=A=
"I can't give you the answer you're looking for."
Janeway awoke with a start.
"Computer, lights."
Illumination painted the room in sterile white light. She squinted against the intrusion, shielding her eyes slightly from the brightness. The groggy haze in her mind started to clear only as she sat up, glancing out through the window. Outside, the sun had only just begun its ascent across the horizon, its fledgling rays chasing the wee-hour darkness from the sky.
Her feet hit the cold floor. The day was about to start, and she needed some coffee to settle her jangly nerves.
Janeway dressed into her uniform with meticulous detail, as always. The steaming mug in her hand had simply become an accessory to regulation dress code; her fellow officers knew better than to question the presence of a coffee mug. They had experienced her coffee-deprived wrath once, and it never happened again.
She left for Starfleet Headquarters busily browsing her agenda for the day. Nothing extremely important—the same duties she had been performing since being promoted. Her diplomatic presence was not required currently, there were no pressing orders to deliver, no new starships needed inspecting. Her workload had entered a deep lull recently. Not that she was complaining.
"Good morning, Admiral," her assistant, Kole, greeted her as she stepped into her office. "I see you've already made yourself some coffee."
"Rough morning," Janeway responded. "How are you today?"
"I'm well, thanks. Just so you know, you have several messages waiting for you at your terminal. Only one needs immediate attention."
"Ah," she acknowledged, hand on her hip while she stood. "Thank you. I'll be in my office. Bring me another cup in an hour?"
Kole grinned. "I'll bring two. You look like you'll need it."
The familiar Starfleet insignia appeared when Janeway accessed her terminal, kicking her mind into gear. She set her mug down, quickly accepting orders to make routine inspections of several space stations in the Alpha Quadrant as part of an effort to maintain battle readiness and ensure that all systems and crew operated at peak efficiency. The inspection schedule was grueling in a boring sort of way, but it would give her the opportunity to get out from behind her desk.
Over the past few years she'd learned to be thankful for the small things. Strange, how similar it was to Voyager.
She perused the rest of the messages and smiled when her eye caught on a particular sender. Janeway opened the message without hesitation, hand on her chin as she read.
It was from Tom Paris. The Paris family has taken a vacation in the Beta Quadrant…and B'Elanna was pregnant again. Janeway sent a reply with proud congratulations, well-wishes, and a small update on the events of her own life. She dearly missed the sandy-haired pilot who had, once upon a time, been her personal reclamation project. He'd come so far in the past several years.
She studied an image he'd sent planetside for a long moment, lingering on his and B'Elanna's smiling faces, little Miral making a face at her mother, the warm sunshine on their features. If anyone deserved happiness after Voyager, it was Tom Paris. His hard work on himself merited it. No longer a philandering convict slaving away in a penal colony, he'd become man with integrity, a family, and a stable Starfleet job.
Kole strode in to refuel Janeway early, coffee cups in tow. Her mind snapped to business.
"Thanks, Kole. Please inform Admiral Patterson that I'll be unable to meet him for lunch next Friday; I'm scheduled to give a guest lecture during our usual time."
"Of course, Admiral." The dark-haired woman nodded and disappeared again to perform the rest of her duties for the day. "Let me know when you need another cup," she called.
Before returning to her own work, Janeway made a mental note to drop in on one of Tom's classes at Starfleet's flight school and watch him in action. She suspected that his students would very much enjoy watching him squirm.