To The Journey
Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine. This is an AU story.
Chapter Fifty: Dangerous Game
"Tuvok, there's something I need to tell you. It's very important. I'm going away and I may not see you again."
It had been unusual enough when Kathryn Janeway had showed up on the doorstep, asking out of the blue to visit Tuvok. Tasha had come to expect their routines; Janeway on Sunday, the Doctor on Wednesday, and everyone else usually called first, seeming to understand that there was more going on in Tuvok's New Mexico house than just a sick man's affairs.
The comm link with Voyager that had brought her so much joy in its first days had brought her as much heartache in the months and years that followed. For the longest time, Tuvok had tried to pretend nothing was wrong, but it had gotten to the point where he could no longer hide the neurological disease that was slowly destroying his brain. Tasha and the Voyager crew had watched helplessly as the man they knew was lost to them a little at a time, and the torture was only intensified by the knowledge that he could have been cured, but the cure required him to mind-meld with someone with an incredibly specific mental compatibility, and no such person was available to him. By the time Voyager had arrived back on Earth, twenty-three years after the fateful mission to the Badlands, it had been far too late for the Vulcan.
The doctors had wanted to place him in a hospital, but Tasha had objected, insisted on moving him back into his home on Earth. She had finally accepted Starfleet's offer of a job at Tactical Headquarters, Data had taken a job teaching at Starfleet Academy, and they had moved in with him.
There was, as Asil had pointed out to the doctors, more than a bit of logic in this situation. Tuvok was easily agitated in his condition, and the familiar surroundings helped keep him calm. But every time in the past ten years that Tasha had been asked, she'd say only that he'd been there for her at a crucial time, that she owed him everything, and that she would do anything to repay him.
But Tasha's shock at seeing Janeway was nothing compared to hearing her words. She hadn't intended to eavesdrop; she'd heard Tuvok starting to pace and had only run up the stairs in case she was needed to calm him. But now she couldn't unhear Janeway's words.
"Commander Barclay and the Doctor will continue to visit," the Admiral was saying. "They'll bring you anything you need."
"The Doctor comes on Wednesdays," Tuvok replied. "Commander Barclay's visits are erratic."
"And Tasha will be here," Janeway reminded.
"Tasha is here every day. She takes care of me."
"Yes. She takes care of you." There was a pause, and then Janeway spoke again. "Goodbye, Tuvok."
She walked out of the room and straight into the blonde, coming within inches of literally running into the woman. She sighed, burying her face in one hand. "How much did you hear?"
"Admiral, I can't lie for you," Tasha said bluntly, and Janeway paled slightly before she heard the next words. "That's why I'm telling you not to tell me a single detail. That way if I'm questioned, even under oath, there's nothing I can say to hurt you or get in the way of - whatever it is you're doing."
When the Admiral raised her head, Tasha could see tears shimmering in her eyes. "Thank you."
"Just one thing," she added. "What you're doing - will it help him?"
Janeway nodded slowly. "If it works, yes. It'll help him."
"Then as they used to say here on Earth, go with God."
Tasha didn't remotely expect what came next. While their relationship was good enough - it almost had to be, considering how often they saw each other - it had never been close. But Janeway stepped forward and embraced the younger woman, and Tasha hugged her back, and they stood there as if they'd been best friends for years.
"Thank you, Commander," Janeway whispered again. "For everything."
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Tasha sprinted into the house just a few steps behind Voyager's EMH. The emergency page that had pulled her from her desk in the middle of her shift had certainly sounded like nothing but bad news.
Tuvok was pacing his room almost frantically. "Fifty-three thirty-one seventy-one," he was saying repeatedly. " Fifty-three. Fifty-three. Fifty-three thirty-one seventy-one."
"Sorry if I pulled you away from something important," the doctor who came in to care for Tuvok during the day said quickly, "but he won't let anyone near him and I thought one of you might -"
"You did the right thing," the EMH assured him. "His condition's never been associated with violent behavior."
"He seems more frustrated than violent," the other doctor replied.
Tuvok was paying them no mind. "Long range sensors have detected no trace. Her disappearance remains a mystery. I am deeply concerned."
Tasha couldn't help the tears that sprang to her eyes. This was the hardest thing to cope with - watching Tuvok desperately groping for the remaining pieces of the man he had once been as if he could will them back together and become that man again.
She had heard that Tuvok had at one time lost his entire memory after an attack, that he had had to start from a completely blank slate for several weeks until they Doctor had finally been able to figure out how to reverse the damage. Many times she'd come within a hair's breadth of asking him if that procedure itself couldn't be reversed. The man who had started to develop in those weeks, she couldn't help thinking, would have a much easier time adapting to his current condition. At the very least, he wouldn't realize how far he'd fallen.
"What are you concerned about, Tuvok?" the EMH was asking gently.
"Her disappearance."
"Whose?"
The Vulcan just shook his head. "Fifty-three. Fifty-three thirty-one seventy-one."
"He's been repeating those same numbers over and over again," the human doctor told them. "Fifty-three thirty-one seventy-one. It might be a stardate."
"Fifty-three thirty-one seventy-one," the EMH repeated. "If my memory files are accurate, that was the day Captain Janeway was abducted by the Kellidians. Is that who you're talking about, Tuvok? Captain Janeway?"
"Her disappearance remains a mystery," Tuvok insisted.
"No, you solved that mystery, Tuvok," the EMH objected. "You rescued the captain and brought her back to Voyager safe and sound. Remember?"
But Tuvok shook his head in denial. "I am deeply concerned, deeply concerned."
"Do you think if the Admiral paid him a visit, showed him that she was all right?" the human doctor suggested.
"Unfortunately, she's out of town right now," the EMH said regretfully. "I'm not sure when she'll be back."
Equally unfortunately, they had momentarily forgotten that while Tuvok had lost his Vulcan control, he hadn't lost his Vulcan hearing. "She's never coming back! Her disappearance remains a mystery. I'm deeply concerned. Deeply concerned."
Tasha looked between the two doctors. "I have this," she said under her breath. "Tuvok, she's on - an away mission."
"An away mission?" he repeated.
"Yes, remember? She told you. She hasn't disappeared. She's on an away mission. For - for the benefit of Voyager's crew."
"An away mission." The Vulcan finally relaxed. "For the benefit of Voyager."
"Exactly." I really hope you know what you're doing, Admiral, she thought silently. Your crew really needs this help.
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"Captain, what's going on?" Riker asked as the Enterprise senior staff assembled on the bridge, relieving the other crewmembers at their stations. "Why are we at red alert?"
It was certainly a fair question. During the Dominion War, the sound of the Red Alert sirens had become so familiar it was almost strange to go more than a few days without hearing it. But the war had been over for two years, and this time when the sirens had gone off, it had actually taken some of the crew a few moments to realize what the sound was.
"A Borg transwarp aperture," he said grimly. "Opened up less than a light-year from Earth."
"My God," Deanna gasped.
"How many vessels?" Tasha asked from her position at tactical.
"Unclear," Data replied. "Starfleet Command reports unusual graviton emissions interfering with sensor readings."
"Dropping out of warp in five," the conn officer reported. "Four...three...two...one...mark."
As they reentered normal space, Tasha could see a number of other ships also dropping out of warp. "Data, patch me through to Command."
A familiar voice came through the comm a second later. "Go ahead, Enterprise."
"Lieutenant Barclay, how many ships do we have?"
"Eighteen present, nine more en route."
"You running this battle, Commander?" Admiral Paris' voice joined Barclay's.
"If you want me to," she said seriously.
There was silence on the line for a minute, and Tasha guessed that the officers at command were discussing this. Then Paris came back on the line. "I suggest we share command on this one. Keep an open line so we don't contradict each other and then just do what needs to be done."
"Works for me."
"Open channel to all ships," she heard him tell someone.
"Channel open," Barclay's voice replied in the background.
"This is Admiral Paris. Use all necessary force. I repeat, all necessary force."
"Something is emerging from the aperture," Data reported.
A single Borg sphere shot out of the aperture to a hail of phaser fire. Tasha began to call out commands, and she could hear Paris doing the same.
"They're not firing back," Barclay reported, clearly baffled.
"It could be a trap," Tasha replied. "We can't risk standing down."
No sooner were the words out of her mouth, however, than a fireball began to engulf the sphere. A moment later, she realized the vessel was blowing up from the inside.
"Cease fire!" Paris ordered.
Out of the fireball and wreckage came a Starfleet vessel. At first, Tasha thought it was one of the fleet flying through, but the eighteen blips that had been there before were all accounted for, and her sensors clearly showed the other nine were still a distance away.
Paris' voice came through again. "Commander Yar, there's a Starfleet ship -"
"I see it."
"The explosions are throwing off our sensors. Do you have a visual?"
"Yes, sir. It appears to be an Intrepid-class vessel. Wait, I think I see the registry number from here. NCC - my God."
"What is it, Commander?"
"Data, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" she asked breathlessly.
"Affirmative," the android replied.
"What exactly are you both seeing?" Paris asked impatiently.
"Admiral," Tasha said softly, still barely believing her eyes. "The registry number is NCC-74656."
Complete silence filled the comm link. Finally, Paris spoke a single word. "Voyager."
"Yes, sir."
"Our sensors are still unable to read clearly," Barclay informed them. "We can't establish a comlink."
"I think we can hail them from here," Tasha replied. "We'll tie you in, Command."
"Do it, Commander." The Admiral sounded as breathless as Tasha felt.
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"We're being hailed from the fleet," Harry Kim reported.
"On screen," Janeway replied.
Another ship's bridge came into focus, and Janeway smiled as she recognized the two figures in the Captain's and First Officer's chairs. "Captain Picard, Commander Riker."
"Captain Janeway." Another voice drew Janeway's attention to the blonde woman at the tactical station, who appeared to be wiping tears from her eyes. "I'm patching you through to Command. The residual energy from the explosion is interfering with their communications."
"Understood. Thank you, Commander."
"Welcome home." Janeway was vaguely aware that the Commander glanced first at something near the bottom of the viewscreen, and from there to a point behind her left shoulder, but had little time to puzzle over it before the other ship's bridge disappeared and was replaced with a room at Starfleet Command and the faces of Admiral Paris and Lieutenant Barclay.
For a few moments, they just stood in silence. Janeway finally broke it. "Sorry to surprise you. Next time we'll call ahead."
"Welcome back," Paris replied wryly.
" It's good to be here."
"How did you -"
"It'll all be in my report, sir."
"I look forward to it." He smiled. "Command out."
As if on cue, another channel opened. "Sickbay to the bridge." Then a baby's cry filled the line.
The smiles on most of the bridge crew broke open into full-on grins as the EMH continued. "Doctor to Lieutenant Paris. There's someone here who'd like to say hello."
Janeway finally understood why Tom had been so reluctant to come to the bridge when she'd paged him to get underway. In the chaos that had followed, she hadn't had a chance to ask and he hadn't had a chance to share his news. "You'd better get down there, Tom."
The pilot needed no further prompting. As he all but sprinted for the turbolift, Janeway motioned to her first officer. "Mr. Chakotay, the helm."
"Aye, Captain."
"Set a course. For home."
In case it wasn't clear, yes, this chapter takes place in two different timelines/time periods, just as the Voyager finale is. The first two segments are set in 2404 and exist in a timeline where it took Voyager twenty-three years to get home. The rest of the chapter exists in a timeline that's created after Admiral Janeway travels back in time to get Voyager home sooner.
This chapter references the Voyager episodes Endgame and Riddles.
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