CHAPTER 3

Quirinal – Three Days Later

Admiral Janeway practically burst into Quirinal's senior briefing room. "What happened?" She demanded before even sitting down. She glanced hurriedly at the meeting attendees with a quick nod to acknowledge their presence. Captain Andris sat just to the left of the center of the table, flanked by Fleet Chief Engineer B'Elanna Torres and Excalibur's chief engineer, Lt. Max Jenkins. Also present were Quirinal's captain, Regina Farkas and chief engineer, Lt. Phinnegan Bryce.

Captain Andris folded her hands on the table and began. "We were testing a handful of new maneuvers. We've had less practice with our slipstream drive than the other fleet vessels and wanted to try a few things. We were wrapping up the day with a test that would allow us to automate coming out of slipstream and directly into a cloaked configuration." Andris looked at Torres and motioned for her to continue.

"We plotted a course about 100 light years away, right here, where you found us." Torres explained. "The plan was that when Excalibur emerged from the slipstream, we would have a five-second margin in which to engage the cloak then pull away at warp 6. The end goal would be to reduce this margin to roughly 0.005 seconds so that even if someone was waiting right at the end of the tunnel their sensors would barely register anything exiting the stream." Torres motioned to one of the computer screens on the wall and walked over to continue her explanation. "This test run was only meant to gather safety data so we could build it into the automated subroutines. And in hindsight, I'm really glad we didn't push it."

"Everything was within normal tolerances, but for some reason when we emerged from the stream and engaged the cloak….well, this happened." She touched the screen to begin a playback. What followed was a graphical representation of power-flow of critical ships systems. "Here we are emerging from the slipstream. Then in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."

A loud gasp was heard emanating from Lt. Bryce as he watched the power flow to all systems spike instantaneously off the charts and then drop to nothing. Having been aboard Quirinal at the time, he didn't have the honor of witnessing the disaster first-hand. The simulation ended and Torres took her seat.

"What is the current status of Excalibur?" Janeway asked.

This time, Lt. Jenkins chimed in. "We've completely fried both our slipstream drive and our cloaking device, Admiral," he replied. "Emergency power is running right now to maintain life-support and I could probably eke out half-impulse for about ten minutes. But all of the power couplings along the port-nacelle were damaged. We're not able not able to maintain a stable warp field."

Janeway sighed. "Anyone have some good news?"

"Yeah, they didn't completely blow up," Farkas interjected, half under her breath.

"Very true," Torres agreed. "And, there were no serious injuries. If we had tried that with a 2-second delay instead of 5, you'd be having this conversation without us."

"So what now?" Janeway asked.

Torres retook her seat and folder her hands in front of her to explain. "We looked at the possibility of repairing Excalibur's slipstream drive, but it would be a pretty unrealistic undertaking in the Delta quadrant. We just don't have the resources out here to replace all of the components they've damaged. And, they've lost the ability to recrystallize their benamite. Even if we could get the drive working again it wouldn't be as energy efficient as we'd need. They'd burn through their reserves in half the distance back to the Alpha Quadrant."

Lt. Jenkins picked up the rest of the status. "The cloaking device is another matter, I'm not sure we can repair that out here at all," he relayed. "We're looking at taking her back to the shipyards. They should be able to have us up and running in about three weeks."

"So who gets to be an escort?" Farkas asked.

Janeway looked to Torres. "Could Galen create a large enough stream for Excalibur to ride behind?"

Torres nodded, "Yes. If it were any of the other vessels, I'd say no. But Excalibur is still much smaller than Galen. She'll have to follow close and it might be a bumpy ride, but she'll make it."

"Regardless of the escort, we have to get her warp-worthy and back on main power. That will take at least two days," Jenkins finished.

"Do it," Janeway said. "Galen was just ordered to report back to the Alpha Quadrant. I'll inform Starfleet that she'll be a day late, but I won't make them wait any longer than that. The Doctor's presence was urgently requested."

Torres turned to Captain Farkas. "Can I borrow Phinn for the next couple days?" she asked.

"He's all yours, just make sure I get him back." Farkas replied, winking at Lt. Bryce.

"Anything else?" Janeway asked, glancing around. "Dismissed."

The conference room began to empty out when Janeway glanced to Captain Andris. The captain, who had been noticeably silent during the briefing, lingered in her seat for a moment. She ran a frustrated hand through her hair and retied her hairband, staring at the PADD in front of her. Janeway could tell she was doing her best to temper disappointment. She remembered all too well what it felt like to have a dead vessel under her feet.

"I sincerely hope you didn't scuttle your ship to avoid more awkward conversations with me, Captain." Janeway said, a wry smile playing on her lips.

"I assure you Admiral, I had neither of those things on my agenda for today." Andris replied dryly.

"Good, because as it is I've been recalled to Starfleet Headquarters along with Galen. But now I think I'd like to travel on Excalibur."

Andris appeared a bit startled. This just keeps getting better and better, she thought. "As long as you don't mind sharing a room. We have one female bunk available." Andris replied, then reconsidered her words. "Of course, you're welcome to my quarters if you'd rather."

"That won't be necessary, bunking sounds like it is part of the experience."

"I'm sure Lieutenant M'Taak will agree, Admiral."

The weight of Andris's burden hung in the air like a heavy cloud. "I'm sorry about your ship, Captain," Janeway offered.

Andris smiled meekly, "Thank you ma'am. I know we'll have her back in top shape soon enough. I just thought….I thought she should be able to handle that maneuver. It bothers me…"

"Excalibur is still new to you. What happened today was a drop in the bucket compared to the paces we put Voyager through in its first year, you'll get the hang of her."

"I appreciate the vote of confidence, I intend to squeeze out every drop of potential."

"By the time you return to the Delta Quadrant I want a detailed report on what went wrong and how to make sure it doesn't happen again. The maneuver you were attempting will prove very useful out here. You'll have plenty of time for simulations while you wait for repairs."

Andris nodded with a slightly renewed sense of confidence peeking though. She gathered her PADDs and stood to leave but Janeway hadn't moved. "Is there anything else Admiral?"

"Have you spoken with Chakotay?"

Andris took a deep breath, somewhat surprised by the personal turn the conversation just took. "No."

"I know there is a lot requiring your attention in the next couple of days, but you should make the time. Voyager will be arriving within the hour." The Admiral began to walk away.

"Is that an order, ma'am?"

Janeway looked back over her shoulder, the conference room door already yawning open in front of her. "It's a friendly suggestion."

Voyager

Chakotay had a veritable mountain of PADDs to review before deciding what Voyager's next mission should be and he didn't feel like looking at a single one of them. He had already been at his desk for an hour and found himself reading the same thing over and over. His mind constantly wandered to the fact that Kathryn would soon be leaving for the Alpha Quadrant and he wasn't sure when or even if, she would be coming back.

The sudden chirp from his ready-room door startled him from his not-so-pleasant meanderings.

"Come," he said, expecting Tom Paris.

He was surprised, to say the least, when she entered.

"Captain Andris," he said flatly.

She stopped just inside the doorway. "Have a minute?"

Chakotay motioned to a chair in front of his desk but didn't get up.

She sat, silently, gazing at her folded hands. Her uniform was lightly soiled, her hair ever-so-slightly disheveled from its customary ponytail. Evidence of a day's worth of hands-on repair work.

Chakotay cleared his throat. "I'm sorry about your ship," he offered.

Helen shrugged.

"Can I get you something?" he asked, suddenly feeling his mouth was very dry.

"No, thank you. I'm not going to stay long," she said. "To be honest, I'm not really sure why I'm here."

"Oh?"

"The Admiral suggested I stop by before we leave," Helen admitted.

"Ah."

"Are you mad at me?" Her meek tone was one that Chakotay had rarely, if ever, heard her use. She reminded him of a child brought before a parent for punishment. He suddenly felt very badly for her.

"No…. I'm not mad," he admitted, softening a bit. "I think I want to be, but I know why you did what you did."

"Really? Because I'm not sure I do," Helen admitted. "Maybe I should have stayed out of your business. I just didn't want you to have to take the fall alone."

"I know. And as it turns out, you were right," he admitted. "Hearing from you first gave Kathryn time to process things. She understood, at least on some level. We'll be fine."

Helen gave a sigh of relief. "Good."

"I hear the Admiral is travelling with you," he said, deliberately changing the topic.

Helen nodded. "Yes. She gave up private quarters on Galen in favor of bunking with one of my Klingon officers." She smiled slightly. "Do you think she's spying on me?"

"I think she's going to try to see what makes you tick, she wants to witness the command style of all the Captains. And, get to know your crew." Chakotay's demeanor turned playful. "At least that's what I'm telling myself."

Helen smirked. "And maybe to learn some of your other secrets along the way?"

"Helen…" He growled in a low-warning voice.

"It's a three-day trip Chakotay. Telling her about our mission to Antares would pass the time nicely," she teased.

His eyes shot open wide. "You wouldn't dare!"

Helen smiled broadly and made a motion across her chest. "Cross my heart, I won't breathe a word." She stood to take her leave. "Need anything from home?"

Chakotay thought for a moment. "Just get her there safely, okay?"

Helen nodded. "I will."