Story Notes: A continuation of the "Payments" series, following "
Cash On Delivery
."
NO DEPOSIT, NO RETURN
Chakotay stood uneasily, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, waiting for Janeway to look up from her computer screen. But she was fully absorbed in her work and hadn't even noticed that he was in the room.
Finally, he cleared his throat.
"Oh, you're back from HQ," she said. "Good. I've been going over the mission protocols and I--" She broke off at the expression on his face. "What?"
Now that he had her attention, he found himself hesitating. "It's about the crew manifest," he said at last.
"What about it?" Her face fell. "Don't tell me there's a problem. We're launching in less than a week--the last thing we need is to worry about replacing any of our officers."
Wordlessly, he handed her the padd he was holding.
She began to read. He could have sworn he saw a look of amusement pass over her face, but it vanished quickly and was replaced by disbelief.
"This is--"
"Not a joke," he finished. "The Admiral is dead serious."
"This is completely unprecedented," she said, with a slight frown. "I can't recall ever seeing or even hearing about anything like this before." She scrolled through it once more. "Well, despite that, it certainly looks authentic."
"Are you going to sign?" he asked. The request didn't come out as casually as he'd have liked. He held his breath while he waited for her response.
"I'm not sure," she said slowly. "I can appreciate the rationale behind it, but this directive infringes on the captain's right--the fundamental right--to assign her crew to any positions and stations she deems appropriate. It would also play havoc with the composition of our away teams a good deal of the time."
His heart plummeted. He hadn't expected her to react like this, even in his most paranoid moments. He had steeled himself for any number of responses, including laughter, but not a refusal. The Admiral had made it very clear that without Janeway's signature, his Starfleet career was history. He opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it. She was rereading the padd yet again.
He reminded himself how supportive and helpful she'd been throughout the matter of his little cash-flow problem. It had been her idea, after all, for him to go on the lecture circuit. She hadn't even minded him milking his 'angry warrior' legend for all it was worth--though he freely admitted that he'd never have guessed what a crowd-pleaser it turned out to be.
She had also been the one to suggest selling autographs, and she'd roped Tom and B'Elanna and the rest of the senior staff into joining them at the various 'Voyager Appreciation Conventions' that sprang up as a result. That had also worked out well, even though Tom had insisted on a cut of the profits; Chakotay hadn't really minded too much, as he suspected Tom had had dealings of his own with the General Accounting Office.
Yes, through it all, Kathryn had been at his side, not even batting an eye when well-meaning but obtuse fans would ask questions like, "What does a first officer do, anyway?" or want to hear about some of their run-ins with the Borg. Chakotay knew that Janeway was sick to death of the Borg and devoutly hoped to never hear the words, "Collective" or "Queen" and especially the number seven ever again. (He'd heartily agreed.) But was it possible she'd turn her back on him now?
He heard a deep sigh as Janeway reached for a stylus. "I'm doing this against my better judgment," she told him.
He nodded, trying not to look too triumphant. "I know that, Captain, and I do appreciate it." He took the padd from her, before she could change her mind. "I'll just run this back to the Admiral's office."
She waved him away, already intent upon her work.
Outside, Chakotay checked the signature and read the pertinent lines once more:
I, Captain Kathryn Janeway, do solemnly swear that I will not allow Commander Chakotay to handle the controls or even sit at the helm position on vessels belonging to Starfleet, the Federation or its allies, under any circumstance. This stipulation applies equally to all craft, ranging from shuttles to runabouts to starships, those having warp drive or capable of sublight speeds only. The only exception to this ban is an escape pod in the event of a crisis of ship-wide proportions.
He shrugged off any lingering resentment and tried to look at the bright side. At least they were letting him leave Earth, despite the large debt he still owed. And Voyager's new mission involved a return to the Delta Quadrant. He knew from experience that Starfleet rulings didn't always carry as much weight 70,000 light years away.
FINIS