Get your own Free Home Page Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager and its characters are the property of Paramount. This story does not mean to infringe upon the trademarks or copyrights of Paramount.
EOME is a series of Voyager stories which are based on the premise that the Maquis ship was not destroyed in "Caretaker." Given that there is no name in canon for the Maquis ship, this series calls it "Fides," which is Latin for "Faith."
The order of the EOME series:
Confederation
Follow the Leader
Casualty and Confession
Food for Thought
Change of Command
Cracks in Time's Mirror
Fides Violare
Fletcher Christian Was in Starfleet
Far From My Home
Judas Kiss Part One
Judas Kiss Part Two
Wi-na-de-ya-ho (A New Day)
A Matter of a Moment
Rumours and Remedies
And Faith Shines Equal
Divide and Conquer (PG) or Divide and
Conquer (R)
To the Victor Go the Spoils
Bridging Faith
Please do not distribute without Sheena's or Vicki's permission. Thanks. Many thanks also to Jen for her editorial input!
*****
"Who the hell are you?" Kathryn Janeway was raw with anger. She found herself dressed ridiculously in a green velvet floor length gown. Her body was trussed and pinched in rough linen underclothing and her hair was wrapped in a heavy silk cloth.
"My dear, dear Captain." The dark haired, sneering, elaborately dressed man before her took her hand in his.
"Does my reputation not proceed me? Dear sweet Kathryn."
Janeway pried her hand from his before he could raise it to his lips. "Yes, yes indeed it has Q." She spat the words like a bitter taste from her mouth. "Where is my ship? Where are my crew?"
"I should expect that at the moment I relieved you from the mundane existence you have lead thus far in the Delta Quadrant you would ask where the hell is Captain Chakotay?"
Janeway blushed. She and Chakotay had just returned to her quarters and were engaged in some rather enjoyable but uncaptain-like conversation. She felt as if she had been literally ripped from his arms.
"You're so transparent my dear. Fear not, the tattooed one, your ship, his ship, and your whole rather pedestrian bipedal group is safe and sound. You and a few specific members of your rather morally askew species are here to play a game." The arrogance of Q was legendary but Janeway could well have lived without this experience.
"We refuse to provide you with a diversion Q! We are not here to entertain you. And for God’s sake give me my clothing back!" Janeway demanded.
"You humans have no sense of humour."
Her clothing was returned.
A flash of brilliant light flared beside Q and a tall and very impressive red haired women appeared. Q startled and turned towards the newcomer.
"What do you want Q?" he barked.
With a look of mock pain the female Q began to circle Janeway observing the Captain in the flat non-space of the Q plane.
"Not very impressive, Q. Couldn't you do better then this for your participants in the contest?" The female Q placed her hands on hips, giving a sarcastic and overconfident set to her posture and observed Janeway as she would substandard livestock.
"Consider her a member of the team, Q. I like humans and their contemporaries. I find them very enlightening."
The room burst with pops of light as Chakotay, Tuvok, Bendera, Torres, Paris and Lavoie appeared in the room.
"Welcome to the game, dear humans; here are the rules." The male Q spread his arms wide and around them appeared a castle. Twelfth century if Janeway didn't miss her guess. Within the thick stone walls were elaborate embroidered tapestries, stone carvings and burning torches. A huge fireplace sparked with flames, dominating the room. The Fleet crew members groped for comm badges and came up empty handed.
"Here are the rules! You have to play!" said Q in a manner best described as obscenely cheerful. "You can't resist; if you do you all die!"
Chakotay moved toward Janeway, relieved at her apparent safety but perplexed by their circumstances. "Where are we and who is that?" he whispered in her ear.
"What is it with you Starfleet types, you never read each other's logs? I am Q!"
Q's reputation had indeed been grist for the Starfleet and Maquis rumour mill since his first encounters with the Enterprise crew under Picard.
"For crying out loud Q let’s stop baiting the participants and get on with the game!" The female Q stepped away from the group watching the humans struggle to understand their unexpected surroundings.
"Very well. The rules are simple, you're the hunted and Q's pets are the hunters! They pursue you and you run. The winner is the first team to successfully finish the race and collect all the prizes. Or last team standing and my dear, dear humans they outnumber you four to one."
"If this is indeed a game Q your rules are fair from fair," Tuvok stated.
"Ah Vulcan, ye of little faith. You don't understand in the world of Q things are rarely fair; that isn't the point!"
"And just what is the point Q?" Chakotay stepped forward, placing himself between the Captain and Q.
"The point is best demonstrated by playing the game." With a flourish of silk and satin Q opened a set of large doors and led the Maquis and Fleet members into a dusty courtyard. The packed ground was hard baked under the feet of people and livestock. A wide variety of canvas and wooden structures had been established around the perimeter. Each booth displayed some delicacy. People dressed in their finest clothing came to the market to do business and socialize.
In the center of the square, obscured from their view by the throngs of people, stood a device. From what Janeway could see, it appeared to be a primitive machine. She could just make out wheels and cogs like an enormous watch function. As they approached, the crowd parted to allow them passage. The device became visible.
"I have never seen anything like that!" Bendera was the first to find his voice.
"That, I believe, is a gauntlet," Tuvok mused, examining the swinging blades and rolling walkway.
"What is it for?" Torres asked, indicating a large wheel that turned.
As the crew watched a young humanoid man strapped on a set of crude protective pads. A two meter pole was roughly pushed into his hands and he was shoved onto the undulating boardwalk. With some skill he managed balance himself as he walked along the wooden planks that were bound together with roughly woven rope. He approached the two slowly turning wheels that almost intersected over the boardwalk. Each wheel had a half dozen wooden poles attached to it. Calculating carefully he stepped forward and managed to slither through the poles.
His next challenge was a set of swinging axes suspended from above which swung in a random pattern. The axes proved to be the man’s undoing. A lethal looking blade made contact with his leg. He flung himself to the ground. Blood soaked his garments. The crowd roared and he was hustled away before Paris could offer assistance.
"Well mon Capitaine, our games have begun. Which of your brave strong men will take up the challenge?" Q's words were mocking, his expression challenging.
Janeway, with reckless abandon stepped forward to take up the challenge herself. Smaller and faster then any of the men she felt certain that she could navigate the gauntlet. Glancing over her shoulder she noted Chakotay’s annoyed grimace and ignored it. If this game was to end it sure as hell had to begin.
"Let’s get on with this," Janeway demanded, struggling into the padding with the help of Suzie. Janeway circled the apparatus, examining it, weighing the options, finding the key to the puzzle. The machine operated manually and with careful observation Janeway understood the cadence of the wheel and the swinging blades. With some confidence she stepped onto the boardwalk.
Chakotay watched Janeway’s progress. ‘Damn it Kathryn, you're the most difficult woman I have ever known.’ He shifted from foot to foot trying to displace the anxiety that dogged him. Suddenly he caught a view of her face. She had the look of intense concentration and something more, something bordering on enjoyment. Kathryn had risen to this physical and mental challenge and was savoring it. She was confident in her own ability to master this task. Chakotay stopped shifting and watched her achieve her goal.
To the crowd’s delight Janeway skirted through the poles with little problem. Her navigation of the swinging axes brought both gasps and cheers from the crowd. On the other end of the gauntlet , she was breathless, adrenaline pulsing through her body, thrilled with her victory but also terrified at the prospect of Q's games.
Chakotay pushed through the crowd to offer his hand as she climbed down from the gauntlet. His warm hand on her arm cleared the confusion of emotions that filled her. Looking into his eyes for a moment she was surprised at the annoyance she saw there. She realized how ill-advised her actions had seemed.
A bright flash of light and Q reappeared forcing Chakotay to lose his grip on Janeway’s arm.
"Well Kathy, how impressive! And here I thought it would be one of your bumbling males that would face this challenge."
"What do you want Q? It is time for this game to end!" Janeway snapped at him.
"All things in their time." Q pulled a thin silver chain from within his clothing, on its end hung a radiant green stone set in an intricate silver setting. The amulet glowed gently. As Janeway's hand reached out to touch it the glowing increased until it gave off a deep humming sound. Fascinated, Janeway turned it over in her hand looking for some reason for its unique function. Distracted only for a few seconds she looked up at Q annoyed.
"Very well Kathy, on with the game."
"This game is over. Send us back."
"Oh no my dear, it has only just begun." He reached out and closed her hand around the amulet. "Whatever you do, don't lose this. Consider it a gift from an admirer."
With a wave of his hand the courtyard disappeared and they found themselves on a small rise looking down at an encampment of men and horses.
The female and male Qs looked smug.
"Here are your opponents, the Krenim. Given enough time I'm sure you would have met them." Q fought a losing battle at his own joke.
"Who the hell are the Krenim ?" asked Bendera.
"Patience my dear cro magnum man, all will become clear. The Krenim are a wonderful variety of the bipedal subspecies. Overconfident to the point of arrogance, meticulous, tenacious and down right aggressive! Aren't they everything you could hope for in a hunter!" the female Q said proudly.
"Enough of your one-upmanship, Q. Let the contest begin! Oh, and Kathy?" Q added as he was about to vanish. "Remember this isn't about logic or sense, it is about reaction and survival. Everything and anything may mean something or in fact nothing at all!" With the same pop of light that heralded their coming the Qs disappeared.
*****
Gathering up the meager supplies that Q had given them the two crews followed a well worn horse trail. Tuvok, with a head start, scouted the woods leaving careful marks as he progressed, while noting what he had seen.
Janeway was flanked by Chakotay, and spoke in a hushed whisper.
"Any insight on this mess?" Janeway had been mentally reviewing all she could remember about Picard and the Enterprise's encounters with Q.
"Insight?" He paused glancing over at her serious face. "Do you mean do I have any old Maquis tricks for outmaneuvering omnipotent beings?" A tiny smile danced across his face.
Startled at first at the flippancy of his answer she glanced behind them. The faces of their crews were concerned but confident. They were some of the best of the combined crews. They could meet Q's challenge.
Janeway smiled at his gentle tease.
"Impressions, Captain. What do you think of our hosts?" Their pace had slowed and the others now led them along the twisting pathway. The trail became denser as the afternoon sun provided less and less light in the heavy woods. The terrain became rockier, with less underbrush. Their pace slowed once more as they moved into a hilly section of the forest.
"Impressions? The female Q was a surprise to me."
"Agreed. I hadn't ever heard of a female being in the continuum. I had assumed that Qs were not gender-specific," came Janeway's analytical reply.
"Oh, I hadn't thought of that. I just thought she was pretty sexy." His face showed a full grin. His fingers caressed the nape of her neck. Janeway looked at the backs of their crews disappearing along the path. She moved towards him, her hand joining his, their hips brushing. "I'm very unhappy with a Q giving my woman intimate gifts." The words combined with the look on Chakotay’s face crumbled Janeway’s resolve. A smile spread across her face and a low chuckle echoed out of her.
"You're the most incorrigible man I have ever met," she answered.
"And you love me for it." His voice was confident but the whisper of a question was in his eyes. They hadn't spoken of love. There was never a right time and place but suddenly it seemed very, very important. The watchful eyes of their crews were far ahead. Kathryn’s lips met his in a passionate kiss.
Chakotay, to Janeway’s amazement pulled away, placing his fingertips on her lips. The ground trembled slightly as the voices of men floated to them.
Grabbing Janeway’s hand and all but dragging her Chakotay dashed along the path, gaining on the other crewmembers. Bendera and Torres recognized the look on Chakotay’s face and flew after him.
*****
Their breathless flight took then off the path and headlong into the trees. Chakotay was unsure of their direction but he knew that the mounted Krenim were only meters behind and the only choice was to find a hiding place as quickly as possible. His thoughts turned to Tuvok but he knew that the Vulcan could follow their trail of broken branches blindfolded.
Without warning they were forced to stop. A wall of solid rock blocked their uncertain path. Dark red sandstone, cool to the touch and 200 metres high now barricaded the way. Chakotay spun around, eyes closed, listening, smelling ,waiting for something to tell him which way to go. He heard a faint hum and his eyes flew open searching for the source.
"Kathryn!" he said sharper than he had intended and plucked at the amulet on her neck. The humming stopped as she turned to him, puzzled.
He dropped the amulet back to its resting place at her breast and the humming continued.
"Turn that way," he ordered, indicating left. "Turn back this way." She turned right to face him, the humming resumed. Taking this as his sign he lead them to the right.
The struggle through the trees left them all with cuts and scratches but none worse than Lavoie, her long unbound hair getting tangled in the tree limbs. She was perhaps the most relieved when the trees retreated from the stone wall and an opening could be seen leading into a small cave.
"Feel like we're being led?" Paris asked sarcastically, looking up at the cave entrance, a Starfleet emblem gracing the stone face.
Janeway looked from Paris to the rest of the crew.
"We know this is Q’s game. Let’s not let that knowledge affect our judgment. We have to regard this as seriously as any other threat to our collective safety. But we can overcome him. I know we can." She smiled confidently and led the way in to the cave.
The small cave opened into a cavernous one. Unlike the outer one this one had been crafted out of the rock. At the entrance, set in an outcrop of rock were two lit torches. Janeway picked up one, Chakotay the other.
"Now I really feel like we're being set up," Torres whispered.
At the other end of the cave, with an all too familiar flash of white light Tuvok appeared. The Vulcan looked perplexed. Janeway stepped forward to greet him.
"How did you get here?" she asked simply.
"Unknown Captain, but one can assume that the hand of Q is not an unreasonable guess."
"More like the stink of Q," spat Bendera.
"Shall we?" Janeway announced, walking deeper into the caves.
The light of the torches revealed carved walls with complex designs of lines circles, humanoid figures and abstract images. In the central room at either end were round stone pillars positioned on slightly raised round platforms. The group split, Janeway, Lavoie and Paris to the left and Chakotay, Torres and Bendera to the right. Tuvok was examining the walls of the cave, searching for some type of exit. They were all acutely aware that the Krenim would not be that far behind.
"This looks pretty mundane to me. Damn, what I wouldn't give for a compression rifle or some ultritium. That would blow a tidy little hole in this cave." Bendera paced the diameter of the circle the pillar perched upon.
Chakotay glared at him. "Wishful thinking isn't going to help, Bendera!" He hadn't meant to be so sharp but Kurt's chatter wasn't aiding the effort.
"You’re one to talk..." The tease regarding Chakotay and Janeway’s passionate moment went unsaid as Bendera saw the exasperated look in his friend’s eye. They were becoming closer but occasionally he still had to remind himself that this wasn't his Chakotay. He turned away and studied the base of the pillar.
At the far end Janeway and Paris were having better luck.
"I'm not sure but I think this symbol represents a doorway or a passage," Janeway said, pointing to a symbol on the pillar. Next her finger moved to a second set of symbols. "Something about the two pillars being aligned by light opens the passageway." She glanced at the opposite pillar. "But there is no natural light source… but I can't ... wait, wait..."
Looking down at the floor she could see a faint line that was no more than a shadow joining the two pillars. Intersecting the line at its centre was a starburst pattern carved into the floor. From a distance it looked like a bright firelight. Her eyes drifted to the other pillar and to the spot Chakotay was examining. On the other pillar was an identical starburst pattern. The centre of the pattern was a circle the same dimension as the torch handles. It became clear.
"Chakotay!" She called across to him, her excitement clear in her voice. He looked up surprised at her tone.
"The torch, put it in the centre of the starburst."
Doing as she asked they felt the cave shudder and a large stone doorway slid open. A small cheer sounded at the apparently safe passage. Before the sound could settle in the echoes of the cave a second less welcome sound rolled over them. It was the sound of falling, breaking rock.
"Jump, oh god, jump!" screamed Lavoie but it was too late, the crumbling floor was too unstable to allow this simple approach.
The floor around the far pillar was rapidly fracturing and collapsing. A circular crevice had opened and the rock the three Maquis stood upon was disintegrating around them. Bendera slipped as the rock under him disappeared. Chakotay grabbed the back of his collar and dragged him back from the crumbling edge, allowing Bendera to regain his foothold on what was left of the platform. Within seconds all three men hung perilously to the rough stone face of the pillar as the rest of the platform threatened to fall into the crevice.
"Pull out the torch!" Paris howled, as Torres lost hold with one of her hands.
Chakotay wrenched at the wooden handle but to no avail, the torch was firmly in place.
Janeway’s inner voice was screaming. ‘Don't panic, focus on the equation!’ Her eyes scanned the hieroglyphics again and again. It was here, the solution was here, if she could only ... ‘There, there it is! I can see it! Damn that Q!’
Pulling the necklace from her breast she positioned it in the slight recess in the pillars face. The light from the torch gathered for a long second in the green jewel and deflected on the wall on the far side of the cave a second small door opened and the rumble of falling rock ceased. A small stone bridge slid out from the bottom of the pillar to which the Maquis clung.
Janeway closed her eyes, raising her hands to her face and she waited for a moment before she dared look to see if they … he was safe. Relief flooded her when she saw Tuvok help them cross the escape route and move towards the door. When everyone was in the doorway she glanced at the pillar. Take it or leave it, she thought, it had saved them twice, what else would this little gift give them? She pulled the amulet from the stone and ran to the door as it began to shut. She felt the grasp of Chakotay’s hands as she slipped nimbly through the doorway.
The path that led out of the cave was clearly marked and the Krenim were nowhere to be seen. The first order of business was a place to spend the night.
*****
In the morning their situation didn't look quite as bad as it had the night before. The rocky hills that had housed the caves seemed impassable. Chakotay and Bendera had been up early and scouted the area to replenish their supplies. They had returned to the camp with food and water. They had also procured two wine skins, both full, a small bow, a bullwhip and three long, warm robes.
"Do I want to know where you got those?" Janeway asked as Chakotay wrapped one of the robes around her.
"Just think Robin Hood," he said with a small grin and handed her a large leaf of containing roasted game.
She smiled briefly and looked out toward the valley that lay beyond the caves.
"Looks like that may be our only choice. I hope it isn't quiet as hot and dry as it appears."
Before them lay a rocky expanse with cliffs and voodoos similar to the pillars within the cave they had just exited. Dry, lifeless and unwelcoming.
"Maybe, maybe not. Look." Chakotay pointed up at the sky. Thunder clouds rolled far off in the distance, the flash of lighting could be seen and the sky grew grey with rain. "It's moving this way. What do you want to do?"
She looked at him, then at their people and back to the caves they had just escaped. The caves were warm and dry there was food here. It would be reasonable to stay and wait the Krenim out. But the only way to escape this place and the clutches of the Qs was to finish the damn game. They had to move on or be stuck like rats in a cage.
"I'll get them ready to move," Chakotay answered, knowing from her expression what she was going to say.
*****
Far off in the distance the sound of horses on rough, rocky ground menaced them. They moved as fast as they could but the terrain was unforgiving to people on foot and it would be worse on the poor beasts the Krenim rode, but then the Krenim cared not for their mounts.
Without any warning Chakotay and Paris who had been leading the way stopped. Their bodies jerking back, arms flung wide to stop themselves from falling. They had come to a ravine a hundred meters deep. There was no visible means to cross. No trees to cut down to build a bridge, no way over, under or around.
The sound of horses and the voices of men echoed off the tall voodoos around them.
"Damn it, damn it!" Janeway snarled under her breath making no attempt to hide her frustration. This game was wearing away her self control. She kicked at the ground in frustration only to grind her foot painfully into a flat, round stone the size of a hoverball. Something on its surface caught her attention. Bending down she brushed away the dust to reveal a perfect copy of Chakotay’s tattoo chiseled into the rock. For an instant Janeway was startled at the coincidence of her finding it here, then she remembered this was Q's game and they were only playing.
"Chakotay," she called as she turned the stone over and over in her hand, trying to find some significance to it.
On reaching her position Chakotay frowned at what he saw in her hands. Q and his insulting sense of humour! Upon his taking the stone from her fingers the world shifted. The whole landscape changed, colours intensified, shapes altered and the ground quaked. His head swam in disorientation. In front of him a bridge appeared. It was a clear way across the ravine.
Turning to Janeway he smiled. "I have no idea how he did it, but let’s go."
Chakotay stepped forward toward the bridge.
"Chakotay what are you doing!?" Janeway shouted, grabbing at him before be plunged off the cliff.
"You can't see it?" he asked in utter disbelief.
"See what?" The rest of the crew had gathered around them.
"There is a bridge right there, granted not the most beautiful one I have ever seen, but it looks passable." The expression on his face told Janeway that there was a link here she and the others couldn't see, only Chakotay.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." Determined, he stepped out onto the structure. He didn't fall. To the rest he appeared to be floating in mid air. In his hand the rock became hot, too hot indeed to hold. He stepped back from the bridge and dropped it on the ground. As it left his hand the bridge disappeared.
Dropping to his hands and knees he reached out and touched the edge of the bridge. It was still there, just invisible without the rock.
Picking the now cool rock of the ground his view altered once more and he could see the phantom bridge once more.
"I'm going to have to talk you across," he said.
Janeway looked at him for a long moment.
"Well Commander, what does it look like?"
"It is a crude suspension type bridge, nine meters long with planks approximately ten centimeters wide and ten centimeters apart. They're bound together with heavy rope. Two cables run the length of the structure four meters overhead. They connect to the rock above and behind us. The overhead cables are attached to the wood of the bridge at three meter intervals. The first vertical cable is a meter from the edge. You'll have to take a step to reach the cable." Chakotay stepped behind Janeway and led her to the entrance of the bridge.
"Kathryn," he said softly, unconcerned about the crew hearing him call her by her given name, "use your left foot, step out ten centimeters. There you'll feel the first cable."
Closing her eyes she stepped out tentatively with her foot. Relief flooded her as she felt the touch of the wooden plank.
"Take two more steps and stop. There is a broken plank. You'll have to step out over thirty centimeters but be careful."
"Kathryn, you're one meter from the next cable."
Silently she moved, balancing her weight and moving ahead. The sickening feeling of cracking, splintering wood vibrated through Janeway’s shoe.
"Grab the cable, damn it! Two o'clock, grab the cable!" Chakotay screamed as her hands frantically searched in front of her. Her fingers grasped the coarse fibers of the rope and she pulled herself along as the board disintegrated under her foot. The rest of the planks thankfully stayed intact as she inched blindly along. Upon reaching the other side she turned to observe what she had just crossed.
"Perhaps it was better that I couldn't see it," she whispered to herself.
The crossing of the rest of the crew was nerve-racking but somewhat less spectacular.
*****
Atop a voodoo, dressed for a summer day at the beach, Q watched his team. The female Q lounged beside him, a ridiculously large beverage complete with fruit and umbrella in hand. She looked down in disgust at the Alpha Quadrant team engaged in its puerile attempts to navigate the bridge.
"I had never noticed how humans seem to scuttle, like cockroaches." The female Q smiled at her own joke.
"Scuttle or not they found a way across and have kept ahead of your pet Krenim. I thought they were always on time." Q fell into a spasm of laughter.
"What are you doing?" The female Q asked contemptuously at the man at her feet.
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm rolling on the floor laughing my ass off!"
Ignoring him she looked down at the humans.
"My, that Chakotay is charming, instructing Janeway to put her left foot first," she sniffed. "The next thing you know they'll be doing the hokey pokey."
*****
Janeway sat huddled in front of the fire. The blankets and food that Q had provided gave none of them any real comfort. The night was cold and this opening in the woods was slightly swampy with the bitter odor of gas.
Chakotay, having checked on Torres, Paris, Lavoie and Bendera, came to sit beside Janeway. Looking up from the fire Janeway attempted to smile as Chakotay settled beside her.
"I'm cold, wet and dirty. Are you sure you really want to sit next to me?"
The off-duty clothing that Janeway had been wearing, more correctly had been in the process of removing, when Q snatched her from Chakotay’s arms was hardly appropriate to their current situation. Janeway's initial inventory of their assets had grown but not by much. Q had provided basic necessities: blankets, some food, knives, swords, flint, a fishing wire and hooks, a bow and a small collection of arrows.
Chakotay and Bendera had added rough heavy cloaks for the women, the two full wine skins and a length of rope. Not much of survival kit but beggars can't be choosers.
"You are rather ripe," Chakotay grinned as he waited for Kathryn's response. When he didn't receive one he wrapped an arm around her and leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Tuvok reported in a few minutes ago. He found something we need to investigate." Special emphasis was placed on the word need.
Kathryn turned her head slightly to evaluate Chakotay’s intention before she answered .
"First of all, Commander, I was under the impression we were trying to keep our involvement low profile. And second, since when does my chief of security report to you?" Her words were serious but her tone verged on playful.
Kathryn moved closer to him. The others around the fire were absorbed in an effort to stay warm. Paris and Torres huddled together while Bendera and Lavoie sat side by side, not touching but somehow together.
"I'm only trying to keep my fellow captain warm. Kathryn, as to keeping us under wraps, Kurt is my roommate. He may have noticed some things. Like the fact I sometimes don't come home." Chakotay brazenly ran his hand up her arm and across her breast. "And Paris and Torres are so involved with each other they scarcely come up for air."
Janeway glanced over to see Paris move his face onto the hair of the women in his arms.
"Tuvok reported to me because you where indisposed trying to get that fire started." Chakotay smiled, his own attempt at firecraft had been laughable and he had left the work to Kathryn.
"So what did he find?" Kathryn asked, her mood lifting.
"Hot springs."
*****
"What's your impression of this place? Is it real or just a Q invention? Are we defying the prime directive and possibly scarring this world?"
Chakotay led the way through the woods, a torch in hand, gathering sticks as he went. He was following Tuvok’s carefully marked trail. A small opening in the trees revealed a rocky pool with a bubbling spring filling its jagged edges. Steam rose from the surface. A small indentation in the rocks provided the perfect place for a small fire to try and dry out their clothing. Chakotay smiled as he lit the wood with the torch.
"I think it is a figment of Q's imagination," he said, stripping off his clothing and lowering himself into the warm water. "I'm getting way too old for this," he said as she joined him, warm at last.
*****
Suzie was a mess.
The brief yet powerful downpour of rain that had dogged them during their search for a suitable place to make camp had soaked her clothing through. The small fire which hissed and smoked as the flames tried to conquer the wet wood did little to warm her, never mind dry her. She was as miserable as she could remember and she felt as though she'd never be clean again.
She sat hunched before the meager fire trying to remove all the debris their trek through the forest had left tangled in her hair. While she worked diligently at this task, her numbed fingers were finding it difficult to extract all of the foliage that was snared in the length of her hair, which was now matted and filthy.
When her hands began shaking too much to grasp at anything she moved them back to the fire to try and reinstate some feeling in her fingers.
Above all this discomfort, Suzie was understandably frightened. But she was not a complete wreck like she would have been a year ago. That Suzie would simply have rolled up into a fetal position and sobbed incessantly.
She was no longer that person. The past year, with all its hardships and heartbreak, discoveries and difficulties, had changed her. She had grown.
The academy had taught her how to be a pilot.
Starfleet had taught her how to be an officer.
The Delta Quadrant had taught her how to be a survivor.
Suzie sighed and shook her hands about. She felt a tingling which meant that sensation was being restored to her fingertips. She went to work on the mess of her hair again.
Reclining against a log a few metres away Kurt watched Suzie apply herself to her task. He watched Suzie, a woman who knew him so well, yet barely knew him at all.
Try as he might, he couldn't help but notice her at the best of times and his heart went out to her now, surely one of the worst of times.
She looked so small, and forlorn, and alone, sitting there trying to bring some semblance of order to herself in a situation where order had been abandoned. As usual, he wanted to put his arms around her, make her laugh, and keep her safe.
As usual?
It had to be just curiosity, an irrational desire to find out what it was about this woman that had made his double from another universe love her.
But he wondered, as he had once before, if so many things between the two universes were identical could feelings be too?
Kurt had to admit that there was something about Susan Lavoie that drew him. But was his attraction a mere curiosity or were those feelings genuinely his?
Maybe if he stopped fighting those feelings he'd find out.
Suzie, wrestling with a strand of dark hair pulled over her shoulder, saw Kurt walk over and plunk himself down behind her. She froze when he reached out a hand and gentled pulled her hair from her grasp.
"Let me help," he said softly as he began pulling away more of the leaves and twigs that had been snared in her long locks.
She could feel his deft touch but could more so sense his presence. Surprisingly, his touch was not the familiar one of her lover but that of a stranger. She felt herself drawn to it all the same. Suzie closed her eyes and relaxed her body but her senses were still on full alert.
When he had finished removing the debris from her hair Kurt did the best he could to comb it out with his fingers. Then he pulled his knife from his boot and cut a length of fabric from his shirt. He bound Suzie's hair back with the material. He couldn't resist running the length of it through his hand before letting its weight fall down her back.
Suzie slowly turned her head to look at him.
"Thank you," she managed, but could say no more as her eyes met his. In his gaze she saw something well-known, yet new all the same.
When he moved toward her she did not pull away but returned his tender kiss.
Kurt was the one who broke away suddenly. He looked into her violet coloured eyes which gazed back at him solemnly and at her mouth, lips still parted from his touch, and what he mostly wanted to do was to lay her down on the rocky ground and kiss her again.
"But it isn't right," he said aloud.
"What isn't right?" Suzie looked bewildered.
"I can't kiss you when I know you're not kissing me!" Kurt was frustrated that he had let an action he had only intended as a kindness change into something else. "I know you're thinking of the other."
"How can I be kissing him? He's dead!"
Kurt saw the gentle expression on Suzie's face change to an angry one and was taken aback by her cool acceptance of her lover's death. This woman was a far cry from the hysterical female he had been introduced to soon after his appearance in this universe. He could do little more than gape at her as she continued on in a quiet yet strong voice.
"I knew him and I loved him! I don't know you! Oh, there are similarities between you two aside from looks, but you're still a stranger to me."
"Then why were you kissing me?" Kurt managed to ask.
"Can I be blamed for already liking the parts of you that are similar to him? And can I be faulted for wanting to know you better in order to find out about the differences that make you who you are?"
Suzie's voice rose as she laid her emotions bare. "Can I help it if I find myself being attracted to a living, breathing man instead of pining for a dead one? It's not my fault you happen to be his double!"
She looked away suddenly and took a deep breath of air. The storm of her tirade had passed and she continued in a calmer tone as she met his gaze once again.
"The question is, why were you kissing me?"
Kurt started at having the question put back to him. He suddenly had a horrible notion that she might think he believed he could take advantage of her due to her relationship with his double. And that wasn't it at all.
"Because maybe there are more similarities than differences between me and that other guy," Kurt said lightly. "Maybe we both have good taste in women, for example."
His earnest, guileless expression made Suzie grin.
"I think I'd like to get to know you better," he whispered.
"We'd have to take it slowly."
"I don't think that will be a problem. Not much time for a personal life with all the fun and games on this cruise," Kurt responded sardonically.
He pulled her in closer to him so that she could nestle into his shoulder and he rested his cheek atop her head.
When his arms drew round her and held her tightly Suzie felt truly warm for the first time since her ordeal had begun.
*****
The position of the moon told Janeway they had been here almost an hour. It had amazed her how fast they had found a method of telling time. A method for survival on a far more basic level then they ever had while in space. She wondered if they would have survived this experience before the two crews had come together. In reality, before she and Chakotay had gone down this path in their relationship. She looked over at him, tired and worried. He scrubbed at his face trying to remove the dirt and grime of the past four days. She wondered once more about the quirks of fate that brought her to this place with this man whom she felt so deeply for. She trusted him. Placed her life in his hands and gave her heart to him. He was her faith.
"Chakotay," she said her voice full of resolve. "We have to stop running. That is the solution to Q's puzzle."
Chakotay watched with admiration and uncertainty as Kathryn stepped from the water and began to dress in the slightly damp clothing.
"When do the hunted stop being the hunted?" The question was rhetorical. He waited. "When they become the hunter."
*****
The preparations were rushed but Janeway was pleased with the results. She was confident that their chances had significantly improved. Now the hardest part: waiting.
Two crews, so accustomed to battle, should not have been this unsettled, but they were. A phaser at two meters was a far different reality from a poor knife and a sword. Tuvok, ever vigilant, gave the signal that was red alert. His shrill whistle rose the crew from their unsettled rest. Positions were taken, eyes and ears trained.
The unjust nature of this confrontation became clear. Two dozen Krenim well armed and on horseback descended into the woods. The forest quaked slightly from the impact of horse hooves. The pale light of dusk filtered through tree branches pooling on the ground, creating shadows and dark spots. The horses slowed as the woods thickened. The voices of the men softened then disappeared.
From far up in the branches of the trees around them the noise began. Pounding, banging, low guttural noises rising to high pitched shirks. To an educated ear, Klingon opera as interrupted by a Vulcan was an accrued taste. To the Krenim it sounded like a pack of wild animals. An evil invention of Q to further prolong his game. A game these in which men were rapidly losing interest.
Pushing their horses slowly forward none noticed the last two riders pulled from their saddles, their throats quietly and effectively cut, their horses spirited away.
Then horses panicked as large stones fell from above, branches crashed and leaves rained down. Five riders were down, their mounts bolting back along the path from which they came.
Two more riders were felled by arrows just as the narrow path opened into a clearing which was boggy but clear in the late afternoon light. The Kremlin reined in their horses. In the center of the opening stood Kathryn Janeway, long hair down her back, looking for all the world like a woman about to surrender.
"I am Kathryn Janeway of the starship Voyager. I wish to negotiate terms for surrender."
The Krenim leader Anorax dismounted and walked towards Janeway.
"My understanding is that Q wants a clear winner. Your surrender may not be an option." His tone was cruel and his face was lit with a self satisfied grin.
Janeway looked from Anorax to his quickly thinning troops. Only ten of the original twenty-four mounted men remained. Reaching down Janeway pulled a torch from the small fire at her side.
"My dear, dear friend you seem to have misunderstood. It is the terms of your surrender to which I was referring." With that she pitched the torch into the air propelling it just behind Anorax. As it hit the ground the U-shaped trench Chakotay and Kurt had dug released the combustible gas and exploded into a wall of flames.
Seven of the Krenim horses bolted throwing riders into the flames. The remaining three riders and horses skirted around the fire and into the woods on the other side. Fast on the heels of Janeway, Kurt came armed with a bullwhip. It was a tool he had used with various degrees of success when working at an agricultural co-op on a traditionalist farming world. With a sword at his side he watched as the Captain flew past him and into her hiding place.
He was all but knocked to the ground as the first Krenim circled around the wall of fire they had created. The odds were looking better. Pulling the whip from his belt he unwound it gracefully. Its tip flowed slowly, silently out. With a motion starting in his feet and moving into his arms and shoulders the whip shot out and wrapped around the arm of the last Krenim rider. He had been aiming for the neck. The startled man cried out at the cutting action of the whip but managed to keep his seat and dragged Bendera into the open before the whip could work itself free.
The Krenim drew his curved cavalry sword, turned his horse, and ran along the path at Bendera. Repositioning himself Bendera’s aim was far more accurate . His first strike cut across the Krenim’s face, his second securely wrapped around his neck and snapped the rider’s body to the ground.
A second rider approached bearing down on Bendera who had his sword at the ready. Janeway appeared on one side of the path, Lavoie on the other. A rope hidden in the dirt was pulled taut and horse and rider toppled brutally to the ground.
The woods once more broke into a small opening. The first of this place’s two moons rose and lit the picture. Chakotay, his clothing torn and dirty, stood two meters from the Krenim leader. Both had swords drawn and were circling, positioning, weighting the strengths and weaknesses of their opponent. Chakotay, who had fenced for exercise and the pleasure of it held his sword with some ease. The Krenim was smaller, wiry, but better fed and rested and seemed to be very familiar with his weapon.
The Fides and Voyager crews stooped at the edge of the trees and two injured Krenim watched from the opposite side. With the first clang of metal Janeway felt the echo of pain run up Chakotay’s arms. She knew it was just sympathetic but she felt it nonetheless.
Shaking off the bone jarring pain in his shoulder and elbow, Chakotay advanced on the smaller man. Using his superior size and strength he cut and hacked with his heavy sword until he backed Anorax up against a tree. The smaller man was fast and moved with grace out of the way of the heavy sword Chakotay welded. This was a far cry from the mock combat of the fencing ring; this was life or death. His sword growing heavier and heavier Chakotay dragged it up over his head cutting deeply into the tree trunk that Anorax was now scrambling to get behind.
"Not quite so brave now that it is one on one now are you?" Chakotay spit in the face of his opponent. Finding his feet the Krenim straightened up and held his sword with both hands swing it sharply at Chakotay's head. Chakotay flung himself backwards as he lost his balance and tumbled to the ground.
"One shouldn't count their victories before their time, Commander," the Krenim said, mocking him. Moving to tower over Chakotay he prepared to plunge his sword into Chakotay's chest.
"I totally agree," Chakotay muttered as he swung his sword one handed from a horizontal position to a vertical one and smashed his opponent's sword and his opponent into the bend of the tree behind them. The sword snapped off at the hilt with a loud metallic click. The Krenim's body landed with a sickening thud. His sword hilt slid slowly down the trunk of the tree and lay on the ground beside his body. It took Chakotay far longer than he intended to stand up and move towards his fall enemy. He held out his hand to the man to help him rise to his feet.
"We win but it doesn't mean you have to die." As Chakotay spoke the Krenim, in the guise of getting to his feet, grabbed the broken sword and buried it in to Chakotay's thigh. His scream of pain was equaled only by that of Captain Janeway's as she ran toward him.
*****
With nimble fingers Chakotay unclasped Kathryn's bra while she kissed the underside of his neck and worked her way along his chin. But then they both hesitated; something was wrong. Something was missing but neither could find the source of their discomfort. Perplexed they moved back slightly from each other. Looking down at Chakotay's leg , Kathryn touched it tentatively.
"Are you all right ?" she asked uncertain why she was asking but urgently needing to know the answer.
"Yes," he answered. "But I have the distinct impression I shouldn't be."
"Q!" Kathryn whispered fiercely.
"Damn Q!" Chakotay muttered. They looked around them but the continuum representative was nowhere to be seen. "Goddamn it Q! Show yourself!" Chakotay demanded. The disembodied voice of Q responded,
"The Q is not available at this time. Please leave a message and we'll get back to you." A long pause. "Maybe..." His laughter faded out.
"So did it really happen?" questioned Kathryn.
"I'm not sure. It felt like it happened. I seem to remember it," he replied.
Kathryn became aware of her state of undress. Fearing Q's imminent appearance she pulled on a robe.
"I suppose it was only a matter of time before we ran into Q" she said.
"Or they ran into us," added Chakotay. As Kathryn tightened her robe around herself her fingers brushed against something unfamiliar at her breast. Glancing down she saw a thin silver chain with a radiant green stone set in an intricate sliver setting. A sly smile crossed her lips.
"I guess we won the game," she said.
"What's the prize?" he asked with a matching smile. Kathryn hooked an index finger at him.
"Come over here and I'll show you."
Go to the eighteenth EOME story Choose Your Friends Well...
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