A BEGINNING, A MIDDLE, AND A PROPER END
Brief Encounters
Midday sunlight glancing sharply off the white buildings of Starfleet Headquarters made Janeway wish for just a touch of fog to spare her a headache from the glare. A breeze tangled her hair and a crow scolded her from a signpost. There was something about being outdoors, something about the freshness of the air and the quality of the light that a holo-program, no matter how masterful the design, just couldn't capture.
Striding purposefully across the quad, she didn't notice an officer emerge from the Science section and turn as he caught sight of her.
"Kathryn!"
She turned quickly to see Chakotay jogging toward her. "Well, my day just improved!" Too reserved to embrace her in the HQ quad in broad daylight, he simply held out his hands as he came up, and she clasped them firmly. "I haven't seen you in uniform since Voyager--and I haven't seen those pips at all. They look just fine--Captain!"
"Thanks. It's more bits to pin on, though, so it takes me longer to get dressed--" With a wink, he released her hands. "What brings you to Headquarters?"
"Meeting with the brass. 'There is an incident that must be discussed.'" She resumed her course toward Administration, and he fell into step beside her.
"I hope you aren't on the ropes."
She laughed. "Not guilty! It's the Haskarian shipping lanes again."
"Terrific. Well, maybe this incident will be cleared up as easily as the last one. Any chance of dinner? Lunch? Cup of coffee? Letters and comm calls are nice, but I hate to pass up a chance to talk to you face-to-face."
"Oh, I wish I could. But this meeting is partly to give Voyager our marching orders, and as soon as it's over we're going to have to march. What about you?"
"Shipping out at 0600 tomorrow. Survey mission--an unexplored solar system in the Halladon sector. I was just getting my final briefing." He had taken command of the Schliemann, one of Starfleet's best-equipped science vessels, five weeks before, but the ship had spent that time in spacedock undergoing a systems upgrade; with the exception of a brief shakedown cruise, this would be her first mission under her new captain.
"I heard about that! I'm glad you got the assignment. Hope you find something interesting--and I mean that kindly. You're sure a science ship won't be too tame for you? You might start longing for battle again."
"Well, I've been doing battle for a good while, you know, and I don't just mean against bad guys--"
Her inarticulate protest caused a few nearby heads to turn. "I'll have you know--" Just then her comm badge chittered. "Damn, I have to go--that's my five-minute warning." She was conscious of a surge of disappointment, and saw it mirrored in his face. "I'm sorry--I wish we had two hours to talk, or ten, instead of two minutes-- But Vortex Two is only three months away."
"Just now that seems like a long time. --I'd say be careful out there, but it wouldn't do any good."
"You know me too well. Take care, Chakotay, and good luck." Public displays of affection had never fazed her, and she pulled him into a quick hug in full view of three admirals heading for the same meeting she was. "Next time I want a tour of the Schliemann."
"My pleasure. You can see how well your housewarming gift blends in."
In an art gallery on Marelikon Prime she had been unable to resist a stylized stone carving of a native mammal very like a bear. "I'll look forward to it. Well--" She made herself let go his arms, made herself back away toward the doors. "Let me know how the mission goes--"
"I will--" He looked after her until she disappeared into the lobby, then headed for the transportation area, strangely less eager to ship out than he had been only moments before.
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"Chakotay here," said a drowsy voice into the audio pickup.
Janeway smiled. Even at home a Starfleet officer would out of habit answer with his name, rather than a comm number or a simple hello. "What are you doing in bed already--it isn't even nine o'clock! You aren't sick, are you?"
"Kathryn! Hold on a minute--"
She heard the rustle of sheets, the opening and closing of drawers. Then his voice again, whispering: "Sorry--it's just a friend on the comm--go back to sleep." And then, thank God, he pressed the mute button.
By the time he activated the video pickup in his living room and settled into his chair with a cup of tea, her cheeks had turned every imaginable shade of red and she had swallowed half her mugful of coffee in a futile attempt to moisten her dry mouth. She had decided not to consider why the possibility that he and Seven might have salvaged their relationship should cause a cold lump to form in the pit of her stomach. And she had also decided that the only way to restore her own equanimity was to torment him.
"You haven't got Michael Sullivan's sister in there, have you?"
His disheveled hair and sleep-puffed eyes made him look rather boyish. Her question startled him, but he rallied quickly. "Um, no. A little more substantial than that. --But not too substantial."
"Not serious?" Not Seven?
"No. No. Um--how are you, Kathryn?"
This should be funny. Why aren't we laughing? "At the moment I'm mortified. I think I should call back tomorrow."
"By tomorrow you might be out of range, chasing after some mysterious alien probe. Don't be mortified, please. Tessa's asleep, and I don't get to talk to you often enough."
"And we're both mature adults, right? Okay, you win." His quick sigh of relief gave her an absurd rush of pleasure. "I finally had time to poke around in your reports on the Pranlee system. Now I know why you were so fascinated by it. All those markings on the surface of the sixth planet--did you and your teams ever come up with a working hypothesis of what they are?"
"Not yet. We keep going back to the sensor records, trying to puzzle them out. Every time one of us suggests a theory, somebody turns up some little piece of evidence that disproves it." He warmed to his subject, wide awake now with enthusiasm. "I've requested more assignments in that sector, so we can take a side trip back to Pranlee. Did you get to Perez's report on those apparent structures on the fifth planet--?"
After its awkward beginning their conversation ebbed and flowed with its usual ease, jumping from respective missions to politics, from books and holonovels and music and sports to news of mutual friends. But presently, and with more than a little regret, Janeway heard someone stirring in the background--raising the lights in the bedroom, running water in the lav. Chakotay's glance flicked to one side and back again, but she spared him the necessity of cutting her off in mid-topic. "Well, I'd better get back to work. It's the middle of the day for me and I've just used up my lunch hour."
"Since when have you taken a whole hour for lunch?"
She smiled. "Some things are worth a little indulgence."
"I'm flattered." She could see that he truly was. "When will you be back?"
"Not for a while--we just got a new assignment. Another month at least."
"If I'm here I'll cook you dinner." He frowned. "Wait a minute--you'll make it to Vortex Two, won't you?"
She leaned closer for emphasis. "I'll be there if I have to hitchhike."
"I'll hold you to that." He glanced off to the side again, and then, with apparent reluctance, reached for the comm controls. "Good-bye, Kathryn. I'm really glad you called."
"Good-bye--"
A woman wearing a lavender caftan crossed the screen behind his chair and in passing gave his shoulder a fond caress. His attention captured, he turned away and held out his hand, but just before the connection was broken, he turned quickly back to Janeway and smiled a farewell.
She picked up a padd, but did not look at what was displayed on it and very soon put it down again. Anybody would have been embarrassed by the way their conversation had begun, but why should the remainder of it leave her feeling so unsettled?
The most obvious answer to that question unsettled her even more.
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