Disclaimer: Paramount owns the universe and all the regular characters, Leena, Radek and these specific events are mine.
5. Oops.
It didn't take long for Neelix and Kes to bring in the food. They put it on the table, and everyone ate banquet style, mingling and making small-talk. Janeway hoped it might relax Radek a bit.
She noticed Leena on the other side of the table, helping herself to -something-, and walked over to her. She caught Tuvok's eye, and he gave her a slight nod. If she wanted to talk to Leena, he would make sure Radek was occupied on the other side of the room.
Leena looked up as Janeway approached. "Captain."
"I hoped we might talk for a moment, Janeway said.
Leena looked a little puzzled that the Captain wanted to talk to her -on a Cardassian ship, a Gul would have talked to Radek, never seeking her out. *But this isn't a Cardassian ship* she thought. So she hesitantly said, "Sure."
Janeway noticed the tenec was uncomfortable, and she would have liked to take a little time leading up to this, but she knew her officers could not keep Radek occupied for very long. She got straight to the point.
"Are you going to request passage on Voyager?"
Leena looked a bit more puzzled, wondering why the Captain would ask her, but she answered, "I would, but Radek is the Glinn. He will decide."
"You think he might decide to keep going in a shuttle?" Janeway had considered that possibility, but somehow she still had trouble believing anyone, even Radek, would pass up an opportunity to get home on Voyager because he did not like some of the crew.
Leena glanced at Radek, who was standing across the room talking to Tuvok. "He might."
She hesitated. Then she asked, "Would you grant us passage if we asked for it?"
"We are not in Federation Space, but this is still a Federation vessel. We are obliged to help anyone who needs it," Janeway said.
Leena considered that. If anything, she looked more puzzled now than she had when Janeway had first addressed her. Janeway knew that although the Cardassians had some knowledge of the Federation, the concept of helping others without other motives than simply aiding them, might be difficult for them to believe. Instead of taking a lot of time that she didn't have to convince Leena, she decided to try a different track.
"We could also use the shuttle. We lost the last of ours to the Kazon." It wasn't even entirely untrue, the shuttle problem was a serious one, and one that might be conveniently solved by the Cardassians showing up at exactly this time.
Leena nodded. This she could relate to.
Meanwhile, Neelix and Kes had joined them after putting the food on the table. As Radek walked over to pour himself another cup of not-so-much-like-coffee coffee substitute, Neelix came over and in his bright and over-friendly way introduced himself.
"Neelix is the name. Welcome aboard, are you enjoying the meal?" He beamed, taking Radek's hand and pumping it.
Radek was taken aback by this sudden show of friendship from the Talaxian. He carefully answered, "It is quite... interesting."
Neelix nodded energetically. "You would be surprised what a good cook can do with the most simple supplies. So, will you be staying aboard, then?"
Radek just had no idea what to think of this alien. Slowly he said, "Perhaps..." And, as Neelix tipped his head in a bit of surprise, he added, "That surprises you?"
Neelix shrugged. "Well, I thought the Maquis and the Cardassians didn't get along too well."
Suddenly it all fell into place. Radek twisted around to look at Chakotay as the realisation hit him.
"You are Maquis!" he said sharply.
The room fell dead quiet. Janeway felt herself hold her breath, and made herself release it. *So much for the relaxing effects of dinner* She cursed herself for forgetting one of the first rules of keeping something quiet: making sure all parties involved knew it had to be kept quiet. She knew better than this. She caught the glances of her officers across the room. Heck, they all knew better than this, but the harm had been done, and the only thing to do was to cope with it the best they could.
"Yes, some of my crew were Maquis members," Janeway said.
"A fact which you conveniently forget to mention," Radek noted.
"We would have told you when we told you about our journey out here," Tuvok said, in his usual calm manner.
"Right. I suppose we have to believe that, since Vulcans do not lie?" Radek said. "Come on Leena, we're leaving, now."
He started toward the door.
Leena surprised him by speaking up. "Why? What's the difference?"
Radek turned around, not knowing if he had heard her right.
"What?"
Leena stood her ground. "What's the difference? These people have invited us on their ship, offered their help -is it that important if we had some conflict with them back in the Alpha Quadrant?"
Radek's eyes narrowed. He barely kept his voice under control.
"These people are rebels. Terrorists. You can't honestly be suggesting we accept their help, let alone stay on their ship."
"You want to go back out there in the shuttle? We'll never get home and you know it," Leena countered.
Radek took a deep breath and drew himself up. "You dare defy me openly?" His voice had an edge to it, it was clear he was trying very hard not to shout. "We will continue this 'discussion' in private."
The Voyager officers had kept silent while this exchange had been going on, but now Janeway spoke up.
"We can leave you alone if you want to discuss this here," she offered.
"So you can listen in to everything we say? I think not. We will talk in our shuttle," Radek answered her.
Leena hesitated, and Radek added, "Shuttle, now. That is an order, tenec."
Leena sighed, and relented. As she moved toward the door, she shrugged apologetically to Janeway.
Tuvok started to follow, but Janeway stopped him with a glance. She knew letting the Cardassians go out to the shuttle bay by themselves was a risk, but following them openly by sending someone after them was almost certain to compound matters. Tuvok understood, and instead called his staff to keep an eye on the Cardassians -discretely.