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Hearts Astray
Chapter 2
A Month Later
The colors. The colors were back.
Kathryn sat up in her bed and put her hand to her aching head. But the colors would not leave her alone. They swirled before her eyes, gathered in the middle of her vision to form a pulsating gold circle, and blinded her to most of what was in the room. No matter where she looked the colors were there, swirling and gathering, and the only relief she could get was to close her eyes. The colors disappeared then, faded into black. Keeping her eyes closed, Kathryn fumbled for her commbadge, which was on her bedside table, and activated it.
"Janeway to The Doctor."
Almost immediately The Doctor answered. "Doctor here."
"I need medical assistance."
"I'll be right there. Doctor out."
As the connection terminated, Kathryn buried her hurting head in her hands and waited for her former EMH to arrive. He did promptly, arriving by transport.
"Here I am," he said. "Always at your beck and call. What's the problem?"
"The temporal flux is back," Kathryn said. "My head is pounding and I'm seeing the colors again. So forgive me for keeping my eyes shut."
The Doctor opened his med-kit. "Are you sure it isn't just a migraine attack?"
"I'm sure. It's the temporal flux."
The Doctor took out his tricorder and began to scan her. "You're right," he said. "I'm detecting chronoton particles and other signs of temporal flux. Your liver is twelve months older than your kidneys and your heart is five years younger than your lungs."
"What's causing it?"
"You tell me, Admiral. Have you been playing with time again?"
"No. I've had no dealings with temporal anomalies or time-travel since Voyager."
"I'm glad to hear it. But something has happened to put you out of temporal sync. Either that, or the serum I injected you with last year has worn off. Have you suffered any problems over the passed few days?"
"Just headaches, dizziness."
"There you go, ignoring warning signs again. If you'd called me, I could have detected this problem sooner." He sighed. "I'll have to reinject you. That should bring you back into temporal sync with the rest of us."
"But why am I out of sync again?" Kathryn asked. "What's going on?"
"I don't know. We're going to have to figure it out. But first, let's get you out of temporal flux." He put away his tricorder and closed his med-kit. "I'll be back as soon as I can. The serum is in my surgery and I'll have to fetch it." He hit his commbadge. "Doctor to S.H.Q.T.S return transport." He then turned back to his patient. "Lie down and try to relax. I won't be..."
But he never got to finish his sentence as the transporter beam engulfed him and he disappeared.
When The Doctor returned, he found Kathryn lying in bed just as he'd ordered.
"Glad to see you're obeying me for once," he said.
"Seeing as I can't see," she replied. "What choice do I have?"
The Doctor opened his med-kit and scanned her again. "Getting worse," he said. "90% of your body is now in temporal flux." He picked up a hypospray, fiddled with it, and then put it to her neck. "But this should do the trick."
Kathryn felt the pinch of the injection, but as soon as the serum was inside her body her suffering began to ease. The colors faded away and the pounding in her head stopped.
"At last," she said, sitting up. "Some relief."
"You'll probably feel queasy for a couple of days," The Doctor told her, "just like before, but I'm happy to say you are back in temporal sync."
Kathryn got out of bed and put on her nightrobe.
"Where are you going?" The Doctor asked.
"To get myself a coffee," she answered. "Before we try to figure this thing out, I need my fix."
"Then I'll get it for you," The Doctor replied. "But, so that we're clear, this waiter only serves decaffeinated."
"So long as I have the taste," Kathryn said, sitting again. "Thank you, Doctor."
"Any time," he said, a touch sarcastically.
He then left to get the coffee and Kathryn looked around the room. She felt dazed, sick, but the colors were gone and her vision was improving by the second.
"As you say you have not been time-jumping," The Doctor said as he returned with a cup of steaming black coffee, "it seems to me that we are definitely dealing with a case of the serum having worn off."
Kathryn took the coffee gratefully and cradled it in her cold hands.
"But the question is," The Doctor continued, "why do you need these injections to stay in temporal sync?"
"That is the question," Kathryn said. "Any ideas?"
"I have to admit, I'm stumped." He sat beside Kathryn on the bed and looked at data on his tricorder. "According to your medical file, your last and first incident of this temporal flux was six months ago. Do you remember anything more about what happened then?"
"No. I just woke up with the colors and the headache...like I did today. The night before it happened I had dinner with Tom and B'Elanna in their quarters, went back to my own, and then went to bed. Nothing out of the ordinary happened."
"Which perplexed me then and perplexes me now. All I can conclude is what I concluded then. That something happened that night outside the normal space-time continuum. Whatever it was, it seems only to have affected you. But, as you always play Wonder Woman when it comes to saving the universe, that doesn't surprise me. No doubt you did something in this out of time experience that sent your body into temporal chaos. I thought one injection would permanently fix the problem, but evidently I was wrong. And if I'm right now, that your heroics that night resulted in this condition, then you may have to take these injections regularly for the rest of your life."
Kathryn took a sip of coffee and pondered his words. "You've got to be right," she said. "Nothing else makes sense. If I had a conscious memory of being involved in some kind of temporal paradox then maybe I'd have some idea how to help myself, but I don't. Whatever happened had to have happened in a future none of us can remember, or in some kind of alternate reality, and there's no way we can find out what. Whatever I did, I would only have done out of necessity, so whatever it was it was necessary. If the price of that is an injection every six months or so then that's the price I have to pay."
"There is a chance the injections won't work in the long term," The Doctor said. "They are working now, so the probability is they will continue to do so, but the strain a condition like this puts on the body is immense. The injections may only buy you time."
"Well," Kathryn answered. "We're all on borrowed time, Doctor. I'm not going to think the worst. I've been fine for six months and the chances are these injections are all I need to stay well. And maybe I won't have another episode. Maybe something did happen last night outside the normal space-time continuum, something related to what happened six months ago, only I have no memory of it. That would also explain my condition."
"Yes," The Doctor agreed. "It would."
"All we can do is wait and see," Kathryn went on. "If I come down with this again in a few months time, then we'll know it's due to the injection wearing off. If I don't, then we'll know these two incidents were the result of an out of time experience and are not going to recur."
"There's also a chance," the Doctor said, "that this second injection, which I've made stronger, will stabilize your condition and prevent a relapse."
Kathryn held up her cup of coffee. "I'll drink to that."
"But, incase we are dealing with a long term condition," The Doctor said, "I'll draw up a special diet for you and a daily exercise routine. They will help you stay in peak condition."
"Let's just wait until we know what we're dealing with first," Kathryn replied, not even wanting to think what this diet and exercise routine would involve.
"Better to be safe than sorry," he answered. "You're having a lifestyle change and that's final. Doctor's orders."
"Very well," Kathryn sighed. "But coffee's staying on the menu, understand?"
"Would I dare remove it? But from now on, you're drinking decaffeinated."
"If I must. But this is all..."
"For your own good."
A bleep suddenly came from his commbadge and a woman's voice spoke. "Nurse Sera to The Doctor. You're wanted in Unit 5. Medical Emergency."
"I'll be right there," he answered. "Doctor out."
"No rest for the good, eh Doctor?" Kathryn said.
"No rest for a hologram, certainly," he smiled. "But make sure you get plenty. I'm putting you off work for at least two days."
"That isn't necessary, I...."
"It most certainly is. And I'll be checking up on you, so no work means no work. As for your new health plan, I'll call with it tonight."
"I can't say I'm looking forward to it," she said, "but if you make your call part social, then I can say with all honesty that I'm looking forward to your company."
The Doctor smiled. "Part social it is then, Admiral. See you later."
"Goodbye, Doctor."
The Doctor picked up his med-kit, requested a transport, and then dematerialized.
"How are you feeling now?" The Doctor asked when he arrived at Kathryn's apartment that night. "Better, I hope."
"Much," Kathryn answered, sitting in her favorite blue sofa-chair. "But I feel a lot worse than I did last time this happened."
"Unfortunately, that may prove to be the case with every episode. If you are depending on these injections to keep you in temporal sync, then your body is under tremendous strain every mili-second of every second. This compromises all your systems and results in cellular degeneration. Every day your body weakens by a fraction, so by the time the injection wears off, your body is weaker than it was at the last episode. A weakened body means less resilience, and less resilience means more suffering. But, if these two episodes are due to a related out of time experience, then you may be feeling worse now because this second incident may have caused more trauma to your body than the first."
"I'm sure that's the case," Kathryn replied. She pointed to a chair. "Please, sit. Make yourself comfortable."
"Not yet," The Doctor said, opening his med-kit. "I have some things to give you." He pulled out a padd and handed it to her. "Your new diet and exercise routine."
Kathryn took the padd. "Thank you, Doctor. I'll try to keep to both."
"Make sure you do. The future quality of your life may depend on it." The Doctor then pulled out a silver flask. "And now for your supper. Hot and spicy leola root soup, made courtesy of Mr Neelix's recipe. Knowing you as well as I do, I know you've probably had little for dinner, as you never eat properly when you're ill...not that you eat well when you're well...so I'll brook no objections."
"You won't get any," Kathryn smiled. "Leola root soup sounds wonderful. Thank you."
"My pleasure," the Doctor smiled in return. He then pulled off the flask's cup, which was a generous size, and filled it with steaming hot leola root soup.
"Oh," Kathryn said as its aroma kissed her senses. "Just the smell is rejuvenating me. It reminds me of Voyager. If I close my eyes now, I can see Neelix pottering around the kitchen, a hat on his head and a spoon his hand. I can see him stirring some smoking concoction and can hear him whistle while he works."
"Consider the nostalgia a bonus," The Doctor said. "I chose it for it's nutritional value and that alone. Leola root is highly nutritious."
He handed the cup to Kathryn and she took it gratefully.
"Thank you, Doctor."
"Speaking of Voyager," The Doctor said, finally sitting down, "how are you finding life back on Earth? Adjusting has been difficult for most of our crew and the adjustment must be harder for you than anyone. For seven years you've been driven by one goal, and one goal only, to get Voyager home. Now your mission is complete, you must feel somewhat aimless and redundant."
"It has been difficult adjusting back," Kathryn replied, "and a part of me misses Voyager greatly, but I achieved what I set out to do and there's a certain euphoria about that. I just...I never thought how hard it would be to say goodbye to everyone, especially to those I'd got close too."
"Like Chakotay and Seven?"
"Like them," Kathryn replied sadly.
"You must miss them."
Tears filled Kathryn's eyes but she blinked them away. As much as she was missing Chakotay, and she was missing him profoundly, she would not indulge the sentiment. She'd lost people she loved before, had lived with the ache before, and just like then she was getting on with her life and making the best of it. "I do," she said. "Miss them. But life goes on and the great wheel turns. I have my family, my friends, my job, and they fill the void of absent friends." She paused. "How about you? How are you doing? I know how much you care for Seven."
"I miss her," he said. "Every day. But as you say, life goes on. I have a whole new world to explore and a queue of blonde beauties waiting to explore it with me."
"Lucky you, Doctor," Kathryn smiled. "But what about brunettes?"
"Brunettes are beautiful too," he answered, "and redheads, but we all have our type, Admiral, and blondes are mine."
"Then best of luck with the blondes."
"What about you? Anyone special caught your eye?"
"I'm not really looking," she said. "I don't need a man to complete my life. I never have. I'm free to do what I want for the first time in seven years and I plan on making the most of my freedom. I want to take a trip to Europe, go on a world cruise, go bushwalking in Australia, and all kinds of other things that I thought I'd never get the chance to do. Of course, I don't plan on doing them all at once."
"Glad to hear it," the Doctor smiled. "And I'm glad you're going to make time for yourself. You deserve to. You've worked too hard over the passed seven years."
"Well, Captain Janeway had to. But I'm not her anymore. I have a new life now and I plan on making the most of it."
"So do I." In the absence of a cup, he picked up the flask and held it out to her in a toast. "To new beginnings."
Kathryn smiled and knocked her cup against it. "To new beginnings."
END OF CHAPTER TWO