9 — The Captain's Table III
"Well," the elderly woman said with a stretch, "I think I'm done for now." She got up and patted her stomach. "Captain; where's the toity?"
"Excuse me?" Both Janeway and Picard were taken aback at the odd word.
"Oh." The woman blushed — truly an odd thing to see on someone in Vulcan garb. "I keep forgetting just how many years separate us. The little girls' room? The necessarium?"
Now Janeway knew what she wanted, she was able to nod in the right direction. "Over there," she said.
"Thanks." The older woman headed away, past Hompaq — who had since returned to her spot at the bar, bored with the lack of battle in the story — and turned out of sight.
Janeway turned to Picard, glad the old woman had gone — there was something she had to say. "It looks like your intervention back then has made its way into the history books," she commented.
Picard looked none too pleased. "Indeed," he said. "I gave orders for us to stay out of history's way, but I suppose it was inevitable once Will and Geordi decided to participate in the Phoenix's maiden flight."
Janeway smothered a smile. "As someone who's done her fair share of time travel, I understand how hard it is not to have an effect — even a peripheral one," she said, recalling Voyager's trip to 1996 Los Angeles.
The door opened and a strong compact male in a maroon Starfleet uniform entered with another younger Captain in tow. Janeway recognized both of them immediately — Captain James T. Kirk and Captain Hikaru Sulu. She'd had the strange privilege of being on the Excelsior with Sulu whilst sharing Tuvok's memories of the explosion of Praxis more than eighty years earlier.
"Jimmee!" A felinoid Captain leapt from the stairs and wrapped her arms and legs around Kirk's body in an exuberant hug. Kirk blushed and Janeway smothered a smile — it was easy to see where the other Captain's reputation had come from.
"Kirk," Picard breathed, recognizing him instantly also. After all, he'd actually met Kirk in one of his more peculiar encounters during the final days of the Enterprise-D. Kirk had apparently become enveloped in some nexus, rather than being killed on the Enterprise-B's maiden flight as everyone had thought. He'd spent decades in that nexus, until Picard had persuaded him to leave in order to help save the citizens of the Veridian System from a madman's plans. Kirk had died helping Picard, and Picard had been the one to bury him.
Janeway wasn't above a little awe herself. After all, these two Captains had helped shape lives, politics and civilizations of the 23rd century and even into the 24th, with Captain Sulu's grandchild sponsoring Chakotay's application to the Academy. But, like Picard, she knew how to control herself — they'd both danced around with the timeline far too often not to appreciate just how fragile it could be.
Speaking of which … The elderly lady — Charlotte — returned and tugged at Hompaq's arm. "Come join us," she said.
Hompaq snarled and shook her head. "I don't care for stories about Vulcan discipline," she said. "When you told me about the attack on your missile silo and those honorless Romulan p'taks, it was interesting, but after that …". She shrugged and took another gulp of her warnog.
"I'd never realized your people were so one-dimensional," Charlotte said mildly yet maliciously.
Hompaq scowled in acknowledgment of the direct hit, then let loose with a laugh. She slapped the frail-looking woman on the back. "Well done, old woman!" she said. "Perhaps your years with the Vulcans haven't broken your human spirit, after all!"
The elderly female didn't even stagger — she was evidently much stronger than she looked. "So, refill your warnog and come sit down with us," she said. "After my story, I'll listen to one of yours."
Hompaq's eyes widened. "You want to hear a Klingon story?"
"Of course," Charlotte replied. "You're an interesting people, and your prowess for story-telling is matched only by your skill with a bat'leth."
Hompaq barked with laughter. "Oh, you're good!" she said. "It's at times like this that I wish our people were still enemies — I would enjoy facing you in battle!"
"Maybe another time," Charlotte said. "Cap; another warnog for Hompaq."
It was funny, Janeway mused. As the older woman spent more time in this place, she was shedding her Vulcan-like restraint and becoming a strong passionate female, more than capable of dealing with Hompaq's aggression.
Hompaq pulled back one of the heavy chairs and gulped at her warnog. "So, old woman; continue your story," she said. "But if it doesn't become interesting soon, I will personally throw you into a warp core."
"So, no pressure, hmm?" Charlotte sipped at her Altair water with a Mona Lisa smile.