Continuum
Beyond Dishonour
The idea for this comes from a comment on MemoryAlpha about Janeway's death in a trek book called 'Beyond Dishonour'. (Hence the chapter title) and I considered it too good to waste! I have not actually read the book but from what it says on MemoryAlpha this is how I envision it to be. No copyright breach intended. No profit is being made from this except the hopeful increase in skill as a writer!
Destruction, death and fire rages around her. The Cubes and spheres in every quadrant are self-destructing and she can feel each and everyone perish; knowing the exact number of people dying on each ship. Tears run down her cheeks a feat she thought would be beyond her now as her ship burnt. The destruction could not be stopped. She had seen to that. The end of the Borg at last. No more drones. No more mayhem, death or genocide. Those that will die with her are going to a better place. This is the way it has to be.
"Go Captain you can't save me." She orders Picard and his several crewmembers who were standing horrified in the midst of the carnage.
"We can't leave you here." He answers even as transporter beams sweep his crew to the Enterprise and safety.
"So be it." As Borg Queen a simple thought activates the transporter system beaming him away back to the Enterprise; then raises the shields.
It won't be long now. The drones on her ship are diligently trying to stop the overload of the transwarp coils. They will not succeed. She is thwarting them at every turn locking them out of every system as fast as they can regain control. Other systems are overloading and exploding adding to the rampant plasma fires that are already burning all over the ship.
The cries in her mind are getting louder as more and more ships perish till there is silence save for the thoughts of the drones on this ship. Fifteen seconds till the total destruction of the Borg. All her concentration is on keeping the drones from preventing the overloads. Ten seconds, nine, eight, seven...
" Admiral Janeway." The Enterprise's hail cuts through her concentration.
It's too late now. She looks at the Captain of the Enterprise. She can see Lieutenant Commander Kim standing behind him on the bridge at ops and smiles..
"Goodbye Jean-luc, Harry. See you in hell." The diamond shaped ship explodes around her and the last thing she is conscious of is a split second of excruciating pain. Blackness swallows her then and she is drifting. The darkness is absolute. At least it's peaceful she finds herself thinking. Then she realises that although definitely dead; there is no way she survived that explosion, that she still feels like herself. More like herself than when she was alive actually. She now has all her limbs and there is definitely no machinery anywhere.
Kathryn smiles to herself. Then there is a flash of intensely brilliant white light and she is standing in a place of complete light surrounded by mist the comes from seemingly no-where it seems to go on forever. Standing opposite her is a woman she'd know anywhere. Q's lady friend. The one she has come to think of as Lady Q.
"Oh no, not you. Anyone but you." The response is involuntary. "I'm dead. Can't you respect me because of that and leave me in peace?" She asks hopefully all the while not really expecting to get anywhere.
Lady Q throws back her head and laughs. The trilling sound echoes around the space they are in revealing it to be not as unending as it seems.
"Aren't you delightful. I can almost see why Q likes you. Almost. You needn't worry. I'm not here to torment you." Lady Q becomes suddenly serious. "I'm here because the Q continuum has taken an extreme interest in you and has an offer to put to you."
She holds out her hand. "Come with me." She invites.
Kathryn hesitates. The Q Continuum, interested in her? She quirks her eyebrow at Lady Q suspecting a prank. Lady Q remains perfectly serious; her hand still held out in invitation. Kathryn hesitates a moment longer. Then she reaches out and takes Lady Q's hand. After all she's already dead. What has she got to lose?
She feels the moment of disorientation as the transition takes place then she is standing in front on the Q Continuum. They are sitting on three thrones in a magnificent hall of ice surrounded by the mass of what she suspects is every other Q in the Continuum she can see her Q and Q2 among them both of them grinning at her. Lady Q has joined them and is also smiling. The other Q are somehow unimportant to her as she fcuses on the three on the the thrones those who are the most influential.
She knows the temperature must be sub zero from the mist in the air when the Q breathe however, she does not feel the cold. All she feels is frail and insubstantial. When she looks at her hand she can see the ice through it. In contrast the Q look completely solid. It hits her again that she is dead. The feeling is quite strange.
"Welcome Kathryn Janeway. Doubtless Lady Q has told you why you are here?" The Q at on the left left queries.
She bows her head respectfully. "Lady Q told me that you had a proposition for me." She answers. "Apart from that I don't know why I am here."
The Continuum nod as one. Then the one on the right speaks.
"Kathryn Janeway our proposal is this. In exchange for all your knowledge of humanity and every other species you know or have encountered you shall be made a Q and live forever as like us an Omnipotent immortal being." Kathryn could only gasp gobsmacked. "However you may not interfere in the lives or evolution of any species. Do you accept?"
Kathryn was stunned. She did however have some questions. "What about my family back on Earth and my friends? Would I be allowed to see them them again?" She asked.
The Continuum looked at each other. "So long as you do not interfere in any key events. Parlour tricks would be allowed but nothing more than that." The Q in the middle replied.
Kathryn didn't see any harm in giving them her knowledge after all they could get it in other ways. She thought of the possibilities, she could see things she'd never have thought possible and do things she'd never have thought possible and most importantly she could live again and return to her loved ones.
"If I can keep my name," there was a ripple of laughter from the watching Q, "then you have yourselves a deal." She said speaking the words to agree to something she'd never have dreamed of and probably wouldn't have agreed to when she'd been alive. There was a ripple of laughter from the Q.
The Continuum nodded to Q2 who clicked his fingers. Kathryn saw herself become solid and the sense of fragility and feeling of frailness vanished to be replaced with a sense of strength and the absolute certainty that she could do absolutely anything she wanted to do. The Q around her cheered as she clicked her fingers and donned the uniform she worn on Voyager complete with her Captain's pips, only much more comfortable. She'd never been happy as an Admiral anyway. She'd have turned down the promotion if she'd thought she could get away with it but she hadn't.
The Q were dispersing now and the Continuum vanished with a flash. The next thing she knew she was a Kathryn Janeway sandwich between Q and her godson as they both hugged her.
"Welcome, my dear Kathy, to eternity." Q said with a grin. Kathryn grinned back.
" Thank you Q, Q2. Now to tell my loved ones the good news." With that she clicked her fingers and vanished. Her destination being a town in Indianna.
What do you think? Review and tell me. Constructive Criticism welcomed. Flames will be used for S'Mores!