Star Trek Voyager Characters are the property of Paramount Pictures

BEFORE THE DAWN
(PG:13)

Chapter Eleven

A cup of hot black coffee in her hands, Kathryn watched from a window-seat in the nursery as her son slept soundly. He was lying beneath a soft yellow blanket in a cot that Chakotay had made especially for him, and only the blue-tips of bunny ears were visible on the white body-suit he was wearing. Billy Janeway was now ten months old and was growing to look more and more like his father every day. He had the same thick black hair, same chocolate brown eyes, and same cute dimples when he smiled. Every now and then, Kathryn took a sip of her coffee, hoping the black liquid would awaken her senses. It had been a terrible day and she was exhausted. Voyager had come under attack by aliens on a booty hunt and it had taken several hours to escape them. Many onboard had been injured during the conflict, Billy amongst them. The aliens had attacked without warning or provocation, and Billy's bouncer had overturned in the assault. Luckily he had been unharmed, but the incident had shaken both her and Chakotay.

In the soft glow of a night light, Kathryn's eyes wandered from her son to his surroundings. As she looked around, the sadness in her heart weighed heavier. While the room was cheerful enough with a bright yellow carpet, transfers of nursery-rhyme characters on the walls, and colorful letters of the alphabet on the ceiling, it was still a room on a starship struggling to survive in hostile space. There were very few toys in the room, as replicator resources had to be preserved for more essential items, and the view from the window was always the same. There was no night or day in this room, no winter or summer. Day in, day out, all that could be seen outside was stars streaming by in the blackness of space.

The doors to her left suddenly opened, and Chakotay came in. He was dressed in uniform, but, like her, was wearing only t-shirt and pants.

"Hi," he said quietly when he saw Kathryn on the window-seat.

"Hi," she replied.

Chakotay wandered over to the cot and looked down at his son. When he saw that Billy was fast asleep, he smiled. "Well and truly in the land of nod."

Kathryn put down her coffee on a thin shelf behind her, got to her feet, and joined Chakotay at the cot. "What happened today it...it really scared me."

"Me too," Chakotay replied.

"We're going to have to review Billy's safety measures. They're clearly inadequate."

Chakotay turned to Kathryn and looked at her sadly. "We have every possible safety measure in place, Kathryn. There's no more we can do."

"Maybe not, but a review won't hurt. I'll arrange a meeting with the Doctor, Celes and our safety team tomorrow. I'll ask Sam to come too. It's about time we reviewed Naomi's situation aswell."

She gazed forlornly at their son, and Chakotay noticed how pale and tired she looked.

"Have you had dinner?"

"No," she replied. "With everything that's happened today, I haven't had a chance."

"Then would you care to join me for a meal on the holodeck?"

Kathryn looked up at him. "The holodeck?"

"I have a couple of hours reserved tonight. I was going to ask you to join me earlier as there's something I want to show you, but then we came under attack. I'm sure Celes or Sam will mind Billy."

Kathryn hesitated a moment as she didn't think she had the energy to make it to the turbo lift, let alone to the holodeck, but there was so much anticipation in Chakotay's eyes that she didn't like to disappoint him. "Alright," she said, giving a tired smile. "You're on."

"So," Kathryn said as she and Chakotay entered holodeck 2, "what is it that you want to show me?"

"You'll see," Chakotay smiled. "Computer, play program Vengeance."

Instantly, the plain silver surroundings of the holodeck changed into blue sea and sky, and Kathryn found herself standing on the deck of a huge pirate ship with blood-red sails.

"Welcome aboard The Vengeance," Chakotay proclaimed.

Kathryn looked up and around. "An impressive vessel. But is it supposed to mean something?"

Chakotay's eyes twinkled. "Something very important. The existence of our son."

Kathryn turned to him. "You mean?"

Chakotay nodded. "It occurred to me recently that perhaps it would be possible to recover something of the simulations the Hirogens put us in by combing the holo-computer's memory database. Over ninety five percent of record data was lost, but that had to mean some survived. I discussed it with Tom and B'Elanna, and they said they'd look into it. Tom came to see me last night and said they'd managed to recover fragments of several programs. This one and the western one we were in during the last week of the invasion were amongst them."

"Good thinking," Kathryn surmised. "Well done." She then sighed. "It's just too bad we'll never know who we were in the simulations."

"Actually, we can have some idea. Tom was able to retrieve a template of our characters in several of the simulations."

"Including this one?"

"Yes. We'll probably never know for sure, but this simulation is the only one recovered that ticks all the boxes regarding the timing of Billy's conception. We were both in it and the dates concur. Tom wasn't able to find a template for me in the western simulation, which either means I wasn't in it, or the template has been lost." He smiled. "You were Calamity Janeway."

Kathryn laughed softly. "Very gung-ho,"

"Gung-ho?"

"Long story. Go on."

"Well, from what Tom has been able to deduce from the remains of the templates, our characters weren't programmed to be romantically involved. But, we've always known that development was most likely due to..." he searched for the right words... "other influences."

"Quite," Kathryn smiled. Her eyes rested on a thick wooden plank that lead off the starboard side of the ship, and she walked in the direction of it. "So, who were we in this simulation?" She glanced back at Chakotay briefly. "No, let me guess. You were the captain."

"Why me?" Chakotay asked, amused.

"Well, women couldn't be captains in the days of privateers, so it couldn't have been me."

"I don't think the Hirogens paid that much attention to detail," Chakotay smiled, making his way over to her.

Kathryn climbed onto the plank and Chakotay watched curiously. "What are you doing?"

"Walking the plank. I used to love pirate stories as a child and have always wanted to do this."

"Be careful," Chakotay teased, "the sharks might bite."

"I'll take my chances."

She walked to the end of the plank and then looked out at the distant horizon where a calm blue sea met a cloudless blue sky.

"Glorious," she smiled. "I think I would have liked being a sea captain in those days. Not as exciting as space travel, granted, but in an age when the stars were off limits, it would have been the next best thing. It must have been exciting to sail the unknown in magnificent ships like this and discover all kinds of mystical islands."

"Well," Chakotay replied. "You may never get to be a sea-captain in this life, but in this virtual existence you were certainly a captain to be reckoned with."

Kathryn turned towards him. "I was captain?" Then she smiled. "Of course. Voyager, Vengeance, they switched the setting."

She made her way back across the plank and took Chakotay's offered hand as she descended a couple of steep steps onto the deck. When she was down, Chakotay let go of her hand and spoke.

"There was enough detail in the templates for Tom to create a visual display. Want to see what we looked like?"

"Oh yes," Kathryn said eagerly.

Chakotay addressed the computer. "Computer, display Janeway template."

Instantly, an image of Kathryn materialized wearing black boots over red pants, a brown leather tunic over a loose white shirt, and a glittering jeweled patch over her left eye. A black silk scarf was tied around her head of very short hair, and hanging from a black belt around her waist was a sword enclosed in a gleaming silver case.

"Let me introduce Captain Jewel-Eye," Chakotay smiled.

Kathryn laughed at the curious looking hologram. "Captain Jewel-Eye? The Hirogens were clearly more imaginative than I gave them credit for." She circled the hologram. "Love the pants, hate the hair."

Chakotay laughed. "Wait until you see my hair."

"I don't think I can," she smiled. "Computer, display Chakotay template."

Immediately an image of Chakotay appeared before her. He was wearing a black pirate outfit consisting of baggy black pants, black knee-high boots and a loose black shirt, and he had a sword encased in bronze hanging from his waist. A triangular shaped black hat graced his head, on which was the image of a skull and crossbones, and just visible beneath it was a deep red scar. A thick gold hoop hung from his right ear and his jet black hair was so long that it reached the black belt around his middle.

Kathryn laughed heartedly

"I warned you," Chakotay smiled, his heart warming at Kathryn's laugher. It had been a long time since she had laughed like this. Too long.

"Not sufficiently," she replied. "Does this vagabond have a name?"

"Cracklefire."

At that, Kathryn laughed until her eyes watered. Then she slowly sobered. "I can't believe we really thought we were these people. Are you sure these are the only likely candidates for Billy's genesis?"

"As sure as we can ever be."

Kathryn began to circle the characters again, and addressed the computer as she walked.

"Computer, copy to Janeway template all personality characteristics of hologram character Captain Kathryn Janeway."

The computer voice responded. "Request processed."

"Now, apply a neural interface to Janeway template that makes character believe she is captain of this vessel, Captain Jewel-Eye, but retain predominant characteristics of character Kathryn Janeway, including romantic attractions."

"Request processed."

"Now, do the same to template Chakotay using hologram character Commander Chakotay."

"Request processed."

"Now, activate holograms in 60 seconds and depict most likely relationship between characters in this simulation."

The computer voice questioned. "Please state nature of desired demonstration. Passive or interactive."

"Passive," Kathryn replied.

"Characters activating in 60 seconds. Stand by."

Kathryn and Chakotay backed away from the holograms to give them space, and then watched as they came to life.

Sweat began to glisten on the characters foreheads and they both pulled out their sword. Then they turned towards each other and began to fence vigorously.

"Give me your bag of diamonds," Captain Jewel-Eye said as she slammed her sword against Cracklefire's, "and we'll call it quits."

Cracklefire laughed. "I'm not done for yet."

Captain Jewel-Eye lurched forward, forcing him to take backward steps as they dueled.

"I can keep this up all night, and keep it up I will until I get those diamonds."

"Then you'll have to keep it up."

He swooped away from the side of the boat, still in defensive position, and they continued to duel as they moved quickly across the deck. At last, Cracklefire managed to get the captain on the defensive.

"I'm the one calling the shots now," he gloated."Give me your prize emerald and I'll show you mercy."

"Over my dead body."

"It might just be that."

Captain Jewel-Eye jumped onto a mound of rope, leaped onto a barrel, and then with a quick flick of her wrist forced him to retreat as her sword came down in his direction. He tripped over the rope beneath his feet and both his sword and hat went flying across the deck as he crashed to the floor. Almost before he hit the planks beneath him, Captain Jewel-Eye jumped on top of him and held her sword over him in a threatening manner.

"Now you will surrender the diamonds."

Cracklefire laughed. "I think I will not."

"You dare to resist me? I have sliced the throats of men for less."

He looked her boldly in the eye. "Then I dare you to do it."

Captain Jewel-Eye waved her sword above him and then brought the sharp blade within an inch of his skin. Then she flicked her wrist again and lunged the sharp point into his wild hair.

"Draw game," she said in defeat.

Cracklefire exhaled, his relief visible. "You had me going there."

"Oh," his captor smiled, removing her sword. "Would I really trade you for your diamonds?"

Cracklefire's eyes sparkled. "Does that mean you love me more?"

Captain Jewel-Eye chuckled and squeezed his cheek with her left hand. "It means you are of equal value. I intend to have you both."

"You vex me."

"My poor darling," she smiled, moving her hand to his hair and running her fingers through it. "How can I make amends?"

Cracklefire removed her sword from her right hand, cast it to the deck, and then began to unlace her tunic. "I can think of at least one way."

Captain Jewel Eye laughed and then slid down his body until she was lying on top of him. She then put her mouth to his and they kissed deeply. Cracklefire rolled on top of her and then looked down at her.

"Looks like I hold you captive now."

"Looks like you do."

"Question is, what shall I do with you?"

"What indeed."

He then lowered his lips to hers and they kissed again.

"Computer," Kathryn said, blushing slightly, "end program."

Instantly, the scene before her vanished and was replaced with the plain gray surroundings of the holodeck.

"Well," she said, turning to Chakotay, "I guess that settles where our darling came from."

"I guess it does," Chakotay replied.

A brief, awkward, silence followed, and then they both laughed, breaking the tension.

"So," Kathryn said when they finally sobered. "Where are you taking me for dinner?"

"How does a quaint old restaurant in southern Tuscany sound?"

"Sounds perfect," Kathryn smiled.

Chakotay smiled in return and then addressed the computer. "Computer, begin program Toscana 152."

Immediately they found themselves on a pretty sandstone terrace overlooking a tranquil shore at sunset. Three beautifully decorated tables stood before them, all unoccupied, and Chakotay gestured to the central one.

"After you, Madam."

Kathryn made her way over to the table, and Chakotay followed.

END OF CHAPTER ELEVEN