The Hands of Time
Part IX
Rated: MA
Pairing: J/C
Summary: The hands of time stop for no one.
Disclaimer: The characters always belong the Paramount, and some of the script, but the story is mine...thank god for small favours.
Date: November 2000
Length: 652 words words
Kathryn looked around headquarters, they seemed so much smaller than the last time she had been there seven years prior. But that had been seven years ago and a lot had changed. She smoothed her hands down the front of her uniform. Yes she would have to loose the baby weight. She hoped no one noticed, Kathryn needed to look professional going in.
As she thought back to the last time she had been here, all business, she realized...time had changed her. Love had changed her. Chakotay had changed her. There was no going back, life for Kathryn Janeway - whether or not she was Captain - would never be the same again. She decided she looked professional enough, so she walked into Admiral Aurora's office. She looked into his eyes trying to gage a reaction. She knew he had studied her and her record meticulously. She also noticed, he was not someone she knew personally or was close to in any way. *I'm going to get hanged. I'm going to be the sacrificial lamb.* She knew what was coming. "Admiral", she acknowledged.
He sneered at her. "Captain Janeway, there seems to be more of you than the last time you stepped into Starfleet headquarters. What's wrong? No time to practice basic Starfleet exercise regiments in the Delta Quadrant?"
Kathryn was fuming, but she refused to let it show. How could she explain to this narrow-minded admiral all that they had gone through in the Delta Quadrant on the Voyager? How could she explain the many Maquis-Starfleet relationships, which had formed, on her ship? How could she express the love and devotion she felt for not only Chakotay, but Ris as well. How could she explain the situation they had been placed in? How could she tell him of everything that had happened to them over the past seven years?
Finally, how could Kathryn explain to this Admiral that she was tired of watching her life pass her by?
In the end, Kathryn decided it was best to just tell it as it was. "Admiral, I just had a baby, less than a week ago." She saw the look of surprise cross the admiral's features. "My son, Ris Chance Janeway is with his father. My Maquis Commander aboard Voyager." Admiral Aurora's eyes continued to widen as she continued her story. "I actually delivered two babies at that birth, Addy...she didn't make it back with us." Kathryn had tears in her eyes as she finished her story. "So Admiral, you'll excuse me if I'm not the best company or example of Starfleet Officer today."
Without being excused or receiving an answer to her statement, she turned around and left the Admiral's Company.
Kathryn was just so angry. All she wanted was to make these people understand. To make them see that they didn't have a choice, or if they did have a choice, it was an unacceptable one. Fifty more years in the Delta Quadrant was an unacceptable choice. Fifty years of hell or one year of discomfort to her and Chakotay.
For Chakotay - and for herself, she had to back to the ship and see Ris. He needed her right now. She proceeded to the beam out sight and transported back to Voyager. Once there she made a beeline straight for her quarters.
She opened the door and encountered her love. Chakotay was there, with the child. She quickened her step meeting him in an embrace full of love and hope.
She only hoped that the hug was not strewn with misgivings for the days ahead.
END PART IX
TBC in PART X
