June 6, 2378 1200 Officer's Mess CSS Sentinel
"Welcome Captain Janeway," said Terpe Kojima. "Please allow me to introduce my senior staff," he said as he introduced the members of his staff who were standing behind the chairs on the far side of a long dining table, clearly leaving the chairs on the near side to the Voyager's crew.
"Lieutenant Pakrité Gometa, my chief of operations," Kojima said as he indicated a beautiful Tépean female with tan skin, green eyes and what Kathryn would call strawberry blonde hair. Kathryn thought Lieutenant Gometa was probably a good 5 cm shorter than her, well that is if Kathryn's wasn't wearing her boots with the 10 cm heels.
"Commander Nubmité Shimaru, my chief engineer," Kojima said as he indicated a slightly older Tépean female with coloring similar to Tuvok's who was similarly as petite as Lieutenant Gometa.
"Lieutenant Vidda Mangels, my principal navigator," he said indicating the young man Kathryn had seen before, who she decided close up really did resemble a bleach blonde version of a Klingon. Though not as tall as many male Klingons she knew, Mangels did appear to be nearly as tall as Chakotay.
"Lt. Commander Rarger Meoish, head of security," Kojima said as he pointed to the bipedal black jaguar Chakotay had felt boded well for the outcome of things.
"Kiki Merouw, my chief medical officer," he said indicating another bipedal felinoid, this one resembling a cougar.
"And Eildan Vurgald, Fighter Squadron leader," he said indicating another bleached out Klingon, this one female.
"A pleasure to meet you all, I'm sure. Allow me to introduce my senior staff," Kathryn said.
"Lieutenant Harry Kim, Chief of Operations," she said, as Harry moved toward Pakrité, his opposite number and offered to shake hands, which caused a momentary pause as they worked out the differences in their cultures' greeting rituals.
"Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres, my chief of engineering," after her introduction, B'Elanna greeted her opposite number smoothly, having watched and learned from Harry. B'Elanna noticed the curious looks she was getting from everyone and assumed it was that she appeared to be so like the fair-haired members of their own crew.
"Lieutenant Tom Paris, Voyager's primary pilot and the pilot of the Delta Flyer during our recent skirmishes," Captain Janeway continued the introduction and Tom greeted Vidda, the other pilot, but kept his thoughts about how the other man looked like an albino Klingon to himself.
"Lt. Commander Tuvok, my Chief of Security," Janeway said.
"Live long and Prosper," Tuvok said as he raised his hand in a Vulcan salute and spoke the traditional Vulcan greeting. Rarger extended both paws in front of him and then flexed his claws in and out of the pads of his paws, as was his people's traditional greeting. Both security chiefs seemed satisfied with the greeting.
"Ambassador Neelix, our jack of all trades. He has been our guide to the Delta Quadrant, our chef, our morale officer and in this latest combat situation a good pilot of a freighter turned gunboat," Kathryn said.
For once, the effusive Neelix actually seemed content just to bask in his captain's praise and rather than say anything, he tried to greet the Sentinel officer opposite him, Kiki Merouw, whom he thought was rather lovely, without getting his hands shredded by her claws.
"And last but not least, my first officer Commander Chakotay," Kathryn said the depth of her affection evident both in the warmth of her voice and the way she looked at Chakotay.
"Please, everyone sit and the servers will bring foods in for us. We are a mixed lot as you can see. Rarger and Kiki are Meoans, their race are carnivores as you can well imagine. Vidda and Eildan are Dorvnons, their race like mine, the Tépean, are omnivores, but Eildan, our warrior prefers to be a vegetarian," Kojima said with a bit of a laugh. "So there should be fare here that all of you can eat, though I had imagined you would bring your doctor with you to check that."
"Tom will scan the foods for us, he assists our Chief Medical Officer as a medic. I didn't bring our CMO because he is a hologram and as such doesn't eat. Oh, and as to having a warrior who is a vegetarian, well we have our share on Voyager as well. Neither Chakotay, our master strategist, nor Tuvok, our security officer, eat meat by choice," Kathryn said.
The servers came out with platters of food and carafes of beverages and the two crews began a long and luxurious midday meal. The Voyager crew explained how they came to be so far from their home and the Sentinel crew explained a bit about the six races that made up their confederacy. They assured the Voyagers that there was more to the confederation than simply protecting each other from the marauders. In fact, most of the crew had either previously been or hoped in the future to be, assigned to a pure science vessel or an exploration vessel.
After a time the meal broke up and small mixed groups began to tour the Sentinel. Terpe, Chakotay, Pakrité and Kathryn making up the last group to leave the mess hall.
At some point Terpe and Chakotay realized they had a common interest in anthropology and began a comparisons of the major cultures of their two worlds, soon the two men had forgotten anyone else was with them.
"So, Earth had or still has many different cultures coexisting?" Terpe asked.
"Yes, though the cultures do tend to trade bits and pieces back and forth, but generally somewhere you can find an enclave still practicing the ancient traditions of one culture or another," Chakotay answered.
"Of course my own people took it to a bit of an extreme by moving to a new planet a few hundred years ago so they could preserve that culture. And of course, being the contrary that I am, I rejected those ways when I was young, only to come back later as a grown man to try to embrace them and find them nearly destroyed," Chakotay continued, growing sad as he finished.
"What had happened?" asked Pakrité.
Chakotay and Terpe both glanced over at her, having forgotten anyone else was there but themselves. Each man had a look on his face that was perhaps shock that they could become so wrapped up in a discussion as to forget the women each of them was in love with.
"A people called the Cardassians had a war with the Federation. As part of the treaty to end the war my home planet and a number of others were given to the Cardassians without the consent of those who lived on those planets. The people refused to leave and said they would simply give up their Federation citizenship and become Cardassian citizens. But that was not what the Cardassians wanted, so they began harassing the colonists in hopes of making them leave. Then some of the colonists banded together into a resistance group, but the odds were hopeless. They were up against a well-trained and well-supplied military. Eventually, after the Cardassians had slaughtered many people, including my father and other members of my family and village, I resigned from Star Fleet and joined the Maquis, as the resistance was known," Chakotay answered.
"At the time Star Fleet was too busy thinking about the letter of the law rather than the spirit of it and so the Maquis were considered outlaws," Kathryn added.
"And men and women like Chakotay, who had once been members of Star Fleet, were looked upon as even worse, as traitors. I'm not sure whether to think it fortunate or unfortunate, but Chakotay's great tactical skills made him so effective against the Cardassians that both they and Star Fleet planted spies in his resistance cell. Tuvok was Star Fleet's spy. Voyager was sucked into the Delta Quadrant when we were sent to retrieve Tuvok and arrest the notorious Maquis Rebel, the Jaguar, also known as Chakotay," Kathryn finished with a laugh.
"So it seems you caught your Maquis rebel, Kathryn. Though I must say matrimony seems to me to be a strange sentence," Pakrité teased.
"Ah and speaking of matrimony, I received a subspace message from my sister. She would be delighted to perform your joining ceremony, but she does have two requirements. One is a standard requirement of all couples married by any clergy of her faith and that is a meeting between the clergy and the couple to ascertain their suitability for and commitment to being joined. The other requirement is that the two of you select information about joining ceremonies from your cultures and send them to her, so she can incorporate your traditions into the ceremony," Terpe explained. "If you ask me, she's just indulging her weakness, she's as bad as me about being interested in other cultures," he added with a smile.
"I think we can accommodate her. Don't you think, Chakotay?" Kathryn asked with a teasing tone in her voice.
"Oh yes, most definitely," Chakotay answered with a smile.
June 8, 2378 1825 Kathryn's quarters
Kathryn found that she was incredibly anxious for Chakotay to arrive for dinner tonight, as they were to discuss their wedding plans. They'd gotten the proposed ceremony from Terpe's sister Marinkté and needed to go over it together, so they could send their suggestions for changes to her and get the ceremony set. Terpe and Pakrité were being wonderful about finding possible outdoor sites for the ceremony, a hall for the reception and making a list of caterers, florists and musicians they might want to hire. Kathryn felt that they simply had to invite the crew of the Sentinel, as well as their own crew. Kathryn realized she also needed to talk to Chakotay about announcements, invitations and wedding programs, getting holopictures of the ceremony, the bridal party - choosing who should be in it and what they should wear and what gifts they'd give the bridesmaids and groomsmen, the flowers and other decorations, the wedding cake, the food and drink for the reception, what song they'd want to dance their first dance to. There were just so many details that needed to be taken care of, she wondered if she could get it all done in the 12 days they had before they arrived at Tépekan.
The doors to her quarter slid open and her fiancé strode through saying, "Hi honey, I'm home."
Chakotay placed his hands on either side of her waist and picked her up above his head. She placed her hands on his shoulders and he twirled around while holding her, then let her slide down his body until she was standing on her own feet. He kissed her soundly and held her to him, after a moment she pushed him back a bit and laughing said, "This isn't your home yet, mister!"
"Ah, I'm just practicing," he said with one of his irresistible dimpled smiles.
"What's put you in such a wonderful mood this evening?" she asked.
"The thought that in twelve days you'll be my wife. Spirits that sounds so good, my wife!" Chakotay said with yet another huge grin on his face.
"Well, I'm glad that pleases you and even more pleased that you realize our wedding is only 12 days away because we've got a lot of planning to do," Kathryn responded.
"We need to fine-tune the ceremony and get it back to Marinkté; make a decision about the locations for the ceremony and the reception; choose the announcements and invitations and have a wedding program made up; decide who is going to be in the bridal party and what they should wear; decide on what pictures we want taken and when. We need to select the flowers and other decorations; decide on the wedding cake and the food and drink for the reception. Oh, and choose music for the processional and recessional and the reception," Kathryn finally wound down and then realized Chakotay had actually moved away from her to the replicator.
"Sweetheart, were you listening to me?" Kathryn asked.
"Yes honey, I just thought I'd get our dinner then we can eat while we look at the ceremony. When that's done, we can move on to the other issues. That okay with you?" Chakotay responded, trying to hide how much he loathed the idea of spending the evening going over the minutiae associated with planning a wedding. The only upside he could think of was that he couldn't imagine a bigger turn off than talking about invitations, programs, bridal wear and decorations; so maybe he could manage to spend most of the evening with her without his libido getting the better of him.
A little later that evening they had finished dinner and were still going over the details of the wedding ceremony. "I don't know, I think I'd like to keep that part of the archaic vows where you promise to be 'bonny and buxom at bed and at board', it sounds really good to me," Chakotay teased.
"It doesn't mean what it sounds like it means, and if you insist on keeping it, then I insist that it's not going to be traditional Mayan wedding attire for you, but a tuxedo or maybe a mourning coat with top hat," Kathryn countered.
"Okay, okay but can we keep the 'with this ring I thee wed and with my body I thee worship part'?" he asked sincerely.
"Yes, I think that part is beautiful," she replied.
"I like the blessing of the hands too, but maybe we should drop the stuff about the cardinal directions, otherwise the service is going to be awfully long, don't you think?" Chakotay reasoned.
"No, I don't want to leave that out its a part of your culture," she countered.
"But our manner of dress and the altar and arch will represent my culture, besides it's not exactly correct but I don't want to get into how it's wrong, OK?" Chakotay argued.
"Well okay, but look we're only getting married once, so our guests can sit through a slightly longer ceremony if necessary," she said firmly.
"Yeah, well just remember they get to sit, we'll be standing, as will our wedding party," Chakotay reminded her.
"Speaking of which, the Tépean tradition of hand fasting requires an incredible number of people in the wedding party, don't you think?" she asked.
"Well, yes it is quite a few, but with seven men and seven women at least we probably won't be slighting anyone," Chakotay replied. "Oh and remember we promised Naomi she could be in the ceremony? I've thought of a role for her," he added.
"What, flower girl?" Kathryn asked.
"Uh no, but I guess she could do that too, if you want a flower girl, but I was thinking she could be the person to light the candles. I think she's old enough to do that," Chakotay said.
"Oh, I think that's better than a flower girl. You know, we need to think about the gifts for the bridesmaids and groomsmen," Kathryn said thoughtfully.
Suddenly Chakotay saw his means of escape from this excruciating evening of planning their wedding and he was no fool, he took it.
"You know I'm going to have a lot more heishi beads than I need to make your necklaces. I could make some bracelets or earrings for the women," he said.
"Oh yes that would be marvelous for them to have something hand made by you, but what about the men?" Kathryn asked.
"Well, most of the guys I'm thinking of asking are Parisi Squares players, so maybe I could make them hand carved Parisi Squares mallets," Chakotay offered.
"Do you have time to do that?" she asked.
"Well, I think for the guys' presents I may need to cheat a bit and replicate regular wooden mallets and then I can do the carving, that won't take me as long as actually crafting the mallets would," Chakotay replied.
"I'll make the jewelry and then you decide who gets what piece, OK?" he suggested.
"All right and because you've been so good and so patient this evening when I know you've hated every minute of this planning, I'm going to let you go get started on those presents while I finish some of these plans. I think I actually probably need to get my bridesmaids together to do some planning," Kathryn said.
"Was it obvious that I wasn't exactly ecstatic about this?" he asked. "I thought I was doing a pretty good job of hiding it," he said with a grin.
"Well, actually you were, but somehow I could tell that the only thing you really enjoyed was bantering about the vows," Kathryn admitted.
"I'll be a lot more enthusiastic about planning the reception and the honeymoon," he said with a mock leer on the last word.
"I'll just bet you will," she said.
"Oh Kathryn, speaking of the reception, I had a thought about the traditions we discussed. Do you suppose we could rig it so Pakrité catches the bouquet and Terpe gets the garter?" Chakotay asked.
"Oh Chakotay, you're a hopeless romantic," she said as she noticed the gleam in his eye. "I suppose we can work something out. But don't get your hopes up, those two have to realize that they've got to make some sacrifices in their careers if they are to have what they want in they're personal lives."
"If we had met in the alpha quadrant and been in a chain of command like we are now, would you have been willing to make some sort of compromise in your career, so we could be together?" Chakotay asked, extremely interested in her reply.
"I don't know, for one thing if we hadn't been swept out here by the Caretaker I'd have married Mark and you'd have probably gotten yourself killed with all the rest of the Maquis," Kathryn responded.
"That's my little scientist, ever the realist. Can't you just answer a hypothetical question in the spirit it was asked in?" Chakotay asked with just a hint of a whine in his voice.
"Oh well, all right, I suppose we will have to face that issue when we get back in ten years," she conceded just a bit.
"Well yes, but that will be entirely different. We will have been married for ten years and hopefully have at least one child by then, that will make for some other considerations don't you think?" Chakotay asked.
"Yes, I suppose it will," Kathryn grudgingly admitted.
"You suppose it will, aren't you sure? I mean, are you planning to leave me and our child at home while you go off on some dangerous deep space mission that keeps you away from us for months at a time?" Chakotay asked somewhat alarmed.
"Oh, and why is it me off gallivanting on some mission and not you?" Kathryn asked.
"No, when we get back to the Alpha quadrant I want to find some nice place to live where I can hear the birds sing in the morning and feel the sun streaming through the windows, see the breeze blowing the curtains. I want to live somewhere where I can complain that it's too hot and muggy or too cold and damp. I want to eat tomatoes that grew out of our own garden. I want our child to feel the earth beneath her feet and see the same night sky above her head each night. I want to teach her about the seasons. Show her trees budding in spring and then those same trees turning to red and gold in the fall," Chakotay voice was growing thick with the emotion of longing for such simple things.
"Oh, Chakotay," Kathryn said as she came over and sat in his lap. She pulled his head to her and kissed his brow soothingly.
"Then that's exactly what we'll do. In fact, I have the perfect place for you, Indiana. It's too hot and muggy in the summer and too cold and damp in the winter, but it has beautiful trees and tomatoes do wonderfully there," she said and kissed him again.
"OK, now you go work on those gifts for our wedding party and I'm going to get the rest of this planning rolling with my bridesmaids," she said getting up off his lap.
"All right then, give me a kiss to keep me going," Chakotay wheedled.
Kathryn kissed him passionately, and then shoved him towards the door. "Go on now, let me get to planning."
Chakotay stood outside her quarters for a moment slightly bemused, then decided to see how many of the women's presents he could get done before his neck and back gave in. After only about a half hour Chakotay had made four sets of matching necklaces and earrings from the extra beads he had, these were not for the bridal party but for his sister and niece and for Kathryn's mother and sister. He knew it would be ten years before he could give the jewelry to them but he could tell them he had made the sets for them and he could send them pictures of the pieces. He then set to work making things for the women in the bridal party. When he had three more bracelets and four sets of earrings completed he decided he could take a break and stretch his legs.
June 8, 2378 2130 Holodeck 1
Chakotay found himself outside holodeck 1 where Sandrine's was up and running. After he entered Sandrine's and took a look around, he wondered if there was a 'no women allowed' sign he'd missed, because the only women in the simulation were the holograms Sandrine and Ricky. Actually, as he looked around he noticed that many of the men he intended to ask to be apart of the wedding party were there. Tom Paris was sitting at a table with Harry Kim, Mike Ayala, Joe Carey and Ken Dalby, when he saw Chakotay he motioned to the older man and called across the room, "Hey Chakotay, come sit with us."
Chakotay nodded his head and said, "Just let me grab a beer and I'll be over."
After everyone had said hi to the newcomer to the table, Chakotay asked, "So is there a reason the only women in here are holograms?"
"Yeah, the women who aren't on duty or asleep are in the captain's quarters planning your wedding and that includes my wife," Tom said almost resentfully.
"So, if B'Elanna's with the captain, why aren't you home babysitting Miral?" Chakotay asked.
"B'Elanna took Miral with her," Tom answered.
"Oh," Chakotay said in surprise. "What about you Ken, is Sue in on the wedding planning too?" Chakotay asked.
"Don't know," Ken mumbled.
"Something wrong, Ken?" Chakotay asked.
"Yeah, Sue's mad at me because she wants to get married when we get to Tépekan and then go on our honeymoon there," Ken said.
"So, why don't you, sounds like a pretty good idea to me," Chakotay said.
"Oh yeah, sure, we should ask the captain to marry us first before the two of you get married? You wouldn't mind waiting a day to get married so we could go first, now would you? Or maybe you guys can go first and then put off your honeymoon for a day so the captain can marry us? What's another day of waiting, huh big guy?" Ken said sarcastically.
"OK, you have a point. But you know you could have a local clergy marry you, or since we are going to be staying at Tépekan for a couple of weeks, if you guys are willing to wait a week, I think Kathryn and I could be persuaded to come back from our honeymoon for a while for her to conduct the ceremony and for me to give Sue away," Chakotay answered.
"We're really going to stay there a couple of weeks?" Joe Carey asked.
"Yeah, well you tell me Joe, couldn't this ship use a couple of weeks in dock?" Chakotay asked.
"Could it ever, we've been running at high warp for too long and getting pounded by those pirates, not to mention the damage we had before that," Joe said.
"I think this crew could use some downtime, too," Mike Ayala suggested.
"Yeah, and commander, as a wedding present I'll make up the shore leave rotations for you, if you want," Harry Kim offered.
"Thanks Harry, I might just let you do that," Chakotay said.
"Well, you better put me and Sue down for the second week it sounds like, Harry," Ken Dalby said, then added as he started to stand, "I guess I ought to go tell Sue the good news and get out of the dog house."
"Hey, wait a minute Ken, sit down. I've got something to ask you," Chakotay said.
"What is it, chief?" Ken asked as he sat back down.
"Well, the Tépean wedding ceremony calls for quite a few attendants. I need a best man, six groomsmen and probably four ushers. So well uh, will you guys stand up with me at my wedding?" Chakotay asked.
Each of the men answered yes in his own way, then Chakotay turned to Tom and asked. "I'm sure six years ago no one would have thought I'd ever end up asking this of you Tom, but would you be my best man?"
"Sure, on one condition," Tom answered.
"Do you always have to try to cut a deal?" Chakotay asked with a smile as the men at the table chuckled.
"Well, its just part of my nature. Look it's a simple thing, I just want to be allowed to host a bachelor party for you," Tom said.
"A bachelor party?" Chakotay said, he knew as first officer he should probably set a good example and say no way, but it sounded like fun and he was only going to get married once in his life. "I don't know," he said trying to keep up the image of an officer and a gentleman.
"Come on Chakotay, you got to say goodbye to your bachelorhood in style," Mike Ayala encouraged.
"Yeah, come on Chakotay, I know you want to say yes, you're just thinking about how it will look for the first officer to let loose for a change. But come off it, we all know you're human like the rest of us," Ken Dalby cajoled.
"Okay, Okay," Chakotay gave in, "BUT this is something that only the male population of this ship knows about, OK?" Chakotay said.
"Uh, what about inviting some of the guys from the Sentinel?" Harry Kim asked.
"Yeah, that's OK, but the only females at this party better be holographic, OK? And no one talks about what goes on at the party afterwards. I want to live to see my wedding day," Chakotay said with a grin.
"Oh and one more thing, let's do this a few days before the wedding so I can recover, OK? Detox sprays only go so far to making a guy feel human again," he concluded.
"You got it Chief, Harry and I will get right on programming you a primo bachelor party," Tom said.
"Oh that's great, with you two working together we'll have strippers and cheerleaders," Chakotay said gesturing first at Tom as he said strippers and then to Harry as he said cheerleaders.
"Hey, I resent that remark, besides cheerleaders can be very sexy," Harry Kim said as everyone laughed.
"Oh and one more thing, please remember the prohibition against using images of crewmembers," Chakotay warned.
"So, having the captain pop out of a cake is out, huh?" Tom asked teasingly.
"Well, let me put it this way, any man sees what I consider to be for my eyes only and someone's going to die," Chakotay said with a menacing smile.
"Geesh, you'd think the guy actually knew what it was he was protecting," Ken Dalby teased.
"Ken," Chakotay growled the man's name as a warning.
"Uh, I think I'll leave before I get in anymore trouble," Ken said as he stood to leave.
"I hate to go too, but I've got an early morning holodeck reservation. I promised to teach Terpé how to play velocity," Chakotay said.
"That's OK boss, we'll just stay here and plan the best bachelor party ever," Tom said.
June 8, 2378 2130 Kathryn's Quarters
Kathryn, Pakrité and B'Elanna sat on the couch in Kathryn's quarters with Miral on B'Elanna's lap. Seven of Nine stood next to them, Samantha Wildman sat in the armchair opposite the sofa and Sue Jenkins, Marla Gilmore, Tal Celes, Susan Nicoletti and the Delaney twins sat on the floor near the couch. The eleven women had been over nearly every possible aspect of the wedding plans in the past 90 minutes as they passed Miral around and cooed over her. They were now pretty sure they had everything covered.
"Do you know who Chakotay is going to ask to be his groomsmen?" Sue asked.
"Well, I know he'll ask Tom to be his best man. Not sure who he'll ask to be ushers, but I think his groomsmen will be Ken, Mike, Harry, Joe, Terpe and Neelix, " Kathryn replied.
"Oh my gosh, Neelix in traditional Mayan wedding clothes? He'll take one look at those natural colored shirts and pants and pass out!" Samantha exclaimed.
"Maybe we should only show him the brightly colored sash and let him imagine that the rest of the outfit is as colorful," suggested B'Elanna.
Over everyone's laughter Kathryn said, "Well, I think Chakotay is asking Neelix so that Naomi has someone in the wedding party that she feels comfortable with."
"Captain, I mean Kathryn, what are Susan, Jenny, Megan and I going to do in the wedding?" Celes asked timidly.
"I'm hoping you four can help with things like helping the ushers get the programs out, making sure everyone gets the right cord for the hand fasting ceremony, making sure the bridesmaids get their flowers. I'm sure there are other things I'm forgetting," answered Kathryn.
"Yes, like the guest book and gift registry. Oh and speaking of the latter, I think we should set something up on board ship so that the two of you don't end up with 47 sets of Champagne flutes," Samantha suggested.
"Oh, I don't want everyone on the ship feeling like they have to get us wedding gifts," Kathryn said.
"Too bad Kathryn, everyone is going to want to give you something anyway, but with Samantha's idea maybe we can convince people to get together in groups to give you and Chakotay some nice gifts that you can really use," B'Elanna said.
"I was wondering," Pakrité asked timidly. "In your culture, do the friends and family of the bride give her a party before the wedding?"
"Yes they do! We call it a Bridal Shower," answered Marla.
"I'm too old for a bridal shower." Kathryn protested.
"No you're not, but if you really think so maybe we should have a bachelorette party instead," said Jenny Delaney.
"What is the difference?" Pakrité asked.
The women assembled all looked at one another and settled on Samantha as the best to explain.
"Well, for a Bridal Shower generally the female friends and family members of the bride have a little party were they give her gifts, usually things she might need for her home and almost always some wonderful lingerie. They also sometimes give her recipes and occasionally they play games or tell stories about the bride. It's usually a very cheerful time. A Bachelorette party is a bit well, more racy. There's usually lots of drinking and the only men there are there for entertainment purposes. It is a time for the bride to well – to say goodbye to her partying days," Samantha explained. There were murmurs of assent and several who commented that they couldn't have done a better job describing the two different events.
"Does your culture have something like the Bridal Shower or Bachelorette party, Pakrité?" Marla asked.
"Yes, we have something like your Bachelorette Party, we call it the Last Revel. If we were going to be at the planet for a while before the wedding I would suggest you have it at this strip bar I know. They have some very handsome men there and they make some truly wicked drinks," Pakrité said.
Several of the women gave Pakrité looks that seemed to re-evaluate their new Tépean friend.
"Well, I don't really think I should be planning a Bachelorette Party, I mean it doesn't exactly seem like something a captain should do," Kathryn said.
"First of all, you wouldn't be planning it. I, as your matron of honor, would. And secondly, I'll just bet that p'tahk of a husband of mine is planning a bachelor party for Chakotay, so I don't see why you shouldn't have a Bachelorette Party," B'Elanna said.
Suddenly all the women were agreeing with B'Elanna.
"Pakrité, if you could give me some details about the strip bar, I could program the holodeck to recreate it for the captain's party," Seven of Nine suggested.
Everyone turned to look at Seven who until then had remained rather silent.
"You can do that on your holodeck?" Pakrité asked.
"We can even program holographic strippers to your exact specifications," B'Elanna added.
Kathryn realized she needed to let the women give her a Bachelorette Party or face a mutiny, besides one last night of wild partying sounded like fun.
"Oh alright, you can have a Bachelorette Party for me, but I have a few stipulations. One, the party needs to be at least a few days before the wedding so I can properly recover. Two, the only men at the party are to be holographic. Third, the protocols for holographic images are to be strictly adhered to and finally, not a word about this to any male on this ship or any other, OK?" Kathryn said as she looked at everyone in the room as they all said yes or nodded their heads like excited schoolgirls.
Kathryn wondered why Seven of Nine blushed when she mentioned the holographic protocols, but didn't pursue the thought. The women decided they should break up their planning meeting and get on with implementing everything they'd decided. Seven and B'Elanna made plans to meet with Pakrité to program the holodeck. As the women were all leaving Kathryn's quarters, Kathryn overheard Susan Nicoletti ask someone, "I wonder if you can do a body shot off of a hologram?"
June 9, 2378 1200 Mess Hall
Tom and Harry picked up lunch from Neelix and noticed that everyone seemed to be eating in the mess hall, probably saving replicator rations so they could contribute to one of the planned wedding presents for Chakotay and Kathryn.
The two guys tried to find a table away from everyone so they could discuss the plans for Chakotay's bachelor party. Although they'd told Chakotay they'd start planning it last night, they actually hadn't done much beyond agree that Sandrine's would make a good location and that they'd probably want to have the party from the later part of the beta shift into the early part of gamma shift, about three days before the wedding.
"So, how many guys do you think will actually come to the party?" Harry asked as he sampled his lunch.
"Well, let's see, if we rule out the guys whose religious convictions won't allow them to take part in the kind of hedonistic fun we're planning," Harry grinned at Tom when he described their plans as hedonistic, "I figure that leaves maybe 4 dozen guys and of those there are some who I don't think will come because they don't feel like they are close enough to Chakotay to do so. So, I figure when you add the groomsmen, the rest of the Maquis, the guys he plays velocity, hoverball, parisi squares, pool or poker with, there's probably going to be maybe 30 - 35 guys," Tom answered.
"Wow, that's gonna be a pretty big party especially if we try to have enough holographic women there for all the guys," Harry said.
"Yeah, well we don't have to have that many women there," Tom said. At Harry's questioning glance he added "Look, there are going to be guys there like me, Joe Carey, Mike Ayala, Ken Dalby, Scott Rollins and Billy Telfer who have wives or sweethearts that we're gonna be true to. I mean I'll look, I may even flirt a bit, but that's all and I bet the other guys will do the same"
"Oh yeah, uh, on that score should we NOT program a woman for Chakotay?" Harry asked.
"No, in fact, I think we ought to program several we think he'd like. Let him decide whether he's gonna be a good boy or not." After shoveling a bit of his lunch in his mouth, he added, "You know, I got the feeling the other night he was really considering cutting loose - I mean, the way he said he didn't want any information leaking out about what went on."
"Yeah, which kind of shocked me. I mean, I thought he really loved the captain," Harry said with a note of disappointment in his voice.
"He does Harry, you haven't got any idea how much. But she's putting him through hell right now and well, you know Chakotay is not some fictional super hero or something. He's a real guy and a real guy has his limits - and his fantasies, too," Tom explained with a bit of a smirk on his last remark.
"What do you mean when you say she's putting him through hell?" Harry asked, his natural defensiveness about the captain coming to the fore.
Tom considered for a moment whether he should let Harry in on Chakotay's little secret and finally decided it would be OK. Harry would probably keep his mouth shut. Looking around to see if anyone was eavesdropping Tom said in a low voice, "She made him promise they'd wait until they're married."
"Wait for what?" Harry asked uncomprehending at first.
Tom just stared at Harry, waiting for his younger buddy to catch on. Finally, Harry put it together and with a disbelieving look said, "You don't mean"– He couldn't finish the sentence.
"Uh huh, no nooky until its legal," Tom said confirming his friend's assumption.
"Oh man, that's harsh and while he's battling the booster neutralization too," Harry said, feeling compassion for Chakotay, and relief that his faith in his role model was not misplaced.
Suddenly the obvious question came to Harry's mind and he just blurted it out, "But why?"
"She's superstitious," Tom began explaining, "This is the third time she's been engaged and things haven't turned out well for her in the past. Her first fiancé died in a shuttle crash with her dad, and then she got thrown out here to the delta quadrant before she was to marry the second guy, so she's kind spooked."
"And Chakotay understands that and is OK with it?" Harry asked with a hint of disbelief.
"Well I don't know if he's OK with it. I mean the big guy's pretty frustrated. He has a hard time just behaving himself when he is alone with her, but he loves her and so he waits," Tom replied.
"He may not be a super hero, but he's some sort of guy for putting up with that sort of crap," Harry said decidedly.
Tom gave Harry a look, because he'd rarely ever heard him say something that could be regarded as a criticism of the captain.
"So, let's plan one hell of a party for him, OK?" Tom suggested.
"Yeah, you know, I think we are going to need both holodecks so that we can enlarge Sandrine's and have some private areas off of the main room," Harry suggested.
"Yeah, that's a good idea. And I've got an idea for some fun. I think we should see if we can get a subspace message off to some people who knew Chakotay on his previous shipboard postings or maybe someone who went to the Academy with him, and see if we can get them to record some little anecdotes about him, that way we can roast him," Tom said. Harry was enthusiastic about that idea and soon the two men were absorbed in the details of planning Chakotay's bachelor party.
June 9, 2378 1830 Tom and B'Elanna's Quarters
"All right, you two p'tahks," B'Elanna said sharply as she let the serving dish she was bringing from the replicator slam to the surface of the table, "What's the deal with both holodecks being reserved next week for a seven hour block by Chakotay's groomsmen?"
At their startled looks she added, "Didn't think anyone would notice if you guys all blocked off an hour here and an hour there, huh?"
Tom and Harry looked nervously at each other as they tried to think up a good excuse, but before they could say anything B'Elanna continued, in a softer voice as she realized she was in real danger of waking up her slumbering daughter, "Look, I know you guys are probably planning a bachelor party for Chakotay, but what do you need both holodecks for?" she complained.
Suddenly Tom realized this wasn't about B'Elanna being mad about a bachelor party for her brother, but about her being inconvenienced by their using both holodecks. He decided to trust his instincts and go on the offensive.
"What's wrong B'Elanna, did the groomsmen take the date for the bachelor party that the bridesmaids wanted for the bachelorette party?" Tom asked smugly.
He almost couldn't believe it when B'Elanna blushed, then she seemed flustered. "Uh, we didn't, I mean I didn't"-
"It's OK B'Elanna, we won't tell anyone." Tom promised.
"OK," B'Elanna said much more relaxed, "but why do you want both holodecks?" she asked.
"Well, there are a lot of guys who are going to want to be there, we just thought we could use the space," Harry replied a little too quickly and a little too nervously.
"Uh huh," B'Elanna said as she bore her eyes into her husband, "what's the real story."
"We plan to use an enlarged version of Sandrine's and well we wanted to have some rooms off the back of the tavern," Tom said trying to make it sound plausible with out going into too much detail.
"Oh, you're going to have private rooms are you? Gods, men are all pigs, even my husband and brother! And you, Starfleet - I thought I could at least count on you to keep them in line," B'Elanna ranted at the guys, hoping they'd forget about her planning the bachelorette party.
"Oh, and this little bachelorette party you're going to have is going to be so innocent?" Tom asked accusingly.
When B'Elanna didn't answer right away Tom said, "Aha gotcha!"
"OK, OK so maybe the bachelorette party is going to be a bit on the racy side but its tradition," B'Elanna concluded.
"Tradition!" Tom blustered. "Men have been having bachelor parties far longer than women have been having bachelorette parties. Why don't you just throw a bridal shower?" Tom asked snidely.
B'Elanna rolled her eyes and then asked, "Can we call a truce and work out this problem with the holodecks?"
"Why do you have to have the 17th, why can't you do your party on the 16th or 18th?" Harry asked.
"Because, we want to accommodate the schedule of the Tépeans that are invited, apparently their down time isn't quite as generous as ours, especially when they are coming into port for a while," B'Elanna answered.
"Oh, that's why we're doing it on the 17th, too," Tom said.
"Well, maybe we can compromise and each party can have just one holodeck?" Harry suggested.
"Ok, I guess if we're creative we can make do with the one holodeck," Tom answered.
B'Elanna agreed and so it was settled that both Chakotay's bachelor party and Kathryn's bachelorette party would take place on the evening of the 17th.
June 17, 2378 1825 Chakotay's quarters
Chakotay was setting the table for his dinner with Kathryn. He'd decided to make a very bland pasta dinner considering that both he and Kathryn were going to be going out later that evening to, as his friend Orlando used to put it, 'party hardy'. He wasn't suppose to know that the women were planning a bachelorette party for Kathryn, but what with all the shift swapping and holodeck 2 being booked all evening and into the wee hours of the morning by her bridesmaids, it didn't require his genius IQ to figure out what was going on.
He was hoping they could have a nice relaxing meal and not bicker. That was all they'd done for the last week. He knew it wasn't anything serious and he actually enjoyed the making up afterwards part quite a lot, but it was getting a bit tiresome. Somehow everything about the last minute minutiae of the wedding rubbed him the wrong way, and Kathryn seemed to think that everything he said about the wedding planning was derogatory and was somehow an indication that he was having second thoughts about marrying her. When he'd mentioned the bickering in front of Tom and Joe Carey they just laughed at him. They told him not to worry, that it was just something that couples went through just before a wedding; in fact both men had told him that there was probably one major explosion of a fight waiting to happen just before the wedding, if Kathryn was anything at all like their wives. Somehow their assurances did little to comfort him. The only thing he kept holding on to was the certain knowledge that he loved Kathryn and she loved him.
Just then Kathryn came through the doors of his quarters. Each of them came and went as freely as they pleased in the other's quarters now. She was dressed in a simple blue dress and had her hair pulled back into a ponytail. The smile on her face made her look very young.
"Hi sweetheart, I'm home," Kathryn said imitating his greeting from another evening that was spent in her quarters.
As Chakotay moved to take her in his arms, he corrected her, "The correct phrase is 'Hi HONEY, I'm home'." He kissed her, meaning to be gentle and rather quick about the kiss, but he couldn't resist deepening the kiss, exploring her mouth and then moving on to kiss her face and her throat. Finally she pushed out of his grasp a little and laughed at him. "Down boy, time for that after you feed me."
He released her completely, laughed a bit, then motioned her to the table like a maître d' and said, "Your wish is my command, mademoiselle."
They actually managed to get through the dinner without a bit of bickering, maybe because they avoided talking about the wedding and instead talked about Voyager and the Tépean ship and their new friends Terpe and Pakrité. Chakotay was wondering how he'd make his escape this evening so he could get to the Bachelor party. His fall back plan was simply to get a bit too "frisky" with Kathryn and then excuse himself, but he wasn't sure he wanted to walk into his bachelor party after that sort of activity, nor did he think a cold shower just before heading to the party would be fun. Before Chakotay could come up with a good excuse Kathryn gave them both an excuse.
"I hate to cut the evening short, but Pakrité wants to see me tonight, some Tépean custom about the bridesmaids each spending some quality time with the bride to be before her wedding," Kathryn improvised.
"Oh, well that's OK, I'm suppose to meet Terpe for much the same reason," Chakotay replied in relief.
"See you for breakfast then?" she asked rather automatically.
Chakotay knew he was in trouble now, if the bachelor party lasted as long as Tom and Harry had planned there was no way he'd be up for breakfast at their usual hour. Well he'd just blame it on his groomsmen.
"Oh, uh - I forgot to tell you, tomorrow I'm suppose to meet with my groomsmen in the morning. How about a rain check until lunch?" Chakotay answered.
"That's fine," Kathryn replied, equally grateful that Chakotay had dodged the invitation she'd made before thinking, as she doubted she'd be up for breakfast after the bachelorette party.
June 17, 2378 2030 Holodeck 1 Sullivan's Tavern
Kathryn had reserved a little holodeck time before the party. There were a couple of holograms she wanted to speak to about her upcoming wedding. She ordered the computer to start up the Fair Haven program and headed for Sullivan's tavern, trying to think how to broach the subject of her impending nuptials with Michael. As soon as she entered the tavern the object of her thoughts greeted her.
"Ah Katie, me darling," Michael said, starting one of his usual charming welcomes but he stopped short, because as he had approached Kathryn he had grasped both of her hands in his and brought them up in front of him to kiss, but as he looked at her hands he caught sight of her engagement ring.
"What's this on your hand Katie?" Michael asked.
"Well, it's what I came here to talk to you about Michael. I'm engaged to be married," Kathryn answered.
"To whom?" he asked then continued, "No, let me guess. It's that handsome Indian devil off your ship now isn't it? Chakotay, the one with the tattoo," Michael guessed.
"Yes, but how did you know?" Kathryn asked truly bewildered.
"Oh, I've heard people talk, when they don't think I can hear them. Some of your crew was none to happy that you and I struck up our friendship. They felt I was 'poaching' and that you were mistreating that poor bloke Chakotay," Michael explained.
"They had no business expressing an opinion one way or the other," Kathryn said hotly.
"Oh Katie, I think they only had your best interest and your fellow Chakotay's at heart," Michael responded.
"So, tell me something Katie. What took you so long to decide on this bloke? I mean, hasn't he been there on your ship all along?" Michael asked.
Kathryn was a bit surprised, Michael seemed not one bit upset about her engagement and for a fellow who had put up such a fuss before when she was going to end their relationship, this seemed a bit off to her.
"Until recently we weren't allowed to be together because of our positions on the ship as captain and first officer. But those regulations have been set aside now, so we are free to marry," she explained simply.
"I see," he said. Michael became quiet and serious. "Do you love him, Katie?"
"Yes Michael, very much and I have for years," she replied earnestly.
"Is he the reason you would only let things go so far and never further between us?" Michael asked a bit sadly.
"Yes, as much as I cared for you Michael, and I did and still do, I could never be in love with you or anyone other than Chakotay," Kathryn answered hoping Michael would understand.
"He's your soul mate then, is he?" he asked with great discernment.
"Yes, yes he is." Kathryn said with bright eyes, as she realized that Michael cared enough for her to want her to be happy.
"Well then, let's drink a toast to you and your husband to be," Michael said and promptly brought forth two glasses and filled them with the best wine he had in the tavern.
"To you and your intended," Michael began and then launched into a traditional Irish blessing for a newlywed couple,
"May God be with you and bless you
May you see your children's children
May you be poor in misfortunes,
Rich in blessings
And may you know nothing but happiness
From this day forward"
"Thank you Michael," Kathryn said and placed a kiss on his cheek. "I hate to go, but my bridesmaids are throwing a party for me, and I have another errand to run before I go to it."
"So they're throwing you a hen party, are they?" Michael asked with a bit of a smirk.
"Yes, I suppose you could call it that," Kathryn replied with a bit of a blush.
"Well, then I won't keep you a moment longer," Michael said.
As she turned to leave, the sound of his voice made her turn just as she reached the door, "Be happy Kathryn, for if you are then I shall be too."
"I promise, I will be," she said as she left the tavern. As she ordered the computer to shut down the Fair Haven program, she decided to ask Tom to reopen the character parameters and reinstate Michael's wife into the program. Maybe that was silly and sentimental to want a hologram to be happy too, but it was her way.
She next asked the holodeck to run her DaVinci program. She wanted to talk to the maestro; she wasn't quite sure why, she just did. As the studio materialized she found the artist rifling through a stack of sketches looking for something.
"Ah Katarina, you've arrived just in time to save an old man's sanity. Help me find the sketch I made last week of the new helicopter design," DaVinci ordered.
Kathryn smiled to herself; maybe one of the reasons she liked to visit Leonardo was that she occasionally enjoyed being ordered around, instead of having everyone do her bidding. As she helped Leonardo search for the missing sketch, she mused to herself that that might also be a good reason for getting married. Chakotay had already shown signs of being the type of man who could definitely take charge, though whether he would in their marriage or not remained to be seen.
Leonardo became aware of the pensive mood 'Katarina' was in and decided to say something.
"Enough child, I've obviously hidden it somewhere and it will only come back to me at the oddest moment as to where," he said as he stilled her hands as they searched through his drawings.
"So, tell me. What's brought you here and why your cheeks are glowing with delight?" the old artist commanded gently.
"Oh Leonardo, you read me like a book," Kathryn said and her cheeks glowed a bit more with an embarrassed blush. "I have come to tell you some news, some wonderful news."
"Yes, yes what is it?" the old man's eyes sparkled warmly at her.
"I'm getting married," she replied.
"Oh that's wonderful and who is the lucky, but no doubt undeserving, young man?" DaVinci said good-naturedly.
"His name is Chakotay and I am the one who is not worthy of him," Kathryn answered.
"Oh, and who is he that you would not be worthy of him?" Leonardo asked skeptically.
Kathryn paused for a moment wondering how to explain this wonderful man to her mentor.
"He is a very complicated man, Maestro. If he were to wish it, he could make his living as an artist or craftsman, and he is also an intellectual. He is a very brave soldier, extremely talented at hand-to-hand combat and yet, he is at heart a pacifist. He is separated from his people by a great distance and yet they still look to him as their leader. He honors the past and dreams of the future and yet somehow always stays grounded in the present." Kathryn described Chakotay in a way she felt Leonardo would understand and, perhaps for the first time, realized her soon to be husband was a renaissance man.
"You say he is far from his people, but they consider him to be their leader, is he a prince in exile, then?" DaVinci asked.
"I suppose you could say that, though I doubt he would think of himself that way. With all his talents he is still a rather humble man," Kathryn added.
This felt so good to her, to be able to talk about Chakotay and to praise his good qualities to her mentor. She began to realize that part of the reason she wanted to see Leonardo was that she no longer had her father to go to in this circumstance, and somehow it was important to her to gain approval for her choice of husband from a paternal figure.
"Talented, sensitive, high born yet humble, are you marrying a man or a saint?" Leonardo asked.
"Oh, he's a real man all right Maestro and lest I mislead you, he does have his flaws, but I find them easy to overlook," Kathryn admitted.
"And would he say they same of you, Katarina?" DaVinci asked with a chuckle.
"Oh maestro, he does overlook my many flaws, he is a remarkably tolerant man," she responded.
"Oh, so he has no temper?" Leonardo asked with a hint of skepticism.
Kathryn thought of the night Chakotay had given her, her engagement ring and she blanched a bit. "Oh no, he has a fierce temper when he's provoked and sometimes I do provoke him," she answered truthfully.
"Good, a man without a temper is also a man without passion and I would not have you wed to a man who has no passion," DaVinci declared.
"Now, answer me one more thing Katarina, though I think I know the answer from what you have said so far and the look on your face when you speak of him, but I will have you tell me nonetheless. Do you love him?" DaVinci asked her and held her gaze with his own as though she were a tethered bird.
"Yes maestro, with all my heart and all my soul," Kathryn answered fervently.
"Good, then be wed with my blessing and when you are done with your honeymoon bring this young man around to visit me. If he is all you claim him to be, I might find him decent enough company," Leonardo said with a roguish smile.
"Now go child, leave this old man in peace and maybe I'll remember where I put that blasted sketch," Leonardo said as he escorted her to the door of his studio.
As she ordered the computer to end the DaVinci holoprogram, she felt, if at all possible, even happier than she'd been these last few weeks.