Disclaimer: Sigh we all know that Paramount own the characters I just borrow them, and Im not making any money, yada yada yada… if only though they could have taken it upon themselves to borrow some of our storylines.
Author’s
Note: Righty here’s a little something that’s
slightly different. I like to think of it as altering things a
little. The scene set is Voyager has been in the Delta Quadrant
for 7 years and is on its way home as planned but there’s a
little twist to things. Kathryn Janeway has brought her niece
Katie Janeway-Ryan with her. When they left home 7 years ago the
girl was a Cadet in Star Fleet and Kathryn decided to allow her
to come on her first mission. A little far-fetched I know but
this was the first thing that came into my head when I heard of
the competition coming up. So I rolled with it. Enjoy!
Kathryn Janeway
took a deep calming breath and activated her comm.
“Janeway to
Chakotay “
“Chakotay
here”
“Report to
sickbay immediately”
“Aye Captain”
Hearing his voice
made her feel worse. He was so caring and kind to her. Ever
considerate of her feelings. She wondered often how he still felt
about her. She shook her head and scolded herself for thinking of
herself at a time like this, how could she. Still it was a
welcoming distraction. She glanced over at the bio bed where her
niece lay gasping for breath as the doctor tried frantically to
help her. She bit on her lip trying to hold back the tears. She
never told her, why had she never told her? It looked like it
would be to late now. The doctor interrupted her thoughts.
“I'm sorry
Captain I don’t know what else to do, I’ve never seen a
case like this before and frankly I just don’t know how to
treat her. I’ve stabilised her and she is comfortable but
still unconscious. I’m really sorry.”
With that he
turned away back to his patient and Kathryn was left with the
numbness that engulfed her. The doors of sickbay swooshed open
and Chakotay walk in looking anxious.
“What’s
going on Kathryn?” He realised she was crying. “What
happened to Katie? Kathryn? Kathryn?” he asked his
voice full of concern. He took her in his arms and walked them
over to the bio bed.
“I never
told her Chakotay” she whispered
“Shussh
Kathryn it’s all right, im sure she knew whatever it was”
he replied holding her tightly.
“No you don’t
understand Chakotay,” huge sobs racked her body and she felt
herself loose control. “I never told her, Chakotay I never
told her the truth.” she bit her lip. “I'm her mother.”
Chakotay didn’t
know which shocked him more. The fact that Kathryn was Katie’s
mother or the fact that she was crying unstoppably. Kathryn felt
a wave of dizziness pass over and welcomed the black peacefulness
that followed.
“Morning everyone.” Katie beamed as she exited the turbo lift glancing around for her Aunt.
“Morning
Katie, she’s in her ready room.” Chakotay replied
catching her glance and smiling. He loved seeing Katie on the
bridge her youthful cheer reminded him of his sister. She brought
a pleasant air to the sometimes tension filled bridge. He watched
her walk towards the ready room. She was so like Kathryn in
someways he thought fondly.
“Enter.”
Captain Janeway called in her most authoritative voice. “Oh
its just you I was expecting Ensign Murphy.” Kathryn looked
at Katie fondly “You know what I mean.”
“Nice to see
you to Aunty Kath.”
“I'm sorry,
the last couple of days have been really crazy around here.”
she grinned sheepishly “I’m sorry I couldn’t make
dinner the other night. How are things going in Astrometrics with
Seven?”
“Not too bad,
actually that’s why I'm here, I have the new proposals from
Seven on improving our sensors. She was going to bring them up
herself but I volunteered. I thought it might give us a moment to
catch up.” She smiled fondly at her Aunt
Kathryn was aware that Katie was saying something to her but she wasn’t focusing on what it was. She was always doing that lately, whenever she saw her daughter her mind was plunged into turmoil whether she should tell her the truth or not. Why was this bothering her lately? She had been able to cope for the last 25 years why couldn’t she cope now? Allowing her sister to raise her child had been one of the hardest things she had ever had to do, but she was starting her career then and she would not have accomplished any of this had she not made what she felt at the time to be the right decision. Lately though, as she watched her daughter become even more of an adult she wondered had it been the right one all along. She had tried so many times to tell her but she was afraid. It took something to make Kathryn Janeway afraid and the rejection of her only daughter was it. She became aware that Katie had stopped talking. She glanced over at her.
“Katie?
Katie are you alright?”
She wasn’t
answering her but from the expression of panic on her face
Kathryn new something was wrong. She stood and made her way
towards her daughter in time to catch her as she collapsed.
“Janeway to
the Bridge, medical emergency two to beam directly to sickbay.”
The lights in
sickbay added to her daze and confusion as Kathryn Janeway tried
to pull herself into a sitting position. Instantly she felt
Chakotay’s arm around her soothing her.
“Chakotay
how is she?” she whispered
“I'm sorry
Kathryn there’s been no improvement. Lie down and rest for a
while you’ve suffered a huge shock.”
“No I can’t
Chakotay I have to stay by her side. I have to tell her the truth
the moment she wakes up.”
“About that
Kathryn, I don’t even know where to start. How? Why?”
“I'm sorry
Chakotay,” she couldn’t look him in the eye “I
know I should have told her and you but I had my reasons”
She glanced up at
him and he realised he had never had as much love for this woman
as he did now. He was seeing a side of Kathryn Janeway rarely
shown. Her vulnerable side. After making plans to make dinner for
her he left sickbay vowing to find a cure to save Katie to allow
Kathryn’s torment to end.
Days and
sleepless nights folded into weeks. Eventually they made some
progress. It was Seven of Nine who was to be the heroine in the
bitter saga. She had heard of what had happened to Katie and had
taken it upon herself to visit. She like most of the crew shared
a certain affection for the young Cadet and was certain she had
the answer to the mystery. After many test simulations with the
Commander she took it upon herself to broach the Captain with the
good news. She went straight to sickbay knowing the Captain spent
her every waking moment beside her daughter.
“Captain,”
she announced as she walked into Sickbay
“Seven it's
nice to see you,” Kathryn tried her best to put forward a
brave front but nothing got passed Seven’s watchful eye.
“I believe I
might have the solution to the problem.”
Kathryn instantly
became alert. “Go on.”
“This
illness is quite a common illness among the Borg, it affects them
in the same way a cold affects humans. However I can see it has
somewhat more serious affects on Humans,” she paused, “The
Commander and I have been secretly working on a cure for weeks
now, and I believe that we have adapted it enough for it to be
safely used on your daughter”
Hearing Seven
refer to Katie as her daughter made Kathryn stiffen, so everybody
knew. Well it was bound to happen sooner or later. There were few
kept secrets on a ship this size. She would deal with that
problem later. All she truly cared about now was her daughter’s
safety and well being.
“How exactly
would Katie have contracted a Borg cold?” the Doctor
enquired suspiciously
“That’s
really quite simple. I obtained the virus last month when we went
onboard the old Borg cube and as I was working quite closely with
Katie it is possible that she may have contracted the virus from
me. A simple injection of nanoprobes should cure the virus
immediately.”
“Seven you
should have reported to me that you were feeling unwell.”
the doctor scolded
“Captain?”
Seven ignored the Doctor’s fleeting concern and turned to
wait for her instructions
“Proceed
with the injection,” Kathryn replied, feeling as if a huge
weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
Within minutes
Katie was regaining consciousness and Kathryn braced herself for
the hardest task she was ever going to encounter.
Later that night
Kathryn felt herself finally relax on Chakotay’s couch.
“Well?”
He asked impatiently, “Have I to stand here waiting or do I
have to beat what happened out of you?”
Kathryn smiled to
herself and replied “I told her Chakotay,” she said
simply and continued “while I think it will take some time
for her to get used to I believe she was glad to realise that she
wasn’t as far away from her mother as she had thought. Of
course she’ll always be close to Phoebe but on the bright
side mother’s day will no longer be filled with deep pangs
of guilt and regret for me!”
“That’s
wonderful Kathryn. It will make for some interesting gossip in
the mess hall though."
Kathryn Janeway
winced at this comment. She was never one who liked people
speculating about her personal life. But she decided to throw all
caution to the wind. Heck! She had made one major declaration
today so why not continue as she meant to carry on.
She breathed
deeply and said calmly “I’ve learned something from
this experience though.”
“What's that?”
“Well,”
she said nervously “I’ve learned that keeping secrets
from those close to you is definitely not a good idea,” She
smiled that crooked smile he loved so much. “That’s why,”
she continued, "I’ve decided to do this!” And with
that she leaned over and kissed her Commanding Officer suddenly.
The shock on his face was too much for Kathryn to handle and she
giggled.
“I'm sorry
Chakotay I felt that was the easiest way to let you know how I
feel…” she blushed, “You have been so good to me
the last few weeks, I couldn’t have gotten through them
without you. It made me realise how much I depend on you and how
I wouldn’t be able to cope if I lost you.” she fiddled
with her commbadge her heart beating rapidly at having been so
freely expressed.
“Oh Kathryn,
I love you so much” he replied pulling her close to him
She looked up at
him slipped her arms around his neck and moved closer until their
lips met in one of the most passionate kisses she had ever
experienced.
Sighing happily she lay back in Chakotay’s arms. Gazing contentedly out the window she thought to her self that this was one of the few days she didn’t feel quite so alone in the Delta Quadrant.
THE END!