A few days later Janeway was finally able to hold Voyager's second senior staff meeting since the stasis began. B'Elanna had begged out of it the week before and considering how understaffed Engineering was, Janeway had let her put it off until they had been in transit for over two weeks. She had met with them all individually and with only four people, minus the Doctor, the full staff meeting was mostly a formality.
The door to her Briefing Room opened and B'Elanna entered, followed shortly by Seven and Gretchen.
"Well, what are your now bi-weekly reports?" said Janeway after a moment, "Seven?"
"Astrometrics is running efficiently, Captain. We are adapting to the lower staffing."
"What about security?"
"We have implemented the changes in my last efficiency report," said the woman coolly, "The K'Terrans are being monitored, and I, or the security officer on duty, will be alerted when they appear on any deck. If one arrives on Deck 5, the two security officers on duty there will be alerted immediately."
Janeway nodded, "B'Elanna, how is the new set up in Engineering working from your perspective?"
"The K'Terrans are all set-up on the second floor with Kincaid, Wildman, and Ariti," said B'Elanna, more even tempered today, "We're still understaffed, but at least I don't have them harping in my ear constantly," she added, grinding her teeth, "At the night shift I just send whoever up there to work with them, but sometimes the K'Terrans don't even work then…..they just sleep, with both of their mouths and their eyes open, staring at you like a predatory fish."
"How many of them are there?" asked Janeway, "Do they want other placements on the ship?"
"There are 18," answered Gretchen, "But no, I don't think so. They're putting two people over here at all times, and counting us as their cultural third. But sparing two people to work on our ship is about as much as they can handle…..that's why sometimes Be'nl and Shimai or Soeur sleep here rather than rotating out, it doesn't bother them though."
"It bothers me," hissed B'Elanna.
"Gretchen, do you have anything else to report?"
"I think it's working out reasonably well," said Gretchen cautiously, "Though I do have something…as Acting Morale Officer."
"Yes," said Janeway, suddenly curious.
"The K'Terrans want to join the Velocity tournament."
"Of course they do" said B'Elanna in irritation.
"I mentioned it to them and it…..may have gotten a bit out of hand….but it's not a bad thing, unless we make it one."
"That sounds like them," said B'Elanna.
"You weren't even going to play," argued Gretchen.
"I wasn't, but that sounds like them."
"What did they want Gretchen?" said Janeway, taking control of the meeting back.
"They all want to play," she said looking at Janeway, "But it's a cultural taboo to play in pairs, it would have to be threes."
"I've never heard of Velocity being played in threes," said Janeway, "But I don't see why it couldn't be…and we can hardly say no with all they're doing for us."
Gretchen looked relieved, "Well, if you don't have a problem with it, I'll get on it then, I think I can talk enough crewmen into giving it a try."
"If they need a reminder to be hospitable to guests," said Janeway evenly, looking at B'Elanna, "I don't mind giving one."
B'Elanna groaned as the meeting was dismissed. B'Elanna and Seven hurried out and the door closed behind them.
To her surprise Gretchen lingered and approached her as she turned back to her computer, "I know it's not ideal," said Gretchen nervously, "But I need to know if you'll let Soeur play with you and Seven. She might be terrible but…..she really wants to play with the Captain. She's their leader, and I think she'll be insulted if we say no."
"By all means," said Janeway easily, "Anyone who gets us back to the Alpha Quadrant is welcome to my win streak in Velocity….besides, I don't have a win streak in triads….in fact you can add a second K'Terran if you want," she added, smiling, "I can handle training two of them."
"What about Seven?"
"I haven't asked her yet, I don't actually think she much likes Velocity," said Janeway, smiling "It's an illogical sport."
Gretchen looked at her with a very strange expression and blinked in surprise for a moment.
"You might want to….reevaluate that opinion," said Gretchen, speaking slowly.
Is that one reason she's playing with Naomi….because she knew Seven wanted to play with me back when this was partners?
…..I hurt Seven's feelings didn't I?...I didn't mean to…..but I should've known.
"Myself, Seven, and Soeur it is," said Janeway definitely.
"Great," said Gretchen, smiling, "Be'nl is going to be playing with me and Naomi….I would warn Be'nl we'll probably lose…..but she's so enamoured over Naomi I don't think she'll care if we get negative points."
"She's a very sweet child," said Janeway fondly.
"They don't have children," said Gretchen, frowning sadly, "So it's easy to get caught up."
"I….wondered about that," said Janeway, "We know their males are….around somewhere. And I had suspicions,…..that they had visits they didn't acknowledge…..They're still around as a species after 3,000 years."
"No," said Gretchen firmly, "Be'nl and Soeur and Shimai, the whole crew, they date from that time. They're thousands of years old, part of the last generation of their species born. The entire group had their reproductive organs removed when they were days old…..there's no way for them to have children."
Janeway gasped, "That sounds like….genocide."
"It was," said Gretchen, "But it was also their salvation….."
"I don't know if they would want me telling you anymore…," added Gretchen reluctantly, "Shimai got mad at Be'nl for talking too freely about it but…..Be'nl said I could tell whoever that they couldn't have children….they're almost proud that they're dying out."
"They're proud they're going extinct?" said Janeway in shock.
"It has to do with suppressing….The Great Heresy," said Gretchen, frowning, and not elaborating any further.
"Alright," said Janeway, smiling, "I wouldn't want you to break a confidence."
Gretchen nodded.
"When is the tournament starting?" asked Janeway, "Are you that far yet?"
"Two weeks from now," said Gretchen nodding, "It's only one round this time. The matches will determine bracket placement, but that's it. The K'Terrans wanted to see and play real matches, but I think I'll leave about a month or two between the preliminary round and the tournament for them to practice once they've gotten a taste of it. For this round there will be three matches a day until we've gone through everyone."
"Good," said Janeway approvingly, "I was hoping for some excitement."
The next two weeks were routine for Janeway. She did not see much of Gretchen, but she was able to get together with Soeur and Seven individually for Velocity lessons. The former Borg drone accepted her invitation to play with a disguised eagerness that made Janeway feel very guilty, and determined to do better in the future. Soeur, the K'Terrran's green skinned leader, continued to be her own brand of kind and ridiculous, but was actually quite a good player, as it turned out K'Terrans had excellent reflexes. They had only played as a triad once, but Janeway was hopeful for their chances in the tournament. However with the ship running smoothly now, the loneliness was beginning to sink in farther.
Harry and Tom weren't cracking jokes on the Bridge and coming up with plots behind her back.
Neelix wasn't rushing up to greet her in the Mess Hall, bubbling over with news and cheerfulness.
Tuvok was usually quiet, but it was a quietness she counted on, could feel in her bones after all these years, watching over her, and Voyager.
And Chakotay, who she ran almost every decision past, who told her of issues she hadn't seen, perspectives she hadn't thought of, who listened…who cared about Kathryn, was gone too.
Soeur had proudly announced that the same day the Velocity tournament started they would officially be through the dangerous Jen Hadar territory section of their journey. But no matter how much she missed the male half of her crew, Janeway knew it made no sense to end the alliance early and add years to their trip. The stasis would have to go on.
I'll just have to deal with it….it isn't like I'm not used to being lonely.
Finally the night of her Velocity match arrived. Janeway had not been able to attend the first day of the tournament's preliminary round, and she was shocked to see that there were viewing stands in the holodeck. Various Voyager crew members, but no K'Terran faces were in the bleachers ready to watch what Gretchen had once described as "tennis with phasers", the goal being to maneuver a holographic disc into your opponent by hitting it with a weak phaser ray.
"This is quite the turnout," said Janeway to Gretchen, as she approached the young woman who was standing in the middle of the room wearing a gold colored tracksuit. Janeway was wearing a red skort dress and leggings.
"Of course," said Gretchen smiling, "Everyone wants to see the Captain play. And we're recording all the matches for those who can't attend," she added, gesturing to several cameras.
"You thought of everything," said Janeway.
"I tried to think like Tom," said Gretchen.
"If you were thinking like Tom you'd be taking bets,"
"Who says I'm not?" said Gretchen, laughing at Janeway's face, "It'd probably be frowned upon since I'm playing you."
"You are?"
"Yes, Be'nl was determined to play Soeur. Since it didn't really matter I let the K'Terrans have their way with placements. A couple of them were quite insistent that they wanted to play their pod mates. I explained that for the actual tournament that wouldn't work, but I let them here."
"Pod mates?" said Janeway.
"They're all in sets of three….have been since they were born, it's rare for them to do things separate from those sets. Be'nl and Soeur, and a few others are trying to test their philosophy by agreeing to play with us aliens, but the rest of the K'Terrans are playing in their pods."
"So I met Soeur's pod on the first day? They're the ones that came to Voyager?"
"Yes," said Gretchen, nodding, "Be'nl has the light blue skin and is their Head Engineer so to speak, Shimai has the greenish blue skin, she's essentially their First Officer."
"We are ready to play Captain," came Seven's cool voice suddenly, and Janeway turned her head to see the former Borg in a black Velocity jumpsuit, and Naomi Wildman in a neon pink one.
Gretchen gave the girl a double high five, and then removed her jacket to reveal a tank top of the same warm pink, apparently their team color.
Just then the K'Terrans arrived, and Janeway knew for the first time why there were three of them. Soeur approached Janeway and Seven, smiling widely with her four lips, and Be'nl approached Naomi and Gretchen, wearing what looked like neon pink wristbands on her four arm tentacles. Be'nl and Soeur were also wearing what Gretchen explained were sound blockers all along the holes on the sides of their heads, to improve their performance by limiting distractions.
"Shimai," called Gretchen to the third K'Terran, who was taking a seat in the bleachers, "Do you want to call the game?"
"What do you mean dearie?" said the K'Terran, eyes wide on her eye stalks.
"I'd usually start the game," said Gretchen, "But I'm playing so that might be seen as….unfair….but you're impartial, and this way you can be involved," said Gretchen smiling, "All you have to do is say start, and announce the winner at the end. The computer keeps score, so it's mostly a formality."
"As you wish love," said the K'Terran, flicking her arm tentacles and smiling, "Thank you for including me."
"You're welcome," said Gretchen, "Thank you."
The six of them took their places. The rules that had been decided for the matches stated that each player defended their own space, and couldn't leave it without invoking a penalty. There were two discs that sailed all across the court, leaving everyone involved in the larger game rather than it being one versus one.
Gretchen's team had placed Naomi Wildman in the center, Gretchen on the left and Be'nl on the right. Kathryn's team kept with their already decided upon structure, which had Kathryn in the middle and Soeur on the right, which left Seven against Gretchen.
Suddenly Kathryn heard a wobbling loud voice say "Start".
The discs materialized in the center on either side of her and the game began.
Kathryn knew in the first 30 seconds that her team would win. Seven scored on Gretchen immediately and knocked her to the floor with a disc. The human woman got up almost instantly and after that seemed determined not to score on Seven, but to keep the disc away from her.
Kathryn scored on Be'nl in the next minute, as the disc that Naomi Wildman had shot erratically across the room had finally bounced out of bounds and materialized back in the center.
After that Soeur snatched the disc with her phaser and she and Be'nl monopolized it, volleying it back and forth between each other at dizzying speeds.
Seven and Gretchen were still in their awkward duel, as Seven attempted to score on her and Gretchen instead shot the disc as far away as she could from either Seven or Kathryn. Suddenly Gretchen varied her tactics by shooting the disc to Naomi, and they started a new rhythm where Gretchen defended Seven's shots and then passed the disc to Naomi, who was desperately trying to score on Seven with a look of almost unhinged glee on her face.
Gretchen was hit twice more and the match timed out with a score of 4-0.
The second match started two minutes later, after they all had the briefest chance to breathe or get a drink of water. Janeway was determined to really play in this match, now that everyone had warmed up.
"Losing team members rotate to the right," said the computer.
The computer gave the signal and the discs materialized.
Seven went for the same disc Janeway did, and was a split second faster, pushing it toward Be'nl. The two started to volley the disc back and forth, and Janeway turned toward the other disc. Soeur had volleyed it in Gretchen's direction, who pushed it back toward the K'Terran and managed to catch her by surprise and score a point.
Janeway then pushed the disc toward Gretchen, scoring a point on her. Gretchen then volleyed toward Naomi, and they had a real game on their hands. Janeway tried to score on Gretchen, while Gretchen varied between taking shots at Soeur, and passing the disc to Naomi, who unvaryingly shot it at Janeway. Soeur or Janeway intercepted the disc, usually shooting it at Gretchen, but occasionally at Naomi.
Naomi was scored on twice, while Gretchen was scored on four times. Seven managed to score on Be'nl twice, but they continued their duel unhindered by their teammates.
Finally with 3 minutes left in the 15 minute game, Gretchen suddenly started serving to Naomi, and only serving to Naomi. Janeway parried the shots easily, but quickly noticed that Soeur was no longer intercepting the shots, in fact, when one of Naomi's shots was particularly off the mark, Soeur shot it back, at a very suspicious angle, in Naomi's direction.
Well, I know when I'm being ganged up on.
The clock continued to count down, and just as it was almost over, Janeway stepped just a little too far to the right, and failed to parry Naomi Wildman's fierce attempt. She allowed the disc to guide her back, landing on the floor in what she hoped was a very satisfying heap.
"Game" sounded the computer.
"I did it! I did it!," came Naomi's high voice, as Janeway started to sit up. She saw Gretchen give the girl another double high five, and Soeur, seeming to forget what side she was on, started to clap.
"You're not hurt are you Captain?," said Naomi, breaking off the victory party suddenly, and coming up to her.
"I'm fine," said Janeway smiling and standing up, "Great shot though Naomi, I don't think I had a fourth of your talent when I was your age."
Naomi absolutely beamed at her, and then went to bubble happily at Seven.
"9-2, the Captain's team wins," said the wobbly voice of Shimai.
"Good game Captain," said Gretchen, extending her hand.
"Good game," said Kathryn, shaking Gretchen's hand.
Be'nl followed suit, extending her two right tentacles, and then Naomi shook her hand, still beaming.
"Captain," suddenly in the mix of the congratulations there was a sound from her combadge and for a moment it was a shock to hear a man's voice again.
"Captain," repeated the Doctor, in a grim tone, "You had better come down to Sickbay right away."
"On my way," said Janeway, turning quickly and heading out the door.
I think…..I was foolish to wish for excitement.