The Meaning of Family β Chapter 2: Off to a Good Start?
Summary β An away mission goes horribly wrong and provides an opportunity for reflection and restoration for the senior staff.
Rating β K+
Voyager was now in close proximity to their first destination. Through the view screen they were awed to see a planet that remarkably resembled earth. Clearly visible were deep blue oceans, a variety of shades of brown and green representing continents, and the white swirls of cloud formations.
"It's beautiful," said Harry from his position at the operations station.
"Indeed it is," replied Janeway with an almost imperceptible sigh.
Tuvok had submitted a report to her earlier in the day stating that he found no indication that this race was a threat, or that they would immediately consider Voyager to be one. As they ventured closer to the planet, a beeping sound from Tuvok's console attracted his attention, "Captain, there are three ships approaching us at high warp. At this time they have not raised shields or powered weapons."
"Thank you Tuvok," said Janeway.
Harry announced, "Captain, we're being hailed."
Looking at Harry she ordered, "On screen Mister Kim." Then, just as she had done so many times before, she turned toward the view screen and began her standard greeting, "I am Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Star..."
The alien staring back at her immediately cut her off. He moved his face very close to the screen and exclaimed loudly, "A female! They are commanded by a female!" rapidly followed by, "How inappropriate!" as the translator interpreted a last comment.
Janeway's immediate thought was, "My God, the Delta Quadrant version of the Ferengi." She choked down her shock at his initial statement and said, "Well, yes. As a matter of fact I am. Is that a problem?"
"This is highly unusual, a female commander. Simply not done, not done!" exclaimed the alien captain.
Janeway's hand instinctively reached up and began to massage her forehead. She acutely felt headache number one for today beginning. She somehow knew she would be experiencing several more.
The rest of the bridge crew was actually fairly amused by all of this. But if they valued their lives, they wouldn't let the captain hear or see any indication of it.
Knowing instantly that discretion was usually the better part of valor when it came to gender diversity in the Delta Quadrant, Captain Janeway turned slightly to her left. As was his custom, Chakotay was standing only inches behind her just in case he was needed and to show support for his captain. Attracting his attention she spoke softly, "Under the circumstances Commander, maybe you'd better take this one, humm?" She dropped her hand from her forehead and tilted her head at an angle to look up at him. She'd get even with him later for the twinkle in his eyes and the dimple clearly visible on one cheek.
"My pleasure Captain." He stepped slightly in front of her and began to address the aliens. "I am Commander Chakotay, first officer of this vessel. We would like to open trade negotiations with your people in order to re-supply our ship."
The alien spoke again, but this time with considerably less distress in his voice. "I am Kevis, commander of the Vellnorian Defense Force. Are you the one in charge?"
Chakotay could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand straight up as he imagined the look the captain must have on her face right about now. He looked briefly at the floor to hide his amusement and took a couple of seconds more to regain his composure. "I suppose in a way I am. Captain Janeway and I work together to run this ship." There, that wasn't bad, accurate but not offensive. He might just survive this day on both fronts.
"Very well then, we will communicate directly with you. You say you want to negotiate for supplies?" said Kevis.
Chakotay quickly tried to count in his mind how many times he and the captain had been through introductory conversations like this in the last several years. "Yes, we are travelers from another part of the galaxy and are on our way home. We need provisions to continue our journey."
Showing little to no emotion, now that he was speaking with a male member of this new species, the Vellnorian replied, "We will escort you to the docking port near our capital city. You will then need to discuss your request with our prime minister. I will contact him for you once we have arrived. Please follow us."
"Thank you, we'll look forward to hearing from you once we have docked." Chakotay turned and spoke to Harry. "Ensign, end transmission."
"Aye sir."
Everyone held his or her breath in anticipation of what would happen next. It wasn't often that Janeway had to defer her authority to someone else. And she wasn't usually very happy when she did. Under normal circumstances she would have to have been unconscious or seriously incapacitated in order to step aside. Her stubbornness was legendary.
Chakotay slowly turned and looked at his captain. She was standing with her hands on her hips with her gaze fixed on the star field filling the view screen where the alien had appeared only moments before. Finally, she spoke. "Now that was fun, wasn't itβ¦" It was definitely a statement and not a question.
Actually, it had probably been fun for everyone but her and she knew it. She was somewhat surprised that her smart mouthed conn officer hadn't jumped all over it. But maybe he wasn't feeling lucky today. "Looks like you're in charge Commander. I'll be in my ready room hiding from our new friends. Wouldn't want to damage our reputation now would I?" She turned quickly and exited the bridge.
"Oh gods!" Chakotay thought. The Janeway sarcasm was in full swing. He knew it would probably be better to let her cool off a little before trying to discuss anything further.
Turning back to matters at hand, Chakotay got down to business. "Okay Tom, follow them into the docking port. We'll do as they say for now and see what happens."
"You got it sir. And by the way, good luck with the captain. She looked like she was ready to take on the Borg just now," Tom said.
Chakotay just smiled, returned to his chair, and sat down.
About half an hour later, they had successfully docked and were awaiting word from Kevis concerning a meeting with the prime minister. Chakotay had decided he'd leave the captain alone for a while until he had something more substantial to discuss with her. Besides, it would give her more time to adjust to the situation. At least he hoped so.
A short time later, Harry made the announcement they had been waiting for. "Commander, we're being hailed again. It's Kevis."
Chakotay rose from his chair and stood in the center of the bridge. "Thanks Harry. Put him on screen."
"Commander Chakotay," said Kevis "Prime Minister Taellon has agreed to an audience with you. Meet me at the airlock along side the docking clamp in one hour."
"Thank you Kevis. If it is agreeable to you, I would like to bring one of our other senior officers with me."
"That will be acceptable. One hour."
"Agreed." Chakotay signaled Harry to close the comm link and turned to his right toward the tactical station. Tuvok, please see me in my office in fifteen minutes. I would like to discuss some things with you before our meeting with Minister Taellon. In the meantime, wish me luck, looks like it's time to visit the captain."
"You have my sympathies Commander," Tuvok replied, intentionally trying to introduce a little humor to the situation for the benefit of his human companions.
"Thanks a lot Tuvok, that's extremely comforting," said Chakotay. And he headed for the door to the ready room.
"Come in."
Chakotay heard the captain's response to the door chime and as the doors opened he took two steps into the room and stopped. Sometimes his Starfleet and Maquis tactical training was even valuable when meeting with his captain. He learned the hard way that it was best to evaluate your situation before running into an ambush. He was actually surprised to find her sitting comfortably near the viewport, looking out at the planet, with a cup of coffee in her hand. She looked terribly relaxed, which was not at all what he had expected.
She turned toward him and smiled as she noticed his hesitation. "It's okay Chakotay, I won't bark or bite, I promise. Come join me."
"I wasn't sure you'd be happy to see me."
"What makes you say that? I'm almost always happy to see you." She paused for a second to let that sink in. As anticipated his expression changed to one of amusement and he walked over and took a seat beside her. Janeway continued, "It's not like it's the first time we've encountered a diversity problem in the Delta Quadrant. I seem to remember Maj Cullah of the Kazon wasn't too fond of a woman in charge either." Voyager had long ago left the Kazon behind, but the memories of their experiences in their territory were still painful, especially for the captain. "Last time we saw him the Maj took a cheap shot to the side of my face as I recall." She briefly touched her hand to her cheek in remembrance of the incident. "Nice catch by the way. I don't think I ever truly thanked you for it." Chakotay and some of her other officers had caught her before she fell flat on the deck during that particular incident.
Chakotay remembered the encounter quite clearly himself. He also remembered that he had admired her tenacity with the Maj. Even after being struck hard in the face she had gotten back up immediately and faced him again. The woman had guts. "You're very welcome. I also remember that we eventually taught him a lesson about his bad attitude. Or at least Tom and his Talaxian friends did."
That had been the last time that they had encountered the Kazon. Voyager had been captured, and the Kazon had left the crew stranded on a barren planet where they had to fend for themselves. Luckily, Tom Paris had escaped in a shuttle, and with the help of a rescue party of Talaxians, eventually managed to retake the ship and come back for the crew.
"It's a good thing Tom came back for us or I'd have been completely bald." She keenly remembered how difficult their time on that planet had been, but there had been a couple of lighter moments. One evening, having nothing to start a fire, Chakotay had attempted to use the old method of rubbing two sticks together. When the wood had been uncooperative, they had resorted to using some of the captain's hair for kindling.
Chakotay blushed slightly and chuckled. "Don't remind me. I've listened to enough jokes about Native Americans who can't start fires over the last couple of years."
There was a brief pause in the conversation as they smiled at each other and remembered the incident. "Well, you didn't come here for the light hearted banter, what's on your mind?" Janeway inquired.
Chakotay gestured toward the viewport. "As you can tell, we've completed docking procedures, and Kevis has arranged a meeting with their prime minister in less than an hour. I've decided to take Tuvok with me."
The captain maintained her composure and decided to tease him a little. "Enjoy yourselves, just don't give away any of my prized possessions."
"I'll keep that in mind. Anything I can do for you?" Chakotay asked.
She was not surprised that he was asking. She knew better than anyone what she was like on the rare occasion that she couldn't participate in a mission the way she would like too. "No Chakotay, I'll come up with something to occupy my time while you're doing all the dirty work. But thanks for asking, I appreciate it."
"Any time. I'll give you a detailed report as soon as Tuvok and I return."
Now that the business was concluded, she decided to make an offer of friendship, "How about over dinner, my quarters, say 1900 hours? Seems the least I can do."
"I think that can be arranged." Chakotay rose from the couch and headed back toward the door to the bridge.
Janeway called after him. "Good luck Commander. If these aliens are as much like the Ferengi as they appear to be, it may be a challenging mission."
He stopped and turned toward her just as the door swished open in front of him. "Somehow I have a feeling you may be right. At least they're taller than the Alpha Quadrant equivalent. I won't get a crick in my neck dealing with them." They both laughed at that for a moment. "See you later," he said with a smile, and then continued through the door and headed for his meeting with Tuvok.
At 2230 Chakotay was finally returning to Voyager. The preliminary negotiations with the prime minister had gone fairly well. Luckily they weren't as much like the Ferengi as the captain had feared. But the meeting had dragged on endlessly and they had returned to the ship much later than anticipated. He had contacted her several hours before, given her an update on their situation, and informed her that he wouldn't be able to make their dinner engagement. He also let her know that their next meeting with Prime Minister Taellon was first thing in the morning. She had been very understanding, told him to keep her posted, and by all means get some rest before tomorrow. He wondered how long she'd be able to keep up appearances before her natural curiosity and impatience got the best of her.
TBC
