Miles To Go Before I Sleep

A Voyager/Crusade crossover by Taya 17 Janeway.

I know I'm getting worse. I can't help it.

Chapter Three: Taking on an Identity

Janeway held the gray bundle of clothes tight as she stood in front of Stranger's room. "Come," he said, and the door slid open.

His tall frame was slightly hunched over the workstation as he sketched on paper with a charcoal stick. Janeway headed over and stood in front of the console he was working on. On it was a sketch of what looked like a pattern of curlicues. "What's this?" she asked, curious.

Stranger looked up and fixed her with his disconcertingly intent gaze. "It's something I saw in my dreams last night." He leaned back and looked down at his handiwork. "I don't know what it is, however."

Janeway leaned over the desk and studied the sketch. The pattern looked unfamiliar; she didn't know what it was either. "Keep drawing," she said encouragingly. "We may eventually get something."

He turned his attention to the bundle of clothes she was holding. "What's that?"

Janeway smiled. "It's your uniform… or at least, it's as close as what we the Doctor managed to produce from the remains of your uniform."

"My uniform." He gave her a strange look, then stood up, pushing his chair away from the desk. "I have a uniform?"

"It's very similar to the Starfleet uniform, actually," Janeway told him. "It's a three parter. Here." She handed him the bundle, and he removed the topmost garment and held it at arm's length. It was a gray jacket, long sleeved, with red shoulders and red cuffs. "Why don't you put it on?" offered Janeway. "It might bring back some memories."

He took the entire bundle and nodded. "I'll be right back," he said, and headed for the washroom.

Janeway focused her attentions back on Stranger's drawing. Right now, it was merely a collection of forms that curved and interlinked, with several strong slashes across. What could it be? Some form of bizarre amoeba mating? The more she stared at it, the more the pattern intrigued her.

Stranger cleared his throat slightly as he exited from the washroom. He had put the uniform on, and was in the process of zipping up the jacket. Judging from the look on his face, he didn't like it. "Compared to civvies… these are helluva uncomfortable." He tugged at the collar, adjusting it.

A corner of Janeway's lips twitched upwards. She assessed his uniform quickly. Even without the epaulets and other ornaments, she could tell immediately that it was a military uniform: the heavy shoulders, stiff embroider on the cuff.

Stranger stared at his reflection in the mirror, adjusting the tight-fitting uniform. He was silent for a moment, then one corner of his lips curled. "I look like a bellhop."

Janeway fought the impulse to laugh- he was right, he did resemble the service workers at some of the fancier resorts in the galaxy. "All you need is a matching cap," she remarked.

"No, wait." He gripped her hand, still staring intently at the mirror, a line of thought creasing his brow now. "I remembered something…." He took a deep breath and shut his eyes, concentrating. Janeway held her breath, not wanting to disrupt whatever tenuous thread linked Stranger with his past.

His eyes snapped opened. "That's what I said… the first time I wore this uniform."

"And?" prompted Janeway cautiously.

"And… my ship…I- " He put a hand to his temple. "I'm sorry. I had a vague memory something just now, but it's gone."

Janeway took his hand in hers and gripped it tightly. "It's alright, Stranger. At least we're making progress." She hesitated a moment, then continued. " A ship… There's something else I'd like to discuss with you."

"What?" he asked, chestnut-brown eyes curious.

"We managed to do some preliminary scans of your ship before it was destroyed," she told him. "Seven has been studying the sensor logs for a few days now, and she's concluded that the vessel you were travelling in was only a short-range vessel, incapable of hyper-light speeds, and unable to travel alone for more than weeks at a time."

"And your point-?"

"Stranger, this means that your shuttle took off from somewhere near where we found you. It could be a colony, a world, a ship-" She gesticulated with a couple of fingers. "All this means that there's a larger organization-a world, a fleet, something- somewhere nearby that you belong to."

"Excalibur," said Stranger abruptly.

"Excalibur?" asked Janeway, her attention snapping to a maximum. "Is that the name of your affiliation? Your homeworld? Your-"

"I don't know; it's just a name," Stranger interrupted her. "It just crossed my mind. I thought you should know. It might even be my name."

"It's a name from ancient Earth literature," Janeway mused thoughtfully. "So… if you are connected in any way to it… whatever it is… it could mean that you're potentially stranded from home. Like us." Her mind kicked into high gear. "And if we could elucidate the means by which you arrived in the Delta Quadrant, then… we might be able to find a way home." She walked around the room as she said this, growing more excited as she considered all the possibilities.

She turned around. Stranger was just standing there, giving her a gaze of profound concern. "And if I can't remember anything?"

She let out a small sigh. "I'm sorry." She walked back towards him. "I guess I got a little carried away back there." She stopped in front of him and placed a hand reassuringly on his shoulder. "What matters now is finding out who you are, what you were doing and where you were going when you ended up in this predicament."

He glanced briefly down at her hand upon his shoulder, then back up at her. "It's been a week, and I still don't remember anything," he said. "Maybe I should consider thinking more about who I'm going to be, instead on dwelling on a past which doesn't exist anymore."

Her hand tightened on his shoulder. "Don't say that. One week isn't too long for a recovery from amnesia. We'll keep trying, and see what turns up. Besides, you're beginning to remember things now, aren't you?"

Stranger considered her words. "You said you had scans of the ship I was in?"

"Would you like to see them?" Janeway asked.

Stranger nodded. "It might trigger more memories."

She took him by the arm. "Let's have a talk with Seven," she said.