summary:

TITLE: Janeway Redux
AUTHOR: halfofone
RATING: R
CODE: J/7
FEEDBACK: Constructive feedback welcome.
SUMMARY: Set after five years after the events of Counterpoint in season 5. Janeway gets remade and returns to find her old ship. She needs Voyager and the crew but can they trust her?
SPOILERS: Some Season 4 and Season 5 spoilers.
ARCHIVING: If you want ... I would quite like to know where.
DISCLAIMER: TPTB are Paramount/Viacom. In a perfect world I would own Star Trek but it's not and I don't.

disclaimer:

TPTB are many. In a perfect world I would be one of them but it's not and I'm not. No infringement of copyright/trade marks or other intellectual property is intended. This story was written for fun and not profit.

warnings:

Warning: This story includes same sex relationships between women. If you are offended by this or it is illegal where you live or you are underage then please read no further.

Full warnings, credits and disclaimers can be found in the contents page and chapter 1.

text:

Part 3 - A new Captain

Voyager - One day after Captain Janeway's arrest and detention by the Devore.

As Chakotay arrived for the briefing with the senior staff, he was aware of the hostility he would face. Tom Paris had been openly expressing the view to anyone who would listen, that it was criminal to have left the Captain with a bunch of Nazis. The crew of Voyager were more familiar than most with that period of Earth history having been forced to enact it in holodeck simulations by the Hirogen. Everyone understood the analogy between the Devore Imperium and the Third Reich.

The Devore oppressed many of the local systems and enforced their power by the ruthless use of slavery and detention camps. They particularly hated the telepathic races and relentlessly tried to eliminate them or imprison them in the many labour camps that supported the military might of the Imperium. It was likely that the Captain was being taken to just such a camp.

Chakotay knew that many of the Voyager crew would be traumatised by the loss and he had expected to have to deal with a lot of anger and distress. The Commander had never in the past had much time for Starfleet counsellors but he could certainly have used one now. Even the former Maquis crew had grown to respect the captain and B'Elanna Torres in particular was completely devastated. Janeway's support and trust over the years had restored B'Elanna's self esteem. The grieving chief engineer refused to speak to Chakotay after Janeway's arrest except in response to matters directly related to engineering operations. Tom Paris' sniping and B'Elanna's silent treatment were difficult manifestations of loss but Seven of Nine's behaviour was something else. It had not occurred to Chakotay to worry about the former Borg's reaction.

Seven of Nine had tried to kill him.

*~~~*

The previous day, soon after Captain Janeway's arrest, Chakotay and Tuvok had been seated in the Captain's ready room discussing the options when the Borg entered without announcement and spoke sharply with barely contained anger. "How do you propose to recover Captain Janeway?" A pair of icy blue eyes interrogated Chakotay and he shivered involuntarily.

"Seven it is customary to sound the door chime before entering the Captain's ready room. The current situation will be addressed at the emergency meeting in 10 minutes." Chakotay felt weary and didn't really feel like dealing with the Borg's rudeness.

Seven of Nine ignored his words. "Voyager is still on a heading for the Alpha quadrant. Why? You are abandoning her are you not" she stated.

"As I have already said this will be discussed by the senior officers, together." A little surprised at Seven of Nine's vehemence Chakotay then said more gently, "Seven, the loss of a Captain is always a tragedy for a starship and Captain Janeway was more than just a colleague, more than just a captain...."

"You speak as if she has ceased functioning. That is unacceptable." Seven was almost whispering and Chakotay realised with astonishment that the emotionless Borg was in pain. "You will change course to pursue the Devore vessel and rescue the Captain," she ordered, her voice strengthening and becoming fierce again.

Chakotay's own guilt and despair made him answer her with a conviction that he did not feel, "Seven we cannot do that. The Devore are too strong and would destroy Voyager and the crew. The captain knew this and her last order was that under no circumstances should we attempt a rescue."

"Do you believe Commander that, were the positions reversed, Captain Janeway would leave you or any crew member with the Devore?"

Chakotay blanched. That was it. The question he had not wanted to ask himself. His rational self answered that such a question was hypothetical and that he had to do what was best for the ship and the crew. Kathryn had often taken what he thought were outrageous risks with the lives of everyone on Voyager. Her self-confidence sometimes bordered on dangerous arrogance but she had the skills, abilities and courage to back up her choices. The alliance with the Borg against species 8472 exemplified both the risk taking and the brilliance.

Chakotay knew with certainty that Kathryn would not have left anyone to the justice of Devore. However he was not Kathryn Janeway. He did not believe he had the right to march Voyager's crew to almost certain death, protected only by his abilities as a captain and luck. In the Maquis he had fought many dangerous battles against heavy odds yet the risks were always carefully considered. The Maquis had too few resources to do otherwise and it was no different now. One bad decision and any hope of surviving and returning to the Alpha quadrant would be lost.

Seven of Nine still stood motionless in front of him waiting for his answer, Chakotay noticed her hands clenching. "Seven..." He paused not quite sure how to continue. "I realise that Captain Janeway meant a lot to you." This was untrue. It was a surprise to him that the Borg cared about anyone. "The captain understood the risks and put the lives of her crew and the safety of Voyager before her own life. We would be betraying that sacrifice if we disobeyed her order."

Seven of Nine answered quickly, "then do not risk Voyager commander, give me a shuttle and I will find the Captain and return her to Voyager."

Chakotay sighed and stared at his hands, resting on Kathryn's table while he sat in her chair. He felt like an interloper, giving orders in her place.

"I cannot do that Seven, we are not yet clear of Devore space and any such action by members of Voyager's crew would be considered an act of aggression. It would endanger the ship just as much as if Voyager itself were involved."

"Ensign Paris is correct." Seven's tone was icy. "You have usurped the Captain and do not wish her to return."

Tuvok moved towards her. "Seven of Nine your analysis is faulty and it is inappropriate to address the Commander in such a manner"

Chakotay stood up and leaned forward on the desk, outraged by her accusation. Before he could put his outrage into words, a Borg-powered uppercut lifted him off his feet and thumped him against the wall behind the ready room desk. Pain exploded in his face. Seven stepped neatly round the desk and picked him up, slamming him against the wall, cracking his head. Two more blows impacted on his chest and he heard a crack of bone. He screamed and lost consciousness.

Caught off-guard Tuvok was slow to react, he finally moved to pull Seven off Chakotay, urgently summoning the doctor and a security team as he went. Her hands were on the new Captain's throat, and Tuvok found it tremendously difficult preventing the ex-drone from throttling Chakotay. It took all his strength just to hold her. Eventually the security team arrived and rushed to assist the struggling Vulcan.

"Fall back" he ordered. "Phasers on heavy stun, fire on my mark!". Tuvok let go of the battling ex-drone and stepped back.

"Fire!" he ordered. The two security officers turned their phasers on Seven and fired. As the phaser blasts struck her she staggered. The impact stunned Seven just enough to allow the newly arrived Doctor to sedate her with a hypospray. Seven of Nine sank to the ground. The Doctor quickly focused his tricorder on the fallen woman.

She'll be fine," he assured with obvious relief.

"Take her to the Brig, said Tuvok calmly although he could not disguise his breathlessness. "Level ten force field and two armed guards," The security team removed Seven and Tuvok turned his attention to Chakotay and the Doctor who was now attending him, clucking disapprovingly.

"I can't do anymore here. Computer - emergency transport, two to sickbay," said the EMH. He sounded urgent.

"Is his condition serious? "Tuvok asked the Doctor.

"It will be Commander, if I stand around here gossiping." With that the Doctor and Chakotay's prone body shimmered and disappeared.

Tuvok looked at the blood staining the wall and allowed himself to admit that the current situation was disturbing.

*~~~*

The Doctor had treated Chakotay's injuries without too much trouble, three cracked ribs, a shattered jaw, a cracked skull and a ruptured kidney were dangerous if untreated but posed no great difficulty for the skills of the EMH. Chakotay was up and about the following day although he still felt some discomfort.

Chakotay now sat in the delayed senior staff meeting aware that most of his colleagues had some sympathy with Seven of Nine even if they thought her actions were extreme. He heard B'Elanna say admiringly, in a deliberately loud stage whisper, "I'll say one thing for her - she certainly stands by her friends. Who would have thought our resident ice queen had it in her?"

Chakotay called the meeting to order.

"I am going to make this brief. As you know Captain Janeway was arrested and detained by the Devore Imperium because of alleged breaches of the law governing their space. Rather than precipitate a fight which she knew we could not win, Captain Janeway agreed to surrender herself in return for Voyager's freedom."

Looking at the expressions on their faces Chakotay hesitated before finishing, "I am not going to betray the Captain by returning on a fool's mission and losing the ship and crew which she loved so much."

Tom Paris opened his mouth to protest but Chakotay spoke first. "I know some of you think this decision is cowardly or worse self-interested but your opinion matters less to me than doing what I know to be correct for Voyager and the crew. There will be no further discussion. Meeting dismissed."

The senior staff looked at each other with shock. Up to this moment they had not really believed that Chakotay would abandon the Captain.

Harry Kim managed to speak "Commander we can't just leave....." He tailed off when he saw Chakotay's expression. Tom Paris was on his feet, complete contempt stamped on his face. He was not intimidated by Chakotay's glare.

"I never took you for a coward 'Commander' Chakotay; it seems I was wrong. Of course you never really respected her did you? Perhaps you felt it was about time she gave up command to you... "

"That's enough Lieutenant Paris! Get back to your station. And that goes for the rest of you. Dismissed." Paris threw him a hate-filled look and stormed from the briefing room. The other senior staff filed out in sullen silence. Last to leave, B'Elanna Torres turned back at the door, hardly restraining the snarl that curled her lips. "How the hell are we supposed to accept this Chakotay?" she demanded angrily.

"You will accept it because I am ordering you to do so and because this is what the Captain wanted. If you can't obey me then at least obey her."

"She would not have left any of us behind Chakotay. You know that!"

He met her accusing glare. "What would you have me do?"

B'Elanna shook her head in despairing frustration. "I don't know." She scowled. "Can I ask what you are going to do about Seven of Nine? Lock her up for saying what everyone else is thinking?"

It was Chakotay's turn to scowl. The ex-drone had left his ribs sore, but she had bruised his self-esteem more with her self-righteous certainty and easy judgement. She didn't have to choose between feelings for Kathryn and the lives of one hundred and fifty people.

"That, Lieutenant, is a matter of ship's discipline and I have no intention of discussing it with you. You are dismissed."

Tuvok who was watching the encounter, experienced some disquiet as Lieutenant Torres tensed visibly and her fists clenched hard. Tuvok prepared to defend his Captain again. It would be unfortunate if physical attacks on the new captain by irate crew members were to become the norm. However Torres didn't attack her old commander; she just glared and muttered insolently "Yes Captain. I will obey!" Her tone of voice suggested that for her this was not the end of the matter. She left the room without a second glance, leaving Chakotay and Tuvok alone.

Chakotay exhaled deeply and put his head in his hands. "I think that was the hardest thing I have ever done." He sat still staring at the table and rubbing the tattoo on the side of his face. "Tuvok. Have you spoken to Seven of Nine?"

"Yes Captain. She is unrepentant and has expressed the opinion that you will not be as lucky next time."

"So what shall we do with her. Keep her in the brig forever? Even if that were possible, and I do not underestimate her ingenuity and determination, it would be a constant drain on ships morale." Chakotay looked perplexed. "I can't resolve this at the moment. Inform Seven of Nine that she is to remain in detention for sixty days and the situation will be reviewed at the end of that time. It will be necessary for her to regenerate periodically. I want her confined in Cargo bay 2 rather than making regular transfers to regenerate. I will authorise the necessary work to secure her regeneration alcove and part of the surrounding area."

Tuvok nodded and turned to go when Chakotay spoke again "Tuvok do you think it is possible that Seven of Nine is in love with Captain Janeway?" He wasn't sure why he asked. It was a foolish notion and Tuvok was the last person to have an opinion on such matters.

Tuvok had seen the distraught Borg nearly weeping, striding up and down the brig like a tiger, calling down revenge on the heads of all her crewmates. "I think, Captain, that is an entirely logical conclusion although I doubt Seven would use that terminology."

*~~~*

Six days later B'Elanna Torres was reviewing the overhaul of one of the class 2 shuttles. She and Ensign Vorik had each been working double shifts, adapting the shuttle and improving its weapons and shields using similar technology to that employed in the Delta Flyer. One adaptation which had intrigued Vorik was the installation of one of the Borg alcoves from Cargo bay 2. When he queried the Chief Engineer, B'Elanna had informed him that the project was confidential and other members of the engineering crew were not to be involved. Vorik maintained total discretion as B'Elanna knew he would.

Engineering had completed work on adapting part of cargo bay two as a secure brig. The additional Borg alcove, which was now on the shuttle, had been removed as part of this work and in the process B'Elanna learnt a great deal about Borg engineering. She applied much of her acquired knowledge to the shuttle enhancements. It rather embarrassed her, looking back at when Seven had first arrived on Voyager, at how ignorant she must have appeared to the Borg.

Seven of Nine had been transferred to the cargo bay a week earlier and access to the cargo bay was now severely restricted. Any requests to enter the cargo bay had to be routed though Tuvok. B'Elanna Torres had been in there on only one occasion, to review a minor problem with one of the force fields. The Chief Engineer was upset by the sight of Seven of Nine, slumped on the floor, entirely defeated. This was not the arrogant stubborn Borg who annoyed her so much but a very vulnerable, unhappy and lonely woman.

The Lieutenant cursed Chakotay for being so ham fisted in his dealings with Seven of Nine. Chakotay could only see the young Borg as a threat and he had never trusted her, despite the many occasions that Seven had saved Voyager. Nothing if not honest, B'Elanna had to admit that she had also been guilty of fear and narrow-mindedness. Only Captain Janeway had ever consistently shown Seven of Nine any kindness or understanding even when Seven was at her most outrageous.

However, seeing Seven in such pain solidified B'Elanna's resolve to carry out her plan. The shuttle was now ready and Torres took time to stock it with supplies she had gradually been squirreling away over the last three weeks. She had logged the shuttle as unavailable for ordinary missions while it was being overhauled. The next part of the plan was unlikely to be so easy for the half-Klingon.

B'Elanna recruited the assistance of Voyager's only child. She knew that Naomi Wildman adored Seven of Nine and had been pestering her mother to allow her to visit her friend. Everyone was amazed when the Chief Engineer started to spend some time with Voyager's youngest crew member, volunteering for babysitting duties and allowing the child unprecedented freedom.

Naomi was delighted at being allowed in engineering and being asked to assist the Chief. Not only that, B'Elanna told the child wonderful stories about Klingon heroes and heroines. Naomi's mother may have been a little concerned at the high body count in these stories but Naomi thought they were wonderful and rather thought that if she couldn't be perfect like Seven of Nine then perhaps she could be a Klingon warrior instead. She added a Bat'leth to the top of her list of desired birthday presents.

After a few days B'Elanna went to see Samantha Wildman and volunteered to arrange and supervise a visit to Seven of Nine, Naomi's mother had been unsure but Naomi was so pleased that her mother stifled her objections. B'Elanna obtained permission for Naomi and herself from Tuvok who had lifted his eyebrow but acceded to the request without any apparent hesitation. "I trust Lieutenant that you will discourage Miss Wildman from smuggling in a hacksaw." B'Elanna looked at him oddly and wondered if he suspected something.

Outside cargo bay 2 B'Elanna decided that she did not want Naomi to see the Borg in such despair and that she had to somehow make Seven act a little more in character, so she went in first, asking Naomi to wait outside. Seven of Nine was huddled in the corner of the secure area.

"Seven - you look like hell!" Not perhaps the most endearing greeting but Seven at least looked up if only to glance away almost immediately. "Seven someone wishes to visit you; I think you will appreciate the visitor." The Borg ignored her and B'Elanna felt a little desperate which quickly became anger.

"Seven I know you have been roughly treated but this attitude is not going to get you released anytime soon."

No reaction.

"Listen you pathetic excuse for a human being and a borg, Kathryn Janeway would be ashamed of you sitting there feeling sorry for yourself. Do you think that is how she would expect you to behave?"

At the mention of Janeway, Seven was on her feet, glaring at the Klingon. "How would you know what she expects Klingon? This collective abandoned Captain Janeway as easily as the Borg would terminate a damaged drone. You displayed none of that much vaunted humanity and concern for the individual, but only your selfish concern for yourselves. Do not presume to understand me Klingon."

Satisfied that an angry Seven at least looked more like herself than the sad creature she had been five minutes ago B'Elanna grinned and called out "Naomi - you may come in now."

Naomi ran in looking as cheerful as ever. Her face fell at the slightly grim surroundings of the cargo bay turned prison and at the two armed guards who were watching carefully. Then she saw Seven and brightened.

Seven was obviously bemused at her visitor but asked in a much more even voice. "Naomi Wildman why are you here?"

Naomi beamed at her and said "To visit you of course silly. I have been trying to for ages and ages but B'Elanna said she would help me." Naomi looked around. "I don't like it here. Why is Captain Chakotay keeping you here?"

Before Seven could explain Chakotay's iniquity B'Elanna interrupted hastily. "Naomi don't you have something for Seven?"

The child beamed and lifted up the padd she was carrying. "I have written a story for you all about...."

B'Elanna interrupted again hurriedly. "Er... Naomi put the padd down here in the food transfer box. Don't tell Seven the story, it will spoil the surprise." To her relief the two security guards were looking amused. B'Elanna felt a momentary guilty niggle at the deception taking place.

"Alright." the child replied a little disappointed, and then said with obvious pride "B'Elanna helped me with some of the difficult bits about engineering and encryption codes but I made up lots of the story and drew all the pictures."

Seven looked at the Klingon and there was almost a hint of amusement in her eyes; B'Elanna reddened and muttered "Just a babysitting thing." She punched the transfer button and the padd materialised on the other side of the forcefield.

Seven looked back at the child and felt warmth for the first time in three weeks. It seemed she was not entirely friendless. "Thank you Naomi Wildman. I will find the information useful. We will discuss it on your next visit."

B'Elanna grinned. "You bet you will. Come on Naomi, the bridge assistant has many other duties to perform." So saying she marched the child out.

Naomi called back as she was dragged round the corner "We can play KadisKot next time Seven and I will tell you a story about a brave Klingon princess."

Seven sat down again and felt her misery and helplessness creep back. But some of what B'Elanna had said returned to her and she straightened her back. The captain would not have liked Seven to be defeated like this.

Seven looked at the padd. The story had a title - "Seven of Nine rescues Captain Janeway." Seven began to read the story and as she read, admiration for the half-Klingon rose in her. Hidden in the story was a detailed plan of escape timed to the second.

Much other data was also hidden in the padd using Borg encryption codes that the Klingon had somehow learned, and these included specifications for the shuttle, command codes and as much information as B'Elanna had been able to find on Captain Janeway's last known whereabouts and the details of her arrest. Seven checked the time; four hours to go before the escape attempt began. The Borg memorised the contents of the padd and then deleted all the incriminating evidence. She did not want Naomi to get into trouble.

*~~~*

Seven walked to the back of her secure area one minute before zero hour and waited. Exactly on time there was an explosion outside and the cargo bay doors blew in. A fire had started in the corridor and the two security men ran to get fire extinguishers from the nearest emergency cabinet. It took them only two minutes to get the blaze under control but when they turned back to the secure area the Borg had gone. A panel was hanging from the ceiling and a hole was clearly visible.

"How did she get up there?" asked one. The other was busy summoning Tuvok, "Commander, Seven of Nine has escaped through a ceiling cavity. We are pursuing but request some back up." The two officers then fetched a box, climbed up and into the ceiling and started to look for the Borg.

Two minutes earlier, Seven of Nine materialised in the adapted shuttle where B'Elanna was busy entering lockout codes to the main computer to prevent anyone seeing the transporter log. She looked up and acknowledged the Borg. "No one knows you are here yet, I have successfully masked the transporter signal. They are all running around searching for you on deck 2, following a trail of false clues. I am going to manually jettison the shuttle in two minutes. Do not activate any of its systems for at least 15 minutes after it is jettisoned or Voyager's sensors will detect you. The only systems working on the shuttle will be inertial dampeners, shields at ten percent and minimal life support. I have installed a form of cloaking that we tried in the Maquis - it only works while the engines are off-line and the ship is using little or no power but it does at least disguise life signs and the power signatures of some systems including the inertial dampeners."

"Lieutenant Torres why are you helping me?"

B'Elanna tried to look irritable to mask her feelings "Seven don't be obtuse. The Captain meant a lot to me you know. You aren't the only one who loved her. Now get going Seven. Goodbye and good luck finding the Captain. I will try to keep them off your track as long as possible." B'Elanna moved to the door of the shuttle, she hesitated and without warning, ran back and hugged the Borg fiercely; not looking back again, the Chief Engineer then exited from the shuttle and ran at the double to the shuttle bay door controls.

A force field went up between the shuttle control area and the launch pad and B'Elanna Torres guided the manual shuttle launcher with Seven's shuttle towards the bay doors.

The launcher was intended for emergency use only and allowed malfunctioning shuttles to be ejected into space in the event of serious problems.

The bay doors opened, hopefully unobserved by any monitoring equipment. B'Elanna had worked hard to hide all these events from internal sensors and warning systems. Seconds later, the launcher catapulted the small shuttle out into space. The shuttle disappeared instantly as it was thrown out of warp. The deceleration from warp speed would have killed the Borg instantly without inertial dampeners.

B'Elanna closed the shuttle bay doors and dropped the force field. She made her way to main engineering having no doubt that Tuvok would eventually work out the sequence of events but determined to give Seven as much time as possible.

*~~~*

B'Elanna Torres stood at attention in front of Chakotay and Tuvok. Chakotay was saying "B'Elanna I cannot believe you helped her do this."

She looked him in the eye. "I more than helped her Chakotay, I thought up the plan and carried it out. Seven just did as she was told. Ensign Vorik had no knowledge of what I was planning. I told him this was a secure project, which he was to mention to no one."

"So you are going to take full responsibility for helping a prisoner to escape, sabotage, damaging ship's systems, misusing Starfleet supplies, stealing a shuttle, falsifying logs and records and causing other Starfleet personnel to also commit offences." He sounded exasperated though B'Elanna noted that there was a certain admiration underlying his voice. She had pulled off a fine Maquis style mission.

B'Elanna pressed her advantage. "Look Chakotay you can lock me up in the brig if it makes you feel better but consider this. What would you have done with her? Watched her go mad in prison? Had her sewing mail bags for twenty years? I have done you a favour. There is no reason or need to go after her. Let her go."

"There is some logic to the Lieutenant remarks, " said Tuvok, surprising everyone including himself. "Seven of Nine has been gone for three days. It would take Voyager more than five days at high warp to catch her, it will take Seven another two weeks before she comes into contact the Devore and by then we will be far from their space. It is highly unlikely that they will pursue us so far beyond their own borders."

Chakotay considered his errant chief engineer. "Why should I trust you B'Elanna. How will I know that you will not pull a stunt like this some time in the future when it suits you to disregard me?"

Torres said nothing.

"I will place a reprimand on your record. In addition you will lose you replicator privileges for six months and will be expected to attend a course on Starfleet command protocol given by Tuvok. You will also fully log all your proposed work schedules with Tuvok and these may be subject to inspection." Torres was gritting her teeth - the loss of replicator privileges for six months was a heavy blow, not to mention all the paperwork. But she knew she had got off lightly. Janeway would have scalped her.

"And" Chakotay continued, "you will bring the remaining class two shuttles up to the standard of the stolen shuttle in your own time without the assistance of your staff. If you step out of line then you will be busted back to ensign and sent to the brig. Dismissed."

Before she turned smartly to leave, B'Elanna grinned cheekily at him and her expression clearly said you know I was right. With difficulty, he prevented himself grinning in return. He watched her leave before addressing his first officer.

"Tuvok I agree that pursuing Seven is a waste of time. Log Seven of Nine as absent without leave." He then said to no-one in particular "I hope she succeeds."