Title:
A Stitch in Time
Author: Whoa Nellie ([email protected])
Series: Voyager
Rating:
NC-17
Codes:
J/C
Synopsis: Admiral Janeway's actions in Endgame have
interstellar consequences.
Author's
Notes: This story is not part of any of
our universes--believe it or not, it fits perfectly (we hope) into the Star
Trek canon universe post-Nemesis. It
was inspired by a challenge on the Trekbbs, but this is an extended version
since that challenge limited the story to 2500 words and PG-13. This was posted to ASC on April 19, 2006.
Acknowledgements: Paramount owns all the marbles, we just have
a lot more fun playing with them.
Feedback
is always appreciated, posted or
e-mail.
Whoa
Nellie's Romance Star Trek Fan Fiction Stories
http://whoanellie.fortunecity.com
A
STITCH IN TIME
Hums and clicks filled the air as the
drones worked. The Voyager vessel had
brought chaos to their perfection, but the drones had found one small spark of
coherence in the confusion and clung to it with a singular purpose: survival.
The high-pitched whine of assimilation instruments ceased and they all
stepped back to watch and wait. Their
new queen soon awoke and with her consciousness came a new focus, a stronger
sense of purpose than ever before and it transmitted instantly to all of the
remaining drones throughout the universe.
..................................................
"Come," Admiral Kathryn Janeway
called in response to her office door chime.
She pushed aside the copious PADDs cluttering her desk. Following their triumphant return from the
Delta Quadrant, she had been offered a promotion. She hadn't really wanted a desk job, although the peace and quiet
were enjoyable after seven years of constant strain. The Dominion War had decimated the ranks of Starfleet, however,
so while there were more experienced and more decorated captains than she, her
experiences in bringing two disparate crews together and surviving the Delta
Quadrant would be invaluable in helping to rebuild a Federation that had not
truly fought an extended, all-out war in centuries. That just didn't make the administrative minutiae any less tedious.
Chakotay stepped into her office, pausing
just inside the threshold.
"Admiral."
She smiled warmly and moved around her
desk to welcome him. "Chakotay,
this is a pleasant surprise. I thought
you were part of the team sent to Romulus after the Shinzon incident."
"I was," he acknowledged. "Praetor Donatra was very anxious to
establish cordial relations with us, especially after that whole affair."
Janeway leaned against the edge of her
desk, anxious to hear about his experiences.
"Did you really meet Ambassador Spock?"
"I've spent a great deal of time
talking with him," Chakotay acknowledged.
"Although he wasn't quite what I'd expected." He settled himself into the chair she
gestured toward and continued.
"After all of those years with Tuvok, I was surprised by his
personality--very Vulcan but more relaxed, almost personable."
Eying her former First Officer
speculatively, she observed.
"Somehow I don't think you came by to discuss Vulcan
personalities."
"No," he knew he couldn't delay
the inevitable any longer. "You
should probably sit down."
"That can't be good, just come out
with it."
Chakotay stood and rested his hands on her
shoulders wondering idly how such a physically small woman could wield such a formidable
presence. "The Borg have taken
Romulus."
"What?" She felt all of the blood rush from her face
as visions of Borg cubes swarming through space flashed through her mind.
"While we were there, the Borg
appeared. They disabled the ships in
orbit and started assimilating the political and military leaders before anyone
even knew they were there," he explained.
Her mind already racing with thoughts of
defenses and tactics, Janeway's brow furrowed.
"That's not like them, they usually employ a direct, frontal
assault. That's an entirely different
tactic than anything we've seen from them before; something's changed."
His hands tightened their grip on her
shoulders. "I know and I know
what. The first warning we had was a
transmission from the new Borg Queen advising us that they had already taken
over the government and military along with the usual rhetoric about the
futility of resistance. We barely
managed to get Ambassador Spock and the Federation people out of there."
"New queen?"
"You," he said softly, his heart
constricting painfully at the look of horror on her face. "I think it was--"
"My older self," she finished
his sentence with a disgust. She pulled
away from him and began pacing the length of her office. "Without the queen, her mind would have
been the most coherent. Some of the
drones must have gotten away with her before the hub exploded."
Chakotay caught her mid-stride and forced
her to look at him.
"Admiral--Kathryn, this isn't your fault."
"Isn't it?" she retorted
angrily. "Braxton was held
responsible for something his future self did.
My future self breaks any number of Federation laws to come back to help
us and I get a promotion. Now my future
self is decimating whole populations and she wouldn't be here if it weren't for
me, so who am I supposed to blame?"
"Nobody," he replied. "I asked to be the one to tell you
about this because I knew how you'd react.
You're not alone, you don't have to--"
"Yes, I do have to go after
her," Janeway interrupted him, her jaw firmly set. "I know how she thinks and I have more
experience with the Borg Collective than anybody. I'm the best choice to go after her."
"We," he corrected her. "We have more experience with the Borg
than other Starfleet officers and I do have more than a little experience with
how you think. I'm not going to let you
take off in a shuttle on a suicide mission just because you feel sorry for
yourself. Whatever we do, we do
together, just like before."
A hint of a grin pulled at the corners of
her mouth. "I don't remember you
being quite so forceful back on Voyager."
He shrugged and his dimples flashed with
his smile. "Did it ever occur to
you that maybe I just didn't disagree with you all that much on Voyager?"
Her hands pressed into the strong wall of
his chest just briefly and then she pulled away. "I assume they're meeting to discuss this."
He understood the implied meaning in her
abrupt change of subject; nothing more needed to be said. "Yes, we're expected."
................................................
Janeway sized up the room as soon as Chakotay
and she entered. Admiral Owen Paris and
Admiral William Ross were talking quietly with Ambassador Spock. Taking her seat, she smiled and nodded a
silent greeting to the two admirals.
"Ambassador Spock, it's an honor to meet you."
Spock inclined his head toward her before
replying. "And I am of similar
mind in meeting you, Admiral Janeway, although the circumstances are most
unfortunate."
Admiral Ross got the meeting started
without further preamble. "We were
just discussing what reasons the Borg might have for taking Romulus. You would probably be in a better position
to offer a guess, Kathryn."
The implication in that statement felt
like he'd just punched her in the stomach.
She offered a suggestion before addressing that issue. "We should bring Seven in on
this--"
"Already done," Admiral Paris
informed her. "She's on her
way."
Janeway shot a startled look at Chakotay,
wondering why he hadn't brought Seven with him. Giving herself a mental shake, she forced her thoughts back to
the discussion at hand. What would she
do as the Borg Queen? "The Borg
were stopped at Wolf 359 in their last attempt on Earth. In the Delta Quadrant we managed to
outmaneuver them on a number of occasions.
My future self knows all of that in addition to several decades worth of
knowledge that I don't have about fighting the Borg. As queen she'll use all of that knowledge to her advantage. We have to assume that this is the first
step in her plan."
"But she attacked Romulus,"
Chakotay offered the slim hope he'd held onto, "couldn't that mean she's still loyal to the Federation?"
Under the table, Janeway reached for
Chakotay's hand and gave it a quick squeeze, grateful for his steadfast
support. "More likely she's
establishing a foothold. We've done
some damage to the ranks of the Borg with the Unimatrix Zero incident among
others. The Romulan Empire is in the
Beta Quadrant directly en route from the Delta Quadrant and offers billions of
drones to replenish those that the Collective has lost in recent years. She won't bother with another attempt to
manipulate history, she'll know all about the Pogo paradox and won't want to
inadvertently give us any advantage. My
guess is that she'll establish a unimatrix in Romulan space and launch an
assault on other powers including the Federation from there."
"Isn't it at all possible that
Commander Chakotay is right and she's an ally?" Admiral Paris asked.
"Doubtful," Janeway said. "I've been linked to the hive mind so I
know how overwhelming it can be.
Billions of minds looking to my future self's mind for focus and
direction will drown out anything else.
She's Borg now, even if she is the queen."
Chakotay offered a suggestion. "Admiral Janeway has been successful in
negotiating with the Borg in the past.
Given who the new queen is, she has a better chance than anyone at
talking with them."
Admiral Ross considered the
possibility. "All right, the
upgrades to Voyager acquired in the Delta Quadrant make it the best option for
a mission to Romulus. Commander
Chakotay, I'm promoting you to Captain and assigning you to take Voyager to do
what you can."
Janeway's reaction was immediate. "Admiral Ross--"
"Admiral Janeway," he cut off
her response. "I'm assigning you
to the mission as an advisor. You are
uniquely suited to deal with this new Borg Queen, but given the potential
psychological ramifications, I think it best if someone else has command of the
ship and the mission. Chakotay knows
almost as much about the Borg as you do, more importantly he knows you. You go as an advisor or not at all, your
choice."
Reluctantly, she nodded her acquiescence,
not pleased with the turn of events.
Admiral Paris proposed a defensive
strategy. "All right, with the
Enterprise E still in drydock, Captain Picard is available to help us organize
a defense in the event that the Borg continue on to Earth. We should put the fleet on alert, warn them
of Borg activity. Captain Chakotay,
good luck to you and your crew."
............................................................
Janeway looked around the room one last
time contemplating the possibility that the Borg would be assimilating
Earth. There were so many things that
she wanted to take with her just for sentimental reasons. Would they be here when she returned? Would she even be back in this house?
"Ready to go?" Chakotay
asked. "I let myself in, I hope
you don't mind."
She shook her head no. "I was just . . . "
"I know."
Her hands fumbled with the catch on her
bag. "I never congratulated you on
your promotion."
Chakotay laid his hand on top of hers to
still them. "I didn't ask for
this."
"Admiral Ross is right," Janeway
sighed, looking up at him. "It
makes more sense this way. There'll be
over a hundred crew members and they deserve a captain who'll be thinking of
them, not some crazy admiral arguing with herself."
"I've assigned the captain's quarters
to you," he said, ignoring her last comment. "Given all your tinkering with the replicator in those
quarters, I'll probably be better off in the guest quarters."
Janeway chuckled. "That replicator hates me and the
captain's quarters are rightfully yours anyway."
"I'll have your ready room," he
pointed out. "It will take me
awhile to think of Voyager as anything other than your ship." Before he could say any more, his
communicator chirped.
'Captain Chakotay, we've gone to red
alert. Prepare for emergency
transport.'
"Acknowledged," he replied as he
grabbed her bag. "Two to beam
up."
They materialized directly on the bridge
instead of in the transporter room. His
First Officer immediately filled Chakotay in on the situation and his words
hung heavily in the tension-filled room.
"Sir, the Borg are here."
"What?" Chakotay started to take his usual seat but
corrected himself to take the captain's chair without missing a beat. He pulled up the sensor display on his chair
console.
Seven and Axum had reported to the ship
just before the appearance of the Borg cubes.
They were working at the auxiliary tactical console and she provided him
with more detail. "Two Borg
vessels just appeared in orbit around Earth, sensor readings indicate that they
used a cloaking device to conceal their approach. From what we have been able to determine, they have transported a
large number of individuals from the surface onto the cubes. They have not fired weapons at this point; I
suggest we break orbit and set course out of this system. One vessel is not sufficient to mount a
defense against two Borg cubes."
"Who?" Janeway asked a second
before Chakotay.
The security chief supplied the answer,
only a slight tremor in his voice betraying the fact that he'd never seen a
Borg cube in person before. "The
members of the senate, the President of the Federation and every life sign on
the compound at Starfleet Headquarters."
Chakotay wanted to stay and fight, at
least try to beam up some people from the surface but who? Who should he save and who should he let be
assimilated? Common sense told him that
Seven was right, they were no match for two Borg cubes. Their best course of action was to cut and
run, warn the rest of the Federation and marshal the Starfleet vessels outside
of the system for a counterattack.
"Set course out of the system and engage Warp 1."
The helmsman turned around in his
chair. "Sir, the maximum speed
within the system--"
"I know," Chakotay snapped. "Just do it and increase speed to Warp
5 as soon as we're out of the Sol system.
Seven, monitor Earth on long range sensors for as long as you can; try
to gather as much intelligence as possible.
Ops, work with tactical to send coded transmissions to all Starfleet
vessels advising them of the situation.
We'll have to coordinate efforts without the aid of Starfleet
Headquarters. I'll be in my ready
room."
Janeway followed him into the ready room
feeling oddly in the way on what still felt like her bridge. "Cloaking devices," she sighed in
disgust. "That's why she stopped
to take Romulus."
"Why?" Chakotay asked. "Surely they've assimilated someone
with knowledge of cloaking technology; they could just build their own."
"Efficiency," she said. "They've never considered the cloak as
necessary or useful before so they discarded the knowledge as irrelevant. I would understand the advantage it provides
and it's quicker and easier to use existing technology. One of the Borg's primary weaknesses has
always been an inability to create. If
they can't assimilate it, they destroy it.
Good to know that I didn't eliminate all of their weaknesses."
"Admiral," Chakotay intoned
quietly.
She gave him a self-deprecating
shrug. "I meant my future self, of
course. She's good, she's taken out the
Romulan Star Empire and the United Federation of Planets without firing a
shot."
"She hasn't defeated the Federation
just yet," he countered. "We
still have a mission to complete, trying to get to her and stop this. This isn't over yet, not by a long
shot."
..................................................................
Chakotay entered the captain's quarters
and immediately felt a strong sense of deja vu'. For a split second it felt like they were still in the Delta
Quadrant and being back in the Alpha Quadrant had been just another surreal
dream. "Admiral, I thought you'd
like an update."
"Just leave it on the table,"
she murmured absently. She didn't even
know how long she'd been staring out the window at the passing stars lost in
thought.
He laid the PADD down as requested, but he
recognized that tone from their time in the starless region and wasn't about to
leave her alone. "Have you
eaten?"
"Thank you, Commander, that'll be
all."
Chakotay walked over to the window and
drew her gaze to him. "It's
Captain now, remember? I'll take that
dismissal as a 'no'; so do you have any requests or should I just surprise
you? I haven't had dinner yet, so we
can go over the situation reports while we eat."
She didn't want to eat and she certainly
didn't want to talk.
"Chakotay--"
"Just eat something, please. You don't have to talk, but you need to
eat."
Giving him a grudging nod, she took a seat
at the table. "I was just
wondering what it would be like to control the hive mind."
He set the plates down and retrieved
utensils for them both before sitting down across from her. "I'm worried about you. If I know you, you were thinking about
disabling Voyager and taking off in the Delta Flyer to stop the Borg all by
yourself or die trying."
"That would solve everything,"
she pointed out, "one way or another.
If I'm dead, my future self can't go back in time to change anything . .
. except that I already have. Temporal
paradoxes give me a headache, but I've been wondering if the Grandfather
paradox would change anything here."
"Snap out of this," Chakotay
demanded. "We need the real
Kathryn Janeway, not a depressed shell.
We're in for a fight here and you're more of a fighter than anyone I
know. You have never let anyone down,
now is not the time to start."
Janeway reached across the table for his
hand. "I could have used a few of
these pep talks in the Delta Quadrant."
He squeezed her hand before he
replied. "You knew where to find
me."
"So what is the situation?" she
asked, pulling her hand away more out of habit than a desire to break the
connection with him.
"The Bozeman and the Titan are coordinating
a Starfleet response," he said, quietly accepting her retreat. "They've set up a base of operations on
DS9 figuring that the Borg won't bother with Bajor or the wormhole for the time
being. We're going to continue our
original mission to get to the queen and deal with her somehow."
With a little more than half of her dinner
consumed, she pushed the plate away.
"The few times we've dealt with the Borg in the past, we've had
leverage. This time they have the
advantage, what could we possibly use in talks with them now?"
"I was hoping my advisor would come
up with an answer to that," he confessed.
He gathered their plates and utensils to put in the recycler.
She grabbed her coffee cup and settled on
the couch. "This is an odd
juxtaposition, isn't it? From Captain
and First Officer, now you're the Captain and I'm just your advisor."
"I hope you're also still my
friend," he said softly.
"Of course," Janeway
replied. "And you were much more
than just an advisor or crew member to me.
You were a wonderful First Officer even if I didn't always make it easy
for you. We're not dealing with just my
future self here; we're dealing with the collective minds of the Borg focused
through my future self. You're probably
the only person I could or would admit this to, but I don't think I'm strong
enough to take her on one-to-one."
Chakotay moved from his usual seat in the
chair to sit beside her on the couch.
"You don't have to face her alone, Kathryn."
"Don't," she cautioned him. "Don't complicate things, we have
enough to deal with right now."
Scooting a little further away from her,
he shrugged. "I don't see how it
would complicate anything but then again I never did. I also was just pointing out that you have the Captain and crew
of Voyager with you; what you read into that--"
"Was what I always read and never
want to see," she confessed.
"Chakotay, there's just so much going on right now, so much on the
line. Someone with my mind, my
characteristics and a big chunk of my experiences and a lot of her own is now
the queen of the Borg. I'm trying to
get inside her head and I can't get past how I feel about all of this. Any personal relationships right now would
just confuse me more, add to the strain I'm already feeling. I need your friendship more than ever,
but--"
"But once again you'll deny yourself
what you might want for the good of the whole," Chakotay finished for her.
"You wondered earlier how you were
going to deal with your Borg self this time since everything seems to be on her
side. Well, if you would just let your
guard down for a few minutes you could have something that she's never
had."
Despite the seriousness of the
conversation, Janeway couldn't suppress a chuckle. "Are you saying that you're a secret weapon?"
With a wry grin, he shook his head. "If you have nothing to lose, then you
have nothing to fight for either. What
you call a complication, some people might call motivation. I'm not asking for promises or commitments
from you, just suggesting . . . "
She covered his lips with her
fingers. "Shh, just don't say any
more."
Chakotay expected her to pull away,
gesture for him to leave and act like none of this had been said. He was surprised when she swiftly closed the
distance between them and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her lips crushed his in a bruising kiss and
he returned her fervor as his hands found the pins in her hair and released the
soft tresses from their bun. Trying to
deepen the kiss, he was frustrated at the feel of her pulling away from
him. He closed his eyes and took a deep
breath to steady himself but a hesitant tug on his hand brought his eyes wide
open. Willingly, he allowed her to lead
him into the bedroom, his body already taut with anticipation.
The monumental task that lay before her
seemed so daunting, just thinking about it made her tired. She didn't want to think about anything,
tonight she just wanted to feel.
Kicking off her boots, she ripped off her uniform jacket without taking
her eyes off of the dark, handsome man staring back at her with those warm,
brown eyes. Her body tingled with
forbidden desire, a desire she'd long suppressed under the weight of duty and
responsibility. Unable to resist the
lure of those lips, she drew his head down to hers for a deep kiss as her hands
found the clasp of his trousers and opened them. She made short work of his clothing, caressing the bronze skin in
fevered exploration, mimicking her tongue's amorous investigation of his
mouth. Breaking the kiss to strip off
his shirt, she took the opportunity to dispense with her own clothing before
re-claiming his lips.
Not wanting anything to break the spell
weaving around them, he kept silent.
There was nothing that needed to be said and any words spoken might
cause her to change her mind. His
tongue slipped between her lips to stroke and caress the moist recesses of her
mouth. He allowed her to pull him down
with her onto the bed and for long moments he just held her, their naked bodies
pressed together and his mouth worshipping hers. Gradually he became aware of a small but strong hand gliding
across his hip to disappear between their bodies. Groaning with pleasure as she began fondling him, his hips began
rocking in concert with the motions of her fingers. When she shifted her body and started to guide him into her,
however, he moved her hand away from his throbbing length. "Just relax," he whispered.
Janeway wanted this, wanted to feel him
inside her and she wanted to get it over with before she changed her mind so
she nearly screamed in frustration when he stopped her. That frustration quickly turned into erotic
torture as his large hands began finding and stroking the most sensitive parts
of her body. Of their own volition, her
hips arched into the sweet pressure of his fingers. The moist heat of his mouth blazed a trail of kisses down the
column of her throat and continued on to her breasts. Her body was already straining for release and his every touch
and kiss only pushed her further. His
mouth closed over one stiffened nipple, sucking strongly and she could no
longer control the whimpers of need.
Pushing herself into his mouth, she gasped wordless pleas for more. Streaks of fire radiated from the tip of her
breast and down to the center of her desire being tormented so skillfully. His mouth left one breast to pay homage to
the other while, at the same time, his fingers delved into the hot, wet depth
of her body. Her breath caught in her
throat and she squirmed restlessly under his talented ministrations.
Slowly he allowed her pleasure to build,
increasing the pressure whenever he felt her fighting it. She wouldn't allow herself to lose control
easily, even if she wanted to, so he was determined to push her as far as he
could. Her fingernails dug into his
biceps harder and harder the closer she got to her release. She was struggling to maintain some level of
composure but she was also begging him for more. His thumb flicked against the pulsing center of her need and then
began massaging it in time with his fingers sliding in and out of her. His own body was painfully hard and
throbbing but he pushed that out of his mind and rolled her nipple in his
teeth, pulling gently on it. He didn't
allow her any quarter; he kept the pressure up, forcing her to yield to the
pleasure racing through her. After what
felt like an eternity to him, her body bucked hard against him and she cried
out as a powerful release shook her body.
Beyond thinking, she held on to her
anchor, the strong, loyal man who had stood by her through every sort of
hell. With spasms still rippling
through her, she pulled his body onto hers and spread her legs further
apart. The first orgasm had just
sparked her appetite, she wanted more.
Her legs wrapped around his waist and forced his body into intimate
contact with hers. Their hands tangled
as they both reached down and she rested her hands on his hips while he adjusted
their bodies and buried himself deep inside her. She inhaled sharply and just as quickly exhaled with the sheer
pleasure of being completely filled. He
set the pace, sliding in and out of her with a steady but unhurried tempo; the
moment felt almost timeless. Closing
her eyes, she laid back and relaxed into the powerful thrusts, feeling her
arousal slowly build to a fever pitch once again. His body continued to drive into her over and over and she was
concentrating on the sensation of his body filling her, stroking in and out of
her when a second orgasm ripped through her, taking her completely by surprise.
He didn't ever want this night to
end. Their bodies came together easily,
the years of friendship giving them trust and comfort with one another. She was so tight and yet so wet and
responsive; blood pounded in his ears with every heartbeat, a primal beat as
old as the human race. Breathing
deeply, he tried to forestall his body's demands as long as he could but
feeling her body convulse around him sapped his control. His hands gripped her hips tightly and he
began driving into her body with long, hard strokes. The knot of desire in his stomach had tightened, his own desires
fired to even higher heights with each of her releases and now his body was
unleashed to find that pleasure. She
met him thrust for thrust, her legs around his waist pulling him close to spur
him on even more. Just as a third
release took her, a powerful orgasm tore through him and left him collapsed in
a breathless heap on top of her.
Her world was still spinning, euphoria
making her feel like she was floating.
It had been a long time--Quarra--since she'd felt like this. Just when she'd worked up the energy to
speak, Chakotay's lips covered hers.
"Sleep," he muttered against her
lips. He rolled to his side and pulled
her close, settling them both under the covers. Whatever morning brought, they would both sleep peacefully
tonight.
FINIS
*at
least for now*
************************************
Original
challenge parameters:
VICTORY!
Your
mission - should you choose to accept it - is to write a story depicting one of
the Alpha Quadrant's interstellar superpowers (The Federation, the Romulans,
what have you) gaining some sort of strategic advantage over one of the other
powers. And lest you think all you have to do is write a really cool phaser
fight or a kick-ass space battle, your protagonists, whoever they are, must
gain this strategic advantage without firing a shot! You can use politics,
spies, money or any kind of leverage, but no shooting of the deadly ray guns,
capice? And by advantage I mean somebody's gotta win, somebody's gotta lose,
and the victory has to have long-term strategic benefit for the victors.
(The
rating limit on the BBS is PG-13 and the specific word length for this
challenge was 2500 words)