Chakotay had correctly predicted that he and Kathryn would emerge uninjured. Chancellor Martok had a point about a man keeping his head clear at such times. Yet Captain Janeway needed her coffee even more than usual this morning, as she hadn't gotten much rest either. Raktajino, Klingon coffee, was the beverage of choice on this station. As with Human coffee, most users diluted it with sweeteners, but she best appreciated it plain.
Their return home would not be immediate, wanting to repair some battle damage before taking the ship any further. The delay was ameliorated by Admiral Paris having brought much of home to them.
The crew arranged recreation. Still accustomed to the holodeck, they had organized a soccer game there, against station personnel. For both sides, it might be one of their last activities before parting ways. Their captains would be their captains.
"Like baseball, hit 'em where they ain't," Sisko said. The captain of the T'Kumbra, when in for repairs earlier in the year, had baited him with a challenge, Solok being arrogant about Humans in general and Benjamin Sisko in particular. However, the crew of Voyager, even her Vulcans, did not suffer from an epidemic of that personality flaw, and the Niners would not be facing Vulcans' superior physical strength either. Yet the opposition would not be entirely Human. Tuvok found it illogical, but Vorik had learned via his brother's roommate on the Enterprise. On most Starfleet vessels, only ensigns must share quarters, but on the Defiant class, everyone but the captain does.
Outfield, pitch and foul meant something different here. However, in both cases, the whole ball had to be over the whole line to be out of play.
Sisko felt it would be dishonorable to even ask Worf, given that he'd caused a tragic accident while playing soccer in his youth. However, Julian's genetically engineered physical ability would reprise itself in this sport. Good ol' Dr. Bashir, assuming his night drinking with O'Brien didn't leave him too much the worse for wear. Yet Voyager's Joe Carey may have consumed similar amounts. Ezri Dax, with the gymnast Emony as a previous host, would apply natural-for-Trill athleticism to yet another Human competition.
Crewman Jurot volunteered her services. Ezri offered Captain Sisko some opposition research. "Betazoids often make for great counselors, but their ability to read people would also be useful as an athlete – figure out what the opponent is doing and avoid miscommunication or lack of communication with teammates." They often served as investigators as well; a man from Betazed was security chief on Valkyrie.
Edward's dark blue shirt and Sofia's dark red were no conflict; indeed, the rules required the one in goal to dress differently than their teammates.
Seven would be on the right side of the attack. The Delaneys would anchor the defensive line, their older brother there to cheer them on.
B'Elanna would not play, given that this game was supposed to avoid violent contact with other players. However, Ashmore would join Carey as an engineering department representative.
She had a newborn and the repair work to deal with, but that explanation wasn't so funny. Tom would only go if their son would go the fuck to sleep.
Quark was taking bets, because of course he would, and one of his suggested wagers was on how long it would take someone to get redcarded. That's what this sport called ejection, as Odo had pointed out. As a baseball umpire earlier this year, he'd done so to both managers for physical contact with an official.
"Odo is utterly impartial and thorough in rules enforcement, be they those of Cardassians, Bajorans, the Federation or the Football Association." What he was to law, the EMH was to medicine, ready to assist his crewmates as well as his crewmates' opponents. Dr. Bashir or Sara Beatty, one of his nurses, could be the injured players. They might be busy with the game itself; play could continue for minor injuries.
Sisko the elder had an overarching strategy, but still played his part with power. One shot rattled the crossbar, another stung Sofia's hands. He kept pressing the attack and it yielded results just after a quarter of an hour, blasting a ball past Alighieri at an angle she couldn't do much about. This score was a family business; the celebration was a group effort, including those who hadn't directly made it possible.
Seven found it efficient to promptly try and score in response. Once she grew accustomed to having the ball, she took it quickly up the field. One centimeter outside the penalty area, she calculated the trajectory the ball would take from her foot to the goal and felt it would be inadvisable to shoot it near so many defenders. Vorik realized it would be logical to pass it to him near the goalpost, and positioned his head at the optimum angle to direct the ball from her foot to the back of Bashir's net. One minute later the score was now equal.
Colonel Kira aggressively challenged Jenny for the ball, the Delaney defender falling to the grass. Odo indicated this did not constitute a foul, a decision which Vorik found highly illogical. Ironically, the complaint drew a caution but not the behavior being complained about, and he was the first to be booked. Odo also determined the hurt to the Voyagers' #2 was not severe enough to stop play. Kira exploited the opportunity to press the attack – the ball looked to be going just under the crossbar, but Sofia leapt and sent it just over. The colonel sent the ball from the corner to the counselor's cranium, putting the home time back in the lead.
Quark was supplying the spectators. "Cold beer! Get a warm beer from me and you throw it at Odo for free!"
"QUARK!"
Megan Delaney, in the middle of the back line, was facing an oncoming Kira. Determined to avenge her sister's rough treatment, she tripped up DS9's first officer while charging forward to knock the ball away. It was knocked to Captain Janeway, who promptly kicked it over the touchline.
Odo applied far more stoppage time than Human referees, sticking to the letter of the law on fully accounting for water breaks, injury, substitutions, and cardings. With a few additional additional minutes, the Niners would not be taking a lead into the half. Crewman Jurot knew what way Lieutenant Carey was going to run, and placed the ball in front of him for a clear shot. Nothing much Bashir could do about that.
Tom showed up at halftime with a coffee. "Finally John is asleep"
"Ensign Paris, I feel your pain and I approve of your coping mechanism," Captain Janeway responded.
Two minutes into the second half the game got more heated. The Voyagers won an early corner and Mariner practically bodyslammed Davis as Carey's ball fell to him. Whether serious violent conduct or denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity, she deserved to be sent off, and of course Odo saw that. Edward did not need to take the penalty kick resulting from the foul against him, and Francois dodged Julian's arms to get it in.
Eighteen minutes later, Bashir got the better of Richard, leaping to get his fingertips in the way of the ball. Four minutes later, a similarly miraculous save was made at the other end. Alighieri cleared Kira's ball. "Nice!" Tom yelled from the crowd.
At the 75th minute, Jake nearly joined his father on the scoresheet, sending the ball just wide of the post, the sort of shot that makes a player hang their head in frustration.
One minute into additional time, Jurot could have secured the lead by knocking the ball away from the goal, but grazed it and it went behind her for a corner. Bashir came forward – down late, the Niners didn't have much to lose. "What is this, hockey?" Tom said.
He couldn't handle the ball while too far away from the goal he was defending, but like other players could still touch it with other body parts. Dax placed the ball right at his feet, and he did unto Alighieri as Vorik, Carey and Richard had done unto him.
Odo took four minutes to reach for his whistle.
Like many sports, equal scoring could be resolved by continuing to play. However, today's match would go directly to a five-round shootout. If one side had an insurmountable lead, the contest was ended, like a home team taking a lead into the bottom half of the ninth inning. Like a baseball lineup, each player had to appear on offense once before anyone went again. However, the order did not need to be revealed and could be varied if run through again. There was no designated hitter so to speak; Dr. Bashir and Ensign Alighieri would find themselves on the opposite ends of this procedure if it went on long enough.
Ben opened the competition with another blast past Sofia. Francois converted another penalty. Nerys continued her powerful performance.
Edward was the first to miss, but Julian had been perfectly positioned. However, Ezri also had her shot saved.
Jenny's ball bounced off the post but ended up in the net; that still counted. She expanded Kira's knowledge of obscene Human gestures and the list of names in Odo's book
The first female of Ferenginar was the seventh penalty taker and the third miss, going beyond the right post.
Vorik felt it was logical to pick a shot and stick with it. Like poker, it was advantageous to not display any signs of intent. Yet Bashir had just as firmly made up his mind, to dive to his right, a lucky guess with Vorik shooting to his left.
While the penalty shootout did not pad scoring stats, Jake did join his father in sending the ball over the goal line, between the posts and under the crossbar.
Jurot would take the fifth shot, at best equalize for Team Voyager. Bashir could however win it for the Niners. Yet he did not. Jurot sensed him looking to the left side of the goal and kicked it comfortably within the right post.
Juliette's celebration was rather enthusiastic. Her uniform came off revealing the standard issue light purple undershirt beneath. "She looks good in that." Tom said.
"Should I tell B'Elanna you said that?" Harry asked.
"I can look at the menu, I just can't order anything."
"I've seen women remove clothes in a holodeck before," Davis pointed out. "Holography can hold the vast fields of France, the very casques which affrighted the air at Agincourt, but more often holds clubs on Risa."
Jake, with his father and stepmother a few meters away from him, made a point of saying nothing. Tom also had to behave, else he would've ordered a warm beer from Quark.
Captain Janeway's reaction was neither positive nor nonchalant. "Crewman Jurot! This is not a Betazoid wedding either!" After all, the skipper often played a role in keeping their squad disciplined.
Odo was also unamused, but with him that wasn't so much of a difference. Janeway had seen red, but everyone saw yellow.
Also like baseball, if tied after the normal amount of turns, each team kept getting one more until there was a result. This is why the Voyagers had ruled out a player because of the Niners' red card – else the Niners' best penalty taker would've been going again while the worst Voyager was taking their first shot. Ashmore had stepped down.
Apparently scoring was a family business; Kasidy knocked one in and then so did Megan. Sara administered a dose of 12cc black pentagons and 20cc white hexagons to an administration spot just inside the net.
Seven's shot was saved, giving the Niners the win.
"As another famous liberated drone put it 'It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness; that is life.'," Maria Alighieri said to her sister's teammate. The Sisko was relatively un-angry hearing about the Picard.
"We needed this, even though some of us got a bit out of hand," Janeway said, glaring at the people concerned, and the captain's stare was no joke. "One of us may have won here today but we all won the fight that really matters."
Epilogue
Captain Sisko had a lead on Dukat and went off to deal with him personally. It was more than just pursuing a suspect. The Gul had become his antagonist as Emissary. Worf was onto something about telling Dukat to go to Grethor; the Fire Caves were the pit of dishonor for Bajorans.
Voyager was now pronounced ready to leave spacedock. A few more days to get home felt like nothing after a five year journey that had been initially projected as 70. Still, enough was enough. "A lot of people are going to want to hear this – the engines can handle warp 9.9 again," B'Elanna reported.
For hopefully the last time, Janeway said "Mr. Paris, set course for Earth."
