Disclaimer: Paramount owns all. I'm just playing.
Summary: The Liberty locates a strange anomaly, while Kathryn hears some surprising news about the anomalous behaviour of an old friend.
~~~
B'Elanna was trying her hardest not to pace – a wise decision, given that the cramped confines of the Liberty's sickbay left little room for anxious Captains to stride around. She crossed her arms over her chest and took a few deep breaths, hoping this would calm her. As she did so, her gaze shifted from the sickbed where Kes lay unconscious to survey the rest of the room. It hadn't taken the doctor long to make the room his once again. He and Kes had been living on the Liberty for about a week now. Any hint of untidiness or disuse that had arisen in his absence was now banished. If it wasn't for the lack of so many of their crew, she could almost imagine they were back in the Delta Quadrant again.
B'Elanna caught herself daydreaming and shook her head sharply. She most certainly did not wish for those days again! There was, however, an eerie sense of déjà vu in seeing the young Ocampan woman lying prone on the bed while the anxious doctor leant over her, his tricorder humming softly. Poor Kes had already suffered severe illness while in the Delta Quadrant – her poisoning at the hands of Jonas – where only her unique Ocampan physiology had saved her life, while Sam Wildman had perished. B'Elanna's lips thinned tightly at the memory. Jonas, and Seska too, had much to pay for.
Louis Zimmerman's soft voice brought her out of her brooding.
"As far as I can see there isn't really anything wrong with her", he said. "There's no sign of physical injury. No trace of bacteria, virus, or disease."
"There's obviously something wrong", B'Elanna said unthinkingly, flushing slightly at the realization she was stating the obvious. With Jonas fresh in her mind, she added, "Could it be the delayed after-effect of something? Like that poison that nearly killed her?"
The doctor raised his eyebrow, but if he thought it a stupid suggestion he didn't say so, merely shaking his head.
"I suppose that was a while ago", B'Elanna said, feeling a little foolish.
"The juice from the Kuta berry, native to Ferenginar, enters the victim's bloodstream and remains dormant for several months", Zimmerman remarked. "Only when it has matured significantly inside the body does it begin to have any effect on the victim's physiology. It makes it very difficult to diagnose the source of the illness."
B'Elanna smiled at him wryly, then sank into a chair beside the bed. "Thanks. But I'll leave the diagnosing to you."
"There are high concentrations of neurotransmitters in her hypothalamus", Louis said, shutting the tricorder and placing it on the nearest console. "I don't think that's a coincidence."
"What does that mean?"
"We know that Kes' mental abilities have been developing rapidly. She told me she planned to continue the program of meditation that Tuvok had taught her."
B'Elanna frowned. "Did she have some kind of telepathic overload?"
Louis smiled weakly at her engineering analogy. "I think it might be something like that. I won't know until she wakes up, though. The levels are dropping gradually, and I don't think she's in any danger, physically at least."
"Bridge to Torres".
Louis noted that the Klingon woman seemed to grimace slightly at the hail.
"B'Elanna here, what's up?"
"We're detecting something strange on long range sensors."
"Would you care to be more specific?"
"It's some kind of singularity. I'm reading extremely high levels of chronoton particles. And another thing, there's a Starship nearby."
B'Elanna's eyes darkened. "Starfleet? What are they doing?"
"It may just be a science vessel, but they appear to have suffered some damage. I'm scanning them." The man's voice paused, then continued. "B'Elanna, it's the USS Potemkin."
B'Elanna uttered a low snarl and pushed herself out of the chair in one swift movement. "I'll be right there. Set a course for the anomaly."
"Done".
B'Elanna glanced at the doctor, who appeared puzzled by her reaction. "That's no science vessel. That's the ship that was chasing Chakotay and Tom", she explained, as she hurried for the door. "Keep me posted on Kes' condition", she threw over her shoulder as she left.
Louis sighed and stared morosely down at his young patient. "I'll wait here", he said.
~~~
"And after all that, it was just one more dead end." Kathryn snorted, and slapped her hand down on her knee in frustration. "I knew it already, but we had to go there anyway."
On the other end of the comm channel, her sister nodded. "Did you confirm that your friends had been to the colony? I mean, B'Elanna and the other Maquis?"
If Kathryn noticed the slip she didn't comment. "We think so. They were sighted in a bar quite close to the research facility. But we still don't have any proof, and we don't know where they went afterwards. The components they stole are long gone, and are virtually untraceable. The only other lead we have is a vague one, from the Starship Potemkin."
"The Potemkin?"
"They claim they were chasing two Maquis fighters who'd stolen a ship on Deep Space Nine". Kathryn felt her stomach tighten, thinking of the rumours that Chakotay had been sighted there. "The ship flew into some kind of anomaly, which damaged the Potemkin so it couldn't chase them. The smaller ship just disappeared. That isn't much for us to go on."
Noting her sister's pensive face, she sighed. "I'm sorry, Phoebe, I shouldn't be boring you with all of this."
"I don't mind. Actually I'm finding it interesting. Besides, you sound like you need to get all of this off your chest." She hesitated, as if weighing up what to say next. "Kath, this might sound like an odd question, but is this a secure line?"
Kathryn smiled at her weakly. "I'm using an encrypted channel, yes. I'm sure it's not standard procedure for family calls, but these days…" she trailed off, but it was obvious what she had been about to say. Kathryn's own words had been used against her recently, and she had no desire to give her enemies any further ammunition.
"I am glad I can talk to you, Phoebe. Did you know that Tuvok was recalled a week ago?"
"I'd heard that, yes. That's why I was calling, about Tuvok."
Kathryn went on as if she hadn't heard her. "It's been a long time since I've felt this isolated on a ship. Its not just that I need someone to talk to frankly about everything that's going on. It's this crazy sense of paranoia that I'm developing. You know, the other day I saw Lieutenant Kumuda-" she broke off suddenly, frowning. "What did you say about Tuvok?"
"I said that was why I'm calling. I was wondering, why do you think they sent him with you in the first place, only to recall him later, and replace him with… what's did you say her name was?"
"Kumuda", Kathryn said tightly.
Her new chief of security was conducting herself well, on the outside. She seemed to be a by-the-book officer – polite and efficient. And loyal, Kathryn assumed, to whoever had sent her to keep an eye on Voyager's Captain. There was nothing in the young woman's behaviour that she could fault, and yet her very presence was a rub. How could it not smart to know that Tuvok had been recalled simply because he was her friend and confidante?
"Right, Kumuda. Why not just post him somewhere else in the first place?"
"I've been thinking about that. It seems to me that if he'd been reassigned while we were both on earth we could have done something about it. We both have friends there, we both know people with influence. Out here," she shrugged, thinking of Kumuda's polite and deliberate distance, "the Captain is alone."
Phoebe's face darkened at the tone of resignation in her sister's voice.
"I thought you said your first officer had been quite affable lately."
"He has. It's quite odd. I think he might actually be making an effort to be a friend." She thought about the casual game of velocity they had played, and how the invitation had been repeated once, then again, until it became a regular appointment for them both. "I know I thought that Groot had some kind of sway over him earlier. But after our little tete-a-tete in the caves on Jotham Four, I really don't think he was that involved in this whole thing." She shrugged. "Maybe Groot just used his influence to try and keep him in line."
"It can't help that you're suspicious of everyone these days", Phoebe noted.
Kathryn nodded. "I know. Damned conspiracies! It's hard to know who knows what, and who has done what. When I confronted Cavitt in the caves he said he didn't know what they were planning to do with Tuvok, he only knew that they wanted him away from me."
"Do you think he was telling you the truth?"
Kathryn allowed a small smile to escape her lips. "Yes, as crazy as that sounds. He seemed genuinely afraid of what I knew about him. Or rather what I was pretending to know. At any rate, he told me who informed Starfleet that trading the transwarp specs was my idea." Her smile became a grimace. "I'd been wondering about that for weeks now."
"Who was it?"
Kathryn waved off the question. "No one important." Phoebe seemed about to argue, so she continued quickly. "It won't be any help to us in trying to track down the Cardassians, and Jonas and Seska, which is the important thing."
Phoebe bit her lip, as if deciding whether to argue with her, but didn't push any further.
"Cavitt also said that his own reports about our behaviour helped to spur the decision."
Phoebe frowned. "His reports of what?"
"Apparently it was a cause of some concern that I appeared to spend many hours in my ready room in conversation with my security chief", she said dryly. "Who knows what the two of us were plotting?"
"What were you plotting?"
Something about Phoebe's expression hinted that her question was a serious one. Kathryn shrugged again. "Nothing. We were just talking about how ignorant we felt, and how frustrated we both were. Plotting didn't come into it." She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Why?"
"Because it seems that recalling Tuvok to earth like that was a big mistake on their part."
"Why?"
"That's what I wanted to tell you. He's gone AWOL. I thought you might know why."
Kathryn sat bolt upright in her chair, knocking a padd onto the floor in her surprise. "He what?"
Phoebe pulled a face. "I see you didn't know."
"When did this happen?"
"Last night. I was talking to a friend, you know Tony, who works in security?"
Kathryn nodded.
"According to Tony", Phoebe continued, "Tuvok was supposed to be reporting in to headquarters yesterday for his reassignment. He didn't show up. They ordered a security detail to check up on him – unobtrusively of course."
"Of course".
"They followed him out to the dockyards, where he was picked up by ship. They don't know who was flying it, or where it came from. Whoever it was, they were one hell of a pilot. They were able to get past all the Starfleet protocols."
Kathryn was silent for a moment, digesting the news. "I can't believe it", she said eventually. "Tuvok? That's so unlike him. Where could he be going? And with who?"
Phoebe shook her head helplessly. "I don't know. I thought you might know something about it."
Kathryn couldn't help glowering at that. "How would I know? Starfleet are obviously not interested in telling me anything."
Phoebe seemed not to notice her irritation. "This morning when I checked my mail there was a message for me. Someone had encrypted it and set it on time delay."
"Who?"
"Tuvok. It was a short message, only six words actually. I don't know what it means, but I assumed you would."
"What was it?"
Phoebe leant forward in her chair a little and recited the message, "'Kathryn, go to the Olbäk system".
Kathryn stared at her. "That's it?"
"That's it. What are you going to do?"
Kathryn sighed, but there was a curious rustling inside her chest she hadn't felt for some time now. It was hope – hope that whatever Tuvok's cryptic message meant, it would finally lead her to some sort of resolution. She squared her shoulders, and smiled at her sister.
"I suppose I'm going to the Olbäk system".
~~~
Chakotay watched Tom Paris' fingers idly as they flew over the controls of the stolen ship.
"If B'Elanna's calculations are correct, we should emerge no more than a few metres away from where we were pulled into this anomaly", he remarked.
Tom grunted.
"From what I can tell, this B'Elanna seems just as trustworthy on these matters as our B'Elanna."
He peered at Tom for a few moments as the young man continued to ignore him.
"You're awfully quiet today."
At that one corner of Tom's mouth quirked. "And you're complaining?"
Chakotay let out a small chuckle. "That's more like it. Actually, you've been quiet pretty the whole time we were on Voyager."
"Can't a man enjoy a little peace and quiet?"
"Not you, Paris."
The younger man snorted. "Right. Like you'd know."
Chakotay was struck by the acrid tone of his voice. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing."
Normally Chakotay would have let Tom's remark go, but over the past few days their unique experience on Voyager had created a strange sort of bond between them. They were both strangers in a familiar, yet alien place. Their experiences of disorientation were oddly similar. As, Chakotay suspected, were their attempts to make sense of the behaviour of their counterparts in this universe. This Chakotay, he'd discovered, had served loyally as Kathryn Janeway's first officer for seven years.
He'd learned both from what Kathryn had and hadn't told him that their personal relationship had been much less stable. They'd been attracted to each other, but neither had acted openly on the attraction. An odd sort of understanding had developed between them, a recognition of something they both wanted but felt they couldn't have. This had been followed by Chakotay's frustrated attempts to provoke her into action – dalliances with several alien women, even with younger crewmembers, all to no avail. This Kathryn had been hurt by his behaviour but did nothing, made no move to close the distance that gradually seeped between them. Now they remained friends, but the years of unspoken desires and hurts and disappointments stood between them like an invisible wall. It prevented them both from taking any further steps, either to admit that they were only friends, or to try and tear it down and try for a belated chance at something more.
From the things Kathryn didn't say – the curious longing in her eyes, the way she stiffened when he touched her – Chakotay divined that she was less than happy with this status quo. Her refusal to discuss the matter, however, even with him, spoke of her unwillingness to take the first step in changing it. For his part, he'd left with a sense of profound relief that he and his Kathryn had not kept their feelings bottled away. He also felt a growing unease about the way they had parted. Both knew their situation was fraught, and had not made any promises. But Kathryn at least had spoken of her feelings, on that last night they had spent in his quarters on the Liberty. With a sense of shame he realised he had never told her that he loved her. At the time, the words had seemed superfluous. Now they were not together, he wished he had offered her something as heartfelt as the farewell she had recorded for him before leaving Jotham Four.
Tom Paris, he knew, had spent most of his time onboard Voyager talking with B'Elanna. Given their history it was not surprising he wanted to avoid Kathryn. Chakotay couldn't help wondering how the brash young man had felt about the metamorphosis his counterpart had undergone.
"Come on", he said, "if you have something to say, out with it."
Tom snorted again. "I just mean that you don't know a great deal about me, Chakotay."
Peering him out of the corner of his eye, Chakotay decided to keep pushing.
"I heard that Voyager's Tom Paris was the author of some rather interesting holo-programs over the years."
Tom chuckled at that. "Who knew I was that creative?"
"Not to mention that lucky in love."
Tom drew in a sharp breath at that, and Chakotay wondered whether he'd gone too far. Given Tom's feelings for Kathryn, this was sensitive ground, to say the least.
"B'Elanna's Tom doesn't sound that much like me", the younger man said, after a few moments had passed. "He sounds much better than me, in fact."
Chakotay frowned. "Better than you?"
"A better person. He's a good man."
Chakotay considered his next words carefully.
"You're not a bad person, Tom. You've just made some bad choices, that's all. People do that. It doesn't mean they can't move on, and change for the better."
Tom was sitting very still now, and Chakotay wondered if he was going to become angry. To his surprise, he saw a very clear flicker of distress cross his blue eyes. Tom continued to stare intently at the forward viewscreen, although the ship was carrying them automatically towards the right coordinates in the singularity. At that moment Chakotay was reminded that two of his closest friends, Kathryn Janeway and B'Elanna Torres, had both seen potential in this man, and had sought his friendship. Was it only the shadow of Kathryn that stood in-between them for all these weeks? Or had he been so fooled by Tom's brash defense mechanisms that he'd been simply unwilling to see what they had seen? For a man who considered himself a good judge of character, it was a sobering thought.
When Tom finally replied his voice was very quiet.
"Do you think there are some things that are unforgivable? Some choices?"
Chakotay wondered what he could be talking about. The behaviour that saw him expelled from the Academy? His decision to join the Maquis, and later lead Voyager to them in the Badlands? Or was it something that had happened afterwards, on the Liberty?
"I don't know Tom", he said slowly. "I'd be the last person to say they're proud of their past. There are things that I've done-", he hesitated, shaking his head. "No. I don't think you can hide from who you are and what you've done. The past is a part of you, but it can shape you without defining you. It's who you were, rather than what you are now. Acknowledging that can help you to move on." Still thinking of himself, Chakotay added, "I know this much - you can't expect other people to forgive you, if you can't forgive yourself."
Tom stiffened again, one arm clearly gripping tightly to the arm of his chair. Chakotay wondered again what he could be hiding that distressed him so much.
"We're going through".
Chakotay tore his eyes away from Tom's face and glanced at the viewscreen. Eddies of pink and red were swirling around the small ship, pulling them forwards into the anomaly.
"Shields are holding."
"We should be through in seven seconds", Tom reported, his voice much more steady now. "Four, three, two…"
The little ship rattled audibly as the singularity spat them out the other side. Still, B'Elanna's repairs and advice had assured that this time through the ride was much less bumpy.
"Starboard impulse engine is down", Tom said.
"At least we're both conscious this time".
"Speak for yourself".
Chakotay swallowed his reply as his console chirped. "Oh oh", he said.
The bow of a Starship loomed up out of the darkness.
"The Potemkin."
"She must have been sitting here, waiting for us to come back out."
"Great". Chakotay ran his fingers over the controls. "Can you get us out of here?"
"I'll do my best. They're hailing us."
"Ignore them."
"I'm sure neglect will make them go away. Starboard engine still not responding."
"Backup systems?"
"I don't think this ship has any."
"Then get us out of here with just one engine."
"They're trying to tractor us."
"Evasive maneuvers."
Tom swore. "I can't. They've pinned us down. They're hailing again."
Chakotay punched several commands into his console, sending an EM surge back along the tractor beam. The little ship lurched forwards again as it disconnected.
"I really hate those things", Tom commented.
"I'd hate them more if they worked like they were supposed to."
"True", Tom replied, grinning.
The ship shuddered, and steam began venting from an aft deck plate.
"We're hit on the port side. They're firing again", Tom reported.
"Can you give us any more speed?"
"Negative."
"Damn it! They're trying to beam us out."
"I'm strengthening the shields."
Another explosion rocked the ship.
"I take that back", Tom said, "shields are gone".
Chakotay's sardonic reply was lost in the shimmering of the transporter beam. Both man scrambled to their feet as they materialized, ready to attack their assailants with their bare hands if necessary.
"Oh my gods!" Chakotay exclaimed, his hands frozen in place, as he stared at the woman before him.
Tom merely laughed.
"No", B'Elanna said, echoing his laugh with one of her own, "it's just me. Welcome back to the Liberty".
Speechless, Chakotay could only pull his old friend into a fierce hug.
~~~
end of part twenty eight
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