Chapter 7

If it at first you don't succeed...

It seemed that Janeway had hit a boulder in the road. No matter which path she took, she couldn't seem to find the location of SPD Headquarters. Seven on the other hand, wasn't going to let a simple boulder in the road stop her from finding SPD and she remained determined to find it. Janeway started to be troubled by this as she questioned if the map they received was a valid and accurate map. Nevertheless, they continued to follow the coordinates still listed on the map. Seven was extremely focused on tracking down the SPD building as she navigated through the busy sidewalks. Looking around her, Janeway smiled in awe at the technology of the time.

"I've read some books on this time period. I can certainly tell you this Seven. There were no aliens on Earth until 2063. And those happened to be vulcan's."

"Perhaps we are in a parallel universe Captain?"

Then, like a boat coming into a harbor, it all made sense to Janeway. Quickly, she ushered Seven into a secluded alleyway nestled by some shrubs and telephone booths. The pedestrians looked at both of them with curious eyes. Alarming as this was, Seven and Janeway moved further down the cold alley until the street was clearly out of sight. Janeway turned back to Seven with the look of relief and some fear.

"It makes sense. Not only did we travel back in time, but we traveled to another universe. I suppose we can't use the computers at SPD to contact Voyager."

"Then I suggest we make our way back to the shuttle and decompose with the rest of the shuttle."

"You can't just give up on a bump in the road Seven. What we have to do is at least try to get in the SPD Headquarters, send a message to Voyager using their computers, and then we wait for them to respond to our message."

"Trying is irrelevant."

Janeway sighed and put her head in her hands. Seven didn't seem to understand that using the SPD computers was the only possible solution of getting to Voyager. There were a lot of things that Janeway and Seven argued over. Sometimes it was over simple things , like the duty roster, Mr. Neelix's cuisine, some of Janeway's decisions, and the list extends onward. What bothered Janeway the most was that Seven expected perfection out of everything and she strives to have a shining solution to any problem. But there was none of this at the moment right now. Perfection and logic could not work in a situation like this. Even if Seven would pester Janeway about it on the entire journey. Janeway slowly lifted up her head and took out the map. She pointed east and the two of them began walking again. They soon reached what appeared to be a city plaza. The captain noticed her back was aching. So she sat down on a gleaming park bench and looked down at the map again. Seven kept looking around the area. It was sort of becoming a problem when she began to see Seven swimming in the fountain. Janeway walked over as Seven stepped out of the fountain.

"I suppose you were doing some type of Borg research under there."

"I was analyzing the compounds of the water. It is pure water. Clean and fresh. I believe it is adequate enough for us to drink from it."

What? Janeway could not even begin to believe what Seven had just suggested. Drinking from a public fountain could be considered rude. On the other hand, they did need the water and it was the only source there and then. Still, they could find other sources of water.

"Seven we can't drink from a public fountain!"

"Is it not sufficient enough?"

"I don't care if it's the most sufficient thing in the Milky Way! It's not polite to drink a public fountain. This water is not meant for drinking Seven. It's supposed to be used for decoration and admiring."

"And you humans believe that you have "saved" resources and used them wisely."

Seven wasn't going to argue with her own captain. She didn't drink from the water and stubbornly obeyed the captains orders. They both than started to head out of the plaza. Along the way, Janeway than looked up and she knew what she was looking at.

"I believe we have found our SPD."

"A rather odd design for a building. It looks like the base itself can be taken apart and put back together. Peculiar."

Excited, Janeway happily approached the building and made it to the front entrance. A man in a police uniform stopped them in their tracks. It did kill off Janeway's happiness as well.

"Do you have clearance to enter ma'am?"

Janeway fumbled around her bag for something that could pass for clearance. She found a silver nickel that had a picture of Thomas Jefferson on it. It had the year 1992 on it as well. Maybe this could pass as some type of clearance! Janeway handed the coin to the guard as the guard analyzed it.

"This isn't a valid ID. I can't let you in."

Janeway did not want to be stopped by a guard. They had gotten THIS close only to be stopped by one mere guard. Seven saw the captain's distress so she tried to offer help.

"You will step away from the door or I will remove your head."

About 10 seconds later, Janeway and Seven were hidden in another alley just across from the SPD building. Well, the guard didn't bode well with Seven's malicious statement. Janeway was less than stellar as well.

"I was trying to offer assistance captain."

"I know you did Seven. There was just a more better way you could have put it. I would have suggested making up a story or something so that he would let us in."

"Why would I make up a story? I have no story to make up."

Janeway really was sick of this already. Not only did they lose their chance at getting into SPD, Seven was not being much of any help either.

"We could sneak our way in Captain."

"How so Seven?"

"I could provide a suitable distraction so the guard will not be at his post."

Janeway thought for a moment. It was a good idea, still, Janeway didn't know what kind of diversion Seven meant.

"What kind of distraction actually?"

"I will hit the man with my tricorder and run."

"Sounds a little crude Seven. I don't see any logic in there, and it may not work as you plan it to work."

"Then I will try to do it."

Janeway smiled. Seven was going to actually try to do it. This was good news, considering that this was their only chance of getting home. Janeway appreciated Seven's dedication to Voyager and herself. The plan seemed like it would work. It would work if only everything was precise and happened perfectly like Seven would want. It was a big risk, but it was a risk worth taking.

"Well then, let's begin."

I apologize for the wait on this chapter. I suffered from the curse known as "Writer's Block". The next chapter will feature the Doctor again. Stay tuned! ~ Aidan