Thanks again to everyone for their reviews so far. My apologies for the delay in updating; LIFE happened. I should be able to update more regularly and I would be speeding things up with regard to the storyline from now on. So without further ado, here's the next installment in the series. Enjoy! – Y.K.

Chapter XIV

The Future President

Nanietta Bacco stood on the balcony overlooking the opulent grounds of the massive estate. It was early morning when they arrived in Pike City, the capital of Cestus III, and she surmised that it still was, but she didn't feel bothered enough to find out the exact time of day.

In fact, her full attention was focused on a certain red-haired Admiral standing near a fountain in the vineyard, chatting with one of the wine growers – a Gorn. An intimidating species known for their xenophobic nature, Mord was almost twice her height and four times her build, but based on the reptilian's expression, he was clearly engrossed in whatever discussion she was having with him.

Under normal circumstances Etta – as her closest friends called her – wasn't one to eavesdrop, but she would give anything to hear what they were talking about.

"I've watched her do that exact same thing countless times. But it always amazes me every time I see it."

She turned toward the sound of the voice behind her. "What does?"

Voyager's former EMH stepped toward her and they both turned toward their unsuspecting subjects in unison. "She has this way about her; one conversation and you will be willing to go to the edge of the universe with her."

"It must have been quite an experience out there…" She commented, referencing Voyager's epic journey. "…I'm not aware of anyone else who would have been equal to the task."

"And I imagine that we would have never made it back with anyone else but Kathryn Janeway." He nodded toward the woman in question before moving in her direction. "Excuse me Governor; I need to check on my patient."

Bacco watched the hologram make his way, failing to suppress a grin when they caught sight of him. Janeway's expression had formed quickly into her trademark glare. Mord, conscious of her change in mood, stepped defensively in The Doctor's direction. She watched their banter for a few moments more before returning inside.

She found Marshall sitting on the sofa in the living area, reading from a PADD. He looked up as he heard her approach, concern marring his handsome face.

"The casualties on Luna Base number in the hundreds." He stood up to greet her as she neared; a sign of respect for her position. "They have now accounted for everyone except Commander Harry Kim, and an Ensign Joshua Carey. They have been officially listed as missing."

Waving him back to his seat, she joined him. "Zife and his cohorts have taken a lot of lives over this. It's time to end this."

Stark nodded in agreement. "I've spoken with Admiral Shanthi. Captain Chakotay has taken command of the Nara and is en route to the coordinates."

"So what now?" Bacco asked.

"Now…we wait." He looked away from her as Kathryn's voice floated in their direction through the open glass doors.

She studied his preoccupied expression and could not resist asking. "How long have you been in love with her, Marshall?"

He ran his hand through his hair, but kept facing away. "The truth?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Naturally. I wouldn't expect anything less of you."

"I only realized two nights ago, at the Admiral's ball, that I loved her the moment I met her."

"But that wasn't her at the Admiral's ball." Bacco reminded him. "In fact, it hasn't been 'her' for the last six months."

"Don't you think I know that?" He stood up to pace, the movement of his body revealing the tenuous hold he had on his emotions at the moment. "I should have known…somehow recognized that it wasn't her."

"You had no way of knowing she was a duplicate, Marshall. Until a few hours ago, we didn't even know the technology existed."

"Not in this timeline it does." He glanced at her bewildered look. "Braxton brought it back with him from another timeline. The Doctor was good enough to inform me."

"Did she – the real Kathryn – tell you about her time away on the mission with Braxton?"

"We haven't had the chance to talk about anything." He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "The Doctor hasn't let her out of his sight, and she seems to be avoiding that discussion."

"Well…" Bacco concluded. "…she's back now, and the council will want answers. They're not going to take kindly to her fiddling with the timeline again. What was she thinking? Imagine, agreeing to substitute an alternate Kathryn Janeway – an advanced representation no less – for the real thing."

Marshall stopped pacing and turned to face her. "You're forgetting that she is bound by the temporal prime directive. She doesn't have to say a word. Not even to me, Etta."

"Well she can't stay dead forever. How is she going to explain this?"

Their dialogue was suspended as Janeway herself entered the room. "Good morning." Kathryn's finely tuned senses quickly picked up the tense mood in the room. She nodded tentatively at the Governor, her eyes lingering on Marshall a few moments longer. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Not at all." Bacco stood up. "In fact, I was just heading down to check on our first meal of the day." She moved toward where Kathryn was standing. "I'll leave you two alone. Take as long as you like." She gave Marshall a pointed look before making her exit.

They stood silently, facing each other, their eyes locking for a long moment before Marshall looked away. He spotted a nearby table set up with a tea service and he headed in that direction. "Coffee?"

"Yes, please." Kathryn watched as he meticulously prepared their drinks. "The Doctor has given me a clean bill of health."

Marshall walked toward her, their drinks in his hands. "That's good news." He held out her drink, turning quickly toward the sofa where he settled.

Kathryn held her cup, its warmth infusing her hands as she watched him sip from his own beverage, his eyes not meeting hers. "I've just had the most interesting chat with Mr. Mord outside."

"Really. How so?"

"Aside from his love of wine making, it seems that he is an avid reader of the Federation Star."

Marshall sipped his tea, but didn't answer.

She continued. "It seems that according to the tabloid, you and I are getting married."

His teacup came down on the coffee table with such force, it shattered. He was on his feet and in front of her in seconds. "Damn you! Damn you, Kathryn! You think you could just walk back in here after six months and think nothing of it? I thought she was you!"

"Marshall I'm sor…"

"Don't." He stopped her, his breathing hard as his dark mood intensified. "You could have told me." He leaned in closer. "YOU. COULD. HAVE. SAID. SOMETHING."

Kathryn watched him turn away abruptly, trying to bring his temper back in check. "I couldn't." She whispered. "The temporal prime dir…" She stopped when he turned back toward her, a look of pure revulsion on his features.

"I took…whatever it was…to my bed, Kathryn. I made love to…I thought it was you. I got down on one knee and asked…" He turned away again, his head bowed, his shoulders shuddering as he fought to regain his self control. "Who else knew about this?"

"The Doctor, and my mother and Phoebe." She looked away and her voice lowered.

He looked back at her in surprise. "Your mother?" He laughed sardonically. "Now it makes sense why she didn't show any emotion when I told her about your death. At the time I thought it was because she'd lost you before and was better able to handle it than the rest of us."

"Us?"

He shrugged. "Carrie. Your former crew. They're not handling your 'death' very well, Kathryn. Especially your former first officer."

Her eyes widened and she met his gaze. "You saw Chakotay?"

"No. Taela told me." He studied her reaction with interest. "Why do you ask?"

"I haven't seen him since the welcome home ball." Kathryn recovered quickly. "It's been…strained since then."

"Well, he was at the Admirals' Ball two nights ago. Carrie mentioned seeing him arguing with…her, and that he tried to save your…her…life when the transporter overloaded. You fooled us all, Kathryn."

She looked away and her voice lowered. "You were never supposed to find out."

His voice deepened and his eyes darkened. "What?"

Kathryn took a cautious step back. "I was only supposed to be gone for two weeks. Remember that vacation I took with Phoebe?"

"Six months ago, to Risa yes. But what does that have to do with…?" Realization dawned. "You never went to Risa, did you?"

"No, I didn't. Braxton said I'd be back before anyone noticed. But something went wrong, and two weeks turned into six months." He started to ask what went wrong, but she stopped him. "I can't go into detail, but the decision was made to send the duplicate, and I was in no position to disagree. I'm sorry Marshall. I had no choice."

"Your mother and sister knew, Kathryn. You didn't think I deserved the same courtesy?"

"I didn't think we'd still be…" She moved away from his intense gaze, not able to meet his eyes. "…clearly 'she' saw something that made her change her mind."

"You were planning to end our relationship?" He looked at her incredulously.

Kathryn turned back to face him. "No. She was. For all intents and purposes, she was me, Marshall. She had my memories, my feelings. I just figured she would have followed through on this as well."

He blinked at her for a few seconds, trying to make sense of what she was saying.

"What was it?"

Kathryn frowned. "What was what?"

"That…thing." He waved his hand around. "Your replacement." He noticed her hesitation. "You owe me at least that, Kathryn."

She sighed. "During Voyager's fourth year in the Delta Quadrant, we came across a biomimetic lifeform which lived on a Y Class planet. It had the ability to change itself into anything it came into physical contact with. It would duplicate everything, right down to memories."

"I remember that. Starfleet asked the scientists at Questor to analyze the silver liquid. But as far as I recall, its ability to maintain a particular molecular structure was only transient. It was deemed useless and the project was abandoned."

"In the timeline I visited, that Silver Blood was set to revolutionize cloning technology." She paused, taking her first sip of the coffee in her hand. "There, The Doctor was able to synthesize an enzyme that allowed it to remain bonded for a protracted period. Where is she now?"

Marshall froze, only now realizing that she didn't know. "Your EMH didn't tell you?"

She frowned. "Tell me what?"

"When she was beamed from the transporter room by the Relativity, it somehow caused the circuitry to overload. Apparently placing your matterstream in the pattern buffer at the same time caused a cascade failure. They had time to pull you back before the explosion, but not before sacrificing the duplicate in the process. She's gone, Kathryn."

She exhaled heavily. "So she was sacrificed to save me."

"You sound like that's a problem. Based on what you've said, she wouldn't have lived a normal life span anyway."

"You don't understand." Kathryn intoned. "She was their first successful prototype and their last hope. It wasn't supposed to be like this. And then I was pulled out by Braxton before I could know for sure if my mission was successful."

He could sense her anguish, but his resentment toward her prevented him from giving her any form of comfort at the moment. He still needed answers.

"So what happens now?"

"I'm not sure if I'll hear from Braxton in a hurry. And I've got…"

"No Kathryn…" He interrupted. "…I meant what happens to us."

"I'm not quite sure." She whispered, her head bowing so she could study the floor. "I need some time to consider this."

"Of course." He turned and headed toward the doors. "I'm staying at the Consulate until the end of the week. Let me know if you need anything."

Kathryn watched him leave in silence, knowing that all she had to do was say the word and he would stay. But she had her duty to consider now. There would be time for everything else later.

She tapped her COMM badge. "Janeway to the Durga. Energize."

The room dissolved around her for a moment, and was replaced by Durga's cargo bay. Governor Bacco was waiting for her next to a shuttle that looked a lot like an Alpha Flyer.

Standing next to her were the familiar faces of Commander Harry Kim and Ensign Joshua Carey.

Kathryn quickly made her way toward them, surprising Harry by pulling him into a hug. By the time they pulled apart, he had recovered, and was smiling down at her. "I'm fine, Admiral. Thanks to some quick thinking by the Durga's transporter chief. If it weren't for him, more lives would have been lost."

She turned toward where Carey stood watching the reunion in awe. This was a side to the legendary Admiral Janeway he was sure he was privileged to see. "Nice to see you again, Admiral."

Kathryn nodded. "Likewise, Ensign."

"Bridge to Admiral Janeway."

She hit her COMM badge. "Go ahead."

"The EMH has been beamed aboard. We're ready for departure."

"Acknowledged. Stand by." She watched Harry and Joshua exit the cargo bay before turning toward Bacco.

"That's my cue to leave." The Governor handed Kathryn a PADD. "It's the duplicate's log entries for the last six months. I thought you might like to be brought up to speed."

She accepted the PADD. "Thank you Etta. Thanks for everything."

She nodded. "I'm sorry about Marshall. I hope you two could work it out after this is over."

Kathryn gave the order to transport the Governor to the surface, and then made her way to the bridge.

"Admiral on deck." Someone announced, and everyone rose to attention.

"As you were." Kathryn moved toward the viewscreen, watching Cestus III as it spun lazily. "Set a course, Captain. For the Devron System."

"Aye, Admiral."

"Energize."

The Demilitarized Zone

"All stop." Chakotay ordered, rising from his seat. "Onscreen."

When nothing appeared, Chakotay turned toward his ops officer. "Well?"

"It's there, Sir. They're cloaked." His console beeped and he looked down. "They're hailing. Audio only."

"Open a channel."

"Channel open."

"This is Captain Chakotay of the Federation Starship Nara. Please identify yourself."

"Chakotay? Sveta, get your ass up here. They sent Chakotay."

Chakotay's brow furrowed as he heard shuffling noises and another familiar voice came over the COMM system.

"Take the cloak offline, and raise the shields, Ro." She ordered. "Put them onscreen."

Chakotay couldn't help but smile. Sveta was always the more cautious one. Their ship shimmered into view but Chakotay didn't get a chance to identify it before his former Maquis comrades and ex-girlfriends came into view.

Ro Laren and Svetlana Korepanova both frowned when they saw him.

"Chakotay you look like hell." Ro exclaimed. "What's her name?"