In Confidence
Stage II
Chapter i
I had been five years since the fateful day that Chakotay had been forced – by powers beyond his control – to take little Marissa Janeway's life.
Tom understood why Chakotay had been forced to do it, and he respected the decision Chakotay had made; but had Tom been in the same place and had it been B'Elanna who had died and Miral's life on the line… he wasn't sure that he could have made that decision.
Tom (as asked) had been searching and researching the Borg Technology that Kathryn Janeway would have discovered had she lived her life through. He made a point of going to visit Chakotay monthly. Chakotay had requested that Tom create a sort of 'time capsule' that could be brought along on their trip to change the future, when their past had finally begun.
In the third year of Tom's adventure to help Chakotay fix the past mistakes, B'Elanna had been brought into the picture. No matter how determined or brilliant Tom was, he was no engineer. B'Elanna had researched the portfolio of Borg Technology that the first Admiral Janeway had brought back; and that coupled with the pieces of Borg Technology that the Federation had amassed over the years had allowed a plan to evolve.
Captain Janeway would not have Marissa this time and the past, the present and a new future would be forged.
Three days before Chakotays release, Tom paid his one last visit, "Hey old man."
Chakotay scowled at the new 'Commander Tom Paris'. "I'm still not too old to whoop some sense into you youngin'." They both laughed at the inside joke. "So do you any more pictures of Miral and Owen to show me?"
Tom reached into his pocket and pulled out pictures to show his former Commanding Officer, "My goodness: Miral is as beautiful as her mother."
Tom looked at Chakotay, fatherly pride beaming through. "And keeps getting more beautiful as the days go on."
Chakotay stared at pictures of the newest addition to the Paris brood. Chakotay piped up: "And poor Owen looks like you, poor boy."
Tom laughed at Chakotay, "Well we can't all be blessed with your good looks." The sarcasm dripped from the former pilot's mouth.
Chakotay stared daggers at Tom, something he had no doubt learned from none other than Kathryn Janeway herself. Tom cringed at the look, "Hey you'd better watch where you point that thing Commander. Like it or not, I can still kick your ass." Tom paused looking Chakotay straight on, "Prison life has given me lots of practice."
The mood in the visiting room quickly lost its jovial electricity. "So… you ready to get out of here?"
Chakotay sighed, "Three more days Tom," he paused, "Three more days and life will be as it should be."
Tom stared at the older man, "Yes and hopefully everything will be back to normal." He grinned, that cheeky grin that was part and parcel of who Tom Paris was. He drew in a breath, "Well if you consider life with Kathryn Janeway normal…"
"I'd rather live with her than without her." Tom patted him on the shoulder.
Chakotay stared into nothingness with a faraway look in hi eyes, "Yes, then everything will finally be okay."
Tom gave him one last glance, patted him on the back and walked out of the prison in Auckland, New Zealand for hopefully the last time.
Three days later, at 1706, the Paris family came to get Chakotay. He said his goodbyes to all the people he had come to know over the past five years.
Although most of the people he met were petty criminals, there were those – like Chakotay himself – who had simply been put in an unfortunate situation and had ended up serving time. He had met (by chance) three former Maquis rebels who had been fortunate enough not to have been killed in the Dominion War; although like many others with they had died for their cause.
Chakotay walked along the outskirts of the facility with Tom, BElanna and their kids on the way to the transport station. He turned to Tom: "You know I've been here for five years – and I know I could have been in a lot worse places – but until now, I never realized how beautiful it was."
Tom reminisced about his days in the prison facility. "You got that right. I've seen some of those Cardassian and Klingon prisons; by those standards, this place is a vacation in paradise.
They reached the transport site and Chakotay felt the all-too-familiar tingle of the transporter beam overtake him. "You guys ready to break every rule in the 'almighty Starfleet Rulebook'?"
Tom and B'Elanna looked to each other, looked at their kids and nodded. "You bet Chakotay. This is it; after today – god willing everything changes – for the better."
The group arrived a the Paris house and Chakotay took a look around: They had done well for themselves. He peeked inside the children's rooms. Owen had been put down to sleep and had passed right out is seemed. Miral was getting ready for bed. She was five years old now and it appeared that her bed time was around 2000 hours. He left, pain and regret coursing through him. Would he and Kathryn ever have this? Stop thinking like that; this is why you're doing what you're doing.
He walked into the Paris' living area. "Are you guys going to show me what you've gotten together for the time capsule, or am I going to have to guess?"
B'Elanna smiled, "Sure thing… what didn't you think we could get it right?"
Chakotay grinned, that dimpled grin of his showing up; that grin that they all knew Kathryn Janeway had fallen in love with.
He threw his hands up in a motion of defeat. "No, I just had to add something to the parcel, that's all."
Tom and B'Elanna looked at each other then spoke in unison: "That's all?"
Chakotay looked down, staring at this hands in dismay. "You'll get her back Chakotay; you just have to see this thing through."
Chakotay simply nodded, holding the tears at bay. Quickly he attempted to change the subject. "Did you guys send letters to Kathryn too? She has to know it's not just me begging for the termination of Marissa." He paused, "If it was just me she might see it as jealousy."
B'Elanna chimed in, "No worries Chakotay. We've got you covered."
He slowly pulled the box out from under the sofa where B'Elanna had been pointing, thinking and knowing this would be the only remembrance of this timeline. He pulled out pictures of the older Tom and B'Elanna and their children. He pulled out the padd with the letter that was written to Kathryn Janeway from the Paris'.
B'Elanna stared at him checking out the content of the box. "You can read it, you know: the password is 'miral'."
Chakotay took the padd and stared at the couple. "How do you know she'll be able to pick out the password?"
B'Elanna looked at Chakotay as if his head was going to fall off. "We've set the timeline to go back right around the time Miral was born. Besides, Kathryn and I had, had many discussions (as friends) about motherhood, about the coming baby and about her name. It had been chosen months before she was born." She paused collecting her thoughts, "you know Chakotay she was jealous of me. For all the career achievements she'd attained, she never reached her dream of a husband, kids: a family to call her own."
Chakotay nodded nearly in tears. "I can give her all that B'Elanna…"
She cut him off. "I know you can and you're more than willing, but it's her you have to convince… not me."
Tom joined in, "And the reason she'd be able to pick out the password no problem, is the same reason she'd have no problem picking your password out." He looked at Chakotay, "She's an extraordinarily persistent woman… and sometimes she knew us better than we knew ourselves."
Chakotay stared at the wall lost in thought. He changed the subject, "So is Harry up to babysitting duty while we change the timeline once and for all?"
B'Elanna nodded and looked him in the eyes mischievously. "We've already made arrangements with Harry, but we still have to figure out a way to get the Delta Flyer out of the shipyard, and smuggle the 'Borg Components' out of the lab where they're being held, and…" she paused, "Finally we have to managed to get a hold of Captain Janeway's medical files." She took in a deep breath, looking steadily at Chakotay. "We still have a lot of work to do."
Tom joined in laughing, "Yeah good thing we got Harry to take a week off of work to look after the kids so we can," (he made the quotation movements around his head that had been popular in the 20th century), "so we can go on our anniversary vacation."
The trio laughed, all would be good soon.
END CHAPTER i