6. The Janeway Deliverance
Chakotay reached the shuttlebay just after it pressurized. He entered and quickly walked over to Neelix's ship and reached the side hatch just as it opened. Both Neelix and Carey were talking very excitedly about the mission and the parts and supplies they had traded for.
Neelix looked and saw Chakotay as he stepped off, "Ah Commander!" he exclaimed, "Wait until you see what we got!"
Carey excitedly interrupted him, "We got everything Neelix and the Captain initially negotiated for plus," he paused and grabbed a container with some effort and placed it on the deck, "20 kilograms of high grade dilithium."
Chakotay smiled slightly, "Very enterprising of you both," he paused and looked at them, "Either of you heard from the Captain? They're two hours overdue with their check in."
Neelix and Carey looked at each other with concern, "No, not a peep," Neelix said, "Their trade run should have been over long before ours."
"We thought they might have met up with you two, but now I'm thinking they ran into some trouble," Chakotay tapped his combadge, "Chakotay to the bridge."
"Tuvok here Commander."
"Take us to the Grionian planet at full impulse. Neelix reported not hearing from the Captain or Tom and they might be in some trouble."
"Aye, sir."
"Mr. Carey, get the power relays B'Elanna needs to her so she can get to work on the transporter repairs. Make that your top priority."
"Aye, aye, sir", Carey nodded and jumped back into the ship to get the parts.
"What can I do?" Neelix asked.
"You're with me," Chakotay replied, "I'll need your presence on the bridge when I speak with the Grionian trade minister."
Neelix nodded and they left the shuttle bay.
Kathryn tossed another log onto the fire and the alien attacker suddenly jerked awake at the sound. He blinked and looked around saw her sitting by the fire's edge.
"Good evening," she said as she placed another log on the fire, "Did you have a nice nap?"
He struggled violently for a few moments against his bonds.
"Don't bother," she said and stood, "You're not going anywhere."
"You'll die for this!" he spat at her.
Her mouth quirked up into a smirk, "Maybe, but I'll make sure you'll go first."
The alien looked at her in amazement at her bold words. She stood slowly. The alien was able to see her blood and dirt covered clothing and the dark smudge of blood in her forehead clearly. He also noticed the dangerous tone in her voice to match the deadly expression of anger on her face.
"You know who and why we were shot down don't you?" she asked him.
The alien remained silent. Kathryn approached him slowly and knelt down in front of him. She regarded his face and then looked into his eyes and saw a brief flicker of fear.
"Who was it?" she asked in a hushed whisper, "Javon?"
His eyes widened slightly confirming her suspicions. She had been spending the last hour going over everything in her mind and she always came back around to Javon. It was the only logical choice.
She slowly stood and took a step or two away from him, "I thought so. He seemed less interested in the supplies we had to offer than my ship's technology. I wondered why he was giving us such a great trade deal. Especially considering what we were trading wasn't worth a fraction of the value of what he was giving us."
She turned back to him and spoke more to herself than to him, "With that then, our shuttle with all the StarFleet and Borg technology, even damaged would fetch a handsome price I bet. So he planned to bring down our shuttle and make off with the spoils."
He struggled in his bonds again before ceasing his attempts. He stopped his actions and glared at her in anger at his bondage. However, Kathryn still saw the look of discomfort and fear. She knew she was onto something and she was close to her answer.
"Still not talking?" she smiled, "Don't worry, you don't have to talk to me," she knelt down again and looked him in the eye, "I plan on turning you over to your planet's government and let them 'handle' that part."
His eyes widened in fear, "You… you can't!" he shouted in a tone matching the fear in his eyes, "If you do then… then…"
"You'll be executed," she finished with a knowing tone. She had familiarized herself with Grionoan law before she had started the mission and knew the man would be executed for what he had done. Well eventually executed. They wouldn't exactly make it a quick process. Rather torturous in fact, but before then she needed to know that Javon was behind the attack.
She shrugged her shoulders with a casual air to her, "Sounds fair to me."
She took a sip of water and pointed to the unconscious form of her helmsman, "See this man," she knelt down and brushed away a strand of hair from his face, "He's my best friend. My companion, and after what you did to him I will see to that you pay… even with your life."
The alien started to panic hearing her and seeing her earnest statements of his future. His efforts to break his bonds increased to an almost panicked level before he finally stopped in resignation of the inevitable. Kathryn watched with interest has the man seemed to fight for his life, then stop.
"Ok! Ok! Ok!" he shouted hysterically, "I'll tell you anything, just please don't let them execute me!"
"Then talk", she said and opened her tricorder, "Was it Javon?"
"Yes," affirmed the alien, "He wanted your ship and technology. He wanted to bring your shuttle down and salvage the parts."
"Quite a gamble that it would still be in one piece," Kathryn replied, "That missile could have easily destroyed the shuttle."
"He knew it was a risk," the alien replied, "But he knew bet on your ship being able to withstand the attack."
"Still that was gamble. Had it not been for Mr. Paris' piloting skills, he would have lost his bet and nothing but charred and worthless debris," she paused and then indicated to Tom and herself, "What about us? Even if he had been able to disable our vessel and bring it down reasonably intact, he still would have had to deal with us."
The alien man replied, "Javon figured that he could hold you as the ransom for what he wanted knowing your crew would pay it to get you back."
"For money right?" Kathryn asked, then sensed a different motive, "Or something else?"
"Both," the alien replied, "He… he wanted to sell off the technology and then move against the government."
"Why?" she asked, genuinely confused at the answer. As far as she was aware, Javon had the full confidence of the Grionian government and no reason to go against them.
"They were about to discover a secret black market that he runs," he said, "Weapons, ships, components… anything. They had been trying to discover it for years and were getting closer by the day. He thought that with your technology and the money he would make, that he would be strong enough to overthrow the government and establish his own. At the very least, hold them hostage with fear."
"And the trade minister is involved in this scheme?" Kathryn asked. He was the only link in the chain she couldn't figure out.
The man shook his head, "No," he replied quickly, "No, he wasn't."
"Seems odd then that he would recommend your boss," Kathryn said half to herself and half to the man, "I get the impression then the trade minister and Javon aren't old friends like they believe they are."
The man couldn't answer that question because he had no knowledge of the two's relationship and said so, "I don't know anything about that. I just know what I've told you and that's all!"
Kathryn smiled and nodded to him as she shut the tricorder, "Thank you. I'll make sure to mention your 'cooperation', to the authorities when they come for you. Maybe they'll spare your life."
She put the tricorder back on her belt as she went back to Tom to check on him. So far he was stable, if you call one breath from death stable. She wondered if Chakotay knew they were missing and was coming for them. She looked over and saw the transmitter. It had been too risky before and she knew it still was, but she needed to take that risk. For Tom's sake if nothing else.
She propped it on the boulder and began powering it up. She managed to get the transmitter aligned and ready to send a signal when she was interrupted.
"They'll detect your comm signal, track you down and kill you," the alien said.
"I know," she replied not looking away from her work, "But that man needs medical help."
"You activate that transmitter and I can assure you that he will be killed," the alien paused, "And you."
She slowly turned and narrowed her eyes at him, "Let them try."
She finished her work and programmed a distress call. She knew of she sent it out over normal frequencies that she would be discovered as the alien had said. So she programmed the distress beacon to be sent out on one of the lower carrier bands. She knew that someone on Voyager would detect it and follow it back to its source. She activated to transmitter and the signal was sent. After 30 seconds she turned off the transmitter to hopefully avoid detection.
"Captain," came a weak voice behind her.
She turned, looked down and smiled. Tom had regain consciousness.
She knelt down so only he could hear her, "It's okay Tom. I'm here," she whispered as she placed her hand softly on his cheek.
"Are… are you okay?" he breathed out.
Yes, I'm fine," she nodded, "Thanks to you. Now sleep and relax."
He nodded and fell back to sleep. She leaned forward and placed a light kiss on his forehead. She stood again and went back to the transmitter. She planned on activating it for 30 seconds at a time at random intervals until day break.
She looked skyward, "I hope you're listening Chakotay."
In orbit, Chakotay was busy dealing with the Grionian officials. Each minister or official he spoke to was unaware of the missing StarFleet officers, but each promised swift action and immediate search parties. However, Chakotay was less than optimistic and after 4 hours his faith in their efforts, as well as his patience, was almost gone.
He stepped onto the bridge and in the middle of Harry and Tuvok arguing over something.
"I'm telling you… rotate the frequency carrier receiver to a lower band and you'll see what I saw," Harry told Tuvok.
"Mr. Kim," Tuvok replied, "Any lower and it would not be a transmission, but background noise."
"What's up?" Chakotay asked.
"Commander, I have been registering an intermittent signal on the lower end of the carrier band. It appears to be coming from the planet."
"And?" Chakotay asked this time looking at Tuvok.
Tuvok looked from Harry to Chakotay before answering, "As I informed Mr. Kim, such a signal at that low a frequency and on that carrier wave is most likely naturally occurring background noise from space."
"I think it's manmade, sir," Harry said looking at Chakotay.
Chakotay thought for a moment, "Well we won't pass up any possibilities," he looked at Harry, "Go to Astrometrics. See what you can find. Get Seven to help you."
Harry smiled, "Yes, sir," and headed to Astrometrics.
Kathryn awoke with a jolt and looked around quickly. The sun had just come up over the horizon bathing their outcropping with morning light. She looked at the tricorder she had set up to warn her of approaching beings. It was beeping and flashing. She crawled over and saw five blips heading her way. They were fifty meters away and approaching fast.
Her heart sank. Five was too many. Even if Tom had been healthy, it still wouldn't be even. She looked at the alien attacker still tied up and saw that he was fast asleep. She looked down at the man next to her and saw his shallow breathing.
Pulling out her phaser she set it for heavy stun and wide beam dispersal. She placed her hand on Tom's chest and breathed a silent prayer for good luck. They were now ten meters away and she could hear them coming. Apparently they didn't care about concealing their approach.
She took a quick breath and then yelled out.
"Don't come any closer! I have one of your men here and my phaser is trained on him and set to kill!"
"Captain?"
Her heart leaped from where it had sunk. She stood and saw Tuvok, Harry, the Doctor and two security personnel in front of her. She holstered her phaser and laughed a short laugh.
"Thank God it's you," she said as they quickly finished their approach, "Doctor quickly. Tom's been stabbed."
The Doctor and Harry hurried past her and both knelt next to Tom and started scanning him. Kathryn looked at Tuvok and the rest of the team and smiled.
"How did you find me?" she looked at Tuvok.
"Mr. Kim discovered your hidden distress call," Tuvok replied, "We came down as soon as we tracked it to this area."
"We should go as soon as possible," she said and wiped more dirt and dried blood on her face as she wiped the perspiration away, "Our 'guest' here informed me as to who is behind this and we need to get his into the brig and notify the government authorities."
Tuvok nodded and signaled his two guards to grab the attacker. Kathryn looked down from where they had come from, "Did you bring a shuttle?"
"No," Tuvok replied, "Lt. Torres was able to repair the transporters and we beamed down as soon as we had a general fix on your beacon."
She nodded at his reply and looked at the attacker, "Get him aboard and in the brig immediately," Kathryn said to the two security guards. She turned to the Doctor, "Doctor, what's Tom's condition?"
"Mr. Paris is barely stable enough for transport," he replied, still working on Tom, "But he needs surgery immediately. I need to get him to Sickbay immediately."
Tuvok tapped his combadge, "Tuvok to Voyager, we found them. Lock onto the Doctor and Mr. Paris' signals and beam them straight to Sickbay. Then transport up the rest of the away team."
"I'm going with Tom," Kathryn said quickly, "You go ahead and tell Chakotay what to do."
Tuvok raised an eyebrow at her, but merely nodded, "Beam the Captain to Sickbay as well. Energize."
Kathryn's next view was Sickbay. Once they had materialized the Doctor immediately began his treatment of Tom. She stepped out of the way, but watched the hologram work.
"You're in good hands now Tom," she thought to herself, "I'll be here when you wake up."
Two hours later, she stood, still covered in blood and grime, watching and waiting for news. Chakotay, with the trade minister in tow, came into Sickbay.
"Captain, the trade minister beamed aboard to speak with you about your ordeal," Chakotay said, "And to see if we would be willing to release your attacker into his custody for trial."
The trade minister seeing the blood and dirt covering her face and uniform and seeing Tom on the surgical table expressed his sympathies to her, "First, may I please apologize for what has occurred and to say that I am relieved that you and your crewmember survived," he said with complete sincerity.
Kathryn's face never wavered from the expression of frustration and anger, "Thank you Minister," she replied, "But I am surprised that you were not aware of Javon's activities until now."
The minister's face flushed with embarrassment, "Yes, well," he said, "I won't try and cover up our mistake on that. I can tell you that were are in the midst of a full investigation regarding Javon and his supply market and we will bring him to justice."
"You'd better," came Kathryn's cool reply.
Chakotay cleared his throat after Janeway's remark and tried to lessen the tension and return things to a more diplomatic approach, "Captain, the minister was hoping we might be able to release our prisoner to him as well as any other information we might have regarding Javon?"
Kathryn nodded and pulled out her tricorder, "I questioned the prisoner after the attack and recorded his replies," she handed it to Chakotay, "Commander, please make sure the minister gets the recording for his records."
Chakotay nodded, "Aye, Captain."
"And you are free to take him when you leave," Kathryn continued, "He begged me to intercede on his behalf for a lighter sentence than the death penalty."
The minister shook his head, "I'm sorry Captain, but our laws state that he will be executed for treason."
"I would say minister that without his help you would not know it was Javon behind this incident," she paused, "And he may be able to provide you with any other crimes Javon may have perpetrated in the past."
The minister thought for a moment, "It is up to our legal system to determine that Captain, but I might be able to put in a word for him based on your recommendations," he replied and then held up a finger to stop her from speaking, "However, regardless of what is said in his defense or how forthcoming he might be with evidence from past crimes, it may not avail him in any regard."
Kathryn nodded in understanding. The minister looked at her blood covered person again and his face softened, "I am sorry again Captain. I hope that incident will not put my people as a whole in a bad light with you and your people."
Her face finally broke and she gave him a small smile, "I believe the actions of one malcontent do not condemn an entire species."
He bowed slightly in appreciation to her words, "Thank you. I will take my leave of you as well as take the prisoner. I have requested the supplies you were to trade for with Javon transported to your ship within the hour."
She nodded at his words, "Thank you and we are still willing to provide the supplies we had agreed upon."
The minister held up his hand to stop her, "That is alright Captain. I believe you have already paid for them dearly enough," he said sadly indicating Tom on the surgical table, "I see no reason why I cannot hold up our end of the bargain, even at this time. And surly this can hopefully be seen as a gesture of friendship in the process."
With his last words, he gave another slight bow to her, then turned and left with Chakotay in tow. She turned back to the surgical bay and watched the Doctor work on Tom with a tireless energy that only a hologram could have. She silently thanked whatever gods there were for his presence. After another half an hour he put down his scanner and looked over at her with a grim expression.
Seeing his face she became concerned again, "Doctor? Is everything alright?"
He walked over and stood next to her and looked back at Tom, "I've repaired all of his injuries, which were extensive. However, I found a potent toxin in his blood stream that was slowly killing him."
She looked at him with wide eyes, "Is it still in his system?"
"Yes, but I am trying to filter it from his blood as we speak, but the damage may have already been done at this point," he replied, "If it wasn't for the massive doses of stimulants you gave him, his body would have succumbed to the poison within a short period of time. Now… well… we'll see what the next couple of hours bring."
"Where did it come from?" she asked, still not believing that Tom was not out of the woods yet.
"The knife's blade," he said pointing to it on one of the rolling carts, "It was coated with a substance that prevents clotting and a poison. I suspect that this is a standard treatment on the blade based on my scans showing the blade is practically permeated with the toxin. Additionally, the toxin seems to be engineered for a different physiology, which explains the partial affects it is having on Mr. Paris."
"Could it be engineered for Grionian physiology?" Kathryn asked.
"That would be my assumption," the Doctor replied, "If the toxin is designed to inhibit clotting and poison the inflicted individual, then it could suggest a fighting strategy that would allow the attacker to overcome his or her opponent with little effort once the initial graze or blow had been inflicted."
"So it would seem," Kathryn said through gritted teeth, "Hardly civilized."
"True," the Doctor replied, "But then 'combat' and 'civilized' are words hardly ever put in the same sentence."
Kathryn clenched her jaw trying to hold back the anger, "Anything else Doctor?"
"Yes," the Doctor replied with some heaviness, "It is safe to say that without your immediate and relentless efforts Mr. Paris would have died on the planet."
Kathryn nodded at him, but was still looking at Tom, who's breathing was still shallow and his face was still as pale as a ghost. She began to remember that night and her trying to save him. She suspected that that memory will never be able to be forgotten.
"He tried to push me away," she said softly and without preamble.
The Doctor turned to her in surprise, "Push you away from what Captain? The attacker?"
"He tried to stop me from helping him so I could get away. Pushing my hands away so I couldn't treat him," her voice broke and she shook her head and clenched her jaw at the memory and then said through gritted teeth, "Told me he was slowing me down and I should leave him."
The Doctor looked back and Tom and quietly, but sadly sighed. He had always known Tom was brave and fearless, but he didn't expect it to this degree. He was amazed again at the power of human will and compassion that she exhibited. Had she left him, he would not have survived another two minutes at the most.
"It was a good thing you didn't listen to him," he replied, "He owes you his life."
A corner of Kathryn's mouth quirked upwards for a brief moment at his comment before she nodded. Silence descended upon Sickbay for a few moments before the Doctor cleared his throat.
"Yes well," the Doctor said, "He'll recover, but he'll be weak for the next several days due to the trauma to his system and the toxin. I'll keep him here of course and monitor his recovery closer."
"May I see him?"
"Of course. He's asleep and I'll keep him sedated for the next couple of days. It would not help his recovery if he were to be awake through the pain from the injuries and the poison," he then looked at her and the blood and grime on her face, "Then I will examine you."
She nodded to the Doctor and went and stood by the bed. She looked at Tom's pale face and shallow breathing and her heart nearly crumbled in sympathetic pain. This time had been close. Closer than when she targeted the Flyer during the Monean incident, but unlike that incident, this time she knew that she had made more than just a lifesaving decision, but a life changing one.
She leaned over the bed and brought her face within inches of his, "I'm here," she whispered to him, "You made it."
She felt a warm trail of water on her cheek and realized that she was crying. She leaned over and lightly kissed his lips before looking at him once more. The stress of the last day was finally catching up to her. It took a lot of her self-control to regain her composure.
"Rest now and heal," she said, "I'll be back soon."
She wiped her eyes and finished composing herself before she turned to join the Doctor on one of the side beds. There was still a long road ahead, but this time, she knew that they would be able to tackle it together.
Kathryn returned to her quarters to clean-up and rest. The Doctor had stressed she needed at least a day off and wouldn't take no for an answer from her. After dinner and her shower she tried to sleep, but felt restless and was unable to go to sleep. She got up from her bed, wrapped her robe around her and sat down at her desk. She started reading the status reports from Chakotay during the time she was gone, but soon found her mind unable to concentrate on them. She just wanted to do something, but wasn't entirely certain as to what. She put the padd down and after throwing on some comfortable clothes left her quarters and went to the holodeck.
She entered the holodeck and suddenly realized she didn't have any idea what she wanted to do. After a few moments of thought she smiled and addressed the computer.
"Computer, activate the Captain Proton holonovel and display bridge."
The scenery immediately changed and she found herself standing in the middle of Captain Proton's bridge. She stood for a few moments and listened to the beeps, whirrs and chirps from the various consoles. She walked over to a console where she had seen Tom pilot the ship and, as if in confirmation, saw his jacket folded on the chair waiting for its owner to return. Kathryn put the jacket on, which was of course many sizes larger than her and then wrapped herself up in it like a blanket and then sat down in Captain Proton's seat in front of the helm.
She placed her hand on the console and laughed at the memory of playing Queen Arachnia. It was the most fun she had had in a long while and she had enjoyed every minute of overacting and being so overly dramatic. It was also one of the rare moments in recent months that Tom had seemed to drop his anger and resentment towards her and she enjoyed seeing his eyes spark with excitement and his old energy return. However, once the photonic aliens from the other realm returned to their dimension he too returned to his previous attitude and shut her out completely.
She heard the holodeck doors open and she looked up to see Tuvok enter. He stopped short, just inside the bridge, and looked around with a raised eyebrow.
"Hardly Maestro DaVinci's workshop," he said.
She smiled at him, "True, but I'm beginning to see how this certainly can be inspiring and soothing for the soul."
He weighed her comment for a moment before walking over to her and handing her the padd he held. He raised his eyebrow again when he noticed that she was wearing Tom's costume jacket from the holostory.
"What's this?" she asked.
"A communication from the trade minister," he replied as she began to scan it, "He wanted to relay to you that Javon has escaped the government's attempt to capture him."
She looked up at him sharply, "And?"
"I regret to say that he is still at large," he replied, "However, the minister did report that they recovered a large amount of stolen property and equipment and has sealed Javon's accounts. Should he try and access them, he would be discovered and arrested."
Kathryn grunted as she read the padd, "I hardly think Javon would be that stupid to allow that to happen."
Tuvok nodded, "Agreed. In my estimation, Mr. Javon is a far cleverer an individual than his government gives him credit for."
Kathryn handed back the padd to Tuvok, "Thank you Tuvok."
Tuvok took the padd, "Additionally, the supplies the Minister had promised have been beamed into cargo bay 1 and we are free to depart when you're ready."
She nodded, "Good, I'd like to put this planet behind us as soon as we can. Break orbit and set a course back to the Alpha Quadrant at warp 6."
He nodded and paused for a moment. Long enough for Janeway to notice and look at her friend with a questioning expression.
"Is there something else?"
Tuvok seemed a little apprehensive to answer, if apprehensiveness was even possible in a Vulcan, but then spoke with a careful consideration of thought, "Yes, but it is related to a personal matter and maybe inappropriate for me to ask."
"That's never stopped you before old friend," Kathryn replied with a smile. She gestured to the seat next to her, "Pull up a seat."
Tuvok sat down and took a moment to prepare his question, "I am curious as to your attitude on the planet, Captain. It was hardly representative of your past behavior. Additionally, you have spent the last three hours in Sickbay as opposed to the bridge."
"And you're wondering why?" she asked and received a nod. She paused to consider her answer, "I'm not sure how to explain it, but things changed for me down on that planet."
"In what way?"
She regarded him thoughtfully, "I think I found something I wasn't expecting to find."
He cocked his eyebrow, "That is a somewhat cryptic answer," he replied.
She smiled and nodded, "I know," she leaned back in her seat burying her hands into the jacket pockets and sighed, "I guess I found something I had thought I had lost when we were stranded here. Something I hadn't felt since Mark. Something I had purposely given up."
He sat in thoughtful silence for a moment before replying, "Your relationship with him may yet be rekindled."
She gave him a small, sad smile, "Perhaps, but we both know that that is not a certainty."
He sat back, "I admit the odds are not in our favor, but it would be illogical to assume that there is no way to return before our projected timeline."
"Ah yes it would be illogical," she replied teasing him, "But never the less I can't assume."
She looked at him and then away, focusing on a memory and spoke slowly, "The feelings of caring, affection and the ability to love again. I thought I had to bury those feelings for another person to remain as captain and focus my energies. And now that I'm all the way out here, I will never see Mark again and have somehow decided to have those feelings with someone else that I thought I had put away."
He nodded in agreement, "Then you believe your actions today reflect those feelings you rediscovered?"
"Yes," she said, "It's stronger than before when I was with Mark and…" she paused finding the right words, "… almost more natural."
"I assume Mr. Paris is the recipient of these feelings?" he asked.
She looked at him and said with conviction, "Yes, he is."
Tuvok raised an eyebrow and paused for a moment in thought, "There are difficulties."
Kathryn's head dropped backwards in frustration, "I know Tuvok and don't start with me about captains fraternizing with subordinates or how many other rules I'd be breaking."
Tuvok regarded her with a slight air of amusement for a Vulcan, "It was not my intention to 'start with you' about something you are already aware of. However, I only said there are difficulties, but I did not say it would not be possible."
Kathryn smiled at him knowing he was not at all trying to stop the relationship or her thoughts about it. Any doubts she may have had on that issue disappeared with his next comments.
"You are the captain," he said to her as if relaying a universal truth, "Your happiness is paramount to this crew and your ability to perform your duties to the best of your abilities. If you so desire to choose a member of this crew to become intimate with, which additionally allows you to perform your duties and increases your abilities as captain, then you have my support and I believe the support of this crew. They would not want you to be unhappy, especially if happiness is attainable."
Kathryn felt her eyes begin to tear up. She reached out and placed her hand on his arm and gave it a slight squeeze, "Thank you Tuvok. That means so much to me what you said. I really do not want to bury the feelings that have come to surface and I do hope others will be accepting of this."
He nodded, "It will take time, but I believe they will accept it in due course," he stood, "Now if you will excuse me Captain. I must return to the bridge and carryout your orders. Goodnight."
"Goodnight Tuvok," she said and watched him exit the holodeck.
She looked around Captain Proton's bridge one more time and found herself smiling as she did. She felt excited and exhilarated at the new feelings she had rediscovered. She only hoped that Tom would be able to forgive her and accept her forgiveness to him. She stood and removed the jacket and carefully placed it back on the chair.
"Computer," she said as she walked to the doorway, "End program."
She resisted the urge to go to Sickbay and forced herself to go back to her quarters. She stood looking at the stars now streaking past her window for a few minutes and wondering what she should do next. She changed and then settled into bed and was awake for a short time afterwards before finally falling into a deep sleep.