CHAPTER 5 – Husband #2
Kathryn and Q appeared on the sidewalk in front of a two-story farmhouse. Kathryn, still in her uniform, found herself holding a Starfleet-issued luggage case in each hand. She looked down at them perplexed and then dropped them to the ground.
"This…" she said looking around. "This is my house."
"Your powers of observation continue to astound me," Q said rolling his eyes. "Come now, let's not waste time."
He headed up to the front door and jiggled the handle but it was locked.
"Be a dear and see if you remember the code."
Kathryn joined him on the stoop and flipped open the lid to the door panel. She thought for a moment, then typed in her last lock combination. The door clicked open.
Q pushed it and waved an arm for her to enter first.
Kathryn took in the familiar scent of her old home. Many things were still the same, the furniture and most of the artwork on the walls hadn't changed. On the console table was a wedding picture of some version of herself and Mark. The Kathryn in the picture wore the same dress that she had picked out so many years ago but never had the chance to take home.
She wondered how far into the past she was at this moment. They paused in the modestly-sized foyer and suddenly, the front door clicked and opened again. A woman, looking to be in her mid-forties and dressed in a cotton shirt and slacks strode in casually and dropped an overnight bag on a bench.
"Recognize her?" Q asked.
Kathryn shook her head. From down the hall Kathryn heard the patter of animal feet. A moment later a large, red-haired dog bounded down the hall and greeted the woman excitedly.
"Molly!" Kathryn gasped. She stooped down to call the dog to her but quickly realized it was a futile effort. Q looked at her quizzically. "I'll never understand mortal attachment to lesser beings."
"You certainly seem attached to me," she reminded him sarcastically.
"Touché."
At that moment they heard a voice from the kitchen. "Carla, I'm in here."
Recognize him?" Q asked.
"Mark," Kathryn replied. He nodded and then bid her to follow the other woman.
Before her, in the kitchen, was a sight she had longed to see for so many years. Mark, with his hint of grey hair and handsome features striding toward her with open arms and a genuine smile. Her daydream was interrupted as he embraced the other woman. Mark whispered in her ear, something soft and sensual. Carla giggled and pulled away.
"I thought you said no one died in this one Q," Kathryn scolded.
"What makes you think someone's dead?"
"If he's with her, and we were married as the picture on the console table showed…"
Q raised a finger to his lips to silence her.
"So, how many days do we have this time?" Carla asked, breaking free momentarily from his embrace.
"She'll be gone at least four months," Mark replied.
"Good thing I'm here to keep you from getting too lonely," she replied and wrapped her arms around his neck to draw him in for a kiss.
Mark returned her affections passionately and took the woman by the hand. "Good thing," he said. And then he led her down the hallway to where Kathryn knew her—their—bedroom was.
Once the couple was out of sight Kathryn turned to Q.
"He… he's…"
"Cheating on you," Q said bluntly as he picked up a donut from the table and began to munch. "Sprinkles," he commented. "Love these little things."
Kathryn's mouth gaped open for a moment before she found her words. "Mark would never cheat on me, Q. I don't care what you're showing me. I won't believe it."
Q shrugged and brushed rainbow sugar from the corner of his mouth. Kathryn felt herself beginning to grow irate. Heat seared in her throat. "How dare you," she said beginning to tremble with anger. "How dare you taint the memory of someone that was so dear to me? Someone I loved so very much. And he loved me." Her voice grew louder with each word.
"I'm not disputing that fact," Q replied. "But, you read his Dear John letter. He's married now, to someone else." He waved his hand flippantly down the hall. "Her, actually."
Kathryn grimaced. "He waited for me. He was committed to me for as long as anyone could have expected him to be."
"And you?" he jested. "How faithful were you?"
"I was faithful Q. I never strayed in my commitment to him."
Q rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes we'll get to that later. I mean in this timeline. Just how angelic do you think you are?"
Kathryn froze. "What are you implying?" she asked, eyeing him with disdain and hesitation.
"Care to take a look-see at what you're up to right about now?" Before she could protest, he snapped his fingers.
The two travelers appeared on the bridge of a small Starfleet vessel. This time, there were two Kathryns wearing a captain's uniform.
"So I'm still a captain in this one?" she asked.
Q nodded. "This is the ship you would have been assigned to had you decided to move your wedding date up a month as Mark wanted you to do. With both of you in uniform, this might get confusing, so stay close." Then he leaned in to whisper, "Just remember you're the one that's not getting any from your first officer."
She scowled at the implication. Then, she watched as the other Captain Janeway relayed a series of orders to the bridge crew before she retreated into her ready room. Familiar with the routine by now, Kathryn followed close behind.
She and Q took a seat on a small sofa in the back of the room and watched for a few minutes while the captain attended to some kind of business at the desk.
"Looks like an ordinary day," Kathryn remarked.
"Oh, it's ordinary alright."
A moment later the door chimed. Out of instinct, Kathryn's response echoed her counterpart's and they both said "come," in unison. Realizing her faux pas, Kathryn frowned and folded her hands in her lap. "Old habits die hard," she conceded.
Q chuckled. "You have no idea."
A tall, rather handsome man wearing three pips and a red uniform entered. Kathryn didn't recognize him.
"Ship's status reports and crew evaluations for you to sign off on." He set two PADDs on the desktop.
"Thank you," the captain replied.
Kathryn noticed she looked up at him in a way that, despite the plainness of her words, seemed a little too casual.
"How was your leave?"
The officer waggled his head back and forth. "Eh, okay. Uneventful." Then, he bit his lip and leaned in close across the desktop. "I missed you."
Kathryn watched in disgust at the implications being thrown so casually in front of her.
"We're on for tonight?" the captain asked.
"Oh, for sure," the officer replied. Rising from the desk and placing her hands flat on the surface, she wantonly met his lips halfway over the computer console.
Kathryn averted her eyes until she heard voices again.
"Until then," the captain replied with a wink. "Dismissed, Commander."
Kathryn's stomach lurched. "When are we Q?"
"Oh, about five years after you refused the offer to command Voyager," he replied.
"Let me guess, they're all dead."
Q nodded his head. "Yes. Wait, no. Let me think…. Oh these timelines, they do get so confusing. No, not yet. They're still in the Delta Quadrant. But, you never really forgave yourself for not taking that command. You honestly believed that with you in the center chair, they wouldn't have been lost."
"And all of that guilt drove me to the arms of another man?" she asked skeptically.
"Guilt and indifference, I suppose," Q replied. "Let's face it, Kathy. You may have loved Mark, but were you really in love with him?
"I… of course I was. I wouldn't have agreed to marry him if I wasn't."
"That might be what you tell yourself at night when you're feeling sad and lonely, but you can't hide the truth from me. Mark was comfortable. He was safe. And yes, you could have built a nice life with him. A stable one even. But the passion, it was never really there was it? And you're gone so often…."
Kathryn met his eyes but refused to answer.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of," Q continued. "After losing something as heated as you had with Justin, safe was probably the smart bet. At least for a little while. Oh, but safe does get boring." Q yawned. "Are we ready to go yet?"
"Yes. Please."