Enjoy, and don't panic too much during the holiday rush – not worth it.

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Day 49

Bruised Metaphors

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For the eighth time in fifteen minutes, Janeway stumbled backwards and fell into the rust-covered soil.

The Doctor watched as Chakotay stepped forward and extended a gloved hand to her, a wry smile on his face. "You're dropping your guard when you attack from your left side."

Janeway cringed as she accepted his hand and heaved herself back to her feet. "Obviously. How many times have you got me like that?"

"Eight," the Doctor volunteered from the shaded boulder that he and Noss were sitting on.

Janeway frowned at him. "Thank you, Doctor."

"Be careful, Kathryn, I wouldn't want to have to treat you for broken ribs or a bruised tailbone."

Chakotay laughed. "I won't hurt her, Doc."

"Nothing wounded except my pride, I'm afraid," Janeway sighed, pushing her gloved hand into her hip. "And possibly my tailbone."

Chakotay tipped his head. "Have you had enough for today?"

Janeway straightened and glared. "What do you think?"

"I think you'll say no."

"No, I haven't. Come on, show me again."

Chakotay stepped around so he was paralleling her moves, and began walking her through a left jab that didn't leave her entire left side unguarded. The Doctor smiled and thumbed through the images on his holoimager.

"You have lots of pictures?" Noss asked.

"Over five hundred," the Doctor announced merrily, handing Noss the camera. "If we ever return to Voyager, I'm hoping to keep up the tradition of holophoto shows. The crew quite enjoys seeing my away missions and tidbits I gather from around the ship."

Noss scrolled through the pictures, smiling. "If we get out, will you give me copies, Doctor? I want to show my friends."

"Of course."

There was a stumbling sound, and the Doctor redirected his attention to the makeshift boxing ring, where Janeway was once again lying on her back, shaking her head. Chakotay towered over her, grinning wryly. "Kathryn, I told you."

"I know, I know. Don't let my elbow come out so far."

The Doctor elbowed Noss gently. "Get some pictures of that, will you? The indomitable Captain Janeway, finally defeated by the Maquis Mauler."

Noss laughed and raised the camera, snapping pictures. "What is 'Maquis'?"

The Doctor hesitated for a moment, trying to phrase his response carefully. "Back home in the Alpha Quadrant there is a…complicated… political conflict going on. Starfleet is very squarely on one side of the argument, but there are those that had disagreed with that stance. They call themselves the Maquis, and are a group of…freedom fighters. Chakotay was the captain of the Maquis vessel that Captain Janeway was sent to capture, but they both ended up here, in the Delta Quadrant. They combined their crews to survive."

Noss glanced at him, surprised. "Kathryn did not say that to me. They were political enemies?"

The Doctor nodded heavily, not surprised that the captain had left that out. It was ancient history as far as the crew was concerned. "Yes. Had things gone according to plan, Captain Janeway would have brought Chakotay and his crew back to earth to stand trial for terrorism."

"Zaldat. Esht raht, that is awful," she breathed.

The Doctor blinked, caught somewhat off-guard at Noss' colorful choice of words. "Well…yes, I suppose it does seem awful from our perspective. But if things had gone according to plan, Kathryn and Chakotay would never had gotten to know each other, so we don't have to feel bad for them, right?"

Noss shook her head furiously. "No, that is worse, zaldat! There is a group of people on the Zant continent of my homeworld, and they practice the Szhe-rahk faith. I too, favor it. They believe that all of the... how do you say, the yuk suk'yuk - "

The Doctor frowned, running through possible translations. Finally, he tried, "the might-have-beens?"

"Yes. Yuk suk'yuk always are true. There are many true worlds, an infinite number for every person, and also for every interaction between people. All these things happen, and there is an infinite number of possibilities of being sad, and of being happy every day. And they are all true and important."

"Ah, a multiverse. For every person, there is an infinite number of that same individual in infinite universes, making decisions. And all of the outcomes, in this faith, are valued?"

Noss nodded. "Yes. There are kinds of me that were not stranded here, and kinds of me that were. Some died. Some lived. Some escaped. Some never went to space, but stayed in Blegri and found a partner and had children. All of these kinds I would be aware of, and I feel happy for some and sad for others. And so with Kathryn and Chakotay I feel sad for knowing how close this true life came to be a different truth."

Noss looked forlornly at the couple that was now slowly circling each other, Kathryn working on her left jab, Chakotay stopping just short of landing his glove on her unprotected side. "Yuk suk'yuk. Yal brea sherac," she whispered. "Be happy in your truth."

The Doctor was a bit startled by her fervent prayer for the command team. As far as he was concerned, the two were solid friends, and nothing in the universe was going to change that. If the Borg or Species 8472 or major political differences couldn't do it, he wasn't certain that anything could.

"All right, Chakotay, that's enough beating me up for one day, okay?" Janeway stepped away from the tall man and dabbed at the sweat on her brow. Last week Noss had taken them to a downed vessel a day's walk from her own. It had been partially buried in a sand drift and was badly damaged, but was full of clothing from the former crew. They had brought back some more comfortable boots for Chakotay, and several odd pieces of clothing that were more lightweight than their own uniforms. Sadly, all of the clothing had been meant for a humanoid at least Chakotay's height and build. Now, the Doctor chuckled as Janeway pulled an enormous beige tunic over her Starfleet tank top. The tunic fell past her knees, and she had unceremoniously ripped ten centimeters from the sleeve length. She looked rather like a peasant from earth's early history.

Chakotay, on the other hand, looked quite good in his new clothes. The grey tunic he had found fit very well, and he had worn his new black trousers every day. They were a rougher, thicker, denim-like material that wore well and stood up to the harsh environment and hardier lifestyle on Arachnos. Noss had very loudly complimented him on these pants, which, for some reason the Doctor couldn't fathom, had caused Janeway to laugh for a full three minutes.

The pair of them stumbled over to the shaded boulder and Noss and the Doctor made room for them. "Here is some water," the Doctor announced, thrusting two full water canteens on them. "You'll need to both drink at least a liter and a half."

The pair of them simultaneously rolled their eyes and accepted the water. Janeway sat numbly and drank, staring into the dirt in front of her and absently rolling her left shoulder. The Doctor made a mental note to ask her how she was feeling in several hours when the real soreness set in.

Noss tipped herself onto the ground and handed Chakotay a towel. "You asked me to bring this, right?"

Chakotay smiled. "Right. Thanks, Noss."

"Of course," she said, and the Doctor saw her wink at Janeway.

Chakotay lowered himself from the boulder and stepped a pace away, pulled off his soaked tank, and began vigorously rubbing the towel into his hair.

Janeway coughed and stared hard at the ground. After a moment, she said very evenly, "My shoulders are killing me."

The Doctor reached for her shoulder, probing it for any damage. "You seem to be all right, Kathryn. Chakotay has done no permanent damage."

She choked on her water and her cheeks turned bright red. "Doctor - "

Chakotay appeared at the Doctor's side, brow raised. "I think, Doc, that she was speaking metaphorically." The big man winked at him, then playfully nudged Janeway off the boulder before climbing back on it himself.

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A/N: I know nothing about boxing, kind of the same way I know nothing about pool. But I think a pool table would be harder for them to jury-rig. Oh well. Read and review, and have a lovely afternoon!