Chapter 3

It was with trepidation that B'Elanna approached Chakotay's quarters. She had taken every precaution she could think of to erase and disguise her presence here, yet the feeling of disquiet lingered. It went against all the rules in the book to discard her comm badge, mask her life signature with a dispersed thoron beam and alter the ship's logs, and Torres smiled ruefully. Six years ago her rules came from a very different book, and such clandestine behaviour was warranted and accepted, yet as the young half-Klingon slipped down the corridor she felt the same tingle, the sensation of excitement and fear that she had felt often during her years with the Maquis. Coming to a stop, she held up a tricorder, scanning through the doors to Chakotay's quarters.

The doors opened suddenly, causing Torres to let out a gasp of surprise. Chakotay himself pulled her inside, after briefly glancing up and down the corridor to make sure that no-one else was in sight.

"You weren't the only one scanning the corridor," said Chakotay mildly.

"Ow!" exclaimed the Klingon, rubbing her arm where the first officer had grasped her firmly. "Chakotay!"

"Sorry, B'Elanna. You were taking your time out there, so we decided to pull you in." His expression, with warm brown eyes and dark brows, mollified the chief engineer, to a point.

Looking around, she surveyed the assembled personnel. It consisted mostly of Voyager's senior officers – Chakotay, Torres herself, Paris, Tuvok and Neelix, along with a sprinkling of other crewmembers, amongst them Ensigns Vorik and Wildman. Notable in their absence were Harry Kim, Voyager's operations officer, Seven-of-Nine who had recently been put off the ship by the Captain, and the Doctor, who had evidently not been invited to this meeting. Looking to start, Chakotay coughed slightly, and all eyes focused on him.

It had not escaped B'Elanna's attention that, at least amongst the officers present, Starfleet was sorely underrepresented.

Chakotay began. "I have asked you all here this evening because I have complete trust in you, and because we all have concerns about the same thing. Person. Captain Janeway, to be specific. I apologise for the secret nature of this meeting, but I believe that, for now, we must keep our discussions private."

A murmur of agreement ran around the room. People were seated on chairs, tables, the floor, anywhere where they could perch.

"Why not just go to the Doctor," said Paris flippantly, with a hint of belligerence. "If there's anything wrong with the Captain, he'll figure it out."

Chakotay hesitated, and Torres cut in before he had a chance to speak. "I've detected certain…anomalies in the Doctor's program over the last few weeks. I didn't think they were important, just natural degradation, but…" she shrugged, looking to her first officer to complete the thought. He obliged in a measured tone.

"It may be that the Doctor's…damage…is due to deliberate interference. When I spoke to him earlier he refused to entertain the possibility that the Captain was ill."

"Why wasn't I informed of this earlier?" asked Tuvok, the dark-skinned, slender, Vulcan security officer. B'Elanna responded with asperity.

"As I said, Tuvok, I thought it was the result of a natural process," she snapped. "There was no reason to tell you about an engineering matter."

Chakotay the Peacemaker stepped in, his expression relaxed with the hint of a smile. "The fact is, we can no longer rely on the Doctor to give us an…unbiased medical opinion. But we have all witnessed, or been the target of, Janeway's anger today. I found her to be…different."

"Actually, Commander?" Samantha Wildman spoke hesitantly, as if she was uncertain that her contribution would be accepted. Chakotay smiled and nodded for her to continue. "I've been thinking that the Captain has been…odd for a while. She used to visit me at least once a week, to ask how Naomi was doing and if there was anything she could do. I haven't seen her for a few weeks, except for today when she said -" The Ensign's voice cut off and dissolved in a flood of tears. For several seconds, nobody moved to comfort her, until Neelix scurried across the room and took the sobbing woman in his arms.

"Why isn't Harry here?" Tom's voice suddenly cut the silence, and everyone looked automatically towards Chakotay, the highest-ranking officer. It was several seconds before he spoke, keeping an even, calm tone, though several other people present visibly tensed at the mention of Ensign Kim.

"Harry is a very young officer," began Chakotay, wishing he could pass the question on to someone else. "This is his first mission; Captain Janeway is his first Captain. He has demonstrated absolute, unfailing loyalty to the Captain, obeyed every order without fail. I – we – couldn't risk bringing him into this, not yet. If the Captain were to find out about this meeting…" Chakotay's voice tailed off, and he looked to Tom Paris with a weary expectancy. The young man surprised him.

"Good job. He's my best friend, but when it comes to Janeway, he is absolutely adamant that she can do no wrong."

Chakotay wondered privately when it had become acceptable to refer to the Captain by her last name only, realising that he himself was guilty of that too. Larger things were at stake that maintaining respectful language, and Chakotay ignored it.

"What do we do?" prompted the First Officer, looking around the room and meeting the eyes of every person in turn. Most looked away, afraid, embarrassed, pensive, he didn't know. Only his fellow officers seemed able to speak.

"I could try to repair the damage to the Doctor's program," offered B'Elanna.

"And I'll keep an eye on Seven's shuttle," added Paris, smiling at his partner. They worked well as a team, noted Chakotay. The large man hesitated before he spoke, wishing that he had shared this earlier.

"I told Seven I would try to find diversions to keep Voyager occupied, so that the Sacajawea can follow us. However," he admitted, I am not in the best position to do that."

"I will assist in that respect, Commander," Tuvok replied instantly, though Chakotay wondered exactly what the security officer could achieve.

"She said she intended to...intended to rejoin the Collective."

Chakotay's words were met with disbelief. All of the personnel present had worked with Seven-of-Nine at some point, and all were well aware that she had been instrumental in saving Voyager more than once.

"No way in hell, Commander," came the response from Paris, followed by similar sentiments from others in the room. Torres's comments were colourful to say the least.

Chakotay, feeling his control over the meeting dwindling, rapped his knuckles firmly on the table in front of him.

"Everyone, I need you to go back to your normal duties. Do the things you have offered, whatever you can, but don't risk being detected. If the Captain knew that we were here now, we would all be facing courts-martial. She is obviously not herself, and if the Doctor can't do anything then it's up to me. But I can't just relieve the Captain of command because of a few incidents, I need evidence. Otherwise the people on board – such as Harry Kim – who are unquestionably loyal to Captain Janeway will defend her to the hilt. Right now they outnumber us considerably, so tread carefully. Dismissed."

As a group they rose and left in ones and twos, hastily making their way back to quarters.