THE REAL FIGHT

"It all comes down to the heart. Do you have the heart for this? That's the contest. It's not against him. It's against your own natural human desire not to get hurt. That's the real fight."

- Boothby

"I'm afraid the source of the trouble may be a little... deeper," said the Doctor.

Janeway crossed over to the biobed to stand above her first officer. "A family curse," he said.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Chakotay has the genetic marker for a cognitive disorder: sensory tremens," the Doctor explained. "The primary symptoms are visual and auditory hallucinations." This was the last thing Janeway had expected to hear, and knew that her face betrayed the shock she felt.

"My family doctor suppressed the gene before I was even born," said Chakotay, "so I never had to go through what the others did, like my grandfather."

"For some reason the gene has been switched on," the Doctor continued. "I'm not saying for certain that's why Chakotay thought he was getting ready for a prize fight but it's a good bet. The holodeck boxing situation was fresh in his memory. A few misfiring neurons did the rest."

She looked down at her first officer, concerned, and then looked back at the Doctor. "This chaotic space we've entered; could it be stimulating the gene?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Possibly. The only way to make certain would be to get the ship out of here. In the meantime, the Commander will have to stay in sickbay." Considering his duties discharged, the Doctor walked away, leaving the command team alone.

Janeway leaned down, bringing her face closer to Chakotay's. "Tuvok tells me you've got a mean left jab," she said with a smile.

Chakotay laughed. "Never spar with a Vulcan." He sat up on the bed, and Kathryn crossed to his side.

"How are you doing?" she asked.

Chakotay let out a small sigh and replied, "I'm alright."

The Captain studied him for a moment. He was maintaining a surprisingly good sense of humor, but she wasn't fooled for a second. She reached up, putting her hand on her shoulder, caressing his arm.

Chakotay spoke. "When I was a boy, my grandfather started seeing things nobody else could see, hearing what nobody else could hear. He refused treatment. A couple of hyposprays a day, that's all he would've needed, but he was stubborn. He said his spirit was in pain but that the wound must be honored." He looked at her, knowing that she could see how much this pained him. He shrugged it off, and said lightly, "Crazy old man."

...

He felt her hand on his foot, and then her fingers over his. He put his other hand on top of hers. "I realize you're frightened," she said, "but you're our only hope out of this place." She placed her hand on his chest; this was always her special gesture, reserved only for him. "You think this could risk your sanity, but your sanity won't do you any good if we remain in chaotic space. I need you to keep trying, Chakotay." She caressed his chest gently. "Will you keep trying?" He looked deep into her eyes. Whatever you ask, he thought, and he nodded. She brought her hand up to touch his cheek before turning and leaving the room. He watched her go, ready to go back into hell for her.

...

Chakotay leapt out of the biobed. "Now do you believe me? They're the ones who scheduled the fight. They're promoting it. They're putting up the purse."

Kathryn Janeway used all of her self control not to allow him to see on her face how he appeared in that moment. He was out of control; she tried not to let him known how hard it was for her to see him like this. She walked over to him, her face only a few inches from his.

"His sensory cortex is hyperactive," the Doctor informed her. "He's still hallucinating."

"It's not an hallucination, not a vision quest," Chakotay said wildly. "It's a prize fight."

Kathryn took him by the arms, trying to force him to look at her. "Chakotay, do you know me? Do you know where you are?"

Chakotay took her elbows in his hands. "I know you, Captain." This relieved her, but then he turned to the Doctor, accusingly. "But you stopped the fight. You ruined my career. Nobody's going to put me on the card after this."

"It's better to rest, Chakotay," the Captain said softly, "until we figure out why this is happening to you." She backed him up onto the biobed, forcing him to sit down.

"They want to contact me," Chakotay said desperately.

"Who does?" she asked, still holding his arms.

"The people who live here!"

"This will sedate him," the Doctor said calmly, approaching with a hypospray, but Janeway's hand waved him away.

"Wait a minute," she said to the Doctor before turning her attention back to her first officer, placing her hand on his chest. "You believe somebody lives here, in chaotic space, and they're trying to communicate with you?

"Yes! I saw him."

"Tell me about him. What does he look like?" Her tone had softened.

Chakotay remained agitated. "He's got a couple of kilos on me, a few centimeters in height, but I can take him, Captain." He broke away from her grip and began to pace. "I just have to stay off the ropes."

"The holodeck boxing simulation is still strong in his memory. Obviously it's the primary source of imagery for his hallucinations," said the Doctor.

"What if those hallucinations are being induced... for a purpose?" Janeway replied, beginning to pace herself. "Aliens who exist on some perceptual wavelength that our sensors can't detect. And the only way for them to communicate with us is to alter our senses. Chakotay's bad gene gave them the opportunity."

"What are you proposing?" the Doctor asked.

"Remember the derelict ship? Two of their crew members claimed they were seeing things. Was somebody trying to communicate with them? Was somebody trying to warn them? Help them?"

"Or trying to destroy them just as they're trying to destroy us," offered the Doctor.

"Why go through all the trouble?" the Captain responded. "We're trapped here anyway."

"Let me back in the ring!" Chakotay pleaded. At that moment, they felt Voyager shake under them.

"Even if this is some kind of alien communication, it could harm him, permanently," the Doctor warned.

"Bridge to Captain Janeway," Tuvok's voice came over the comm.

"Go ahead, Tuvok."

"Graviton sheer has increased again. Hull pressure is rising."

"I'm on my way," Janeway replied. She walked over to Chakotay and looked at him, questioningly.

"Captain, when have we ever turned away from a first contact?" he asked her. Their eyes met and they held each other's gaze.

"Send him back in the ring," she ordered without breaking from Chakotay's gaze.

...

Chakotay burst onto the bridge. "Commander," said Tuvok, a tinge of warning in his voice.

The Captain approached her first officer immediately. "What happened?" she asked.

Chakotay was walking towards Harry's station, and one of the Captain's hands was pressed lightly to his chest as he backed her towards the ops station. "He's got a right upper cut that almost knocked me out." He pointed at ops. "Move over, Harry."

"Hang on, Ensign," warned the Captain, gesturing towards Kim.

"They showed me how to get out of here," Chakotay said urgently. He was prepared to run the Captain down if necessary.

The Doctor was close on Chakotay's heels out of the turbolift. "He's hallucinating."

Chakotay shoved Ensign Kim and shouted, "Out of the way!"

Janeway lunged forward. "Tell us what to do."

"I can't!" Chakotay exclaimed in frustration. "It's too... difficult... to explain." He was trying desperately to hold the alien communication in his mind.

"I'm locking him out," Kim said, his fingers flying over the panel behind his station.

"No," the Captain stopped Harry. "Give up your post." She watched Chakotay as he entered commands into the ops station. She couldn't quite understand it, but she had a glimpse into what he was trying to do.

"He is recalibrating the deflector dish, and routing it through the sensor array," said Tuvok.

"It must be altered," Chakotay said under his breath, working as fast as he could.

"Captain," Paris reported, "the graviton sheer is increasing."

"I am reading microfractures on the hull," said Tuvok.

"Stay and we'll be destroyed." Chakotay was repeating the words the aliens had told him. "Activate the deflector, maximum amplitude. Bring sensors online."

"Captain," Tuvok began.

She knew he was about to object, but judging by her first officer's urgency, they didn't have time. "Do it," she ordered. After only the briefest hesitation, Tuvok turned back to his station and followed the order.

Harry looked down at his console, puzzled. "I don't know how, but then sensors have found us a course."

"Maximum impulse, now!" Chakotay ordered.

"Captain, if that course is wrong, we could breach our hull," Tom said.

Janeway looked from Tom back to Chakotay. She trusted her first officer with her life; with all of their lives. "Engage," she said firmly.

Paris turned back to the conn and engaged the impulse engines. The ship shook, and Janeway had to grab the ops station to remain standing. But then, a moment later, they were free.

"We have reentered normal space," Tuvok reported.

The Captain breathed a sigh of relief. "Mr. Paris, resume a course to the Alpha Quadrant."

"Aye, sir."

Chakotay slowly began to walk away from the ops station. Janeway's eyes followed him. He looked exhausted. As soon as he reached the railing, he collapsed, but the Captain and the Doctor were immediately at his side, supporting him.