Disclaimer: Everything in the Star Trek Universe belongs to Paramount.
Summary: A mysterious entity switches Janeway's mind from her body to Chakotay's body (and vice versa). Who could it be? And what are the consequences of this superhuman action?
The Changing of Minds
By Kaitz
As alpha shift came to a close, the captain of Voyager slowly lifted herself from her chair, and slowly made her way towards the turbolift. Her feet slowly lifted themselves from the ground, then deposited themselves slowly back down again, one in front of the other. She wondered if anyone could tell that the slowest, most boring day ever in Voyager bridge history had affected her as much as everyone else. Of course, no one was paying enough attention to even notice the captain's transit. They were too busy trying to keep themselves from drifting from a state of semi-consciousness to total unconsciousness. Even Ensign Eager, or as some addressed him, Harry, was succumbing to the measureless monotony.
By this time, Janeway'd called for the turbolift three times successively, and it still hadn't arrived to rescue her from the godforsaken shift. Tapping her foot loudly against the carpet to show her displeasure at being kept waiting, she decided to deflect her annoyance onto a hapless crewman.
"Lieutenant Paris!" Janeway barked. "Lift your head up from the console immediately! This is a bridge, not a bedroom."
Tom's head shot up. "Wha? Huh?"
The captain's outburst had roused everyone on the bridge to wakefulness. Everyone except Tom, she noted, irked.
"Tom…" Harry whispered forcefully.
A measure of recognition as to his looming doom filtered into Tom's brain. "Captain! Uh—I'm sorry ma'am. I don't know what came over me." Thinking for a moment, he added, "It won't happen again."
"See that it doesn't," Janeway replied with a tone that could slice through steel.
The whole bridge crew sunk deeper into their seats and backed farther into corners. Captain Janeway in a bad mood was not a woman to be trifled with. One glare and you might as well start writing your own eulogy.
To the junior officers' collective relief, the turbolift finally arrived. Out stepped Commander Chakotay, whistling a catchy tune as he prepared to start beta shift on the bridge.
Captain Janeway pressed two fingers to her throbbing temple. She stared at him with a mixture of disbelief and anger. 'I've just gotten off the absolute worst shift of my life, with the most incompetent set of officers I've ever been assigned to work with. They can't even manage to stay awake on the bridge! How could anyone else be in a good mood while I'm irate?!' Her private ranting just decreased in rationality from there.
"Commander." She snapped loudly. "Your whistling is disturbing the efficiency of the bridge crew. Please stop it immediately."
"Okay, Captain," he replied congenially, trying to suppress a grin. Alpha shift couldn't have been that fun today. ]The exact reason for her displeasure eluded him, though.
The ever-attentive captain noticed Chakotay's smirk, unfortunately. "Is there something you find amusing, Commander?"
"Not at all," he lied smoothly. Changing the subject, he added, "Oh, Captain. Don't forget about tomorrow."
"I didn't forget. Breakfast in the mess hall at 0800."
"I'm glad you remembered. I thought maybe with all the stress it might've slipped your mind." His teasing tone was clearly that of a man trying to cheer up his friend.
The corners of her mouth lifted a fraction of a millimeter. "Nothing slips my mind, Chakotay." She then turned and left the bridge.
Chakotay let out a long whistle. "Anyone care to explain what's been going on up here?"
Everyone was silent.
"Alright then, I guess I'll just have to pick a volunteer. Harry? Have any idea?"
"No sir."
"Tom?"
"Sorry, Chakotay."
"Ensign Wildman?"
"Umm… Well, Commander--" she began.
"Sam!" Tom hissed. He didn't want to get in more trouble than he was already in.
Samantha glared at him. "Nothing's been going on, Commander. That's the problem. This has probably been the most uneventful bridge shift since we left the starless void some years back."
"I see." Chakotay held back a chuckle. "Now I understand. Thanks, Sam."
Tom sighed, sending a thankful smile over to Samantha. He should've known she wasn't the stool-pigeon type.
***********
Captain Janeway stalked into her quarters, her rage building once again. An inane crewman had left a large Bolian soufflé in the middle of the corridor and she'd managed to step in it, ruining her boots and her temporary moderate mood. To top it all off, B'Elanna had just informed her over the com that the replicators were malfunctioning. They wouldn't be fixed for three days! Three days with no coffee! Oh, GOD. What a day. What a day.
Janeway slumped onto her couch, exhausted. Her frenzy of fury had drained all her energy. All that was left now was exasperation. How could she have gotten stuck with this incapable ship and crew? What had she done to deserve it? She was sick and tired of being captain, with her sole purpose in life being to serve others. Chakotay had a much easier time of it! As first officer, he got the privileges of command but not the horrible restrictions that were only placed on the most senior officer. He could relax with the crew often, while she, the captain, hardly ever could. She always had an endless stack of reports and PADDs to sift through. Life wasn't fair at all. She wished she could switch places with Chakotay desperately. Yeah, right. Like that was ever going to happen.
***********
Beta shift was drawing to a close. Chakotay stretched his neck for the fifth time in ten minutes. He counted the seconds mentally…. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, finally. He could leave. Thank the spirits.
He'd just spent the majority of his assigned bridge time in the captain's ready room, going over a blown-up personnel problem in engineering. B'Elanna wasn't in the mood to deal with the situation, so she'd sent her predicament up to him. Lucky Chakotay. Personnel was his department, after all. B'Elanna'd had every right to do what she'd done. Trying to rationalize it didn't dissipate his extreme annoyance, though. His good mood from before beta shift was completely gone. Other incidents that had been slightly annoying from the past week and month kept popping into his mind, and those didn't help matters any. For example, just last week he'd spent over half of his free time listening to complaints from some crewmen about other crewmen. Did no one care that he wanted a life outside his job?! He concluded with vehemence that the job of "first officer" was the most thankless one in the universe. What Chakotay wouldn't give to switch places with Kathryn and let her take the job permanently. Being captain had to be a hundred times better than this!
***********
An unseen figure had been observing both the captain's and the commander's "pity parties". When they finished, he guffawed uproariously.
"They both think they have the worst jobs ever! Ha! There are plenty of people who are much more worse off in the quadrant than them, but noooo…Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay are so egotistical it makes even me look bad. Naughty, ungrateful humans. I really should give them a lesson, shouldn't I? Now what is clever enough---I know! Give them what they want, of course! They desire so much to be each other and have each other's jobs… Yes, that's perfect."
The entity snapped his fingers.
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To be continued… if you review! ; )