AN: Here we are, another chapter here. There's so much I'm excited for us to get to, but we have to lay all the groundwork first, and we have to move through things logically. LOL
I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!
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The two people in Chakotay's care were absolutely adults, but he accepted, for a moment, that they were very much like babies in their understanding of the world around them.
He had studied Earth's history extensively. He had a great deal of interest, in particular, in the way that people used to live and how they'd survived without technology and with very rudimentary technology during different points of history.
The period of the Millennium Plague had been a particularly interesting time period for historians and archeologists alike, because it had represented a true return to nature for the species. The outbreak of the plague had caused a massive number of deaths. It had also shut down everything that the people had known at the time. Electrical grids shut down, gas- and diesel-powered engines stopped functioning in the absence of fuel. Travel by all means except rudimentary ground transportation and boats ceased.
People returned to the ways of their ancestors—very few of them having had any extensive preparation to do so. As a result, it was suspected that the plague, itself, actually killed far fewer members of the population than their actual inability to survive without all of the advances to which they'd become accustomed.
It was also a time period when humanity really shone, in hindsight, because those that survived the Millennium Plague had proved themselves to be strong in body, but also to be true survivors and to possess a great deal of ingenuity. They saved themselves in situations that seemed impossible, and they brought civilization back—stronger than ever, in many ways.
The Millennium Plague, and the return to nature that it represented, was something that had fascinated Kolopak, Chakotay's father, because he saw it as being a return to the way that their ancestors had lived. Kolopak had enjoyed learning about the Millennium Plague and, particularly, its survivors. He'd taught Chakotay a good deal about it as simply something of a lesson that the world will always take back what's hers and that man should never forget how to live in his most basic form. Otherwise, he could be doomed to die simply because he failed to learn from the wisdom of those who had solved the problems of life before him.
Kolopak would have never imagined—those days when he did his best to teach Chakotay what he would need to know in a world that was suddenly returned to nature as it had been in the past—that his son would be face to face with two survivors of that great plague, or that he'd be responsible for teaching them the basics of survival in a world that was going to give them a far better life, probably, than they'd ever imagined.
Chakotay would have the upmost patience for the newcomers for his father's honor and memory, but he'd also have the upmost patience with them because he knew how much it would matter to Kathryn.
It wasn't her fault, directly, that the two people were now onboard Voyager and lost to their old world. Nobody had suspected what the Araulians might be planning until it was too late and their transporter—practically a type of specialty net transporter, made particularly for capture and confinement—had reappeared with the people trapped inside. Hap Soun had already begun their return by the time that her assistants deactivated the bubble and fired on Carol and Daryl—everything happening too quickly for any of them to be able to stop it.
As soon as the bubble had appeared—a clear cage—with Carol and Daryl inside, Kathryn had guessed what was happening. And, even then, the only thing that Kathryn had truly been concerned with was protecting the innocent people that were now walking with Chakotay in Voyager's corridors. Kathryn had put herself in the fight to keep the Araulians from taking them. Ultimately, she'd forced the Araulians to make a choice, and they'd chosen to take their relocation device and flee. Kathryn was willing to sacrifice the technology, and their hope of making it work to return them to the Alpha Quadrant, if it meant saving the two innocent victims from being subjected to whatever kind of experimentation and unknown fate that awaited them.
Chakotay was sure that, if he asked her now, whether or not she thought she'd made the right decision—trading the technology for the humans' lives—she would never hesitate to say that she had. She would get Voyager back to the Alpha Quadrant, eventually, but she would never forget that life—no matter the species—was more important than anything else.
So, Chakotay would care for them as much as Kathryn would. He would do what she wanted. What would make her happy. After all, it was only the right thing to do.
"Here are your quarters," Chakotay said. The doors buzzed open and he led the two of them into the living quarters. The bedroom was separated off from the living quarters and, for the time being, the door to the bedroom was closed. They'd been given senior officer's quarters since they were the most comfortable for housing two people. Immediately upon entering, Carol went directly toward the window. Chakotay and Daryl both followed her.
"It's beautiful!" She declared.
They were in a particularly beautiful area. Chakotay was glad of that when he saw how her face lit up at the view.
"It changes, depending on the atmospheres around us," Chakotay said, "and any passing space anomalies. It is beautiful, though." He stood there a moment and watched the two of them peering out the window. He tried to remember the first time that he went to space. He'd been very young then, and it had been magical. He wondered if it was even more magical if the first time you went to space was also the first time you really realized that such a thing would be possible in your life. "I'll take you to the mess hall later to get you something to eat," Chakotay said, interrupting their gazing out the window. "Captain Janeway—Kathryn—thought that you might like the opportunity to come back here and relax and freshen up. A good bath or a shower can really change you outlook, sometimes. She's a fan of baths, mostly, but I'm a sonic shower man myself."
"Sonic shower?" Daryl asked, furrowing his brow at Chakotay.
Chakotay laughed to himself.
"For now, maybe you'll just stick to regular showers. Just remember—whatever you want to do, you just tell the computer what you want. You turn the computer on by simply saying 'computer' in a command tone. Watch this. Computer, locate Captain Janeway."
Chakotay heard the familiar beep of the computer complying with his request, but Carol and Daryl looked around to try to locate the sound of the noise.
"Captain Janeway is in her ready room," the computer announced.
"So, when you want to—fill the tub or activate the shower, you simply make your command and it'll be taken care of," Chakotay said. "You were decontaminated by the doctor, but you might prefer to actually bathe. While you're taking care of that, I can step away and activate combadges for you." They were both staring at him, mouths slightly open, and he did his best to hide his amusement. "Too much, too fast." He tapped his chest, pointing to his combadge. "The talkie chatty thing? It's called a combadge. Or, sometimes, a communicator, but we have other handheld communicators as well. Your combadge will have other features."
Daryl laughed and Carol looked amused.
"The talkie chatty thing?" Daryl asked. "You mean a walkie talkie?"
Chakotay smiled to himself.
"Some of your technology is foreign to me," Chakotay said. "I would have been more familiar with telephones or—or tin cans connected by string." They seemed relieved by a joke that they could understand. Maybe both of them needed a little lightness at the moment. "It will take me a few minutes to get your combadges programmed. During that time, I thought you could take a shower or a bath. Relax. Then, when you're ready, I can take you to the mess hall for something to eat."
"Will we be locked in here?" Carol asked.
Chakotay shook his head.
"This is your home now. Voyager is your home. You're free to come and go as you please on the ship. I only thought that you might like to have me with you in case you're finding it difficult to navigate the corridors your first time wandering around. In addition, Kes is the only non-human that you've seen. You may have questions if you begin to meet the ship's crew."
"Yeah," Daryl said. "We'll wait. Shower or whatever…"
"You could use a shower. I know I could. We haven't had a good shower in at least two weeks," Carol said. "Since we left for New Mexico."
Daryl laughed, clearly amused by something.
"Somethin' tells me we ain't makin' it to New Mexico, Carol," Daryl said. "And we sure as shit ain't in Kansas no more."
Carol laughed to herself. Chakotay was confident it was something meant for only the two of them. He knew where both Kansas and New Mexico were, but when Voyager had materialized in their time period, their sensors had indicated that they were somewhere near what the people of that time would have indicated as being part of Georgia or Alabama. Still, Chakotay let them have their joke. They needed it, and it seemed to make them both feel better.
He cleared his throat as their amusement faded. He gestured toward the replicator.
"If you'll come here, I'll just show you one last piece of our technology that you might find useful in my absence," Chakotay said. They both followed him and stood around the machine. "This is a replicator. It's what we use to make the things that we need. Now—the captain and I are both donating replicator rations to the two of you until we can get your accounts activated. Still, I'm sure that many of the crew members will also donate rations to you to help you become comfortable here, so there's nothing you need to worry about."
"Rations?" Daryl asked.
"We're a long way from home, too," Chakotay said. "To preserve certain stores of power that we have, we issue rations to the crew. As I said, you don't need to worry about it. We'll help you. For the time being—if you want anything to eat or drink, you can order it here."
"What do you mean order it?" Carol asked. "Like—call someone?"
"Or like a drive-thru?" Daryl asked.
Chakotay held his hand up to still both of them. He looked at Carol and smiled. She was a lovely woman, but she'd looked mostly concerned since she'd opened her eyes in sickbay. The only peek at what she might look like, otherwise, was the brief moment of amazement at the window and the flash of humor at Daryl's joke about the various states they'd known.
"What would you like to drink," Chakotay said, "if you could have anything you wanted right now."
"Anything?" She asked.
"Anything," Chakotay said. "What would you like to drink?"
Carol thought about it a moment and then smiled to herself.
"A good cup of hot coffee," she breathed out. Chakotay couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm and her order.
"A woman after the captain's heart," he teased. "Captain Janeway would say you have impeccable taste. Now, Carol, how do you take your coffee? With cream?"
"You have cream?" She asked.
"We have anything you want," Chakotay said. Carol nodded her head. "With cream?" He asked for clarification. She nodded again. "Sugar?" He asked. He could immediately tell from her facial expression that she didn't want sugar and he couldn't resist the opportunity to try to bring another smile to her face. "Of course not," he said. "I can tell that someone as sweet as you doesn't need sugar."
A smile spread across Carol's face and her cheeks blushed. There was a scoff just behind her, though.
"That line died more'n three hundred years ago."
Chakotay looked at Daryl. He was not attempting to hide an expression of disapproval.
"I beg your pardon?" Chakotay asked.
"I said that line," Daryl said. "It died more'n three hundred years ago."
Chakotay smiled to himself. He nodded his head. Of course. He'd overstepped. He'd meant to flatter Carol simply to amuse her. He'd accidentally overstepped his boundaries, however, by flirting with her—no matter how playfully. He recognized his error. No man—regardless of his time period—was going to approve of another man flirting with his mate.
Chakotay, of course, was in no position to feel that way about anyone. He was single and didn't see that being changed any time soon. Yet, he still knew that he would not appreciate it if he were in Daryl's position—especially since he wouldn't have even appreciated it with a woman over whom he had no actual claim at all, but for whom he had a great deal of affection.
"My apologies," Chakotay said sincerely. He looked at both Daryl and then Carol. She shook her head at him, attempting to dismiss any hurt feelings, perhaps, but he simply smiled to make it clear that he had no hurt feelings for anyone. Instead, he pointed to the replicator. "Coffee. With Cream."
The steaming drink materialized in the replicator and Chakotay took it and handed the hot mug to Carol. She stared at it.
"Is this real?" She asked.
"Absolutely real," Chakotay assured her. "Try it."
"Don't drink that," Daryl said quickly. "Prob'ly kill you, appearin' outta thin air like that. Where the hell'd it come from?"
"It's replicator technology," Chakotay said. "I assure that it's perfectly fine to drink. Still—would you rather I tasted it first?"
Daryl looked at him like he wasn't sure what he wanted, but he clearly had some concern about Carol tasting it. Carol, however, seemed to have a little less anxiety surrounding the cup of coffee in her hand. She raised it to her lips and tasted the liquid. She closed her eyes and hummed out her satisfaction.
"Good?" Chakotay asked.
"It's perfect," Carol assured him. She offered it to Daryl. "Try some—it's incredible."
"Yeah," Daryl said. "Maybe some other time. You got real food around here?"
Chakotay laughed to himself.
"There's non-replicated food in the mess hall," he said. "I'll leave you to get bathed. Get settled in. Kes told me that there are extra clothes and any items they anticipated you needing. Anything you're missing, you just order it here—the same way that I did the coffee. I'll go get your combadges. When I come back, we can take a tour of the bridge and I'll escort you to the mess hall for a meal."
The two humans accepted his suggestion, and they bid him farewell—both of them standing at the door of their quarters—when he left. Carol was smiling at him, and she waved goodbye with the hand not holding her coffee, but Daryl—with his hand on Carol's shoulder—simply offered a short and slightly dismissive goodbye.
And Chakotay wasn't offended by any of it. He only hoped he could have the opportunity, later, to make it up to the man, and to make it clear to him that he'd never intended, in any way, to make any uncomfortable advances toward his mate. He thought a trip to the holodeck might be in order, to give them a little male-bonding time, but it wouldn't be appropriate until they were a little more settled in, and he was sure that Carol would have something to occupy her time. After all, the last thing Chakotay wanted to do was to create any kind of discord in their relationship.
