Chapter 7
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B'Elanna heard about the verdict, and realized now that Susan's death probably was suicide. It seemed she had exposed T'Pol's plans for nothing. B'Elanna knew that she owed T'Pol an apology, and went to visit her in the brig.
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B'Elanna: I'm sorry.
T'Pol: You should be. You put me and 30 of your former comrades in danger for nothing.
B'Elanna: I just didn't think she would kill herself like that.
T'Pol: I was also surprised by her actions, but I betrayed no secrets. What do you think captain Janeway will do?
B'Elanna: I don't know. I guess that depends on whether she believes you have the right to leave whenever you feel like it.
T'Pol: I am not officially Starfleet, many of us never were. It has always been a temporary alliance. At the time the alliance was logical. But if we are forced to help Voyager now, only to face incarceration later, where is the logic in that.
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Captain Janeway used this night to contact an old friend from the Alpha Quadrant, captain Jean-Luc Picard.
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Picard: It's good to hear from you again Kathryn.
Janeway: Good to hear from you Jean-Luc. You've probably heard that we've had to make an alliance with a Maquis ship.
Picard: Indeed. Makes sense, why continue with a war going on 70,000 light years away.
Janeway: But now that we know that the Maquis have been slaughtered, a number of the former Maquis crew are planning to desert this ship. They've found an M class planet with laws they can abide by, and a society that would welcome them.
Picard: I can't say that I blame them.
Janeway: I need you to tell me, what has happened to the Maquis now, those who've survived anyway.
Picard: Most were slaughtered by the Dominion and the Cardasians, a lucky few were put in Federation prisons. During the war most were granted pardons in exchange for their help fighting the Cardasians, who were once again our enemies. One of them, was an old friend of mine, Ro Laren. She did survive the war.
Janeway: I'm sorry to hear that.
Picard: Thank you. Now that the war is over, I can't guarantee that they'll be shown the same leniency. But then perhaps there won't be as much of a hurry to prosecute them either.
Janeway: Is it true that the Cardasians, even under occupation, continue extra-judicial killings?
Picard: We can't prove anything, but yes they are.
Janeway: So if I were to prevent them from leaving, I'd be forcing them to help us, with no guarantee of any kind of leniency from the Federation.
Picard: That seems like the best way to encourage outright mutiny. The Maquis were enemies of the Cardasians, and at times of the Federation. During the war I saw both sides do some pretty brutal actions. As a Starfleet officer I cannot encourage you to let these fugitives escape. But you've served with them, you know them. If you feel you cannot contain them, I couldn't blame you.