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CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

When Kathryn and Chakotay rematerialized, they found themselves standing face to face with the Doctor.

"Admiral," he smiled. "Commander. Welcome."

Neither Kathryn or Chakotay spoke, just stood in stunned silence on the bridge transporter pad.

"That's a peculiar outfit you have on, Commander," the Doctor said, studying curiously Chakotay's Roman attire. "And you, Admiral. Are they fashionable on this alien world?"

When he got no answer, the Doctor sighed. "Well, don't both rush to thank me all at once for rescuing you."

Kathryn's mind began to engage now and she spoke. "I'm sorry, Doctor. I just...we weren't expecting to be rescued."

"Nor Dieter Willis, Tal Celes, Tuvok, Joe Carey, or Kiera. By the thanks coming my way, anyone would think you all didn't want to be rescued."

Kathryn ignored his last sarcastic comment, all her attention being on his first words. "They're here?" she asked. "All of them?"

"Yes. Your father too."

"We thought that Kiera might have been taken, but it didn't cross our minds that Joe might have been too." She smiled. "I'm so glad he is." There was one person, however, that the Doctor hadn't mentioned. "What about Seven?" she asked. "Is she here?"

"Not yet. Q has given me specific times to beam everyone up and she, with who I presume is Meri Van Darka, is last."

"I gather then Q has helped you to rescue us?"

"Yes...if you wish to call his shenanigans help."

"What happened after I was taken? Was I replaced with a CBR?"

A sadness filled the Doctor's eyes as he remembered his recent loss. "Yes."

"I see," Kathryn replied, unsettled yet intrigued. "Is she here too?"

"She died," the Doctor announced quietly. "Four days ago. On our way to rescue you we encountered some kind of anomaly and she was fatally injured."

So, she would never get to meet this other self. And, strangely, Kathryn felt disappointed at that.

"But she didn't suffer," the Doctor went on. "Not much. It all happened so quickly and her end was peaceful."

"What have you done with her body? You haven't put her into space, have you?"

The Doctor was offended at that. "What do you take me for, Admiral? She's in the cargo bay."

"Just making sure. We don't want to alert The Collectors to our presence. Presumably Q's given you a new cloaking frequency?"

"Yes. And transporter frequencies so our beam-outs are masked."

"Excellent."

"As soon as we have Seven and Meri, we can leave. That is providing Q delivers the promised wormhole."

"He'd better. I take it the plan is to leave the CBRs on New Earth?"

The Doctor frowned. "CBRs?"

"The other Chakotays and the other Tal Celes we detected. It's better that they stay on New Earth. They'll only be destroyed if we take them back with us."

"I wasn't sure for a moment who you meant," he confessed. "But they're already onboard."

"They are?"

"Yes." He gestured to a door behind him. "I'll introduce you to them. You can then discuss whether or not to send them back. That is if a beam-out frequency can also beam-in."

"Before we send anyone back," Kathryn said, stepping off the transporter pad, "I'd like to get everyone off that world."

"If you're referring to Seven and Meri, they're not due to be transported for another hour. As I said, Q has given me specific times, right down to a fraction of a second, and we can't jeopardize everyone's safety by transporting ahead of schedule. I've set up auto-transport so they'll be beamed up at the exact right time. I've also programmed a ship wide alert five minutes before so I can be here when they arrive."

"Good thinking. And well done, Doctor. It can't have been easy having to do all this alone."

"Oh," he said dismissively, "water off a duck's back."

"I'll take your word for it," Kathryn replied, not quite believing him. "Now, is my room still my room?"

"Yes. And I've sorted out all the sleeping arrangements. You and Chakotay together...which brings me to say congratulations on your marriage..."

"Thank you," Kathryn said sincerely.

"Your father alone," he continued, "Tuvok and Joe Carey together, Kiera and Meri together, Tal Celes and Dieter together, and Seven alone because of her installed alcove."

"I take it the other rooms are shared between you and the CBRs?"

"Yes."

"It's going to be weird," Kathryn considered, "having two other Chakotays and another Celes onboard. I hope they will want to go back to New Earth. I don't want to take them on a journey of death."

"Shall we go to them now?" The Doctor asked.

Kathryn smiled. "Chakotay and I should change into something more befitting an admiral and commander first."

"That won't be necessary."

"How do you mean?"

The Doctor gestured to the door again. "See for yourselves."

He walked over to the door, opened it, and disappeared into a narrow corridor beyond. Kathryn followed him, but Chakotay stayed on the pad, a sad and silent figure. Kathryn turned to him and the pain in his eyes knifed her heart. She went over to him and put her hand on his shoulder.

"What is it? Are you worried you're a CBR? Because I'm absolutely sure you're not."

"No," he said quietly. "I'm just..." Tears filled his eyes. "What does this mean...for us?"

Kathryn understood his vague words. "Nothing," she said sincerely. "Nothing is going to change between us. We're not on Voyager anymore. All the barriers that existed between us have long gone."

The pain in Chakotay's eyes eased a little. "I couldn't bear to lose you."

Kathryn took his hands in hers. "And you're not going too. I promise. There may be a few raised eyebrows at Starfleet Command when we get back, but I don't give a damn about that." She smiled warmly. "Now, let's go and meet your counterparts and try to persuade them to stay on this world."

Chakotay nodded with a smile and they followed the Doctor out of the bridge. In the corridor, the Doctor was waiting for them outside one of the smaller bedrooms, and beckoned them inside.

"Admiral, Commander," he said, "Meet Chakotay two and three."

Kathryn stepped into the room first and her eyes widened at the sight before her. Instead of two adult Chakotays, there were two tiny babies fast asleep in two metal cots. One was wrapped in a blue blanket, the other a yellow.

"They're...they're babies," Kathryn exclaimed.

"That's right," the Doctor answered. "I believe they're clones of the Commander."

Kathryn stepped closer to the cots and looked down at the sleeping infants. They both had fluffy black hair, silky brown skin, and were identical in weight and appearance.

"The Willis baby is a clone too," the Doctor informed her. "Of Tal Celes."

As Kathryn tried to absorb this, a young lookalike came to her mind. "Warren," she said, turning to the Doctor. "Justin's son. He looked exactly like him...the perfect image."

Chakotay, who was also looking at the babies, spoke. "He may have been a clone too."

It seemed almost a certainty, Kathryn thought. But if he was, if he'd been delivered like Tamora, why hadn't her father told her? Or did he not know? Maybe Justin hadn't told him.

"They're a couple of weeks below full-term," the Doctor went on, "but in perfect health and able to breathe unaided."

"We can't send them back," Kathryn said, looking again at the sleeping babies. "Warren was his own person, an individual. These babies will grow up to be their own person too. All sentient individuals have an intrinsic right to life in the Federation. They can't be harmed."

"No, but it could still be in their best interest to send them back," the Doctor reasoned. "If I'm wrong, and they're a juvenile CBR not a clone, the Federation might order their destruction."

"We'll just have to hedge all our bets on them being sentient," Kathryn declared. She turned to Chakotay. "Do you agree?"

"Yes," he answered. "If Warren and Tamora were given to the person they were cloned from, it stands to reason these babies were going to be given to us. If we're not there, who knows what will become of them. Maybe they'll be adopted out to someone else, but they could be destroyed too."

"Then decision made," Kathryn smiled. "As soon as Seven and Meri are onboard, we're all going home."

END OF CHAPTER TWENTY NINE