Uninspired Voyages

A Star Trek: Voyager fanfiction by Andrew J. Talon

DISCLAIMER: This is a non-profit fan based work of prose. Star Trek: Voyager, Deep Space Nine, The Next Generation et al are the property of CBS Television, Para creation of Gene Roddenberry. Please support the official release.

The 37s

The planet they had investigated, following a rust trail, an old 1930s pickup truck in space, and an old radio broadcast in Morse code to said planet, was full of humans. Humans who had been abducted in the 1930s, made into slaves by aliens, and subsequently lead a violent revolution against their alien slavemasters over three centuries ago, and built a small number of cities with cultures that had widely diverged in a multitude of ways, but humans all the same. When the initial confrontation had settled down peacefully, the local humans had extended an offer to the ship's crews to settle on the planet. The majority of the Federation ship crews were human, so it was a very tempting offer to quite a few of them to stay there and make a new life as a colonist on this planet. The question whether to stay or go weighed on everyone's minds. Shepherd had talked with each of them about it, trying to get a sense of where everyone was at in their mind.

For B'Elanna Torres, she considered it, but she was half Klingon, and on a world with nothing but humans who were unused to dealing with aliens except for the cultural memory of having to fight them off, the choice was an obvious no. The fact that technological level was at least a century behind Voyager's was also a deciding factor for her. Besides, Voyager was starting, for the first time in a while, to feel like somewhere safe again.

For Tuvok, the planet held no appeal aside from one of minor anthropological curiosity, which was satisfied by the cultural exchange made between the captains and the leaders of the colony. A guaranteed certainty of being one of the few, if only, Vulcans on a planet full of humans who were strangers compared to the certainty of travelling with his friend Captain Janeway stacked the odds. He would be staying with the fleet regardless, if only because of his duty to Starfleet and the daily increasing odds of reuniting with his family by travelling to the Alpha Quadrant.

For Kes, and most of the Ocampans she had discussed the issue with, they considered it an interesting place to visit, and the local agriculture reminded them of things they had learned as the youth rebel movement in the caves of Ocampa, being rebellious enough to aim for self sufficiency by relearning agriculture. It held appeal for some of them, but after what seemed like a lifetime with the Federation crew, an entire half of a year, with some of the now teenagers and young adults having even had most of their childhood on the ship, it seemed like they would be giving up their second home just as easily as they did their first, and the friendships they had made already made with the daily new experiences they had of exploring the Delta Quadrant was a much better option than being on the human planet. They would stay.

For Chakotay, while he found the planet interesting, and as a man who had always had an interest in archeology, a wonder to do some anthropological, sociological, and cultural studies in the flesh. He would be able to make a study on how 1930s Imperial Japanese Shinto culture, without being affected by the fall or Imperial Japan, had evolved over the past three centuries, and due to alien involvement, had transformed to be much more accepting of human outsiders. But that would mean abandoning his crew, who had stuck with him after they lost the Val Jean, and had to join Starfleet for what was going to be a 70 year trip. He couldn't abandon them after he had asked them to make this sacrifice. He also had hope that he would see the rest of his friends in the Badlands someday. He would stay on Voyager.

For Harry Kim, he initially saw life on Voyager as a great adventure. and he looked forward to seeing Libby again someday. He also didn't like the idea of being on board a spaceship his entire life, not reaching home until he was in his nineties. Being in a city full of humans for the rest of his life held some great sway for him. But the planet wasn't home, and he wanted to be home. This human planet wasn't it. And if nothing else, he did have a lot of friends here now.

For the Doctor, it was no choice at all. Unless someone was going to build him a holodeck on the planet, he was bound to Voyager, wherever the ship would take him.

For Neelix, he had made his choice on Talax about whether he was going to be with Voyager or here in this sector of space. He said no to the Talaxians, he just as easily said no to this colony of humans.

For Tom Paris, he was a pilot, and he was being given a chance to serve again and fly a starship. Retiring to a life of agriculture held almost no appeal, and he was sure being on that planet, he would screw up somehow, offend someone, and find himself in exile within a few months. It was a miracle he hadn't done so already on Voyager. Maybe it was because he had people looking out for him and people he looked out for. Something he hadn't had in a long time. Voyager was home now.

For Janeway, she was a Starfleet captain, and had made a promise to get this crew home, no matter the cost. She also had a fiancé waiting for her on the other side of the galaxy, and her dog Molly was expecting her as well. She wanted to return to that life. She just hoped they were still waiting for her.

For Shepherd, he had a fiancé, parents and career back home. The planet below could be a place to settle and enjoy the rest of his life, But it mostly sounded boring. A life of either uplifting these cousins of Earth with 24th century technology and expanding their capabilities, or of working at a local farm or factory, and quietly living a life like that. Mostly, it sounded boring. Choosing to leave behind his family and loved ones, if giving up on them, was no choice at all.

Similar discussions and ruminations happened over all the ships in their little ragtag fleet, with similar conclusions drawn. For most of the non-human crew, like Neelix and Tuvok, the planet held little appeal. For a sizable amount of the humans in the fleet, like Shepherd and Harry Kim, it felt like a betrayal of those they were travelling back home to. For others, like the Doctor and Tom Paris, this small collection of ships was the only choice they felt they had.

Shepherd, as an intelligence officer, noted the resolve appear on the various crew. So after they had left the planet, a few mysteries solved, he saw that there a sort of listlessness with quite a few crew members. Maybe even some buyers remorse about choices made, or a general acceptance of their situation. Morale was a killer if not nurtured properly. And that could destroy a ship just as easily as a spread of photon torpedoes.

He put a plan in motion. The following week, with the cooperation of Neelix, there was a 'Welcome Home' party on the various ships. People presented their own pieces of home through cooking, music, art pieces, and even samples of holodeck dramas. The key part was that Shepherd made sure to add was to include the creations made by the various crew members. Harry Kim's band played an original composition in the corner. B'elanna's combination of Klingon and Hispanic foods were on the table next to dishes made from Talaxian, Cardassian, Ocampan, Vulcan, Bajoran, Bolian, and even some Romulan cultures that Shepherd had learned on assignment once(though that one was mostly a huge punch bowl of replicated Romulan ale with a lot of various fruit juices mixed jn). The game of Pin the tail on the Kazon was a hit among the Ocampan children.

Janeway came up to Shepherd during the party, smiling as she drank something that might have been coffee, but smelled a tad alcoholic.

"Shepherd, every time I think I have you pinned down, you surprise me."

"Have to keep you guessing Captain. "

She raised her mug, "Good work. Now I'm going to take a turn at pinning the tail, show the kids how it's done."

With that, Janeway wobbled over to the line where the kids were waiting for turn to pin a tail onto a picture of Cullah making an expression of pain. Harry Kim somehow had a table lampshade on his head and the Delaney sisters were taking him out of the Mess Hall. Tom Paris was betting against Munro on an arm wrestling match between Torres and Biessman, and Neelix was showing everyone on the dance floor a traditional breakdance done on Talax.

Dances were shared, stories were told, and the night was enjoyed. Their planet of origin, no matter the species, was lightyears away, but their home was a group of ships moving at warp from one end of the galaxy to the other.

By FaxModem1.