MAQUIS
Act 2 - Scene 1
Kathryn woke up struggling to breathe. She had been dreaming about Voyager and her crew. In her dream, she had just finished her interview with Harry Kim and Tom Paris. The young ensign was so enthusiastic about his first posting and she had sensed there was more to Tom Paris than the delinquent son of an Admiral. The panic attack had started when she woke up to the crushing realisation that they were all dead. She felt guilty that she had survived, after all, she should have gone down with her ship.
She managed to get her breathing under control by focusing on the present. Kathryn washed and dressed quickly for her first shift. To call it a baptism of fire was an understatement. She knew that she was going to have problems with the Bajoran female and the Engineer, Miss Torres. When Chakotay was giving her the guided tour the previous day, they had made it perfectly clear that if it wasn't for Chakotay, she would have been flushed out of the nearest airlock. She tidied herself, stood up straight, put her shoulders back, now she was ready to beard the lions in their den.
Kathryn Janeway reached the Bridge and stood outside for a few seconds. It was the same size as a runabout which only just accommodated four people comfortably. Seska was in the Captain's chair. She tried diplomacy first,
"Seska, report please."
Seska didn't even acknowledge her request or presence on the Bridge. Kathryn went to stand beside her expecting her to move - she didn't budge an inch.
Kathryn smiled, "Obviously you want to do it the hard way!"
Seska went to stand expecting a fight, Kathryn grabbed her arm, twisted it behind her back, to force her against the wall, then blocked her from moving by leaning against her.
"The next time I give you an order and you refuse to relinquish the Captain's chair, I will take you down to the Brig personally and keep you there until you learn some manners. The next words coming out of your lips will be, yes Second."
"Yes Second," Seska said resentfully.
She glared at everybody around her then stormed out leaving Kathryn to take her rightful place. B'Elanna suppressed a smile, whatever ever else this woman was, she wasn't a coward. After an uneventful shift, she returned to her bunk to find Chakotay waiting for her.
"I heard you solved your first discipline problem using the Maquis method," he said grinning from ear to ear.
Kathryn grimaced, "I don't think she would have responded to a more gentler approach."
"I agree, but watch yourself, she is the vengeful type!"
Kathryn wondered how he knew so much about Seska but decided not to pry.
"We're going to land on the next M class planet to look for supplies, I'd like you to tag along if you don't mind."
"If you're going to give me orders, you don't have to be so polite, I don't want the crew to think I'm getting special treatment; it's going to be hard enough for me to fit in, as it is."
You must be the only member of crew to ever complain about being treated too leniently by the Captain. I'll definitely have to file that away as a first."
Kathryn smiled at him wearily, "I can't believe that I'm so tired all the time, after all I slept through the first forty-eight hours on your ship.
"We've set up the E.M.H in our tiny sick bay, why don't you drop in and talk to him, he might be able to offer you some grief counselling."
Kathryn was amused, "Have you activated the program yet?"
"Nobody has needed medical treatment yet, is there a malfunction in the program, B'Elanna could repair it." Chakotay was confused.
"He functions well as a doctor but he has the bedside manner of a Romulan, he is rude, sarcastic and brusque."
"Well he should get on famously with Seska, they have a lot in common."
They both started laughing, Chakotay hoped that she would laugh a lot in the future as she had one of the sexiest laughs he'd ever heard.
"Well good night Kathryn, I hope you sleep well."
"Good night Chakotay,
Act 2 - Scene 1
When Kathryn reported for her shift the following day, she discovered that they were in orbit around a deserted class M planet. Their sensors had detected plant life and there was a breathable atmosphere, so Chakotay had assembled a crew to search for food and water. He left Ayala in command and took, Seska, B'Elanna, Suder, Kathryn and Gerron with him to the planet.
Scene Two
As soon as their feet touched the ground, Chakotay organised them into groups and gave them specific tasks. Seska and Suder were sent to look for water. B'Elanna and Gerron had to look for food and he took Kathryn with him to search for any other materials they could use. He gave them two hours and a rendezvous site to reassemble. When Seska realised who Chakotay had paired himself with she was livid.
"She's only been here for two days and he's following her around like a love sick puppy."
"I thought you and him weren't an item any longer."
"That doesn't mean to say I want him to make a fool of himself, the others are laughing at him behind his back."
"You're jealous because he didn't look at you like that and she didn't have to throw herself at Chakotay."
"What do you know Psycho, don't you like your women to be dead before you're interested in them."
I suggest you remember that before you continue to insult me again. I like Kathryn Janeway, she is intelligent, loyal and attractive, with class oozing from every pore."
B'Elanna liked working with Gerron, he didn't do small talk and he completed his work with no fuss. The others found him rude and insolent but she admired his honesty. They had found a couple of bags of edible berries but that wouldn't sustain them for very long. They kept scanning the trees and bushes hoping for something more filling.
Chakotay found a river, he used the branches from the trees to fashion a fishing rod. When he had it baited and propped up on a makeshift stand, he continued to forage for food. Kathryn was checking under the trees in a small forest to see if there were any edible fungi. In two hours, he caught some fish and collected some edible seaweed from the water. After checking his tricorder, he found that their two hours were nearly up. He saw Kathryn in the distance and beckoned her towards him.
When she had almost reached him, he saw a flash of light out of the corner of his eye. His body reacted before his brain registered that it was a phaser beam, he threw himself on top of her, which meant the phaser blast hit him in the arm.
She tried to make a joke, "Well I think we should get to know each other first before you throw yourself at me!"
Then she noticed that he'd been hit, "Chakotay, you're hurt, let's get you to the Doctor." She signalled the ship to request an emergency transport for him. When he was safely back on board, she went to investigate. As there were no life forms on the planet, someone from the ship had fired that phaser and she was certain that Chakotay wasn't the intended target.
She looked around her immediate vicinity and spotted Suder standing at the top of a hill. He could definitely have fired from that distance. He was paired with Seska, who was definitely the most hostile crew member. She contacted Suder and arranged to meet him and Seska at the rendezvous site. When they met, the Bajoran woman wouldn't look at her. Her only question was about Chakotay's condition. Then Suder did something that surprised her, he apologised for accidentally firing his phaser at her. He agreed that he should have been more careful and fully accepted whatever punishment Chakotay felt was fitting for his crime.
Kathryn knew that he was lying and wondered why he wanted to clear up Seska's mess, they weren't even lovers.
Scene 3
They waited for B'Elanna and Gerron to return then, they transported back to the ship. Kathryn's first stop was the hastily constructed sickbay.
"How is the patient Doctor, I hope he's not in too much pain."
"His wound was superficial, if I had access to a dermal regenerator, it wouldn't even have left a scar."
"You can go back to whatever you do Captain but try not to pull out the stitches I don't have any sutures left."
"Captain Janeway, could I talk to you privately please?"
She looked at Chakotay and agreed after he nodded his head.
"What's going on Captain, I am a Starfleet Emergency Holographic program, not a quack on a Maquis raider.
"You'll have to adjust Doctor, like I've had to do, Voyager was destroyed by the Kazon-Ogla with the the loss of all hands."
The Doctor sat down, "All One hundred and fifty-three of them dead!"
"Yes, we are the only survivors." said Kathryn quietly.
"How are you coping, I can't imagine it's been easy living in the enemy camp!"
"Chakotay want to lead his crew home. I would like to return to the Alpha quadrant to bring some closure to their relatives and let them know that they sacrificed their lives to save many innocent men, women and children who couldn't defend themselves."
"Well Captain, you definitely haven't chosen an easy path, you know where I am if you need a friendly face."
Kathryn smiled, his bedside manner was definitely improving.
Later in the day Chakotay took Suder away for a chat about the phaser accident. He returned after thirty minutes with a bruised, swollen mouth, which had obviously been caused by someone's fist.
Ayala nodded at him, Suder grinned at Kathryn, "At least Chakotay dispenses immediate justice."
Seska joined him at a table in the tiny mess hall, "Why did you take the blame, you don't have to protect me and I don't owe you anything."
I didn't do it for your benefit, I did it so she would notice me." Suder said proudly.
She really hoped that he never became interested in her like that, she almost felt sorry for Kathryn Janeway. Seska hadn't recovered from her break up with Chakotay and hoped that they could reconcile. With Captain Janeway on the ship, he wouldn't look at anybody else therefore she had to ensure that her next attempt to kill her was more successful.
Kathryn went to find Chakotay, she found him lying on his bunk reading, "Did you have to hit him, violence should be a last resort.
"I'm sorry Captain Janeway,I didn't realise that you were in command of this ship. This isn't Starfleet, the crew have to be taught that an error with a weapon is serious, he could have killed either of us. I did what needed to be done and I won't apologise for it."
Kathryn turned around and stormed out of his room. She returned to the sick bay to find a friendly face. While she was talking to the Doctor, Suder leaned against the wall outside listening to the conversation. He loved to hear Kathryn talk, she had a wonderful husky voice and her strength and discipline were attractive traits of her personality. He looked forward to getting to know her better!