Day 20
Tom Paris shot up in his bed and gasped for breath. Again, it was the middle of the night, and again his attempts at sleep mocked him. He glanced around anxiously at the unfamiliar surroundings.
Standing up, Tom looked back at B'Elanna, who slept undisturbed and tried to steady his breathing. Images of being locked in isolation by the Krenim receded from his consciousness. How many times had he beaten the door in futile anger, yelling at the Krenim guards, because he was desperate to get back to her? Desperate to make sure she was okay, to fight for her. But now, there she lay peacefully beside him, and he could not rest.
Tom poured himself at shot of whiskey, downed it, poured another and looked at the time. He drank the second shot and cursed. The space dock offered services around the clock, but he found Mawasi night life too formal, too pristine for his tastes. There wasn't a pool table, or a games room in the joint. Not to mention he was sick to death of the hero's fanfare.
Slipping some clothes on, and putting the bottle inside his jacket, Tom went out to look for something to do.
Tom was still gone in the morning when B'Elanna woke up and started her shift.
Chancellor Bergo's office, on the governing planet of Shantix Five, was high in the glass palace. The final portion of staircase ascended from the chancellor's aides' offices and reception area. It went up an outside wall on the outer edge of the palace. It afforded a spectacular view of the red desert planet.
The rock that the glass palace was built out of was pale yellow and a shear face of it traveled up to a jagged edge near to the glass staircase. More yellow rock formations could be seen coming out of the rusty ground below. In the distance there was a large bright blue lake. This side of the lake was couched in golden rock, but extending out from the other side of for as far as they could see was the lush terraformed agricultural and resort area.
The structure of the chancellor's office was indicative of the governing style employed by the Mawasi. He didn't have a powerful looking desk like some in the Federation still use. Instead the chancellor's workstation was at the center of a large semi-circular table. The table provided three seats to the left and three seats to the right of the chancellor. Later, in the meeting, a low-resolution holographic emitter was activated at the end of semi-circular table.
Chakotay and Tuvok took the two seats to the right of Bergo. Using his crude holographic imager, accompanied with his own ability to tell a good story, Bergo taught them the history of his people, and their relationship with the surrounding star systems.
From its earliest development the Mawasi government remained a mix of aristocracy and democracy. In some respects the political structure was comparable to Earth's early Roman Empire, except that the Mawasi rulers were, by nature, remarkably benevolent.
The Mawasi home world, Shantix Three, and Mawasi exploration and colonization of their own large solar system developed without the violence and had virtually no military.
The naive Mawasi were ill prepared for the agression of neighboring races. As they extended their colonies to the outer portions of the large binary solar system, they experienced their first dispute with the Zahl. The Zahl had begun to colonize Shantix Eleven when the Mawasi arrived, an ownership dispute erupted which resulted in a Zahl attack on two Mawasi home planets killing three billion Mawasi.
The Mawasi remained oppressed until they developed fighting forces and technologies to help them retaliate. They eventually managed to reclaim and defend their solar system until the recent Krenim attacks.
"So my friends, until your arrival my people have always been convinced that the only way to deal with everyone who is not Mawasi, was to develop better and better self defense. The first alliance that any Mawasi has ever made with an alien species was with your Captain Janeway." Bergo clapped his hands enthusiastically. "And I must say it has had marvelous results."
Unable to contain the energy this subject gave him, he stood and began to pace. "Then when as we got to know you and saw then number of alien species among you that travel under one banner as one people, it opened our eyes to a realm of possibilities we had never seen before! If Mawasi, Nihydron and Federation can form an alliance, and stop the violence against them, and if the Nihydron can cooperate with the Zahl to bring you Federations to the Mawasi, then what else is possible? A promise of peace and cooperation with the Nihydron? With the Zahl? And if the Mawasi can have peace with the Nihydron then maybe peace is even possible with the Krenim?"
"We, Mawasi, have always been a peaceful people, but you Federations…" He patted their shoulders eagerly. "You know how to make peace with strangers. Teach us. Teach us your government, your philosophies, and anything else you use to do this!"
He sat down again and folded his hands. "You see, I asked this of Captain Janeway, but she … she doesn't have a vision for the good you can bring to this region. But you Commander Chakotay, and Lieutenant Tuvok, will you help me?"
Chakotay answered, "Chancellor Bergo, what you are asking is a relatively simple request. Every Starfleet officer is trained in negotiating between alien species. While the state of Voyager would hinder us from doing just about anything, what you ask is built into our guiding principles, our people themselves. Perhaps, we can begin by teaching you our history, the development of our treaties, and then aide you in learning negotiating skills to help you effect change in this reason of space."
"Thank you, Commander Chakotay. When can we begin?"
Chakotay turned to Tuvok and asked, "Any thoughts on how to go about this?"
"Commander, if what the chancellor is proposing happens it will result in a massive shift in cultural and political paradigms. However, his ambitions are logical and potentially attainable. It will take time. To begin, we'd need to prepare the Mawasi people, educate them on Federation principles, and show them some working treaties. While we are doing that, we should also research the Nihydron, the Zahl, and even the Krenim. There may or may not be grounds upon which we can appeal to them for peaceful collaboration."
"Agreed. Tuvok, I want you to work with the chancellor. Assemble a class of future Mawasi diplomats. You and I can provide them the training they need. I'll put Harry and Seven on researching the Nihydron and the Zahl. With B'Elanna in charge of engineering and the Mawasi's present assistance, I'm sure we can manage it." Looking to the chancellor, he added before as he rose from his chair. "We have a few things to put together and we can meet about this again tomorrow."
At the end of the engineers' shift, Nanton and B'Elanna were talking alone in the engine room.
"B'Elanna, are you okay?"
B'Elanna's jaw tensed. "I'm fine. Why?"
"I noticed you often keep yourself distant from your crew, but, even more so today."
B'Elanna's hand froze on her padd as she tried to field the question. "I… I hadn't noticed actually."
"It is as if you don't feel like you belong among your own people."
Noticeably caught off guard, B'Elanna stammered, "I…" Controlling her Klingon temper, B'Elanna only cursed her in her mind.
"I didn't mean to hit a nerve, but I think we have similar struggles, maybe we can talk about it some time."
A moment of silence passed between the two women.
Nanton concluded, "But, in watching you, I noticed that you command a lot of respect from your crew. Not only do you belong among your people, but you are a true leader. They draw strength from you, so relax. You do what you do very well, so don't pay so much attention to whatever makes you feel that way."
"Thanks, I'll think about that." B'Elanna waved goodbye with padd in hand.
"See you in the morning."
"Yeah."
In the shadow of a still burnt out console, Kathryn, in casual dress, leaned against the wall. "Kind of a nosey thing, isn't she?"
"Captain?"
"But she's right, you know."
Since it was hard for her to receive the compliment, B'Elanna stared blankly
"When you first became chief engineer, you got the job on the basis of your ingenious thinking. But you've learned to handle the crew well. Through this crisis, you did one hell of a job."
"Thank you, Captain. But… what are you doing here?"
Kathryn sighed hard and folded her arms. "I'm looking for a job. I was thinking about a night shift. You know, something challenging, and with little contact with nosey or encouraging aliens."
B'Elanna chuckled and Kathryn smiled.
"Do you have something in mind?" B'Elanna asked.
"Show me what you've got."
The two women poured over the engineering console and easily selected tasks that suited Kathryn's talents.
A night owl by nature, Kathryn enjoyed the silence as she fixed the forward array. As the engineering crew arrived from space dock, Kathryn collapsed in her quarters content with exhaustion.
For weeks on end no one saw Kathryn but B'Elanna. When they met, they talked about little more than Voyager's status.
She did see the Doctor on a couple occasions to continue her dermal regeneration treatments but they spoke only when the treatment required it.
Chakotay was busy with growing diplomatic activities. The war torn region wanted peace, and Chancellor Bergo was almost mystically convinced that Voyager could help them establish it. Chakotay accompanied Bergo to meet various world leaders, and while he did so he quizzed them on raw resources and technologies Voyager could use - and of course, the location of Voyager's missing crew.
Twenty-six crew members had been returned and were given lodging on the station. A crew of twelve engineers and forty labourers worked on Voyager by day, and the shadow of the captain was rumored to work out all the major kinks by night.
Day 26
Tom Paris had moved back onto Voyager. Several days earlier he woke up in his ruined quarters nursing a terrible hang over. But he decided he was more comfortable there than in the Mawasi accommodations.
A few more of Voyager's crew began to trickle in, but he was the least busy of them. Fifty-six crew members had been identified in the initial sweeps, so even more were on their way back. Tom, a pilot who was without a ship to fly, worked alongside the Doctor, alternately making repairs to sick bay and assessing the crew who returned to Voyager.
In an effort to build camaraderie among the crew and make Voyager like old times, Tom Paris hauled some tables and chairs onto the holodeck, and even managed to arrange for refreshments. He invited crew members to join him in the barren room for a round of poker, but very few took him seriously. Without the hologrid it was more a reminder of what they had lost than a refuge. The more battered of the crew, congregated at Tom's table, quietly playing cards and occasionally sharing a hard memory, and sticking together, but most preferred the comforts of Mawasi hospitality.
With most of the senior staff engaged in diplomatic activities, Tom became increasingly disconnected from them. He speculated the tension between him and Chakotay on Annorax's ship had something to do with his exclusion, and now Chakotay was embroiled in the Mawasi problems, but he didn't care enough to inquire. B'Elanna never asked him why he left or why he never came back to their shared accommodations. All in all, he found it easy to slip through the cracks.
And so with the captain working all night, and a handful of crew members hiding out playing poker, a crippled night life formed aboard Voyager. It was a life more in tune with the soul of the ship, unlike the buzz of professional activity that took place during the day.