Chapter 28: More Visitors
Now alone, Seven and Janeway could talk. "Obviously a lot has happened since you left," Janeway said. "We heard of your disappearance, but nothing more. We've been worried, but there were no records of you leaving Vulcan, so we figured you were somewhere on the planet."
"Q brought me here directly from Vulcan. Was I been declared permanently lost when you left?"
"Permanently lost? It hasn't been that long."
"How much time has passed for you since I disappeared?"
"Eight days."
"It has been over a year here. Apparently Q has played games with time as well as location."
"I'm beginning to understand how and when you got here, but the rest is still pretty fuzzy."
"There are several sentient species in Middle Earth. Among them are Elves, Dwarves, humans, and hobbits. Elves are the most different from our experience. They are immortal and powerful. When Q brought me here, he had to free me from a need to regenerate, and a side effect of that action is that, like them, I will not age at all."
Janeway nodded, a little overwhelmed, then jumped as Q appeared, bringing with him Tom and B'Elanna Paris, Harry Kim, and the Doctor. Tom and Harry were dressed in passable medieval clothing, but B'Elanna and the Doctor were still in uniform, B'Elanna holding her infant daughter. B'Elanna looked furious.
"Where are we?" B'Elanna demanded, passing the child to Tom.
Seven smiled softly. Time hadn't lessened the Klingon woman's temper. She stood up to speak, but the Doctor interrupted her. "Seven! We've been so worried about you!"
"I have been well."
Before she could continue, B'Elanna burst in, "Where are we!?"
"You are in a place called Middle Earth. You are in no danger. Please sit, and I will explain." Seven motioned to the confused Elf standing nearby for more wine. The woman brought it, but then hurried off, confused by the new visitors who appeared apparently out of thin air. Seven passed wine around, then spent the next hour explaining the events of the last year to her former shipmates. B'Elanna and the Doctor were skeptical, but Tom was fascinated. The tale drew on his superhero fantasies. As they talked, Seven even got to hold B'Elanna's baby. Tom handed the baby to her before B'Elanna could object. Everyone was surprised at how easily Seven took the child, but Seven explained that she'd helped with several infants in the human community.
Legolas returned after an hour, to be startled by four more guests. Seven had not yet mentioned him to her companions, but she introduced him as her husband. They were startled, and the look that flashed across the Doctor's face could have been pain, but they all recovered quickly. Legolas sat down with them and they chatted for a while.
After perhaps 15 minutes, Q showed up. "Your friend is back," Legolas muttered dryly.
"Have a good visit, Seven?" Q was smug.
"Quite. However, I think my guests are probably ready to return to their homes."
"Actually, I was hoping to get a look around," Tom said.
"Hey, I'd be happy to leave you here for a day or two if you want."
At that, B'Elanna glared at Q. "I think not, Q. You seem to forget that I have an infant to care for. That's a little difficult in the dark ages."
"People had babies even in the dark ages, and trust me, this isn't the dark ages. You're in one of the more elegant cultures you're likely to encounter in any realm."
Seven tried to head off the inevitable argument. "Would you return B'Elanna and anyone else who wishes to leave and come back later for anyone who wishes to remain?"
"Hey, I'm not a taxi!"
"You could have fooled me," Janeway said. "You seem to take perverse pleasure in dragging us across dimensions despite the fact that you never even considered using your power to bring Voyager home. Now why is that?"
"I have better things to do than play taxi for mortals who get themselves in trouble."
"And who got us here in the first place?" B'Elanna muttered under her breath.
Before Q could reply to B'Elanna's complaint, Seven jumped in. "Such as?" When Q didn't reply, she continued. "It would not be a great difficulty for you to return B'Elanna and then come back later for the others. It might be a sign of good faith with the Valar. After your impersonations, you apparently need it."
"Who told you about that!?" Q sputtered.
Seven didn't even try to hide her smirk. Q was practically squirming. After a moment, she managed to control her expression, then just cocked an eyebrow at Q. "Well?"
"Fine. I'll do it. I'd just like to know who told you about that. Let's go."
and Q promptly disappeared.
The moment he was gone, Seven burst out laughing. Legolas looked at her questioningly. "Galadriel," she laughed. "I knew it would be funny, but I didn't realize quite how upset he would be. I hope he doesn't cause any trouble because he's angry." With that, she grew serious. "Captain, Tom, Doctor, perhaps I could show you around?" They agreed, and she gave them a tour of the growing city.
It was nearly a week before Q returned, and in that time the visitors got an introduction to life in Middle Earth. Tom spent most of the week listening to histories. Seven told him about the War of the Ring, with liberal input from Legolas and Gimli, and many of the Elves were more than willing to tell tales of earlier ages. The heroic and dramatic stories caught his attention like little else could. Seven had no doubt he would invent holodeck programs to many of the stories. The Doctor and Janeway were most interested in Seven's story. They spent several days over cups of wine simply getting the stories straight, and then the Doctor took to comparing the Elven and human cultures of Middle Earth to those on Earth and other planets of the Alpha Quadrant. Janeway, too, studied the Elvish culture, but out of simple appreciation rather than a comparative study.
As the days passed, Janeway and the Doctor both pitched in with the building effort. Janeway did not have the strength to contribute towards the heavy work, but she often lent a hand wherever she could. The Doctor was usually in the thick of things, helping with the heaviest work he could find. His holotransmitter gave him strength comparable to the Elves. Seven found herself wishing B'Elanna had not departed so quickly. The Klingon woman would have enjoyed learning about warfare in Middle Earth. Seven had had enough fighting to last a lifetime, but some sparring might have been fun.
A few days into Janeway's visit, Aragorn stopped over for a visit. The King of Gondor often stopped by the Elven city in Ithilien, so it was nothing unusual. Seven and Janeway came out to meet him, along with the Elves. They stopped just behind Legolas, who was greeting his old friend.
"Ah, Legolas! I did not know you had guests!"
"Yes. This is Lady Kathryn Janeway. She is a visitor from Seven's former home." Seven glanced over at Janeway when he said that. The Alpha Quadrant was indeed that—a former home. The Admiral glanced back over at her, but didn't say anything.
"Lady Janeway has been a ship captain for many years," Seven said. Lady Janeway sounded odd, even to her ears, but "Admiral" wouldn't make any sense to Elessar. "We served together for several years."
"Yes?" Aragorn looked at Janeway intently. "I would be interested to hear some of your stories."
"I'd enjoy comparing notes." Janeway realized he didn't understand the expression, then amended, "Sharing stories, that is."
Aragorn nodded, and Seven motioned them all into the hall. Aragorn stayed for several days, much of it sharing stories with Janeway over mugs of wine. The Doctor cornered him a few times, asking about herbs and such. It rather annoyed Seven, who had already taught him most of what she knew of herb-lore in Middle Earth, but it wasn't long before the Doctor realized Aragorn's healing abilities were far more complex than knowing the medicinal uses of a few weeds. Eventually, duty called and Aragorn returned to Minas Tirith, but Janeway had thoroughly enjoyed the conversation and the Doctor had been both educated and humbled, realizing there were indeed powers beyond science at work in Middle Earth.
The fun couldn't last, and after a week, Q showed up again. He was still pouting over Seven's revelation a week prior. He rather sullenly collected Admiral Janeway, Tom, and the Doctor, promising to return them to the point in time when they had left.
A/N: I've tried not to overdo this, but let me know if you'd like to see more interaction between Voyager and LOTR characters, and I'll add some more. Thanks to Tindomiel for giving me the idea of adding Aragorn into this scene (wasn't there originally). Thanks for all your reviews—As of this post, I have 150! There are two more posts to go, so let me know if there's anything in particular that you'd like to see added in. I'd appreciate that or any other reviews.