times and managed to say, "All right."
"That's not a suggestion, Chakotay," she said sternly. "Go to sickbay. I'll contact you again soon about your mission to Bajor."
"Yes, Admiral," he said stiffly. He finally looked into her eyes, and almost lost his balance again. They were so blue and shiny, full of life and joy, he felt like he was drowning in them.
"Good," she said with a smile. "Janeway out." And her face disappeared from the screen.