The Third Nature -Book One of the Triad

Voyager fantasies by Taya 17 Janeway @ Nimgil

observations of rituals

Later that day Chakotay headed to the Mess Hall for dinner. The mess hall was unusually quiet; most of the women on board had gone down planetside to prepare for the upcoming battle, leaving Voyager in the hands of the male portion of the crew. The ship glided in space, flying in tandem with the planet slowly spinning below. The dim reddish glow of Myriam's protective cloak could be seen faintly from this side of the shields; the Eminent ships in orbit had no idea that they were there. They continually swept the area, alright, but so far nothing could get past the cloak emitters Myriam had structured with help from Voyager 's team of engineers. The Federation ship could pass meters from their position and they would be none the wiser.

Paris and Kim were seated at one table, eating; Chakotay joined them. Neelix came over. "What'll it be today, Commander? I have some excellent local fowl served in a tangy Talaxian specialty sauce, or Akarian crabs in pepper."

"I'll take the fowl," said Chakotay. He turned to Paris. "How are the training sessions with Nydea?" he asked Paris. He was referring to Paris' flying lessons on the Delta Flyer with the Head Warrior, of course. B'Elanna had wrangled with Myriam to allow Paris to take the Delta Flyer out during the battle, and the Coordinator was taking every step to ensure that he was well-prepared.

Paris made an exasperated face. "Sheer hell. I thought Academy training sessions were grueling, but it's nothing compared to this." He gesticulated with a hand. "You wouldn't believe the kind of precision this woman demands of me. She's got to be the biggest perfectionist next to the Borg."

Kim looked like he was about to rib Paris about his piloting skills, but Neelix came over with Chakotay's dinner, interrupting their conversation. "Is it true that we're going to refocus our efforts on Licknor Moor instead of Tiuagad?" he asked them.

They all turned to look at him. "Not that I'm aware of," said Chakotay. "From whom did you learn this from?"

"Seven," replied Neelix. "She came in earlier for a spare hygrospanner, knowing that I always keep one under the pantry; and she mentioned something about the refocusing of our efforts. I was wondering if it was just rumor."

"Well, we've heard nothing," said Paris.

"If it's true, then it must be a recent development," said Kim. "I was planetside with Janae two hours ago and she didn't say a thing about it."

"Or maybe Myriam has her reasons for keeping Janae in the dark," muttered Paris.

Kim glanced at Paris. "What makes you say that?" Then his face took on a closed expression. "No. You think that she's the spy as well?"

"I didn't say that."

"Look, she's not, alright? I've gotten to know her pretty well, and she's perfectly alright."

"If she's really a spy, I'm pretty sure she'll be able to convince you to think whatever she wants you think of her," rebutted Paris.

Kim bristled a little at the insult, but persisted in his line of argument. "I'm not that naïve, Tom, and it's hard to maintain a false cover for 18 months without letting something slip."

"Really? I bet that you don't know half of the things you should about the girl. For example, did you know that she--"

"—Is a Wielder of Emerald Wind? Of course. She told me a long time ago."

"She told you." Paris looked slightly bewildered, then composed himself. "All the better to win your trust, then."

Kim sighed. "I can see that this debate is going to lead to nowhere. Alright, you can believe what you want to, but in the end what matters is that I trust her."

Chakotay cut short any further arguments by starting a new thread of conversation. "Neelix.... I heard some crewmen talking about some ritual of joining this morning. Any idea on what that's about?"

"Ah, that." Neelix settled himself down by a nearby table, eager to share the knowledge. "It's some form of a coming-of-age ceremony; all female Mage have to go through it at some point of their lives. It's an ancient custom, originating from several thousand years ago: what they call a 'mingling of bloods', in which a woman drinks a man's blood."

Paris' eyes grew imperceptibly wider. "Drinks a man's blood?"

"It's not as barbaric as it sounds," Neelix assured them. "They have proper medical techniques, so that the man isn't harmed."

"The man isn't harmed—" began Kim, then realization dawned on his face. "You mean the woman has to drink the blood fresh from the vein?"

Neelix nodded. "Only fresh blood will do."

"I wonder why Janae never mentioned that when she told me about the Joining?" muttered Harry with a bemused look.

At the mention of Janae's name a silence settled on the table for a moment, before Neelix broke it by saying, "You know, I'm surprised Captain Janeway hasn't mentioned it to you before, Commander."

Chakotay looked askance at the Talaxian. "Why would she want to do that?"

"She told me she's been thinking of performing the ritual before the final battle," replied Neelix, folding his hands together in front of him. "The procedure is supposed to strengthen a Mage's powers by several magnitudes."

Kim nodded. "That's probably true, seeing that fresh blood has so many properties of higher dimensionality."

"The Captain wants to carry out this procedure?" Chakotay asked of Neelix again.

Neelix nodded seriously. "As a matter of fact, she recommends that all female members of the crew undergo this procedure, seeing how we are the only unjoined Mage in the Panizhe." Then he sighed and leaned forward slightly. "Unfortunately, it seems that Myriam left out a few aspects of the entire ritual when she recounted them to the captain."

"Go on," Chakotay urged him.

"Well..." Neelix seemed uncharacteristically hesitant. "The ritual is also a prelude to... marriage, one might say, since in their society prearranged marriages seem to be the norm."

"I don't understand."

"The custom is that the woman can only take blood from the man she is bethrothed to. So you can see how this might be difficult in the case of Voyager."

"Well, it shouldn't be a problem for Tom," joked Kim. Paris' expression said Oh, really.

Chakotay nodded. "I'm surprised that the captain is even considering the option."

Kim shrugged. "Why not? We don't have to adhere so strictly to their societal rules. I'm sure we could negotiate a way into performing the ritual without any other side effects..."

"Unfortunately, this seems to be a case where we can't negotiate our way through," said Neelix. "You see, the problem is that the ritual links the two individuals concerned in the higher planes. Even if there was no subsequent marriage, the connection would remain."

The group of them were silent for a moment.

"What if Voyager were to remain in this universe?" asked Paris quietly. "Would the... effects of the ritual be more acceptable then?"

Everyone swiveled his head to look at Paris.

The blonde ensign continued, "It's a... possibility that I've heard being bandied about."

"The captain would never choose to settle here, likeable as this place is," said Kim with dead certainty.

"What if there's no choice?" asked Paris.

Chakotay leaned forward and stared at Paris, hard. "Where did you hear this news from?"

"It's only a possibility B'Elanna heard some of the other Mage discussing," he said. "They seem to think that the journey here was a one-way trip."

More silence. Then finally Neelix said, "Whatever it is, this issue must be settled... perhaps at the next staff meeting."

Chakotay nodded, once, slowly. "Yes. It must... before it's too late."