Rip In Time

By Isobel Rowan

Part 1: Starfleet Academy

Chapter 2: Complications

Cadet Dani Janeway looked at each of her crew, a little tic in one eye. The conversation with the Messenger echoed through her mind, particularly the phrase "family disaster." On the heels of that last thought, she straightened to Starfleet attention.

"Sigma Squad, you are hereby ordered to present yourselves to Admiral Patterson at the Gate House post haste."

Pim's face grew hard. Myrie remained impassive while Marzora's jaw dropped.

"You're giving up?" Pim sneered.

She gave a short, curt shake. "We are complying with orders."

Pim threw a porcelain fish across the room, managing to break not only the fish but another object d'art.

Myrie lifted a brow and narrowed her eyes on Dani. "This is a most curious outcome," she said.

As if they'd had the same thoughts, Marzora nodded. "I had not expected you to give this order."

"It reeks," Pim grumbled.

Rosinex seemed to forget he wasn't a part of them. He jumped when Dani said his name. "You return to Delta Squad and report in," she said.

"She won't believe me," he said in a sing-song voice.

Dani shoved him through the door. "Make her believe, Cadet."

The door swung closed, effectively separating them. Still staring at the door, Dani finally turned around. "If it means anything, I'm sorry," she said.

Pim marched past his way to the hallway. "You are going to have a helluva lot of bar credits to give me to make up for this."

Dani smirked, knowing that a joke was as close to Pim Taranis would come to patting her on the back and telling her everything was okay. Marzora followed, in that odd gliding motion that Rigelians were famous for. Dani found herself watching the woman's feet to see exactly how she kept her head from bobbing. The beaded necklaces that crisscrossed her chest clinked together as she walked.

"I would not have predicted this outcome," Myrie said, repeating herself. She strolled past Dani. "I wagered quite a large cache of Vulcan brandy—from my father's personal collection. The Vulcan Ambassador will be most displeased."

"Great," she mumbled.

=/\=

Admiral Janeway sipped from a titanium thermos and tried distractedly to review some more schematics of the neutron star that was near collapse. A different lieutenant was standing guard outside, allowing her the comfort of his console. She found the 3-D projections distracting. Her office possessed one, belonging to Commander Powers. But she wasn't in her office. She posted herself at the Gate House, waiting for her children to surrender.

She started at a knock, looking surprised to find her attaché standing there with a good old fashioned padd.

Powers smiled vaguely in that subtle way of hers. Janeway knew it was the Northern European way of keeping a safe distance from others. But she always suspected more depth and passion under the cool veneer.

Janeway took the fresh padd with a grateful look. Then she handed her the old one that she'd brought along with her this morning. Powers took it and tried to reboot it. But the screen remained dark.

"I, ah, I depleted it," Janeway said, turning off the 3-D emitters on the Gate House console.

"I would gladly have stayed at this post, Admiral," Powers said.

Janeway crinkled her nose. "Oh, I know," she said. "It's just I needed a break from the gray walls of headquarters."

Powers softened her expression, as she looked around to notice the gray walls of the Gate House. "Is…everything all right, Admiral?"

Janeway shook her head, her eyes misting. But she remained composed except for that brief nanosecond. "Seven's mission was completed two weeks ago," she said, almost casually.

Powers drew her lips in and nodded. "Have you not heard from her?"

Janeway shook her head, but she remained staring at the data about the neutron star.

Powers gently tapped the edge of the padd against Janeway's shoulder. "There could be any number of reasons why she remains incommunicado."

Janeway nodded. "I know," she said flatly.

"Perhaps she will surprise you."

A corner of Janeway's mouth quirked. "She's not really the type to plan that sort of thing."

A sound of swallowed laughter brought Kathryn's attention to Powers. The Commander folded her arms across her chest. "I do recall a certain Borg appearing at one of our official banquets and taking you hostage in a side room for approximately forty-five minutes," she said.

Janeway reddened slightly and tipped her head to one side. She nodded with a chuckle, "I remember. She was wearing that god-awful green and purple dress. Do you remember the one?"

Powers raised her hands. "You're daft if you think I'm about to criticize the fashion sense of my superior officer's spouse," she said.

Janeway smiled appreciatively. "She loves bright colors," Janeway explained needlessly.

"And as I recall," Powers said. "She refused to look at anyone but you on her long walk across the banquet hall."

Janeway tucked her chin and nodded. "The men at my table all wanted to know what I'd done wrong. Then when she asked-slashed-ordered me to a private side room…well, I got some low whistles of warning on my way out."

Janeway looked up when she heard a note of purring in the Commander's voice. "The men may have misinterpreted Seven's, ahem, frame of mind, but I certainly did not." She winked at the Admiral who finally laughed out loud.

"I never did thank you for covering for me."

"Indeed you did," Powers said. "You went on holiday for two weeks immediately after that."

Janeway opened her mouth, her eyes smiling. "You make me sound like an ogre of a boss."

Powers sobered slightly. "I am just winding you up a bit, Admiral."

"Just a bit," she said wryly.

"But I'll wager you another two-week holiday that your Seven will surprise you at least once more."

"I hope so," she replied, quieter. Janeway watched the guard raise binoculars to his eyes, lower them abruptly, squint and repeat the process. She stood and looked out of the viewport and then down at the console. She awkwardly pressed one of the 3-D keys, and the layout of the entire Academy complex appeared along with four red dots closing in on their coordinates.

"Why can't we tell who they are?" Janeway asked. "They have their comm badges."

Powers hit another key and shook her head. "They must be jamming their particular carrier waves. It's bloody brilliant."

The pair stepped out of the guard house in time to see four gray suits walking toward them. As they got closer, Janeway shielded her eyes with a hand. "Is that Dani?" she asked.

"I believe it is," Powers said.

"I did not expect this," she said. "I figured she would never give up until Shannon was captured."

Delta Squad was immediately surrounded by Starfleet Security and their weapons confiscated. Janeway ordered the Gate guard to inform Commandant Patterson. She walked out to greet them.

"Good afternoon, cadets," she said congenially. "It's so good of you to join us here."

"We are here at Commandant Patterson's request, Admiral," Dani said with a smile.

But Janeway knew it was a pretense and she tried not to enjoy her daughter's discomfiture.

"Where is he, Admiral?"

Admiral Janeway's small smile evaporated. "Cadet, I believe that I'm the one asking the questions here. Is that understood?"

Dani Janeway nodded and let her arms drop to her side. "Attention!" Dani barked and the other three fell into the same straight stance.

Janeway tucked her hands behind her back and walked past them, as if memorizing each of their faces. "In all of my years in Starfleet, there has never been such a flagrant disregard for safety protocols like the one on Kapustin Lunar Station."

Dani stared straight ahead. It was just as well for both of them. Here they were not mother and daughter. They were Admiral and cadet; in this case, Admiral and wayward cadet. It was unusual, since by and large, Dani had kept a relatively decent record of behavior. But then again, she was also a little older than your average cadet.

Dani had taken the entrance exam to the Academy when most others her age would already have graduated. This enrollment delay also placed her in the same class as her sister. Admiral Janeway was never sure if Shannon had ever persuaded her sister to pursue this career. She believed that Dani would have been content to stay at her mother's farm and raise pigs and milk the cows three times a day. But she always thought her daughters were meant for more. It was a mother's prejudice.

She felt one of the cadets stir behind her and she turned sharply to stare at her. It was the Rigelian. She'd been placed in Dani's squad and was watched closely. They only had two other Rigelians enroll in Starfleet and both of the others had dropped out in their freshman year. What was her name? Janeway hunted for it in her communiques. She made a mental note to find it when she returned to the office. This one seemed unusually docile or content to follow a more aggressive leader.

Janeway stepped close to the Rigelian and continued her dressing down. She thought it prudent to spread the misery.

"Weapons containment interrupted the entire Academy campus and of everyone around us. That is irresponsible, cadets. It is the duty of every Starfleet officer to protect, above all else."

She pulled away from the Rigelian and gave a cursory glance at the Vulcan. Then she trooped to Dani's location. "If I were your commandant," she said, stepping very close to her daughter. "I would not have given been as generous with the terms of surrender today."

Pim jerked his head to Dani and mumbled something.

Janeway shot him a look, causing the man, who towered over her by nearly two heads, to almost recoil a full foot.

"What did you say, cadet?"

He cleared his throat. "Nothing, ma'am."

The admiral's face hardened at the last word, and she squared her body in his direction. "I asked you a question, mister!"

This time, the whip of command in her voice did make him step back. "I informed our squad leader that this really was a surrender for us."

Patterson appeared behind them in full uniform. "Where are the rest of you?" he inquired.

"Only four surrendered," the Gate lieutenant said.

"Make another announcement, sir," Dani said. There was a nanosecond of an uncomfortable silence until she added. "Please. They may not be aware that they've won."

"Let me be clear, cadet," Patterson said. "They didn't win. You didn't win. As far as I'm concerned the entire exercise was an epic disaster. But I'm giving concessions today in the interests of a broader safety. Is that understand, cadet?"

"Yes, sir," she replied.

Patterson looked down the line at each of them. "All of you look as fresh as Ktarian daisies," he sneered.

Pim chuckled but Dani barked an order for him to cut it. He sobered immediately and Admiral Janeway was impressed with the discipline of her daughter's squad.

"Sigma Squad is dismissed to your quarters."

"Commandant," Dani said, stepping forward behind the retreating man.

He stopped and turned. "What is it, Cadet?"

"Are we confined to our quarters?"

"No, you aren't, but I do suggest you review your code of conduct regulations," he snapped. "That is all."

He turned to go and Dani called him again. "Will there be an examination of the code of conduct regulations?"

Patterson sighed. "No, Squad Leader Cadet Janeway, there will not be an examination of the code of conduct regulations. But the very question makes me want to issue one right this second."

Dani continued to stare straight ahead, her face implacable as the space.

"Any other questions, Cadet?"

"No, sir," she said.

"Then you are dismissed."

=/\=

Dani turned and nodded to her squad. "Now that wasn't so bad," she said.

Pim narrowed his eyes on at the figure of Commandant Patterson, who was speaking with Admiral Janeway several meters away from the Guard House. "I didn't like the way he spoke to us," he said. "It was disrespectful."

"Pim," Dani whispered. When he still kept a menacing scowl on Patterson, Dani stepped in front of him, effectively blocking his view. "It's his job to prepare us, Mister Taranis. If we are too soft, then the Breen will chew us up like a Zaldan steak."

Pim's eyes were focused solely on his commanding officer. "Zaldans are vegetarians, squad leader cadet."

"Okay, then, a Zaldan carrot." When he opened his mouth, Dani growled. "Or whatever the hell grass you people chew."

Pim's mouth finally bowed just a little. "Aye, grass, cadet."

"I'll check in with all of you later," she said to the rest of them. "You are dismissed."

She watched them walk toward their rooms in Nimitz Hall before turning to look at her mother. Admiral Janeway was still conferring with Patterson. Then she let her gaze find Commander Powers. She'd known the woman was there all along. But the sight of her always filled her with the strongest urge to just kiss her, one the remote Taliesin Powers would probably slap her for.

Dani made it a practice to never visit her mother's office, never have lunch with her and certain do everything possible and impossible to avoid seeing the alluring ice blonde. She looked up from her wrist padd and smiled ever so delicately. Dani smiled back and walked the few paces to stand beside the woman.

"Hello, Commander," she said, stretching out a hand.

Powers took the extended hand in one of her own to shake. "Hello, Cadet," she said. "What a rare treat to see one of the Janeway girls."

Dani looked away to avoid revealing her grimace at being called a girl. She was nearly 22 and wondered when Powers would see her as such.

"So how are you?" Dani asked.

"Fine, fine," she said.

It was the answer that Dani expected. She wasn't sure if she'd ever received a reply that wasn't the double word. "How is my mother?"

Both of them looked at the Admiral, who was still deep in conversation with the Commandant, no doubt discussing how they were going to flush out the last squad.

"She misses your mother—other mother."

"I do, too," she said.

For the first time, Powers looked into Dani's eyes. "I have a feeling you'll hear something from her."

Dani looked into the mysterious, mismatched eyes of Taliesin Powers and felt like she was falling in. "I think you're right," she whispered.

"How are you, Dani?" Powers asked in a quiet voice.

"Well, besides being chewed out by my mother in front of my entire squad AND letting my sister win the coveted title of Kaput champion, I'm actually not doing too bad." Especially standing next to the most beautiful and enigmatic woman in the world, Dani thought with a smile on her lips.

Powers looked around, as if she were counting the Starfleet security detail on the crowns of each building. "Your methods are unorthodox, Cadet," she said, finally looking back at Dani with a look that made her mouth go dry. "But I can't argue with results, especially not during the heat of battle."

Dani smiled a great big one. She knew her mouth was too wide and her eyes were too crinkly. But she couldn't help it. That was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her. When she continued to stare at the mismatched eyes. The left was light slate grey eyes with darker grey circling the rim and the other was hammered gold with a starburst of green and blues. It was like looking into nebulas that were as large as the universe.

Only after Powers' thin, sculpted eyes brows rose a few millimeters did Dani jerk away. She touched her mouth, to make sure she wasn't drooling. "Thank you, Commander," she finally said, when reason returned. "That's very kind of you to say."

Powers looked at her wrist padd. "How long do you think it will take your sister to surrender?" When she looked up, Dani quirked a brow in inquiry. "Neither the Admiral nor I were able to have breakfast."

Dani's stomach growled on cue. She patted it and reddened. "I ate a little something, but…" Dani decided she liked the coy laugh Powers gave, with its sultry lilts. Suddenly she was scorching. She glared up at the August sun. Temperatures in San Francisco were never extreme, in either direction, especially not with Federation Weather stations. But Dani felt like she was frying on a hot griddle.

She jumped when her mother spoke her name behind her.

"Sorry, darling," Admiral Janeway said. "I didn't mean to scare you." She sidled up to her daughter and looked up at her and automatically placed the back of her hand to Dani's cheek. "Are you all right? You look like you have a fever."

Dani pulled away, glancing to see if Powers were revolted by the public maternal display. "I'm fine, Admiral," Dani said stiffly.

At the formality of her daughter, Admiral Janeway pulled back and became business-like also. "So what are we discussing?"

"Brunch," Powers said succinctly.

"Ah, wonderful topic," she said.

"What about Shay?" Dani asked.

Janeway squinted and glanced at the chronometer on the old padd she carried. "Patterson estimates five minutes. Then she'll have 10 more minutes for the stern lecture," she said, her eyes rolled up in calculation. "Five more minutes for absurd questions." She looked straight at her daughter, with a wry look. "We could be in the cafeteria in less than 30."

Dani snapped her eyes closed and groaned. "You had me until…cafeteria." She partially gagged the last word; a joke that she was absolutely sure Powers would go for. Instead the woman looked away and Dani colored again.

"All right," the Admiral said. "How about that bistro on…" Dani shook her head once. "You don't like that either?"

Dani didn't want to tell her that Tova worked there. No, she didn't want Powers to know about Tova. She really needed to go back to being a celibate.

Powers lifted a finger. Dani knew it was her way of asking the Admiral to delay a decision until she could dig up more information.

She tapped a few controls and pulled up the cafeteria menu.

In the bright light, Admiral Janeway could hardly read it and that backwards. "What's the menu?"

"Taspar omelets with Yamok sauce," Powers said. "For the vegetarians, Plomeek broth and Rippleberry fruit. And finally, the coffee—"

"Here it comes," Janeway purred.

"Raktijino—"

"Oh," Janeway said pleasantly surprised. "Klingon coffee is decent. It's got quite a kick—"

"Decaffeinated," Powers added mournfully.

"Defiled, you mean," Admiral Janeway hissed. "Thank you, Commander. That certainly settles it. We'll meet…" She met Dani's eyes. "Elsewhere. We can head to Baker Street after Shannon freshens up." She put a hand on Dani's forearm. "Want to meet at the East Transit Station?"

"In 45?"

The Admiral looked at Powers, who nodded. "I always have to check with my attaché," she said.

Dani saluted, earning a chuckle from the Admiral but a wink from the Commander. She turned and jogged to her room, anxious for the time to go by.

=/\=

Just as the four hopped onto the transit station heading east, Admiral Janeway received a communique from Starfleet Headquarters. The transit car was nearly empty, neat rows of gray were immaculate. Janeway made her way to the far end of the transit for some semblance of privacy, while Dani and Shannon sat in opposite rows. Dani put an arm on the seat in front of her, where Powers had been sitting with her mother.

"Cappie doesn't seem herself," she whispered to Powers, accidentally slipping into Janeway's old nickname.

The comment earned her uncharacteristically candid look of surprise from the Commander. "Why do you say that?"

"She sounds a little…I dunno…anxious like she has bad news."

When Powers didn't comment, Dani edged up on her seat and elbowed the senior officer. "She doesn't, does she? Have bad news I mean?"

Powers opened her mouth and then closed it. She scratched her temple with a single clawed finger. "You are placing me in quite a predicament, Cadet," she said.

Dani laid a hand on the shoulder, rubbing it a few times. It felt delicious. "I don't want to do that," she said, lifting her chin from her arm. "Just tell me if it's good news or bad."

Powers clucked her teeth. "Let me say that Admiral Janeway believes both are good."

"Both?" Dani said, sitting up straight again. "There are two bits of news?"

"You're incorrigible," Powers said with a shake of her head.

Dani sat back and watched the collar of Starfleet tunic ruffle the tips of her short hair. She wanted to run her hand through the woman's hair… She closed her eyes and licked her lips. She shouldn't have thought of hair because when she did, she thought of woman's pelvis with its triangular crown and well that just lead to other thoughts.

She shook her head, trying to calculate the last time she'd had any sex. Two weeks was way too long, she thought. Dani heard her mother call for Commander Powers, but instead of getting a reprieve, Dani was front and center to the woman's slow saunter up the gangway. Dayum, she thought, looking at her through her eyelashes.

She felt someone slip in beside her. She was shouldered into the window. "Ow," Dani replied, rubbing the offended arm. "That hurt."

"I see you ogling Commander Powers," she said.

Dani's eyes got big as moons and she covered her sister's mouth with a palm. "Will you shut up!" she whispered.

Shannon bit her sister's hand, making her growl. Dani pulled back from the incisor pinch in a fraction of a nanosecond, shaking her hand as she did. "Just keep your opinions to yourself," she growled.

Dani rubbed the meaty part of her palm on her pants and examined the bite marks. When Shannon remained unusually silent, she looked up at her. "What?"

Shannon bit her lower lip, trying to hide the absurd amount of pride in her team.

Dani frowned. "Spit it out."

"What, what?!"

"I know you want to," Dani replied.

"Well, I can't lie and tell you that it didn't feel fabulous to outlast Dani Janeway," she said, holding out a hand to examine her pink polished nails. "That puts us ahead by two, by the way."

"Who's keeping score?"

"Me," she said. "Please stow your jealousy. It isn't attractive."

Dani rolled her eyes. "Just remember, Pita, it isn't over. We've got all year."

=/\=

The train came to a halt and the foursome hopped off near Baker Street. "Oh, I'm so ready for Baker Street Bistro," Shannon said.

Dani crossed her arms across her chest. "I thought we crossed that off the list."

The girls stared at each other until Shannon added: "I like Baker Street."

"Well, I do, too," Dani said smoothly. "But there's this new place, right across the street…I thought we could try it."

Admiral Janeway looked in the direction her eldest daughter was pointing and squinted. "What's that name? Blue Star Burn?"

Shannon narrowed her eyes at her sister. "Why don't you like Baker Street, all of a sudden?"

"All of a sudden? You make it sound like a conspiracy," she said, hooking her fingers to visually quote the last word.

"I heard Blue Star Burn was hard to get into," Shannon said, with a haughty lift of her dimpled chin.

Dani narrowed her eyes, making AJ inhale deeply. "Okay, you, too. What game are you playing now?"

"No game, AJ," Dani replied, nonchalantly. "It's all fine."

Shannon threw her head back and laughed. "I remember now," she said. "Dani met her latest girlfriend at Baker Street," her sister said with no small amount of glee.

AJ's face lit up. "Oh?"

"But I understood they got in a little tiff this morning," Shannon added with a lilt of laughter.

"She's not my girlfriend," Dani replied, tipping her head to give the commentary more to Commander Powers. "We're just friends."

"Good thing," Shannon said. "I heard Tova is kinda like a white dwarf star."

"How so?" Admiral Janeway asked, interested in a subject that was usually off limits.

"Extremely hot, but not very bright," Shannon said with an uncharitable guffaw.

Admiral Janeway tried to look appalled but there was an inflection in her voice that gave away the amusement.

Dani thought about presenting that damned holo of Shannon and Cadet Tybelius Parmiller. His name alone would send Admiral Kathryn Janeway into orbit. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, she began to receive telemetry across her visual center.

This time the Messenger said: Not yet, Dani.

She learned long ago that she didn't have to speak out loud in order to carry on a conversation with it.

Why the hell not?

It's not the right time.

What if she gets knocked up?

If you follow my explicit instructions she won't.

Dani found the Messenger's answer especially worrisome. Every cadet received monthly birth control injections. But the Messenger was implying something more was needed.

Then when?

Just not now.

Dani sighed. "Your intel is bad, Cadet," she said with her own smirk. "Tova doesn't work on Mondays."

=/\=

By the time they made their way down Baker Street, the crowds had swelled the restaurant district. "Well, the new restaurant may be a pipe dream," Admiral Janeway said, as the foursome walked across the street.

The new restaurant, the Blue Star Burn, was a quaint brick storefront, with a foyer that was wall-to-wall people. "Let's just see the wait list," Dani said.

The hostess was a cute Ventaxian woman in a rather very tight and very short skirt rip off of a Starfleet uniform. "The wait is approximately forty minutes," she said.

"Forty?" The admiral checked her chronometer. "I've got meetings…" She glanced at her daughters. "What time are your orientations?"

"Thirteen hundred," Dani said, earning a look of surprise and mild rebuke from the Admiral.

"Thirteen-fifty," Shannon said, feeling another winning smile coming on.

"Your schedule isn't much better," AJ said, sapping the smirk with the five words that usually preceded a painful walk down memory lane. "When I was a cadet…"

"Kathryn Janeway?" It was a masculine voice that she used to hear every day, and one she hadn't heard in nearly eight.

The Admiral turned to find a spotted face looking at her. Neelix was wearing the latest So'na casual attire. Orange fur sprouted from the low collar of the coral-colored wrap shirt that cinched at his large waist. Brown pants covered his legs all the way to his curled toed shoes. "It's been a long time," he said, opening his arms.

Admiral Janeway's eyes had already misted and they shared a long embrace. "Oh, Neelix," she said. "What a wonderful surprise."

"Are you here alone?"

"Neelix, this is my adjutant, Commander Taliesin Powers."

He shook her hands enthusiastically. "Welcome, Taliesin," he said casually.

"And my girls—Dani and Shannon." She gestured behind him. "Cadets," she corrected.

He turned, surprised that his gaze was forced higher than he expected. Even Shannon was now taller than him, and her own mother by half a head. "You were just a baby," he said, brushing Shannon's offer of a hand away to engulf her in a strangling hug. "Well, a little older."

Neelix stepped back to take in Dani's full height. "My god," he said. "You must be as tall as Seven of Nine."

She used her thumb and finger to measure out a few centimeters. "Just a wee bit," she said.

"Well, give Uncle Neelix a hug, will you?"

It was an awkward hold, with Dani having to nearly bend over to accommodate the neck squeeze. Neelix parted and apologized to the patrons standing around them. "I'm sorry, folks," he said. "I just haven't seen my friends—and really, they're like family—in a very long time."

Just as the Admiral was going to speak, Neelix' face lit up. "You're here for brunch."

"Yes," she said.

"Come this way," he said, motioning.

They looked at each other curiously before following him, as he ushered them past the Ventaxian hostess and the armed guards with a wave. He led them to a small room off the kitchen, red gingham hung from the small windows that looked onto the brick siding of the next building. He unfastened the burgundy cordon, by tugging on the red velvet rope from its magnet hinge and gestured them in. "I usually reserve this for dinner, but, this is a special occasion."

After they arranged themselves around a long wooden table in the middle of the room, he pulled the wood chairs from their sconce under the wooden tables. He handed them fabric menus. "We're a little old fashioned here," he said. "But the food is exquisite. Order anything you like. It's on the house."

He shuffled to the door and over his shoulder added: "I'll be right back. There's someone here who may want to say hi."

Janeway removed a small case from her jacket and unfolded some reading lenses. She perched them on her nose and looked up briefly to see if the girls were watching her. And they were.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing," Shannon said.

"You look cute," Dani said.

"Oh, for heaven's sake," she said, blushing slightly. "What are you going to order, Powers?"

"Talaxian omelet sounds interesting," she said. "I don't believe I'm acquainted with any Talaxians."

"You've just met one," Dani said, sitting across from Powers. "Neelix is probably the only Talaxian in the Alpha Quadrant."

"Ah," she said, returning to study the menu. "He seems a decent chap."

When Dani kept staring at her, Powers looked up with an inquiring look.

Dani shook her head and looked at her own menu again.

A few minutes later, Neelix returned with Samantha Wildman in tow. She was wearing a sheath dress, of the same material as Neelix and her brown hair was pinned up on top of her head. Tendrils spilled down in beautiful cascades.

Her eyes watered immediately and she fell upon the trio, offering up tight embraces and showering each cheek with light kisses. Powers sat quietly, watching the reunion, until Samantha offered to hug her.

"Unnecessary," Powers said, offering a hand instead.

"I am so happy to see you all. It's been a while," she said. "And Naomi would have loved to have been here."

"Where is Naomi stationed?" Admiral Janeway.

"She's serving on the Constitution."

"Captain Paxson is a good leader," the Admiral said. "She's very experienced."

"Naomi likes Astrometrics a great deal."

"Hmm, I wonder where she got that interest?" the Admiral said, leaning forward playfully.

Samantha looked around. "Where is Seven?"

Samantha had always been sensitive and the look on the Admiral's face made her raise her hands. "I'll bet it's a top secret assignment," she said graciously. "Forget I asked."

Kathryn's gratitude was concealed in a stealthy squeeze of Samantha's hand. "We just saw Dukat this morning?" the Admiral asked.

"Oh, he's his own man, that one," Samantha said with a hint of mockery. She looked at the girls. "I'm sure the girls—pardon, I mean you cadets—know more than his mother!"

"He's the one to beat in Advanced Relativistic Mechanics," Shannon finally said.

Samantha smiled with pride. "I'm sure you Janeways give him a run," she said. She looked at Admiral Janeway and gave her a half hug. "I'm so glad you came by."

"Did you recognize the name of the restaurant?" Neelix asked.

Admiral Janeway looked down at the name of the restaurant on the menu. Her face lit up. "Oh, yes," she said. "That star—our last mission."

"We almost died!" Neelix said to Powers. "Picture it. A dying Class IV sun and we are marooned on a nearly lifeless moon—nearly lifeless but overrun with thousands of Borg drones, that is."

Samantha smiled sheepishly. "Darling, I think Omala is calling you in the kitchen."

Neelix stopped and perked his ear. "I'll be right back," he said.

Janeway mouthed a "thank you" to Samantha as she waved on departure.

=/\=

It was nearly eleven hundred hours when their brunch arrived. Kathryn had ordered the Luhvian quail with roasted steamed chadre'kab. She poised her fork over the quail, whose beak was tied with a green string. "My breakfast is staring at me," she whispered.

"How rude," Shannon giggled.

"How're the groatcakes, Commander?" Dani asked.

Powers had just uncorked the syrup of squill to pour over the Bajoran breakfast favorite. "I believe, Cadet, that I'm relieved I ordered simply." She carefully partitioned a piece of the groatcake and just before taking a bite, asked: "How is your breakfast?"

Dani looked down at the eggs Benedict. "I stuck with the tried and true," she said.

"We should be commended, Cadet," Powers said, accessing the other two plates. "I believe we will be the only two at this table leaving with full bellies."

Dani snorted a laugh as she witnessed Shannon take a small bite of the Jibalian seven-spice omelet before seizing the coffee cup. She took several gulps, emptying it. Then she emptied her water glass. "Four alarm," she croaked.

Admiral Janeway was offering a sympathetic look to her youngest child when Dani asked: "Cap—AJ? Do you want some of mine?"

The Admiral had already pushed her plate away. Instead she was focusing on the cup of coffee. "This coffee is just enough, Dani," she said. "But thank you."

They'd chitchatted for a little while longer before Admiral Janeway set her coffee mug down in that way that the girls knew signaled importance. "Thank you both for coming to my surprise breakfast—now brunch," she said with a small laugh. She placed a hand on Commander Powers arm. "Thank you, as well. Your support has always meant a great deal to me."

Powers patted her hand and smiled. "Thank you, Admiral. I feel the same."

"Hey, you paid, AJ," Dani said.

"Thank you, darling," the Admiral said sarcastically. "In any event, I do have some news."

Suddenly the room temperature dropped and the girls stopped even blinking. She looked at each of them in turn, her diplomatic training keeping the ball in the pit of her stomach down. "What is wrong, cadets?"

"You tell us, AJ," Shannon whispered.

"Wrong?" the Admiral said, glancing around. "Why, nothing is wrong, strictly speaking. In fact, I hope what I share is good news."

The two settled back down. "Oh, good," Shannon said.

Dani elbowed her sister. "Jumping to conclusions there, Cadet Pita."

"You did, too," she whispered.

"Zip it," the Admiral finally ordered with the full authority at her command. Instantly the two straightened and they looked at her like two adults should.

She nodded once and leaned over to Commander Powers, who said: "Admiral, I'm impressed."

"Don't be," she said, behind her hand. "It's never really worked until Starfleet Academy took their discipline well in hand."

"I have received word of your mother," she said.

The jocularity that had broken out went underground again and Janeway frowned. "Oh dear," she said. "I'm making a mess of this."

"You said you had good news," Dani reminded her needlessly.

"I do," she said. "Your mother is fine, girls."

Shannon's eyes misted. "We haven't heard from her in months," she said, her voice cracking near the end.

Janeway's face softened and she reached over and took Shannon's fingers in her own. "I'm sure it was mission-related communication silence," she lied.

Dani narrowed her eyes and searched her mother's face. She seemed to be choosing her words carefully, as if she were a diplomatic envoy negotiating elusive peace.

"But she's well and her mission has been successfully completed."

Shannon's brows became angry scrawls over her eyes. "Where is she then?"

"Fourth planet of the Altinak system," Janeway replied. "Among liberated Borg."

"Liberated Borg," Shannon said.

"When is she coming home?" Dani asked.

Janeway rolled her eyes around, and Dani took it she was diplomatically fudging. "I'm not sure, darling. But soon."

"The Orion Sector is squarely in the Beta Quadrant," Commander Powers chimed, earning a look of commendation from the Admiral.

Dani stared between them and finally sat back. "I hope she comes home soon," she said, throwing her napkin on her empty plate.

"I do, too," Shannon and Kathryn said simultaneously.

The foursome settled into an uncomfortable silence, all drinking coffee or juice. The waitress came to refill their drinks and offer desserts, but they declined. After the more minor small talk and after the dishes had been cleared, Dani placed her elbows on the table. "What else, AJ?"

Admiral Janeway inhaled again and smiled at her daughters. "As a matter of fact, Dani, there is something else," she said. "Truth be told, I'm a little anxious about telling you."

"Well, you can't be pregnant," Shannon said, earning a loud whoop from Dani.

Janeway's face hardened. "No, I'm afraid those days are long gone for me. Long gone," she said. "And good riddance."

Dani narrowed her eyes and she looked at Commander Powers. "Has Commander Powers received a ship of her own?"

Powers flinched with surprise. "Me?"

Janeway turned and glanced at her, a finger to her chin. "Now that you mention it, Cadet," she said. "You really are overdue, Taliesin."

"I'm waiting for the right assignment," she said.

When no more was offered, Janeway prompted. "That being…?"

"I would like a science vessel, but…" She shrugged. "Starfleet seems to be navigating away from its roots."

Janeway stared at her adjutant for along moment. "It does that," she stated.

Dani watched at Powers seemed to color slightly. Her porcelain skin almost seemed impossible to blush but there it was. She's lovely, Dani thought.

Powers did a double take on Dani and frowned. "Admiral," she said gently. "Perhaps you should speak of the other matter."

"Other matter?" she chuckled for a moment. "Yes, of course. Whatever would I do without your help, Tal?"

"I believe you'd hire someone else," she replied evenly.

Janeway gave her a playfully chiding look before looking at the girls. "I do have some news." She paused for emphasis. "I will be joining you at the Academy this year."

Both girls furrowed their brows but waited patiently for the ranking officer to finish.

"And that means…?" Dani asked.

"By that I mean that I will be teaching a course there."

Both girls immediately fell out of military stance, cooing their approval. "What course, AJ?" Dani asked.

"Temporal Mechanics."

Dani's face froze. "Please tell me you are teaching the intro to TM and not—"

"I will be teaching Advanced Temp Mech."

Dani closed her eyes and shook her head once. "This isn't happening to me," she murmured.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm in your class, AJ, and I need it to graduate."

The Admiral gave a smirk. "Well, then you better stay on your toes. I wouldn't want you to have to repeat the course."

AJ and Powers chuckled, while Shannon and Dani groaned. "That's awful, AJ," her youngest child intoned at her mother's pun.

Dani threw herself back on her chair. "Let's hope I don't have other complications."

"I'm not a complication, cadet," the Admiral said more mildly than she felt.

"Well, congratulations, Admiral," she said. "I look forward to it."