AN: Here we are, another chapter here in this adventure!
I am so glad that y'all are reading (and enjoying)! I think this is going to be fun, and I'm excited to share it with you!
I hope you enjoy the chapter as we advance a little further toward getting people acquainted! Let me know what you think!
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Daryl wasn't really prepared to explain how he felt about anything that was happening.
He and his older brother, Merle, had plenty of conversations about aliens over the years. Both of them believed in the possibility of aliens, though they'd both agreed that they weren't sure that they believed in little green men that walked around looking like Marvin the Martian and abducted rednecks from fields for science experiments. It didn't seem impossible, though, to believe that there could be other life out there—especially if you realized, like they'd both seen on a documentary one time, the possibility that each and every star up in the sky could be the sun for a whole new solar system that they hadn't even imagined before.
If what the woman—Captain Janeway, who had told him that he could call her Kathryn if it made him feel more comfortable—told him was true, he had, in fact, been abducted by aliens. He was simply in the custody of different aliens. And all of these aliens were, theoretically, not aliens. Some, like Kathryn and her counterpart, were humans. But, of course, they were not regular run-of-the-mill humans. They were humans from so far in the future that, as Kathryn insisted, she could be Daryl's great-to-the-whatever-the-fucking-power grandchild.
The only thing that Daryl was sure about was that it wasn't a dream. Whatever was actually happening to him was happening. He wasn't asleep. He'd changed his feelings too many times for him to be asleep. He was awake. This was real. The information may be skewed, but the place was real. The people were real.
And the technology, while he knew nothing of spaceships and aliens beyond some movies and cartoons, was real. At the very least, it was a great deal more technology than he'd seen in a long time.
Kathryn had told him, essentially, that if he didn't fight—if he remained calm, rational, and reasonable—nothing would happen to him. Beyond that, nothing would happen to Carol and, really, Daryl felt responsible for Carol. He'd never forgive himself he did something that, directly, got her injured or killed. Accidents happened, and they knew that, especially in the world that they called home before they ended up here, and either of them might have been killed before they'd been snatched out of their campsite, but that was different.
In their world, as Kathryn had called it, Alpha was dead. The Whisperers were gone. The communities where their companions called home were just starting to try to rebuild after the war against the Whisperers. Carol had needed to get away. She'd wanted space. She'd wanted distance from her past. She'd wanted room to breathe. Daryl had started to settle into the idea of trying life in the communities—if that's what she wanted—but he was just as content to set out, as well, when she seemed determined to run away again. This time, he was running away with her. He wasn't going to simply let her disappear. They'd talked about heading for New Mexico, not that they really knew if anything was out there or if they'd make it that far, but mostly they were just wandering. Maybe they were simply looking for a new life. A new kind of adventure.
They'd certainly found that.
But Kathryn assured them that if they stayed calm, they would be unharmed. They would, in fact, be cared for.
It wasn't like they could run anyway. Daryl could see that Kathryn's counterpart—Chakotay—was wearing something at his belt that Daryl assumed was a weapon. The armed security team that Kathryn had dismissed might have been told they could go, but Daryl was confident they could find their way back, too. He and Carol were empty-handed—they were so empty-handed that they were actually naked under cloth gowns. Even if they were to make some kind of run for it, Daryl wasn't sure what they would be running from, and they had absolutely no idea where they'd be running to.
In short, no matter what the hell he was feeling about things, the only thing he could really do at the moment was choose to trust Kathryn—and that was because there was no alternative and, so far, no reason to do otherwise.
Daryl had felt immensely better when the balding man that they only ever called the doctor—the man who proclaimed himself to be a hologram and, therefore, not even real, though Daryl had touched him and had seen him touching other things, and he seemed just as solid as anyone else—had woken Carol. She'd come out of her sleep refreshed but confused, and Daryl had calmed her, immediately, enough to get her to listen as he made Kathryn repeat, for her, exactly the same thing she'd told Daryl.
It was a complicated story for some kind of ridiculous, elaborate joke. And the world, since the turn, didn't allow people all that much time to make jokes. The realization of which only served to make Daryl's stomach tighten a little bit more at the possibility that the red-headed captain might not be telling a complete lie.
Carol was silent, but her expression said that her silence was mostly owing to a great deal of overwhelm and confusion.
It wasn't every day, after all, that they went from dealing with flesh-eating, reanimated corpses, and a world where people driven mad by everything they'd experienced chose to skin and wear those corpses, to a place where they were being told that they would no longer have any concerns about finding enough food and water to survive—but there were absolutely aliens and spaceships, some of which were set on self-destruction.
Carol stayed, sitting shoulder to shoulder, with Daryl on the cot and, when her stupor wore off, Daryl couldn't help but laugh to himself at her first response.
"Are you an—alien?" She asked, staring at Kathryn.
"She's a human," Daryl offered. "And he's a human. And he's a holograph."
"I'm a hologram!"
"He's a pissed off hologram," Daryl corrected.
The pissed off hologram in question turned to Kathryn like she might do something to help him. She looked at least mildly amused.
"I'm sorry, Doctor," she offered. "Remember…"
"Our guests are new here," he supplied with a hint of sarcasm. He rolled his eyes. "If you'll excuse me, I've got some work to attend to. I'd like the opportunity to further examine them later."
"Understood," Kathryn said. "For the time being, however, let's let them settle in."
Carol thanked the hologram, and he looked a great deal more pleased with her than he did with Daryl. He smiled at her, nodded his head in her direction, and informed her that it was his pleasure to treat her.
They both watched him as he distanced himself, walking into a little glass-enclosed office space to work on whatever it was that he had to do as a holographic doctor.
"I get the feeling that you're both anxious to see an alien," Kathryn said. "I imagine that you're also anxious to settle into your quarters and get to know your new space."
"Are they dangerous?" Carol asked.
"What?" Kathryn asked.
"The aliens," Carol clarified.
Kathryn and Chakotay both laughed. Chakotay, who seemed mostly content to guard silence while he also guarded Kathryn, was starting to relax, especially since Carol had woken up and neither she nor Daryl had made any move to bolt for the doors.
Daryl could see the doors, but he had no idea where they led. Running for them, without being in any immediate danger, didn't make sense.
"Depends on the alien," Chakotay said, laughing to himself.
"While that's not entirely untrue," Kathryn said, "you'll be safe on the ship. Everyone here is a member of my crew—whether officially or unofficially—and, as such, they are not hostile toward any other member of my crew.
"We ain't part of your crew, though," Daryl pointed out.
"But, as circumstances have demanded, you may someday be a part of my crew. In the meantime, you're my friends and you will, in time, I'm sure, become part of my family. You don't have to fear anyone here," Kathryn said. "She slapped her chest, her hand touching the little walkie-talkie pinned to her body. "Kes?"
"I'm here, Captain," a voice responded. Daryl thought it was a pretty safe assumption that the woman who spoke was named Kes.
"Do you have that clothing I asked you to replicate?" Kathryn asked.
"I have it, Captain," Kes replied. "I was just finishing up helping Ensign Mallory prepare quarters."
"Very good, Kes," Kathryn said. "Could you please bring those clothes to sickbay now?"
"Are you sure that you want me to come to sickbay, Captain?" Kes asked. "Or should I send them with Ensign Mallory?"
Kathryn smiled to herself.
"I'm sure that I want you to come, Kes," Kathryn said. "I have some new friends that I want you to meet. Janeway out."
Kathryn smiled at them. It was difficult to tell if she was smiling specifically at Daryl or at Carol.
"Kes is Ocampan," Kathryn said. "She's very young, but she appears to be an adult because of the way that her species ages. She's very kind, and you're going to love her. She's a valued member of our crew."
Before either of them could ask questions about Ocampans or anything else, a young woman came strolling into the room through the double doors—and in the brief second they were open, Daryl could see they led to a hallway. She was carrying stacks of clothes, so Daryl assumed she must be Kes. She walked directly to them, but she kept about a foot and a half of distance from the edge of the table. Kathryn walked over and took the clothes from her.
"Thank you, Kes," she said. "Kes—this is Daryl. And this is Carol."
"Very pleased to meet you," Kes said.
Her voice was soft. She was pretty and petite, and looked nothing at all like what Daryl might have considered fitting for an alien. She might have been a pixie or a fairy with more believability. The only thing that made her look inhuman, actually, was that her ears were long, pointed, and rather odd in appearance.
"You're an alien," Carol said. Whether or not it was a question, Daryl wasn't sure.
Kes smiled pleasantly at Carol.
"I'm an Ocampan," Kes offered. "I'm as alien to you as you are to me. I replicated the clothing to be similar to the clothes that you were wearing. We recycled your clothes and the matches are not exact. I used the closest things we had in the replicators. You can replicate whatever you like later."
"These clothes will do perfectly until we get our guests settled," Kathryn said. "Thank you, Kes."
"Certainly, Captain. My pleasure," Kes said. She turned back to stare at Daryl and Carol.
All of a sudden, Daryl's gut twisted as he accepted that Kes had told the truth and—if this weren't some kind of elaborate trick—he and Carol were probably just as strange to everyone else as they were to them. To an Ocampan, after all, humans must be aliens. He glanced at Carol. Her features had softened, but she still looked confused. Of course she did. Her ears, round and small and perfect, in Daryl's opinion, would look odd to the Ocampan. Of course—the Ocampan was more used to the sight.
And he and Carol—if they truly did come from a world more than three hundred years in the past—were probably practically aliens to Kathryn and Chakotay. He tried to imagine what he'd think if he'd bumped into someone from the sixteenth or seventeenth century.
If this wasn't some kind of trick, then they all had a lot to learn about each other, and they all had a lot of work to do to get used to each other. But at least everyone else had the homefield advantage.
"Everybody speaks English?" Daryl asked, looking to Kathryn. She smiled.
"With the universal translators," she said, "it sounds to you like they do. The ship will automatically translate millions of languages for you. You hear what you need to hear in order to understand. Everyone else does too."
Daryl laughed to himself.
"Of course," he said. "Why the fuck didn't I already know that?"
"You're overwhelmed," Kathryn said. "And it's understandable. And I'm sure you'll have questions. Lots of questions. We'll do our best to answer all of them as they arise. But—I do have some things that I really must see about. So, if you'll trust my first officer, Chakotay, he'll allow you both to get dressed and then he'll show you to your quarters."
Kathryn handed over the clothes to Carol, and Carol immediately sorted them into two distinct piles on the table. They were a little odd, but anything was better, to Daryl, than sitting there in nothing but a cloth gown.
"I'm sure we'll be just as fine with Chakotay," Carol offered, "as we will than anyone else."
"You'll be fine," Kathryn assured her, smiling at Carol and taking her hand. She held her hand sandwiched between both of hers. "I promise you that you're going to be comfortable here. Happy. We'll do everything in our power to make that so. And Chakotay is wonderful with people—just give him a chance."
Chakotay walked over and rested his hand familiarly on Carol's shoulder.
"Anything you need," he said, "I can get it for you. I can take care of any problem you have."
Daryl didn't miss the smiled that Kathryn gave Chakotay. He didn't miss the smile that Chakotay gave her, in return.
And he didn't miss the fact that Carol, suddenly, looked a lot more comfortable with the man.
Daryl cleared his throat.
"Can we have one of those walkie-talkies?" He asked. "Everybody's got one."
"We'll get you a combadge," Chakotay assured him. "Just as soon as you're settled, I'll leave you to explore and rest or…whatever you want to do. And I'll get you both communicators. I'll show you how to use them."
"You're in good hands," Kathryn assured them. She reached and affectionately patted Chakotay's chest. "I'll see you both soon. Chakotay—take your time with them. There's no need to rush."
She barely heard Chakotay's acceptance of her order or farewells from Carol or Daryl before she walked with long, quick strides out of the double doors—revealing to Daryl and Carol, again, the hallway beyond for just a moment.
They both followed her with their eyes before turning back to Chakotay. He was standing, arms behind his back, with a smile on his lips.
"If you want to get dressed," he offered, "I'll be in the doctor's office—over there. We'll give you both a little privacy. Whenever you're ready, I can show you around."
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AN: Of course, since I'm dealing with two couples here (or, you know, two pairs working toward being couples), I'll be switching/mixing POVs and there will be parts where we're focused on one/then the other couple because they will have private time. I just wanted to make sure that you knew. Everyone will be present and accounted for throughout, though.
I hope you enjoyed! Don't forget to let me know what you think!
