Disclaimer:
Paramount Pictures own all things Trek. I make no money from
this story. All characters besides the STV senior staff, are
mine. Do not archive or post anywhere else without my written
permission.
Betareaders:
Thanks to Pol, Snowolf, Jay, Glynis and Saffron. Any mistakes
lingering are purely my own!
Pairing:
J/7
Rating:
NC-17. Same gender love between adult, consenting
women.
Violence:
Yes, some. It's an action story.
Format:
Different fonts and background colour describe changes in past and present. I hope
this will work out well in simple html. Let me know if it
doesn't come out right. Thank you.
Summary:
An unexpected attack destroys the most joyous moment, so far, in
Janeway's and Seven's life. The consequences are devastating and
the crew is now held hostage, fearing their captain is dead.
Chapter 10
Janeway watched the Doctor run a tricorder along Seven’s still
form. Seven lay motionless and only when she focused closely on
her midsection, could Janeway detect signs of breathing.
“Her internal organs are in a state of flux and her nanoprobes
are dormant. I have no idea why! They should be setting in at
this rate.” The Doctor glanced grimly at Janeway. “With limited
access to Voyager’s technology I have no way of reinitializing
her cortical implant if it malfunctions.”
“Then think of something else.” Janeway knew her voice was
brusque. She forced tears back and refused to let her jumbled
thoughts to take over. So much had happened; it was impossible
to process it during these circumstances. All she could, or
wanted, to think about, was Seven. “Use what you have and…”
A low hum interrupted her and she drew her weapon, as did Tom
and Chakotay. “Captain! Behind you!”
Janeway pivoted and had to raise her free hand to shield her
eyes against the bright light coming from the office area. It
moved toward her and she felt her arms go weak and her disruptor
fell to the floor. The light engulfed her, and ran through her
as a brisk autumn wind. As if it cleansed every pore,
replenished and refreshed every single molecule in her body,
Janeway tensed for a moment, only to slump back against a
computer console when the light moved away.
The lights, Janeway now saw that there were several, at least
four, floated toward the biobed. She was about to object, and
saw Chakotay take a step forward, when B’Elanna placed strong
hands on both their arms.
“Wait,” she said in a low voice. “Just…let them.”
Janeway drew deep breaths to stay calm as the lights rose and
fell around Seven. It looked as if they caressed every inch of
her, over and over. Finally they left her and with a crackling
sound, they glimmered brightly and were gone.
The light in sickbay almost seemed insufficient after looking
at the piercing lights, but Janeway’s eyes finally adjusted and
she rushed toward the biobed. “Seven?”
Her lover didn’t respond, but her skin tone had turned from
marbled blue to a healthy pink. The dark shadows under Seven’s
eyes were now gone and she drew deep and slow breaths. Janeway
felt Seven’s pulse on her neck and it was thick and steady.
The Doctor scanned Seven and stared at his tricorder.
“Doctor!” Janeway urged him. “How is she?”
“She’s…okay. She’s sleeping.”
“Sleeping?” Janeway turned to look at Seven again. Could it be
true? Was she really okay?
“Yes. She’s in deep REM sleep and will no doubt be like that
for a bit. She has lost a lot of energy. As soon as she wakes
up, I’ll have some replicated nanoprobes for her. Assuming the
replicators are up and running, that is.” The Doctor obviously
directed his last remark at B’Elanna who still held on to
Chakotay’s arm.
“I’ll do my best,” the usually so hot-headed Klingon said.
“Tom?”
“Here,” Tom said and stepped forward, staring at his wife. “You
look…fine?”
“I am,” B’Elanna whispered and fell into his arms. “As hard as
it is to believe, I truly am.”
Tom hid his face in her tousled hair. “Thank God.”
“Oh, Seven…” a distraught voice said from behind. Janeway
turned to scrutinize Neelix who stepped out from behind B’Elanna.
He looked perfectly healthy, and yet, there was something new
and startling in his amber eyes. Shadows that Janeway had never
seen before.
“Neelix,” she said and extended a hand. “Come here. I know
Seven would like to hear your voice, that you’re okay. She loves
you.”
Neelix cleared his voice repeatedly before he was able to say
anything. Janeway wondered if he knew how hard he squeezed her
hand as he spoke to the still woman on the biobed. “Seven? Hi.
Hello. Well, it’s me, Neelix. I’m fine. Yes, indeed. I’m so glad
to see you back here, with us, with the captain.” He wiped at
his eyes with his free hand. “When you feel up to it, I’ll whip
up my best dessert and we’ll have a game of cadis-cot, okay?
Sound good to you too? I thought it might.”
Janeway gave Neelix’s hand a squeeze and let go. “Darling,” she
said to Seven’s sleeping form, “I have things to take care of. I
have to make sure the crew is all right.” She choked on her
words, but continued. “You have the Doctor and Neelix here to
make sure you’re safe. And I’ll be back…” Her voice trailed off
as indigo eyes opened to narrow slits.
“Kathryn…”
“Annika.” Janeway leaned forward and pressed her lips gently
against the dry and chapped lips of her lover. “Just rest now.
Promise me. I love you.” She whispered her vow, knowing she had
to move quickly, no matter that she wanted to remain by Seven’s
side. Janeway experience actual physical pain as she withdrew
from the biobed and only her resolve to make sure every single
individual of her crew was safe, made it possible for her to
slip into her command persona.
She began to walk out of sickbay with Chakotay and Kingas in
tow, when the pale, but familiar, face belonging to Harry Kim
came into view. He was sitting up on one of the biobeds, looking
dazed.
“Harry!” Chakotay called out as they walked up to him. “You…you
look so much better.”
“I feel…tired. But fine.” Harry seemed amazed and a little out
of it. Janeway guessed that his road to recovery would be much
longer than Neelix’s, since he’d been dying only hours ago.
“Wonderful,” Janeway whispered and caressed his cheek quickly
before she headed out with her crew. Kingas and Mirish flanked
Tom and Chakotay.
“What the hell’s going on?” Tom murmured. “Who are these being
that came out of nowhere and…healed our wounded?”
“I have my suspicions,” Janeway replied and kept her disruptor
raised. She had a feeling this was far from over. “We may have
some powerful allies, but since we know hardly anything about
them, we can’t trust in their benevolence just yet.”
“I see you’ve made the correct deduction, Captain,” Kingas said.
She moved with lethal grace next to Chakotay. “These are
extraordinary circumstances, and for them to show themselves…it’s
only been mentioned in the folklore stories. It hasn’t happened
for centuries.”
“What hasn’t happened?” Chakotay asked.
“The Shantari.” Kingas voice showed reverence tinged with
trepidation. “They’re here.”
Outside there was an almost eerie silence. Smoke still billowed
from the structures hit by Voyagers torpedoes and the rebels’
fire. Now all the fighting had ceased and Voyager’s crew were
moving toward their vessel. Among them, they carried the
previously dying men and women, and it was obvious that the
Shantari had paid them a visit as well.
“Captain!” A cry to Janeway’s left sent chills down her spine.
“Captain! He’s got her!” Samantha Wildman ran so fast, in full
panic, that she fell, rolled twice before she got up again. Her
knees bleeding beneath her tattered skirt, she seemed mindless
of the unnatural angle of her wrist. “He’s got Naomi!”
“Masier,” Mirish whispered. “She means Masier.”
Janeway knew she was right and cold fury and red-hot dread shot
through her system. “The bastard,” she hissed as they rushed
toward Samantha.
Chakotay caught the frantic woman and stopped her from falling
again. “Ensign, you’re wounded.” He waved over two female
crewmembers. “Help Ensign Wildman to sickbay.”
“Where is he? Do you know?” Janeway asked Samantha.
“He moved into the jungle at the east side of the tarmac,
Captain.” Samantha hugged her obviously broken wrist to her
chest. “He carried Naomi under his arm and fired against us.”
“So he’s armed and on the move,” Kingas said. She picked up her
radio. “Dargas, where are you? Over.”
“Damage control. We’ve got about twenty-five prisoner in the
south-east corner,” Dargas said through the static. "Over."
“Masier is on the move with a child. A young girl. He’s moving
due east, as far as we know. This is our chance, Dargas, but
don’t endanger the child. Over.”
“Got it. I’ll circle around him from the south. Dargas out.”
“We’ll go in from the east then.” Kingas glanced at Janeway.
“Got enough troops to send a team from the north. We can’t have
him slip through any cracks now.”
“I’ll send six of my crew that way.” Janeway tapped her com
badge. “Janeway to Tuvok. Report!”
“Tuvok here. My team and I are in the process of securing
perimeters north of Voyager.”
Janeway briefed him rapidly and Tuvok assured her that Masier
would not escape passed his men. There was a dangerous tone in
his voice, which indicated that her old friend was not as
detached as a Vulcan normally should be.
“Let’s go.” Janeway glanced at the two crewmembers holding
Samantha upright. “Get that fixed. We’ll get her back,
Samantha.”
“Please, Captain. She’s…”
“She’s precious to all of us and she’s your child. I know.”
Janeway motioned for her team to run with her down the tarmac
toward where Masier had disappeared with Naomi.
The smell of decaying plants and undergrowth filled Janeway’s
nostrils and she knew no matter what the future held, this scent
would linger with her, and possibly follow her in nightmares.
She’d hid in this godforsaken jungle for months, starved and
hunted. Now, roles were reversed and she was the hunter, on a
quest to save the life of a child. Naomi, sweetest child,
please be all right. She forced herself through the jungle,
on a practically invisible path.
Behind her, Kingas and Mirish ran while exchanging muttering
words between them, barely audible. The growth thickened, and
the only comfort as they struggled to make their way through it
was that Masier would have the same problem.
A piercing scream echoed from somewhere in front of them. A
child, in danger, possibly tormented. Janeway lengthened her
stride, pushed through the vegetation without concern for how it
scratched her face and hands. What the hell is he doing to
her? Her heart pounded painfully in her chest, as fast and
furious as her thoughts, and Janeway was grateful for the
adrenaline that permeated her, enforcing her strength.
The jungle seemed to open up, the trees were fewer and the low
vegetation less dense, allowing more light to permeate down to
the six people that ran as fast as they could toward the sound
of Voyager's littlest crewmember.
They reached a small clearing in the jungle and Janeway came to
a quick halt, gasping for air. She pushed a few thin twigs aside
to get a better view without being spotted by Masier and gasped
out loud.
In the middle Masier was standing in a position that seemed
impossible. Hi was bent over backward, so far that she would
think he’d break his back any second. It reminded her of Seven’s
posture when they found her in the cave. What made her gasp was
not so much the painful position, but the fact that Masier
seemed to levitate several centimeters off the ground. He swayed
slightly and his face was a mask of pure fear.
Naomi lay on the ground just before him and a shimmering light,
consisting of all the colors visible to the human eye,
surrounded her like a glass dome. Her body was rolled up in a
fetal position and Janeway wasn’t close enough to judge if she
was breathing or not.
“Argh!” Masier grunted loudly. “Let me go!” It was obvious that
he couldn’t move, but the words broke free from his immobilized
lips anyway. “Damn you…whoever the hell you are!”
The light brightened and now Janeway could detect three clear
points of light floating from the massive brightness around
Masier. They settled next to Naomi and now Janeway could not
stay hidden any longer. She rushed over the clearing and stopped
as the glow from what Neelix called the Light People became too
bright for her eyes. She raised her hand to shield them.
“Please. Allow me to take care of Naomi. She’s an innocent child…”
The three points of light dimmed for a moment and after a few
more seconds, they morphed into three dimensional beings. Or,
rather, something resembling projections of beings. Two of them
looked female, with long glowing hair, and the third looked like
an older male, with shining silver eyes and a strong, alien
face.
“Shantari-of-the-Lights,” Kingas murmured behind her and knelt,
bowing her head. Mirish tugged at Janeway and followed suit.
Janeway wanted to snatch Naomi and hold the girl close, but
knew it was imperative to make first contact the right way. She
knelt on one knee, placing her hand on the bent one. She didn’t
take her eyes off the three beings for a moment.
The two female Shantari leaned down and helped Naomi to her
feet. The child looked drowsily at them, as if she was
half asleep. One of the Shantari females placed her hands around
Naomi’s head and whispered something in a language even the
universal translator couldn’t decipher. Naomi smiled vaguely and
wobbled toward Janeway who knelt only a few feet away.
“Captain,” the little girl whispered. “They say I can go back
to my mom now. Back to Voyager. The evil man can’t hurt me.”
Janeway wrapped her arms around Naomi. She hugged her close and
inhaled the scent of her. Sweat and dirt couldn’t conceal the
special scent of a child and Janeway’s heart lifted and for the
first time in months, she began to feel like everything was
going to be all right.
Chakotay took Naomi from Janeway and cradled her in his arms,
just as Tuvok appeared from the north. He entered the clearing
with his men and at the same time, Dargas approached from the
south. They stopped and stared at the Shantari who now stood
around the levitating Masier. A strange sound hummed in the air,
and it appeared to come from them, even if their mouths were
closed.
“Sounds like they’re chanting,” Chakotay murmured from behind.
“What are they doing?”
The Shantari seemed focused on Masier, staring at him with fire
in their eyes as the humming sound grew louder, in an
increasingly faster pattern.
Janeway, Kingas, and Mirish rose. They all stood in a ring
around the Shantari and Masier, watching in awe as Masier’s body
was lowered toward the ground. His feet now touched the grass
and after yet another moment, they were pushed down, buried.
With every word, the Shantari sent Masier deeper and deeper. He
opened his mouth, probably to cry out in protest, but not a
sound came over his lips.
“By the Gods,” Chakotay gasped. “They’re impelling him!”
“What do you mean?” Janeway turned her head and saw how Chakotay
stared in horror-filled fascination at the Shantari.
“They’re impelling him into the ground. I’ve heard of this, by
word of mouth by the elders and the shamans of my tribe…but
never seen it. I don’t think many people have witness it.” His
face contorted. “As much as I hate Masier…” He left the rest
unsaid.
Janeway turned her head back and regarded the Shantari send
Masier farther and farther into the ground until the dirt closed
over his head. There was no sound, not even a breeze rushing
through the trees. Everything was eerily quiet for a moment.
“Look, what’s that?” Mirish pointed over Janeway’s shoulder to
their left. “Something’s moving over there!”
Janeway raised her disruptor and aimed at the movement in the
brushes. Dirt fell around a rounded form and it was clear that
something was coming up through the ground, only a few feet away
from where Masier had disappeared
“Are they digging the man up again?” little Naomi asked, her
clear voice carrying easily over the clearing.
“I should hope not.” Kingas huffed.
The prone form laid curled up, very still, much like Naomi had
only moments ago. Dressed in remarkably clean white garments,
the individual showed no signs of being alive.
“It can’t be true!” Dargas called out. “What is going on?
Dorma!” He rushed to the still figure on the ground and pulled
what turned out to be a young man into his arms. “Tell me he’s
alive, please…” The strong, usually quite hostile and brusque
man wept as he cradled his younger brother. “Dorma.”
Janeway followed behind Kingas and Mirish when they walked over
to the two men. Slowly Dorma opened his eyes, and Janeway saw
the boy was as young as Anako. He looked up at them in mild
surprise. “Dargas.” He smiled. “They told me it was just a
matter of time until I’d go back.”
“Thank you. Gods of Shantari. Thank you!” Dargas called out and
now his men and Kingas and Mirish knelt again. Janeway signaled
to her crewmembers to follow suit. Furtively she looked around
to see if the earth moved somewhere else. Anako. Please, send
us Anako.
The
soft voices sang inside Janeway’s head, and she understood
perfectly these alien words, as if they were of her mother
tongue. “No,” she gasped. “Please. It wasn’t her time. She
wasn’t supposed to go.”
Janeway knew then Anako was lost to them. If the Shantari said
she had chosen, then Janeway believed them. She could not
picture anyone coercing the young woman into doing anything
against her will. “Be kind to her.”
Dorma now sat up and looked at them all with shining eyes. “Can
you hear them? In your head?”
“Yes,” simultaneous voice replied, and Janeway understood that
she wasn’t the only one who’d been addressed by the Shantari.
The Godlike forms were slowly turning into points of light again
before they whirled up in a spear like shape, only to turn with
a sizzling sound and burrow into the ground before they were
gone.
Janeway found she couldn’t move. “I never thanked them,” she
whispered, wiping at tears running down her cheeks. “They helped
us, stopped Masier, and healed our wounded.”
“Because of Anako,” Dorma said.
“You saw her?” Kingas asked.
“Yes. I was waiting in their halls, vast obsidian halls that
went on forever, when there was a resounding bang, like a large
gong. Suddenly, a door opened that wasn’t there before, and
Anako stepped in. She stood for a moment and then ran over and
hugged me.”
“Was she all right?” Janeway asked.
Dorma looked at her. “Yes. And you must be the captain.”
“When she
learned that they were sending me back, she told me to tell you,
all of you, that we’re facing a new beginning. Our fight isn’t
over, but we have taken a new step by allowing a true member of
the
Shantari-Vorisan
to join them. And that’s why they did something they’ve never
done before.” Dorma’s eyes glistened, but he didn’t cry. “They
showed themselves and sent me back.”
Dargas pulled the young man to his feet. “Can you stand?
“Yes, brother.”
“I’ve missed you.” Dargas’s voice was rough, but the love shone
through.
“As have I,” Dorma murmured.
Eventually, they were all ready to move out and back to the
tarmac. Tuvok suggested he and Dargas join forces to smoke out
every single of Masier’s mercenaries and Janeway agreed. They
also needed to start repairs on Voyager and make her space
worthy again. B’Elanna, who met them on the ledge to shuttle bay
one, swore if Neelix could scare up some blueberry pancakes,
she’d get right on it, even if she had to use gum and strings to
do it.
Janeway hurried through the ship, Chakotay by her side with
Naomi cradled in his arms. The little girl was asleep and looked
serene and content where she lay with her head tucked into his
shoulder. There was something so right in this picture that
Janeway faltered for a moment. Chakotay as paternal? This day
is just getting weirder. But when she thought about it, how
tender Chakotay always had been with the little girl, it made
sense.
The light in sickbay was muted and only two crewmembers, apart
from Seven, were lying on the biobeds. One had been injured
after the Shantari made their miraculous appearance, and was
only there for observation. The second was Samantha Wildman who
now sat up with a whimper, reaching out for her girl. “Naomi…”
she whispered, and the child clung to her in her sleep.
Janeway strode up to the main biobed, and looked longingly down
at Seven who was also fast asleep. The Doctor had hooked up an
IV transfusion of replicated nanoprobes and he was sitting in
his office, only nodding in her direction with a reassuring
smile.
Seven looked beautiful, despite the dark rings under her eyes
and the long disheveled blonde hair. Her lips were slightly
parted and white teeth glistened between them. Janeway gauged
the space next to Seven on the biobed, and decided it was enough.
Bone-deep fatigue made the fact that she was dirty, and still in
her makeshift uniform consisting of the rough coverall and her
uniform jacket, a moot point.
Janeway
slid up next to Seven and wormed her arm under her neck. Only
when she could hide her face against Seven’s shoulder did she
allow her tears to run. Perhaps if she could make them wash the
torment of the last months away. Janeway knew this experience
would be yet another harsh emotional aftermath to deal with.
She’d come so close to losing Seven, too many times, and she
wasn’t sure she could take it, if it happened again. “You’re my
heart, Annika,” she whispered. “My heart, and you're a part of
my soul.” Afraid, and still prone to reason fatalistically
regarding their situation, Janeway closed her eyes. So, what
if we’re never able to leave here? With Masier and his men gone,
it can provide to be a good home for the crew. We have allies
and have made new friends. That’s not bad. But the promise
to get her crew home remained. Even, at this rate, Janeway knew
they were all ready to die trying.
Epilogue
Seven of Nine walked onto the bridge, her eyes immediately
searching for Kathryn. The captain wasn’t in her seat, instead
she just came out of her ready room with Kingas and Mirish in
tow.
“Thank you, for everything,” Kathryn said and extended her hand.
Kingas took it in the human way of greeting and shook it.
“It is we who are grateful,” Kingas murmured and sighed.
“Without your ordeal, we may never have had such success.
Sacrificing Anako wouldn’t have happened the way it did.
Seven had never met the young woman who’d taken her place in the
obsidian chamber, but she would forever be grateful to her. She
could see on Kathryn’s face that the mere mention of Anako’s
name was enough for her to falter.
“You’re probably true. Our destinies were intertwined, I suppose.”
“And you, Captain, are a remarkable woman,” Mirish added. “I
don’t think I could’ve survived on my own in the jungle the way
you did.”
“I almost didn’t,” Kathryn reminded her. “You saved me. You and
Kingas.”
“So, we’re even, then,” Mirish laughed and wrinkled her nose.
“Works for me!”
Kathryn turned her head and found Seven. Motioning for her to
approach them, she circled Seven’s waist with her arm. “Why
don’t we follow Kingas and Mirish to transporter room one? It is
time to say goodbye.
Seven nodded and they all went into the turbo lift she had
vacated only a moment ago. Mirish regarded her with curious eyes.
“Yes?” Seven raised an eyebrow.
“I can see why the captain was so adamant in saving you. And I’m
not talking about your extraordinary beauty.”
Not sure it was a compliment, Seven regarded Mirish with
apprehension. She still suffered moodswings and had nightmares,
and she didn’t trust herself to sound polite enough.
“No, she is not.” Seven tried to sound casual. “Please,
elaborate.” The truth was, she was curious to Mirish’s
observation.
“The way you look at the captain, how you love her with your
eyes, and everything you say or do—how can a woman not risk
their life willingly, to rescue the person who loves her like
that? It is clear to me that you are her world and she is yours.
I have never quite come across this type of love. I have seen
love between siblings, parents and children, but the passion and
love you two have…I’m amazed.” Mirish spoke with true reverence,
which brought tears to Seven’s human eye.
“Thank you,” she managed. “Kathryn means everything to me and
she knows that. And I know how much she loves me. She has
sacrificed a lot for me, many times.
They exited the turbo lift and walked toward transporter room
one.
“This time, if it wasn’t for Anako, she would have sacrificed
herself to the Shantari, and who knows what all our futures
would have seemed then?” Kingas shook her head. “Our fates are
what they are, and it’s best we know nothing about what’s going
to happen.”
“That’s a true word,” Kathryn agreed and broke her silence. She
took Seven’s hand and kept it as they entered the transporter
room. As Mirish and Kingas stepped onto the dais, Kathryn looked
at them with fond eyes. “I’m going to miss you. Of all the
people we’ve met during our journey home, you two stand out as
the most courageous and the ones that I really would've liked to
have sustained a friendship with.”
“You don’t have to sustain anything, Captain,” Mirish said with
an impish smile. “We’re friends. Hell, I think it goes beyond
that. We’re practically family.”
Seven heard Janeway draw a deep breath. “Yes, we are.” Kathryn
turned around to the ensign on duty. “Energize.”
Kingas and Mirish disappeared in a glittering cascade of light
when their molecules dissolved.
“They’re at their coordinates on the tarmac, safe and sound,
Captain,” the ensign said, and Seven heard that even her voice
were not quite stable.
As they walked back to the bridge, Kathryn was quiet yet again.
Seven didn’t mind, since she felt it was a good, benevolent
silence. They stepped into the turbo lift, yet again, and after
only ten point six-four-two seconds, Kathryn gave the order for
it to stop its ascent.
“Yes?” Seven asked, curious why her fiancée would do this just
before they intended to break orbit and set course for the Alpha
Quadrant.
“You know she’s right, don’t you? Mirish?”
“Yes.”
“I love you more than anything.”
“I love you too.”
“If it wasn’t for Anako…” Kathryn’s face pinched and she gasped
softly. “You would’ve liked her. She was…so alive, and so brave.”
“She sounds like a formidable individual.” Seven wasn’t jealous
of Kathryn’s affection for Anako, because she sensed the
maternal feelings behind her words. “I wish I had known her.”
“She did see you, in the chamber. She touched you, when she took
your place between the obsidian poles. In a way, you know her.
Of her.”
Seven considered this. At first it didn’t make sense, but when
she thought about it, and probed her eidetic memory, suddenly
she saw a dark haired young woman with face paint and a black
bandana around her head. The young woman had a determined
expression, and yet she was pale. Trembling. The touch, when
they brushed against each other, was trembling so hard, Seven
could feel the young woman’s, Anako’s, skin vibrate against her.
“I did see her. I did feel her.” Seven pulled Kathryn in for a
close, almost desperate embrace. “I did.”
The bridge was bussing with activity as several more officers
were present for when they broke out of orbit. Many of
B’Elanna’s solutions were hardly Star Fleet standard, but as
long as they got them on their way, preferably toward an alien
space station where they could barter for some sorely needed
parts, they would be all right. The replicators were up and
running, and so was the main deflector and the warp core.
Kathryn sat down in her command chair and Seven took her station
right behind her. She looked proudly down at Kathryn as the
other woman crossed her legs and placed her hands on the
armrests in a calm, familiar manner.
Kathryn glanced at Seven and winked before turning toward the
screen. “All right, Mr. Paris. Set course for the Alpha Quadrant.
It’s time to go.” Kathryn’s commanding persona was intact, to
the last syllable. “Engage.”
