Disclaimer: Star Trek: Voyager and all things contained therein are the property of Paramount Pictures. No infringement intended. See Chapter One for details.
Chapter Five
B'Elanna paced anxiously in the small cell she now shared with Crewman Jor. She just didn't feel right today. Her backache had started last night, probably a result of sleeping on a prison cot, and had continued to worsen as time went on. It was now to the point that she couldn't find a moment's relief, now matter how she positioned herself.
"Are you all right, Lieutenant
Torres?" asked Jor, her short hair as tosseled as B'Elanna's probably was. The young Bajoran woman eyed her superior
officer with obvious concern.
"Of course I'm all right!" Torres
shouted. "We're locked up here like
animals in a cage. I haven't seen or
spoken to my husband since we stepped off the damn ship. We have no idea if we'll ever see daylight
again. Why the hell wouldn't I be all
right?"
Jor winced at the undeserved
tirade she received from the chief engineer. She rose to her feet and moved cautiously toward her, intending to
apologize. But she stopped short when
B'Elanna doubled over, clutching her abdomen and crying out in pain.
"Oh, God!" B'Elanna cried. "What's happening?" The Klingon woman fell to her knees, warm
blood running down her legs and pooling at on the floor.
Jor rushed to her side. "Help!" she yelled, holding Torres by the
shoulders. "Stay with me,
B'Elanna. I'm going to get you some
help."
"My baby…" Torres sobbed
weakly. For a moment she watched,
seemingly fascinated with the way the purplish blood swirled on the cold floor,
and then she slumped over unconscious.
"Oh my God! Someone help, damn it!" screamed Jor with
all her might. "She'd going to bleed to
death! Please, help!"
Janeway wiped her tears and lifted
her head to look a Q. "You keep saying
you could help us."
"Because I can."
"What do you mean, Q? If I asked for your help, what exactly would
you do? How could you help?"
Q grinned smugly at her. "Are you asking for my aide, Kathy? Because if you are, you'll have to do a
better job of it than that. I'll need
to see some serious gnashing of teeth and undignified pleading."
Chakotay put a slightly possessive
hand on Kathryn's shoulder. "She's not
going to beg you, Q. You've humiliated
us enough for one lifetime."
Kathryn held her hand up. "Wait, Chakotay."
His brow furrowed with
surprise. "Kathryn?"
"I can't sit by and watch this
happen to my crew." Her blue eyes searched
his face for understanding. "Seeing
them all separated, friendships and relationships torn apart because of a
decision I made. I could never live
with that." She took his hand in hers
and rubbed his soft skin tenderly. "This was my biggest fear, Chakotay. If this is how it's going to be here, we were better off stranded in the
Delta Quadrant."
She turned her gaze to Q. "I understand now what you were trying to
tell me about home."
"Really? Do tell?"
"We've spent the last seven years
trying to reach the Alpha Quadrant and dreaming of home. When all along, Voyager was our
home. We were a family, supporting and
comforting each other. Laughing and
crying together." Her eyes swelled with
tears yet again as she spoke. "We
struggled and we suffered, but we were always together. That togetherness made us strong, and
brought us a sense of peace." So looked
at Q, a seriousness he had never before seen on her face. "If you can help us find that again, I'll
gladly beg you. But frankly, Q, your
motives are more than a little suspect. What vested interest do you have in all of this? Why should I believe you would want to help
us?" She folded her arms across her
chest. "For that matter, why should I
believe that you even could help us?"
Q sighed aloud. "I suppose I'll need visual aides if you
feeble humans are ever going to understand this. Lucky for you, I always plan ahead."
In a flash of light, the conference room disappeared. Janeway and Chakotay found themselves in a spacious, freshly mowed backyard. Kathryn, her uniform replaced by a white sundress, sighed in awe. She moved forward to reverently stroke the trunk of a nearby willow tree, feeling the grass beneath her bare feet. "My mother's house…" she whispered, grinning at Chakotay. "This is where I grew up. I sat under this tree with Mark the night before I left for the Academy."
"It's beautiful, Kathryn." He
said, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I can imagine you here."
She tenderly stroked his cheek,
taking in the sight of him in tan shorts and a black tank top. Very nice. "I can't tell you how many times I've dreamed of bringing you here,
Chakotay." He held her tightly to him,
planting tiny kisses in her hair. She breathed deeply of the sweetly scented air,
a mixture of wild flowers and juniper bushes that Kathryn had always found
medicinal. It was exactly as she
remembered it. She half expected her
mother to walk out the back door any minute and offer them cucumber sandwiches
and lemonade. She allowed the long ago
remembered sights and smells to lull her troubled mind, basking in the sunshine
and the feel of Chakotay's arms around her waist. And for a moment, she almost forgot how they got there. Almost.
"Oh, isn't that sweet?" scoffed
Q. "Human bonding makes me
queasy." His eyes moved up and down
Kathryn's body in the form fitting white dress he provided, and then he fixed
his gaze on Chakotay. "I have
impeccable taste, don't you agree? That
dress is very becoming. She's quite a
looker, for a humanoid. I can see why
she entices you so, Chuckles. Though
I'll never comprehend why she chose an ape like you over me."
Kathryn grinned wryly at him. "Sorry, Q. I prefer a man with more than one letter in his name."
He shrugged indifferently. "I have more than one letter in my
name. In fact, my real name is two
light years long. I'd love to pronounce
it for you, but I'm afraid your mortal ear drums would implode."
Chakotay rolled his eyes. "Do you plan to tell us why you brought us
here?"
"Of course. I'm nothing if not informative, after
all." He ignored Chakotay's sarcastic
snort and turned his attention to Janeway. "I thought it might be easier for you to wrap your tiny little mind
around this whole thing if you were somewhere more … comfortable."
"How considerate of you, Q." she
deadpanned.
"Your ungrateful attitude not
withstanding, I have a plan, a way to help you out of this mess, and maybe even
save your beloved Earth in the process."
Chakotay's eyebrows rose at that
comment. "I wasn't aware that Earth
needed saving.'
"That's because it doesn't. Not yet, anyway. But it will."
I don't like the sounds of that! "What are you talking about, Q? What is this plan of yours?" Janeway asked,
eyeing him suspiciously. As far as she
was concerned, the words plan and Q were never a good thing to
hear in the same sentence.
"Oh, you'll know all the delicious
details soon enough. But before we get
into all that, there are a few things you need to know." A huge archway appeared about 15 feet in
front of them. The images behind it
seemed distorted and unreal somehow, as if they were watching a holonovel. "Not the actual Guardian of Forever, but an
impressive facsimile thereof if I do say so myself."
"What are you doing, Q?" Janeway
asked warily. This whole thing smelled
of time travel, and she detested it.
"I'm trying to help your little
cranium understand, Kathy. Just relax
and enjoy the show. I think you'll find
the stars hauntingly familiar."
The image under the arch
shimmered, and Kathryn saw herself standing in a shuttle bay at Starfleet
Command. She noted with uneasiness that
the image was wearing the current version of the Starfleet uniform. It felt like a betrayal to Voyager somehow.
"Yes, Kathy. That's you." Q said, offering her a bucket
of buttered popcorn. She ignored
him. "That's about six months from
now. Not aging well are you, my dear? I think you'll be surprised to find out how
quickly you all fall apart. Most
un-Starfleet of you." Q clapped his
hands together, an ominous grin on his face. "Well, then … let the show begin."
They sat in stunned silence as the
images unfolded before them…
Janeway stood with her hands clasped behind her back, Gul Navette at her side. Chakotay approached slowly, weighed down with luggage and sadness. He set the bags at his feet and extended his hand to Kathryn. "Captain Janeway, it's been an honor to serve with you. I wish you well."
Janeway shook his hand
mechanically, no feeling in her face whatsoever. "And the same to you, Commander. Pleasant journey."
Chakotay looked back at her one
last time, a slight quivering in his lips, and then turned and stepped into the
shuttle that would take him to his new assignment and out of her life forever.
Janeway exited the shuttle bay,
the Cardassian holding tightly to her elbow. "Nice performance, Captain. You
almost had me convinced that your feelings for him were strictly professional. I suggest you pray to your gods that he
bought it and stays away for good. It
would be a shame to have to kill him."
"Let go of me." She hissed,
jerking her arm from his grasp.
Navette whirled her around,
slapping her across the face with enough force to send her crashing into the
wall. "You do not give me orders, you
Federation bitch! Human females have no
use outside of the bedchamber, so if I were you, I would practice your
obedience!"
Janeway slogged on silently,
looking beaten and broken. Her crew was
separated, spread all over the quadrant. And Chakotay was gone from her life for good. What happened now made no difference. She'd stopped caring the minute he stepped into that shuttle.
Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of
Unimatrix Zero One, sat alone on a park bench. Her once shining hair was disheveled and dull. She had become a social outcast, Starfleet's Quazzimoto. And since the Doctor's program had been
taken off line, she found herself unbearably alone.
She said nothing, only stared
ahead as people walked by, tossing rude comments in her direction. A young man, about 17 or so, stopped in
front of her and grabbed his crotch. "Hey baby, assimilate this!"
Several Cardassian children
gathered at the playground nearby and tossed rocks and sand at Seven. "Go away! We hate the Borg!" they shouted. "You don't belong here!"
"You are correct." Seven whispered
as she walked away. "I do not belong
here. I do not belong anywhere."
Captain Tuvok of the Federation
Starship Discovery sat calmly in his command chair, even as all hell broke
loose around him. He stared at the image
of the Cardassian he was required to call "Sir" on the view screen. An eerie calm resting on his features.
"I ordered you to destroy that
shuttle, Captain! I am not yet in weapons range."
"That shuttle is carrying members
of the Federation." Tuvok replied. What
he didn't say was that it also contained one wayward Talaxian.
"That is none of your concern,
Vulcan." The Cardassian growled. "The
shuttle must not be allowed to leave this sector of space. Those people are criminals."
"To my knowledge, resigning from
Starfleet is not a crime. They simply
wish to be civilians."
"Destroy that shuttle now! That is an order, Captain."
Tuvok rose to his feet and took a
few steps toward the view screen. "I
cannot follow that order."
"Then suffer the consequences!"
The Cardassian ships moved into
range, four battle cruisers. As Tuvok
moved his ship protectively between the Cardassians and the shuttlecraft, they
opened fire. In minutes the battle was
over. The Discovery, and the shuttle,
were nothing but floating debris. Neelix and Tuvok were nothing but a splattering of humanoid DNA spread
among the stars.
Tom Paris sat in a seedy tavern,
the same one he'd been sitting in for the past three months, guzzling what
must've been his hundredth beer. His
hair was greasy, unkempt, and he was sporting what had to be at least 5 days
growth on his chin.
"You just gonna sit there all
day?"
Tom turned slightly in his stool
and gazed at Harry Kim through hooded lids. "I might."
Harry sighed aloud. "Tom, you've been in here for days!"
"Yeah, well…" he slurred, "My life
pretty much sucks so … I just thought I'd get drunk for a while."
"Look, I know things have been
tough lately, but that's no reason to give up."
Tom snorted sarcastically. "Maybe you should get drunk for a while."
"She needs you, Tom."
Tom glared at his old friend. "Look, I let her down. She doesn't need me. In fact, she's better off without me. And so are you. I hurt everyone and everything I touch because I'm nothing but a
failure. My father was right about me.
Just leave me alone, Harry! Leave me
the hell alone!"
B'Elanna Torres knelt quietly, her
dark hair blowing in the breeze, as she placed a spray of tiny violent and pink
flowers over the grave. She used her
small hands to wipe the grass and dirt off the little headstone, stoking the
letters engraved in it with affection and longing.
She dropped her head as the tears
rolled off her cheeks, splashing on the tiny pair of baby booties carved with
such care into the granite marker.
"I'm so sorry, little one." She
sobbed. "I don't know how any of this
happened. It wasn't supposed to be like
this."
B'Elanna lay down in the grass
next to her daughter's burial place, wrapping her arms tightly around
herself. She allowed the memories to
wash over her for a moment, memories of Tom and herself back on Voyager, making
plans for the arrival of their first child. She shook her head to clear those thoughts. They only served to remind her of how much she'd lost, of how
alone she was.
Pulling herself to a sitting
position, she watched as a Cardassian man walked down the street. He caught her gaze, and smiled suggestively
at her. And she shivered. Despite the hot California day, she found
herself chilled to the bone.
Tears rolled freely down Kathryn's cheeks. She was so engrossed in the horrors before her, that she hadn't noticed Chakotay pull her into an embrace. "I think she's seen enough, Q."
"Oh, don't be a party pooper,
Chuckles!" grinned Q. "There's more. Lots more! Why, you haven't even seen what Earth will look like after the
Cardassians take over. It's positively
unnerving."
"Those images you showed us…"
Janeway said breathlessly. "That can't
possibly be our future. I'm supposed to
believe that my crew turned into …" she gestured toward the frozen image of
B'Elanna sitting at her child's grave. "… into that? And that the
Cardassians take over Earth? Why should
I believe you, Q?"
"Honestly, Kathy! Must you always be so suspicious?" He snapped his fingers and the arch
disappeared. So did the buckets of
popcorn. "I admit I've been a bit…
unpredictable. But in any of our encounters,
in even one instance, have I lied to you?"
Janeway studied his face
carefully. He had a point. He was obnoxious as hell, but she hadn't
known him to all out lie. She just
didn't want to admit it.
"Well, have I?"
Before she could answer, a
familiar voice interrupted their private showing. "Captain, Commander…" gasped Harry breathlessly. "I have been looking all over for you. Something terrible has happened. Tuvok suggested that I try your folks place
as a last resort, so I took the first available transport and…"
"Calm down, Ensign." Janeway said,
her hands on his broad shoulders. "Tell
me what's happened."
A sorrow beyond his years passed
over Harry's young face. He looked back
and forth between Janeway and Chakotay before he finally spoke. "It's B'Elanna."
"Oh, God." Kathryn gasped, knowing
from the images she just saw what he was about to say.
"She collapsed in her cell. I don't now all the details, but Tuvok said
the placenta detached too soon. She was
taken to the prison hospital, nearly bled to death. I'm afraid…" He hung his
dark head. "I'm afraid the baby didn't
make it."
Janeway's entire world whirled
around her and she felt her knees turn to jelly. She vaguely heard Harry's voice. "You okay, Captain?" and then felt Chakotay's strong arms catch her
before she hit the ground. In a matter
of moments, she felt shock give way to intense sorrow, followed almost
immediately by utter desperation. She
saw only one person through her haze. The one person who could change all this.
She pulled herself from Chakotay's
arms and dove at the super being, clutching his shirt until her knuckles where
white. In his human form, Q required
balance just like any other bipedal species. He had time only to wrap his arms around Janeway protectively as they
both tumbled to the ground. "Well this
is certainly unexpected." He muttered on their way down.
Chakotay and Harry watched the
scene before them with a mixture of horror and fascination. No one had ever seen Janeway loose it quite
so vividly.
"You have to stop this, Q!" she
yelled. "It can't end this way, not
after all the sacrifices we've made. Cardassians taking over Earth, Tuvok and Neelix dead, Chakotay ripped
from my life just when I realize how much I need him, Tom and B'Elanna's baby…
none of that is supposed to happen."
Q pulled them both to a sitting
position and pried Kathryn's hands from his clothing. "Are you finally admitting you need my help, Kathy?"
"Yes!" she snapped. "I'll beg if that's what you want. I'll admit we're nothing but a group of weak
mortals if it'll make you happy." She
seized his shoulders, her tone deadly serious. "I need your help, Q. Please."
"Very well. There's just one itty-bitty thing
though. One little proviso."
"What?" she snapped, tired of
these games. "What is it, Q?"
His face took on an
uncharacteristic seriousness. "You must
agree, all of you must agree, never to return to Earth again. Ever."
Janeway shared a shocked glance
with Chakotay and Harry. Her eyes took
on a resolute determination. "If this
is what Earth has in store for us, I don't care if I ever come back."
Harry and Chakotay nodded their
support. Her eyes flooded with tears,
though she didn't think she could possibly have any left to shed. They were standing beside her, Chakotay's
hand on the small of her back, admiration in Harry's dark eyes. They were proving yet again that they would
follow her anywhere.
She locked eyes with Q. "Agreed. We'll never set foot on this planet again."
In a whirlwind of light and color,
almost as luminous as the wormhole had been, the Voyager crew found themselves
being pulled through time and space. When the haze cleared, Janeway's auburn head turned from side to side,
surveying her surroundings.
They were all there, in the
briefing room on Voyager. Every
last one of them.
Tom's mouth hung slightly agape as
he took in the sight of a very pregnant B'Elanna seated at his side. "B'Elanna, oh my god…" was all he could
choke out as he pulled her into his arms.
B'Elanna's hands went straight to
her swollen abdomen, caressing the shape of the child she was mourning only
moments before. "The baby! She's okay." Tears rolled freely down her cheeks. "I can't believe it."
Relief washed over Janeway as she
watched her crew's reunion. But she
knew they were far from in the clear, seeing as Q was seated underneath her in
her chair. She jumped off his lap and
onto her feet. "Computer, are all
members of the crew present and accounted for?"
"Affirmative."
She turned her attention to their
omnipotent benefactor. "That fact that
you're still here tells me we aren't quite finished with all this yet. What now, Q?"
Q rolled his eyes at her. "My, my. How quickly we change moods. Only moments ago you were offering to do anything to make me happy, and
now you're snapping at me like a starving crocodile." He looked at the Doctor and whispered loudly. "I guess erratic mood swings are normal in a
human female of Kathy's advanced years, hmmm?"
The Doctor glanced quickly at his
less than amused captain. "Captain
Janeway has never been, in any way, what I would consider normal, I assure
you."
"I agree with you, Hologram." Said
Q, also rising to his feet. "But in
this case, she's right. There's more to
this plan, much more. At Kathy's
request, I've returned you to the moment in time when I first dropped by to
warn you about all this ugliness. You
are, as you can see, back on your little ship in the Delta Quadrant. Never thought you'd be so happy to see it
again, did you?"
"Never in a million years." Said
Harry.
"What's the rest of your plan, Q?"
Janeway said, wishing desperately that he'd just get to the point.
"Oh, all right, I'll spell it all
out for you. You all saw what was
happening to your precious little planet. Even as we speak, Starfleet is working to form an alliance with those
slimy Cardassians. Well, no one ever
accused Starfleet of having taste." Q
paused a moment to chuckle at his own little joke. "They are also about to
detect the wormhole, just as you did. When you do not emerge, they'll send ships to the wormholes coordinates
to search for you. But they won't find
you."
"And why is that?" Chakotay asked
warily.
"Because just as they're about to
venture into the anomaly, pieces of Voyager will emerge, tumbling
gracefully in space as debris tends to do."
Seven raised her elegant eyebrow at
him, her optical implant shifting slightly with her expression. "You are suggesting that Voyager will
be destroyed?"
"Oh you are a bright one, aren't
you?" Q scoffed. "Yes, worker bee. I'm saying that your bucket of space bolts
will be completely and utterly destroyed."
"How?" Tuvok asked.
"Well it's really quite simple
actually." He said proudly. "I'm going
to blow it to bits." A small
three-dimensional image of the ship appeared in midair above the table. Q grinned wickedly as he took a ridiculously
huge pin and jabbed it into the image. The ship burst like an over-filled balloon.
After everything they'd been
through over the last three days, Janeway lacked the energy to be shocked. She simply arched her brow and said, "Why?"
"Because, Kathy! They won't stop looking for you unless they
think you're all dead as doornails. Listen carefully, I'll tell you my plan. It's positively ingenious!"
Voyager's senior
officers sat silently, mouths slightly agape and faces abnormally pale as they
listened to Q describe his plan. He
would destroy the ship, leaving behind sufficient evidence to make it appear
that it had been attacked by a Cardassian battle cruiser. This would upset the tenuous peace between
the Cardassians and Starfleet, thus destroying any hope of an alliance. It would allow Starfleet to eventually unite
with the Romulans and the Klingons and successfully stave off a Cardassian
occupation in the Sol Sector. All of
the horrible transformations they'd witnessed in Starfleet would never happen
if the alliance with the Cardassians was ended before it really began. And Earth would live on the way they
remembered it.
"You see? Brilliant, isn't it?" asked Q excitedly.
"Your plan is not without merit."
Said Tuvok. "However, you have omitted
one rather important detail. If we
destroy Voyager, what will happen to her crew?"
Q spread his arms at his
sides. "Why isn't it obvious, my
staunch friend? You'll do exactly what
you've considered doing countless times before. You'll settle on a nice little planet where you'll plant boring
vegetables and have lots of little bald babies."
"Settle on a planet in the Delta
Quadrant?"
"No, Chuckles, in fluidic space."
He rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Of
course in the Delta Quadrant, you Neanderthal!"
Janeway was surprised at just how
nice that sounded to her. Their journey
had been a long one, laden with one sacrifice after another. It had been worth it at the time to keep
going because they had a destination. But now, they had nowhere to go. No light years to cross. Much to
her own surprise, settling down on a cozy planet and snuggling up next to
Chakotay every night sounded absolutely wonderful. She never thought she'd want to bring her days of space
exploration to a close, but after watching what could become of her crew, her
friends, she realized that none of that mattered as much as being together.
She looked carefully at the faces
of her senior staff. "Opinions?"
Tom clutched B'Elanna's hand as he
spoke. "I don't think we have a choice,
Captain. I'd rather my father thought I
was dead than turn into the person I saw the other day. And if our never returning to Earth saves
all those people from the Cardassians, I'd say it's a small price to pay." He looked affectionately at his wife. "I think as long as we're all together, we
don't need the Alpha Quadrant to be happy."
"Well said, Mr. Paris." Said the
Doctor, a soft grin on his holographic features. His gaze fell on Seven's pretty face. "I think perhaps we've all learned how fortunate we are to have
one another."
The blonde woman returned his
affectionate gaze, a soft smile tugging at her lips. "Agreed. I, for one, am
not eager to experience such solitude again. The days did not pass quickly."
"You know how I feel, Captain."
offered Neelix in his customary sweet tone. "Anywhere this crew happens to be is home as far as I'm concerned. And I think I speak for most of the others
when I say that we would support any decision you make."
"Thank you, Neelix." Janeway said
affectionately. She took a deep breath
and rose to her feet. "Well then, if no
one has any objections…" she turned to Harry. "Harry, B'Elanna, start scanning for our new home. Chakotay, Neelix, have the crew prepare supplies. We'll need shelters, an energy source,
emergency supplies…" She smiled
nervously at her officers. "Looks like
it's time to abandon ship."
At 0800 the next morning, Captain
Kathryn Janeway stood alone on the bridge of her ship. Most of the crew was already on the planet,
thanks to Q, and she was taking one last look at the ship that had served them
so well for so very long.
She was so lost in her memories;
she didn't even hear Chakotay approach. "It's almost time, Kathryn." He said softly. "You ready?'
She nodded her head in the
affirmative without looking up at him as she ran her hand across the helm
controls. "Just saying goodbye to an
old friend."
Chakotay turned her to face
him. "She's taken good care of us on
this journey." He said as he wiped a tear off her cheek. "Voyager has saved our lives
countless times over, and now she'll save an entire planet. Not many ships get an opportunity like
that."
"Not many ships get such special
attention from me." Said Q, who had appeared in Janeway's command chair. "Are you quite ready, Kathy? Time is of the essence. You have a society to build and an ape to
marry."
Janeway's face displayed surprise
at the word marry. I'm going to
marry Chakotay? She failed to
suppress an embarrassed grin as she looked at the 'ape' in question.
"Oh goodness! Silly me." Said Q, covering his mouth with
his hand. "It seems I've let the
proverbial cat out of the bag."
Janeway looked at their omnipotent
friend with unabashed affection. Oh, he
was a royal pain in the behind, no doubt about it. But he had saved them from a future that, in her opinion, was far
worse than death. For that they owed
him a debt.
She let go of Chakotay's hand and
sauntered over to him. "Thank you, Q,
for everything." she said. Then she
leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
The super being's legs shot
straight out from the chair and his toes curled in exaggeration. "Whoa, Kathy!!! You little spit fire! I knew
all along that you wanted me. What an absolutely
electric kiss. Really, I'm
blushing." He looked at Chakotay. "You'll have your hands full with her
Chuckles, I hope you still have the energy!"
"I'm sure I'll manage."
Kathryn laughed, but she was
unsure which she found more amusing. Q's reaction or Chakotay's barely
contained jealousy.
She tapped Chakotay playfully on
the chest. "You never told me your ears
turned red when you get jealous, Commander."
"You never asked." He teased as he
pulled her into an embrace. "I'll
remember to hide from you next time that happens."
She brought her slender hand up to
his face, absent-mindedly tracing his tattoo. "There's no where you could hide that I wouldn't find you,
Chakotay. There's no place that far."
As he brought his lips down over
hers, kissing her passionately, Kathryn knew that she would always remember her
days on Voyager and their journey through space. But more importantly, she knew that her
life, her home, was with Chakotay. The rest, as Q had said, was just geography.