Disclaimer: Star Trek: Voyager and all characters therein are the property of Americans who are not me. No infringement of copyright is intended.
This is set post-Season 7 and is my 'feel good' ending to the show; I also try and provide as many plausible reasons for this alternative future as I can! NB – the 'main segment' of this story is sent ten years after the crew got back from the Delta Quadrant. Spoilers – entire series. Rating T/PG13 for odd risqué phrase.
NB –Certain chapters are longer than usual for my postings; however, to do otherwise would interrupt the flow of the narrative too much, so apologies.
ENCHANTED ENDGAME
Chapter 4
Near Starfleet HQ in San Francisco, there was a large municipal garden of remembrance and honour, but wherein private individuals could purchase a small square plot of ground for a private memorial to honour someone. Captain Janeway had from her own funds purchased such a plot and placed there a stone plinth upon which she had attached a plaque. In neutral alphabetical order without distinction between Starfleet, Maquis or Equinox crew – and even Seska and her accomplices such as Michael Jonas - were listed the names of everyone who had not survived the Delta Quadrant.
Each year on an October day when the leaves were turning to autumnal jewels of gold and ruby and ochre and sienna, the Captain would go alone to her plinth and for a few minutes privately mourn the fallen, and nobody had ever paid much attention to a woman in a coat by herself.
But eight years ago, two years after the rescue of the Maquis, it had been different. Her relationship with Chakotay had been still new and young, but that wasn't the only reason the Captain had made her pilgrimage alone. She had been completely unsurprised when the seemingly endless 'debriefs' gradually turned into something nastily akin to de facto interrogations.
The Dominion War had been the catalyst for profound changes in the Federation collective psyche, not all of them for the better. Increasingly the sessions turned into a point-by-point pressure to justify every little thing she'd done, including prominently her decision to make Tom Paris Con Officer, her acceptance of Maquis to command-level positions, and her 'rescue' of several Borg. Knowing she had the full support of her crew helped, but Kathryn Janeway had faced down Species 8472 and the Borg Queen, and mere Federation Admirals were way out of their depth.
She had neither apologised for nor sought to justify her blunt log entries as to why she had made those decisions, instead startling and wrong-footing the pontificating 'panel members' by dishing out some needed remonstrance and castigation:
"It was clear the rot set in when you cashiered Tom Paris, but at the time I was too blinded by Starfleet's dazzling ideals to admit it even to myself, even though it was obvious to a blind amoeba that Tom Paris was punished for being an Admiral's son rather anything he'd actually done wrong, which did great public harm to the Federation's reputation and put off many fine young people from applying to Starfleet for fear of being…what the hell, let's call it what it is – being screwed over by the brass – in the same way."
"Captain Janeway! You don't seem to be clear as to just who here is –"
"I'm very clear. I've gone over the Caldek Prime accident in miniscule detail, my fair Admirals, and while pilot error may have been a contributing factor, that error did not occur until after the accident began to develop, it did not precipitatethe accident which killed those three officers. Tom Paris was no more to blame than a super nova or a black hole is to blame for killing something in its path. You sacrificed him on the altar of political expediency – and I have told him as much to ease his mind. You caused him years of unnecessary mental and emotional suffering due to his entirely misplaced guilt and I can assure you that you've lost the goodwill and respect of the best pilot to pass through Starfleet in a century. I hope it was worth it."
They had blustered and flustered and warned her that her command decisions were being examined because 'serious concerns' had been raised about her judgement. Things had deteriorated from there until she'd had enough:
"What are you doing, Captain!"
"I'm leaving. My lover, Chakotay, is meeting me for lunch."
"This is outrageous!"
"Admiral, for the first time in the weeks you've been dragging me here for this farce, we are in total agreement. Let me make myself clear: the Maquis were right. Politically, socially and morally, yet the Federation insisted on appeasement and placating clearly untrustworthy types at all costs. The Maquis saw the Cardassian-Dominion alliance coming half a decade before it happened, which is probably why the Cardassians instigated their genocide of the Maquis –"
"That is –"
"Exactly what it was: Genocide. The extermination of a people! Following which atrocity the Federation was – quite justly - humiliated and pilloried by the public and every species with an ounce of common sense, and just when you hoped it was all going to go away, Voyager turned up with some of the most highly-respected Maquis leaders not just alive and well but in trusted command positions."
"Well it's easy to see how Chakotay got his!" The speaker had snarled and then blanched at the look she turned upon him.
"That statement is precisely why these sessions are finished as of now. As for those 'serious concerns about my judgement' or should I say the ruffled feathers of Section 31 –"
The panel Chairwoman began sententiously, "My dear captain, regurgitating that tired myth will not help you –"
"I don't need any help, certainly not from that organisation. I'm only going to explain this once, so listen up. We don't live in a perfect universe, so much as I hate to admit it, we need Section 31 and every agency like them to tidy up the messes we're too squeamish to look at. Here's the newsflash: I'm not squeamish. By the time I'd got past the Vidiians, the Hirogen, Species 8472 and the Borg, I'd exhausted my quotient."
"Are you daring to threaten -"
Once again she didn't let the blusterer finish a sentence. "I don't need to threaten. I'm intimidating enough. Let me lay it out for you. Section 31 didn't just drop the ball they threw it out of the ballpark. Their job is to protect what the Federation stands for by any means necessary. They should have seen what the Dominion were in plenty of time to cancel out the Founders' machinations along with the Vorta and the Jem'Hadar, but they blew it and humanity nearly didn't survive their almighty screw-up. They should be damn grateful they're not Voyagers, because right now they'd all have been demoted to cadet and put under special measures for woeful underperformance of their duties, not to say negligence. Even on her worst days, Tal Celes was more competent!"
"Strong words, Captain!" shot back the panel Chairwoman.
"I'm happy to follow them up with strong actions. If their performance with the Dominion is anything to go by, Section 31 needs a few months of KP and emergency rations. They're getting fat and flabby. Here's my recommendation to you: trim their fat, because loathe though I am to admit it, we need Section 31, and we need them lean and mean, not acting as if they'd been stationed on Risa for the last decade!"
In full Captain Janeway mode she had swept out of the room and nobody had tried to summon her again for a 'briefing' they knew she would not attend. But aware of the possibility of surveillance and potential 'unpleasantness' on the part of an affronted Section 31, Kathryn had decided against inviting Chakotay to join her at her Voyager memorial until the following year, just in case she herself suffered an 'accident' in the process of visiting it.
The wildcard, as Tom Paris would aptly put it, had been Miral Paris, who had noticed how 'mommy and daddy's Captain was very sad.' Half-understanding the stories of the Delta Quadrant and even overhearing a few whispered mutterings about Section 31 from adults gossiping about Captain Janeway, Miral had perceived it her duty to protect the Captain, and so had taken a phaser but not a com badge. The little girl had slipped away unnoticed supposedly en route to school as she spotted the Captain walking along.
The school had contacted Miral's parents when the little girl failed to arrive; a quick search of their home, plus Harry and Libby's next door, had turned up blank. All the places that Miral knew were empty, all the places that a small girl would find attractive were likewise empty. Tom called Chakotay to ask if he and the Captain had seen the girl, and Chakotay, unaware of Kathryn's whereabouts, promptly came to join the widening search and he discovered the missing phaser. The Doctor had been contacted and had promptly transmitted himself to the house, where one of the many mobile emitters kept by Voyager personnel enabled him determine by a forensic residue scan that Miral had taken the phaser and armed it before leaving the house.
Naomi Wildman was pulled from school, and denied all knowledge but admitted Miral had expressed that the Captain was 'different' recently; Miral had said that the Captain was sad and was worried she was upset because 'bad people' were trying to get her. The Doctor had suggested contacting Icheb, which in turn brought Tuvok and Seven into the matter. Tuvok had sombrely declared that since it was impossible to ascertain what was fact and what was the misinterpretation of a small child's limited understanding, they had no choice but to continue under the assumption that Captain Janeway was in either real physical danger or experiencing emotional distress that could cause her to be a danger to herself.
Miral's other favourite person was Neelix, who was also none the wiser as to her whereabouts and alarmed when Naomi burst into tears and wailed that bad people were after the Captain and Miral had taken a phaser to protect her. Neelix had walked into an extremely important high-level conference and announced to one and all on live broadcast channels that he was cancelling it because Miral Paris was missing in possession of a working phaser and there was evidence to suggest the child believed Captain Kathryn Janeway to be the subject of imminent harm. Almost snarling he had warned of unspeakable retribution should "'our Captain or our child be harmed.'"
Like wildfire the news had spread amongst the Voyagers, and within an hour most of the nearby crew were in San Francisco helping to quarter the city in search parties, along with Miral's four grandparents and assorted friends. Captains aboard starships found themselves faced with frantic, fretting crewmembers offering to work latrine-cleaning duty for eternity but they had to get to Earth now because their Captain was in danger. In short order the largest assemblage of Starfleet vessels in Earth orbit since the Dominion War was underway.
Five hours had gone by with the grieving Captain in the sheltering arbour of the gardens unaware of the pandemonium that reigned outside, as was the little girl secreted in the bushes watching her determinedly despite being bored and cold, both unaware that fate was yet again about to take a hand. Miral did not know that another pair of eyes, cold and nasty, were also watching the solitary figure, not a premeditated evil, only an opportunistic one, but her Klingon blood whispered a warning that she had been right, that somehow mommy and daddy's Captain was not safe.
She had spotted her mother passing the Gardens' entrance; Seven had managed to utilise various sensor arrays with permission of Starfleet HQ to triangulate Miral's position, even without a com badge, to somewhere nearby, and the entire crew converged on that location, but could not find the child. Miral had begun to walk towards the gates, before noticing a shimmering in the air that was heading towards the Captain. She had no idea what a personal cloaking device was, but something told her the shimmering air was bad, so she picked up stone from the grass, and threw it at the air as hard as she could.
The Ferellian had been viciously attacking people for their valuables wherever it went, using its personal cloaking device to hide in plain sight from the authorities, but the device strapped to its chest was large and delicate. The well-aimed stone hit the device dead centre and shattered the emitter, rendering it useless. The instant the creature became visible, Miral ran to the astonished Captain who had no idea what was going on but knew that the creature bearing down on them was not friendly. Miral let out a piercing shriek, her three lungs carrying the sound like a klaxon, even as she tried to shoot the creature.
Snatching the phaser, Janeway had emptied several 'kill' shots into the charging thing with no effect, unaware that behind her the Voyagers were running through the gates and the media broadcast the image of the woman trying to protect the child from the alien; the Ferellian lashed at the human woman, throwing her aside and Miral screamed in fear.
It never stood a chance; B'Elanna and Tom Paris never even slowed down as they flung themselves bodily at it even as Janeway scrambled to her feet with her face gashed and grabbed a nearby rock with which she also began to batter the creature. Madly screeching it was battered at every turn before finally being subdued and hustled away by law enforcement officers.
Explanations had followed on both sides, and for the first time since she had created the plinth, Kathryn Janeway did not stand a lone vigil for the fallen. The annual get-together had evolved out of that event. Most years, like this one, it tended to be just the command staff, but a couple of times the entire crew complement had packed themselves into the Paris residence. Occasionally if any crewmember was passing by, they would drop in for an hour, and oftentimes similar parties would be being held by other Voyager groups of particularly close friends. All the Voyagers had fallen into the habit of visiting Captain Janeway's memorial whenever they came back to Earth and leaving flowers and small tokens or trinkets, to the extent that it was now commonly referred to as 'the Voyager shrine'.
The Ferellian incident had been the cement as far as Kathryn's nebulous decision to leave Starfleet was concerned. At the time, in the back of her mind, there had been a concern that the Ferellian had been a Section 31 assassination ploy, and even though by the end of the week she was certain she had been woefully over-imaginative in that regard, the fact that she had even considered the idea at all had been proof positive to herself that she could not continue to serve in an organisation she no longer respected and certainly did not really trust.
That Christmas – the first she and Chakotay spent living together as a couple – he had greeted her when she got home with puzzlement because they had received an anonymous gift. It was a large hamper from a local health food store, every item of which was guaranteed 'fat free'. She had understood and been relieved by the de facto message from Section 31 that there would be no repercussions from her forthrightness, but the fact was that if she remained in Starfleet, she and they were going to clash again, and she had far too many people she cared about that they could threaten for her to win another confrontation.
Seven watched Captain Janeway and Chakotay preparing to leave this annual get-together and wondered where the Captain's mind had wandered for those few moments – no a pleasant remembrance, if the shadows in the Captain's eyes were any indication. Seven had no regrets about ending her relationship with Chakotay, and the tenderness that shone from his eyes as he helped his wife put on her coat only assured her of the rightness of her decision. Chakotay was a man of strong passion and he needed a woman with similar strength. Seven felt no inadequacy within herself, but she knew that her strength was of ice, whereas Kathryn Janeway's strength was fiery, and the latter was what Chakotay really needed.
Unnoticed, Seven cast her eyes once more around this gathering of her friends, and was pleased with what she saw, even though their lives were all about to undergo major changes – yet again.
"We will adapt," she assured and challenged the universe at large with total confidence…
Concluded in Epilogue…
© 2005 Catherine D Stewart