Disclaimer - Remains same as it was for the Chapter 1.
The Slaves of Tempus
By - Macqui's Queen
'Tempus' is the Latin word for 'time'.
Codes- J/C and J/P, Doctor, Torres, rest of the crew.
Something in*…* means that person is thinking. "….", Naturally shows the conversation.
Read and Review. Mail me at - macquisqueen@yahoo.co.in
Chapter Two - The Normal Life
On Normal Voyager - Exactly Two weeks after ' The Night'
Captain's Personal Log Stardate****** Time: 1500 hours
"It has been two weeks since we have emerged out of our long night in that endless void and there is no sign of any Melan ships. The crew is feeling almost euphoric. I was myself extremely relieved when I saw the viewscreen 'full of stars', as Ensign Kim had described, two weeks ago. Now, however, I am feeling a little less enthusiastic. During our long journey through the void and our encounter with Melan, we have lost large amount of power and we are low on the food and energy. We have only enough power to go to Warp only once and all the holodecks are still closed. The repairs are slow because of the inadequate power. Further, our search for any M-class planet, inhabited or uninhibited, has proven unsuccessful. It seems that this region of space is full of barren planets and stars. If the present situation continues till tomorrow, we will have to stop and launch a search by means of the shuttlecrafts. I just hope to that it won't come to that. Computer, End Log."
Captain Janeway sighed a little, glanced around the almost empty messhall, and thought that the situation was positively not that bad. The worst was over. They had finally come out of the void, unharmed. On the other hand, she learnt there, in that void, that her crew would never abandon her. Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven, Neelix, and all the rest of the crew disobeyed her when she took the decision to sacrifice herself for her crew. She had trusted Chakotay and he had broken the trust for her own good. Under different circumstances, she would have felt offensive about it, but in that situation he was the only one who had recognized that she was getting self- destructive. He is, no doubt, her best of the best friends and definitely best of the best First Officers. Tuvok is also her close friend, but largely, it was Chakotay, who actually stopped her from taking that self- destructive action. * Chakotay, you are best First Officer. But, sometimes I wish that it would be so nice if you won't be my First Officer. Instead, you should have been, hum…yes, an ALIEN. Alien of the Planet XYZ in the Delta Quadrant. Then everything would have been so easy. No command structure and no more protocols. One day a ship from other quadrant came here, the Captain of that ship, Captain Janeway fell in love with handsome and brave warrior prince of the Planet XYZ and then she asked him to join her on the journey along with her. He agreed and they got married and together they continued there journey along with their faithful crew…………
" Chakotay to Janeway." The man in her thoughts suddenly became reality, bringing Kathryn out of her highly fatuous daydream.
" Janeway here." Kathryn smiled while answering and instantly regretted it. She heard a pause on the other end and knew that he must have caught the slight snicker in her voice.
" Sorry to disturb you, but there is some good news. Harry has just detected an M-class planet about 8 light years from here. I thought you might like to take a look." There was an expectation in his voice, which confirmed her that at least some problems were about to get solved.
" Yes, I am on my way. Janeway out."
She almost bumped into Neelix as she got up from the table. She apologized quickly, told him that if everything goes fine they he would be soon able to fill his food baskets, and went out of the messhall in a better mood.
*******
Stardate*******Time 1700 hours
" So, what do you say?" Chakotay asked Kathryn from the other side of the desk in her ready room.
" Well, It is certainly very promising. But there is not a single useful mineral on that planet", Kathryn was studying Harry's full report on the long-range scan for M-class planet, which they had detected two hours ago, "Not to mention it is in the direction which would require a significant change of course. And we will have to go to Warp to reach it. I mean, with impulse it will require two days to reach it. So we will have to go into Warp."
" But have a look at that data on potential food reserves. In addition, it is uninhabited. We can fill our baskets as much as we want."
" That's O.K but what after that. We will just have to sit there and send out the shuttlecrafts to find a potential minerals." Kathryn was very worried about it.
" Oh, but at least we can sit with our stomachs full."
" Chakotay, did you somehow forget to take lunch today?"
Chakotay flashed his dimples and Kathryn caught her breath. It took her seconds to recover.
" O.K Chakotay, I think, We can take the risk. Tell Mr. Paris to lay a course and go to warp 8."
"Yes, Captain" He said with a mischievous smile and then excused himself out.
**********
On Alternate Voyager
Stardate****** Time : 1800 hours
Lt. Batik's promotion was done in traditional Starfleet style at 1800 hours. Captain Janeway affixed a new special pip to his collar and First Officer Commander Tom Paris officially handed him the position of " Chief Helmsman." So the Gamma shift started one hour late and Lt. Batik proudly took the full control of Voyager's helm. Tom patted his pupil on the back just before coming out from the bridge and silently prayed to give this man the courage to handle every situation.
Now, this was the second time on Voyager, in last eight months, that a position had been officially transferred by the acting officer to his subordinate because the former was no longer able to carry on all his duties. First occasion was when Tuvok refused to take the position of First Officer after Chakotay's death because of his mental condition and the Captain was left with no choice but to appoint Tom to that position.
Both the Doctor and Tuvok shocked the hell out of all of them when they disclosed that the latter have been undergoing treatment for almost a year. Now, even Captain Janeway was kept out of it. Tom still remembered that she was terribly enraged and crushed, shouting at the Doctor and Tuvok for their disloyalty, grieving over Chakotay's death, cursing herself for to the Equinox incident, blaming herself for Chakotay's death. Now, in retrospection, Tom thought that she was much better at that time. At least for one or two weeks after Chakotay's death. At least she was furious at Tuvok and Doctor. Unfortunately, she never used to cry, not least in front of her husband. She only used to hurt herself physically in holodeck program with safety protocols offline. Pushing Tom off every time he approached her, blaming him when he tried to stop her, throwing words after bitter words at him, never apologizing, but never admitting the fact that she had loved Chakotay until ultimately she had stopped abruptly and started deteriorating.
On Normal Voyager
Stardate****** Time: 2000 hours
" Janeway to Paris"
" Paris here."
" Please report to my ready room."
" Aye Captain."
Lt. Tom Paris normally used to work in the Alpha shift. However, as the " Chief Helmsman " of Voyager, often, there were certain days when was expected him to work extra hours. Now, there were also some days when he had almost nothing to do. In fact, when they were in that 'void' he had almost nothing to do and he had gone almost crazy. He was so sure he won't survive for six months, but fortunately or unfortunately, they all ended up fighting with Melans and their radioactive garbage. Tom knew that in a way Melan garbage had saved all of them. He can't exactly ' thanks' Melans but he was somehow feeling less animosity towards them than any other hostile species in the Delta Quadrant. He was confident they had contributed a lot to keep all of them sane, above all, the Captain.
The stepped on the bridge and saw that Chakotay is still there, although the Gamma shift had started about two hours ago. He gave a slight smile to Harry who was very busy at his station, definitely, with the latest scans of the M-Class planet, whose large presence could be seen on viewscreen.
Seconds later Lt. Paris was standing in front of Captain Janeway in her ready room, waiting for her to address.
" At ease, Mr. Paris."
Tom relaxed and smiled. He was simple in awe of this woman. Kathryn Janeway has always been such an amazing woman. Intelligent, smart, courageous, compassionate, loving, patient, self - disciplined, principled and certainly these all qualities gave her incomparable beauty and Tom knew that she had always held a soft spot for him. Now, after about four years, she had gained immense confidence in his abilities, and she expected him to go on the missions that required the expertise of skilled pilot like him. Standing there, Tom recognized that this must be one of those. As if reading his mind, the Captain spoke out the very next moment.
" Tom, I think, that is certainly a very promising planet Harry has discovered", She gestured towards the viewport of her readyroom, from where the planet could be seen, at some distance, " I am glad that we came here."
" Oh yes and believe me Captain, we all are. I am sure crew will be so relieved to hear that they don't have to eat only breakfast and dinner, skipping the lunch in between."
Kathryn laughed wholeheartedly, and Tom felt an inexpressible pleasure as he saw his Captain's smile reaching her eyes.
" Would you like to join me for a cup of tea?"
" I would love to." Tom replied instantly.
After some time, they were sitting on the couch of her ready room, discussing about the planet.
" So you see", Kathryn paused to take a sip "There is too much of thermo- ionic -interference in the ionosphere. But clearly, it is only acting as a perfect blanket for oxygen filled atmosphere and vegetation on the planet. I don't think we will be able to beam up anything from there. In fact, Harry is doubtful about our communications also. According to his scans till now, it is unlikely that the away team be able to communicate with Voyager once they cross the ionosphere. He is still working on the modifications with our sensors. If we can't adjust our sensors, then we will have to send a shuttle down there."
" In that case, I think Sacajawea is the best shuttle we have."
" That's what I wanted to ask you? Have a look at this data," Kathryn handed him a pad and proceeded," do you think…
" chinnnnnnnn" The chime interrupted both her sentence and the continuity of her thoughts.
" Come in"
Chakotay entered with two more pads in his hand.
" Bad news, these latest reports shows that no matter how much modifications we make, we won't be able to get a communication beyond ionosphere and beam up anything is completely out of question. On top of that, he has also discovered that none of our shuttles would be able to carry more than two or three crew -members."
"That's it. We are sending a shuttle with only two crewmembers. Janeway to Neelix."
" Neelix here, Captain."
" Report to my ready room."
" Aye Captain."
" Chakotay, keep working on it. Tell B'Elanna to help Harry with those modifications. We have to make sure we can get maximum supplies. Keep me informed."
" Aye Captain." Chakotay gave a nod and went out and Kathryn turned again towards Tom.
" Well, Tom, I think you won't have to wait for anything. You will be accompanying Neelix on the away mission tomorrow. Take Sacajewea. We need those supplies. I am still worried about the mineral supplies. I think after obtaining food supplies tomorrow, we will have to launch the search for dilithium. We can't go anywhere without our warp engines down."
" You are worrying too much Captain. Let's first concentrate on food supplies." Tom said after listening to his Captain's non-stop review of the problems.
" Yes, Yes, you are right. First food supplies. The planet is too good to miss."
Just then, Neelix reported in and for the next half an hour all the three on them discussed about the away mission.
" O.K, gentlemen I think that's all. Beam as such many supplies as you can collect directly into the shuttle. You can go and prepare now. Neelix, report to Chakotay when you are finished. Dismissed."
As they stood to retire, Tom suddenly blurted out.
"I am glad that planet is uninhabited, Captain. We can fill our baskets as much as we want."
Kathryn could not hide her surprise, the color her face suddenly changed, and Tom was confused.
" Captain, are you all right?"
"Oh…yes, yes. I am perfectly all right. It's just…" She looked down and smiled and when she spoke again, the smile was mingled with her voice," It is strange, Tom, what you just said now. Chakotay has spoken exactly the same sentence three hours ago. "
" Oh Captain," He bent down and placed his hand on tables as he locked his eyes with hers," You know many times Chakotay and I want the same things. After all, both of us like to set our eyes on the extraordinary things." He twisted his smile and winked a little," Now, please if you will excuse us, Captain." He added with a double meaning.
"As I have already said, both of you are dismissed." Kathryn was also good at the games.
Neelix and Tom went out and as the door closed, Kathryn Janeway's was still looking at both of them.
" Flirt" She said to herself as she moved towards replicater to order a cup of black coffee.
**********
On Alternate Voyager
Star date******* Time: 0030 hours
Tom used to love twentieth century holodeck programs, a long time ago. However, never once he would have predicted that one-day he would be writing a letter to his own wife with pen and paper, his first and probably his last. That also, in the light of the candles, and at 0030 hours. Kathryn was finally asleep, thanks to the hypospray he had given her. He was firmly against her habit of taking sleeping pills and sedatives, but today for once, he didn't stop her. Now he was having a long night ahead. The others were waiting for him in the Sickbay for their final meeting. But he wanted to finish this letter first so that he can give it to person who can keep it secure.
He just finished the last sentence and decided to read it again before signing. Once he finished, he carefully folded it and kept in small glass box. He entered the codes to the lock, so that it could be opened only by Kathryn's command codes. Then he took a candle in his hand and went to bedroom to look at his wife. He placed the candle carefully on table beside bed. He stood up and opened one of the drawers in bedside table. There was a locket lying there, with a heart shaped pendent woven in it. He smiled sadly and opened it to look at two photographs embedded in it. He looked at it for some time and then secured it around his neck.
Tom studied Kathryn in candlelight. Her calm yet painful face, her reddish -golden hairs, her one thin hand on her chest, the other on the side, folded upwards, the fingertips just brushing her own hairs. * God, she is so beautiful. What I did to do have her? I never did any good things in my life really. Yet, I have got a wife every man only dream of. * He recalled the last time he had made love to her. It was about five months ago. It was not on the Voyager. It was on the Kerinians ship. Kerinians were probably the noblest of the rare noble races they had encountered in the Delta quadrant. They had welcomed Voyager, but did not allow the entry to their planet. It never mattered much, anyway. Their docking space stations were breathtakingly beautiful. In addition, they had given the V.I.P treatment to the Voyager crew. Moreover, they had invited the Captain and her husband to spend a night at their "special magic suite." It was called like that because it was at some distance away from the docking stations, in form of a single large room in the space, which was completely transparent, made up of some glass like material and as they had later discovered, the suite was hidden from everyone and sensors with one of the most of advanced cloaking technology. Tom and Kathryn had indeed spent a night there and that was the night when Tom had last made love to her. It was wonderful. It was like making love in space itself. For one night it seemed like nothing in universe was real except them, that time had stopped, and all that was there was him and Kathryn. Kathryn was also caught in magic of stars and their passion that night and that had made Tom happy for some time.
The next day they started negotiating for obtaining the cloaking technology. They found out that it could not be modified to suite Voyager, but could be modified to suite the Delta Flyer. That was really the jackpot. They got the technology and the Delta Flyer became one of their most powerful shuttles against the hostile species. B'Elanna and Harry had since treasured the technology like the gemstone and Tom had treasured the memories of that night in the ' magic suite' like only light, perhaps of hope, in a starless sky.
He slowly bent and pressed his lips on hers. * Goodnight Kathryn, and maybe this is our last night together. *
With that he came out and taking the glass box from the table, quickly went of their quarters to meet the others.
To be continued…
Read the Chapter -3, to find out who are the other conspirators and who are against them.
Mail me at macquisqueen@yahoo.co.in.