Con-venture
by Hester
The sparkling effect of the transporter beam faded and left two solid persons behind. They stood in the middle of a brightly lit but otherwise barren hallway that showed large metal double doors on each end. The two officers looked around in confusion.
"How much do you want to bet that this is not the Tenarians' "Hall of Peace and Friendship"?" Chakotay asked, his half-grin failing to completely mask his concern.
His companion tapped her communicator. "Janeway to Voyager." No response. "Probably another transporter accident."
Chakotay snorted. "Another? That would be the third this month!"
"Maybe the coordinates were just a bit off," Janeway suggested. "The hall could be just behind one of those doors."
"Or it might not." Chakotay pulled out his tricorder and moved towards one end of the corridor. "No life forms," he called out a moment later. "This seems to be an access corridor of some sort, but it doesn't seem to be in use right now." He opened the door and peeked around it, but all he could see were more of the same empty hallways. Deciding that they could still explore them later, he let the door fall shut and returned to Janeway who had been scanning the other set of doors. A deep frown appeared on her face as she studied her tricorder read-outs.
"What's wrong?" Chakotay asked.
Janeway shook her head, then repeated the scan. The results were the same. "I'm showing multiple life forms on the other side of this door," she said, then looked straight at Chakotay. "And they're all human."
Chakotay took a moment to absorb that information, then confirmed it with his own instrument. He shrugged. "I'm tempted to say 'That's impossible', but four years in the Delta Quadrant have taught me to think otherwise."
Janeway nodded. "You're right. And we won't find out anything by just standing here, so let's go out there and take a look." She holstered her tricorder and reached for the door. Chakotay's hand immediately went to his phaser. Even if they were among other humans, it was always better to be prepared for the worst.
Janeway opened the door just a crack and peeked through. Immediately she pulled back, startled. Chakotay grabbed his phaser more tightly.
"They're Starfleet!"
For the second time in less than three minutes, Chakotay was speechless. "That's— intriguing," he finally managed to say. "Are you sure?"
Janeway shot him one of her 'Captain' looks. "Actually not all of them are, or at least they're not all wearing uniforms." Another thought occurred to her and she frowned. "One thing was strange though— the uniforms weren't all the same style. Some looked like what we're wearing, some were the old style, you know, of five or six years ago. Then there were the one-piece jumpsuits," she grimaced, and Chakotay grinned, "and I think I even saw one or two really old ones, from about a hundred years ago. And there were Klingons out there, too."
"Well, at least we won't attract too much attention in our current outfit then." Chakotay reached for the door again and opened it wide. "After you, Captain."
The two officers quickly stepped through the door and approached the crowd. They had barely taken three steps when a young ensign in a loose-fitting medical uniform came up to them and stared at Janeway in barely concealed awe. "Wow, awesome costume!"
Janeway looked at Chakotay, who unsuccessfully tried to hide a grin. She scowled at him, then turned back to the young man who still stared at her in admiration. "Thank you... I think."
That shook the ensign out of his thoughts. He turned his attention on Chakotay and regarded him with the same admiring gaze. "And the make-up is fantastic! You look exactly like Kate and Robert. If he wasn't going to be on stage in two minutes, I would have sworn you were him."
Janeway decided it was time to take the initiative. "I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway from the Federation Starship Voyager, and this is Commander Chakotay. We seem to be lost. Could you please tell us—"
The ensign laughed and clapped her on the forearm. "Great show, 'Captain'. But you should really go inside now, or you'll miss Robert's appearance." Another nod and a wink in Chakotay's direction, and he was gone, swallowed by the crowd.
Janeway looked at Chakotay. He looked back and shrugged. "Shall we find out more about this Robert?"
"Why not. Maybe he can tell us what's going on here." She quickly surveyed her surroundings. "The room over there seems to be the main attraction, let's start there."
The room was packed. A large stage at the front, at least 3000 people in the audience. The two officers quietly took a seat in the back row. From everywhere people kept staring at them and complimenting them on their 'authentic look'. It was all very mysterious and quite a bit unsettling.
"We need to find out where we are," Janeway whispered to Chakotay. He replied, "I think I can at least estimate when we are. Look." He indicated a young man three rows in front of them who was speaking into a roughly rectangular device held to his ear and mouth.
"A communications device," Janeway acknowledged. "Probably late 20th or early 21st century earth." "That would be my estimate as well," Chakotay nodded.
They had been so engrossed in surveying their immediate surroundings that they had not paid any attention to what happened on the stage at the front of the room. They were startled when suddenly the room erupted into loud cheers and applause and most of the crowd rushed forward toward the stage. Blinding flashes of light flickered through the air. It was absolute chaos, and the two Starfleet officers sat dumbfounded and totally uncomprehending. Gradually the commotion subsided and the people returned to their seats. Finally it was possible to see the person on stage whose appearance had caused all the excitement. Both Janeway and Chakotay gasped.
Janeway looked at her first officer, then back at the man on stage. Chakotay was equally stunned.
The man looked exactly like Chakotay - minus the tattoo. He was dressed in a casual outfit and seemed quite at ease with all the attention he was getting. He started talking about how much he enjoyed being there 'with his fans' and related a few incidents from his trip.
The captain turned to the man beside her. "I guess we found Robert," she remarked dryly. "But how can this be? An alternate universe?"
"I don't know." Chakotay listened in fascination as the man - himself - talked about things he did not comprehend. Something about "the show", "on the set", "in L.A."— it didn't make sense to him. A number of people from the audience started asking questions, and the situation became even more incomprehensible.
"How did the rest of the cast feel about Jennifer Lien leaving the show?"
"It was kind of sad. Jennifer had been with the show from the very beginning, just like the rest of us, and we all felt like family. Unfortunately the producers felt they had exhausted the Kes character and—"
At this, Janeway grabbed Chakotay's arm. "He knows about Kes!" she whispered. Chakotay's answer was drowned out as sudden laughter swept through the audience. When it died away he leaned closer to whisper in her ear. "Maybe we should talk to him. He might be able to tell us something useful."
Janeway nodded. "Later. First I want to hear what else he knows about Kes— or anyone else for that matter."
They stayed and listened to more questions and answers and were not too surprised when other familiar names came up as well. Neelix, Torres, Paris, even Seven— everyone around them seemed to know about them. There was also some talk about people the two officers did not know, like a certain Garrett, a Jeri, a Roxann, and at least one other Robert.
Janeway finally decided that they had heard enough and was about to suggest to Chakotay that they find a way to approach this Robert as soon as he left the stage, when a young girl from the audience asked a question that caught her attention.
"Mr. Beltran, I'm sure you are aware of the fact that many fans would favor a romantic relationship between Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay. I'd like to know your and Ms. Mulgrew's views on that subject."
Janeway kept her eyes trained on "Mr. Beltran", but she felt the blush creep up her cheeks. She was sure Chakotay watched her. The whole situation suddenly seemed totally unreal. How could this girl, this Klingon girl as she noticed with new shock, how could she know anything about her innermost feelings? She had not revealed these feelings to anyone but herself, and even that only recently, so how was this possible?
The man on stage had taken a moment to ponder the question. "You never know, anything could happen," he joked, but then his voice turned serious. "To tell you the truth, Kate and I have discussed the subject quite a few times. The producers and writers have also discussed it. They feel that Janeway and I - or rather Janeway and Chakotay - should—"
Chakotay's voice in her ear suddenly startled Janeway and almost made her jump out of her seat. "How can they know so much about us?"
"What?" Taking deep breaths to calm herself so her inner turmoil would not be so obvious, she attempted to put on her 'Captain's face' and looked over at him. The lighting was dim, but she thought he looked just as uncomfortable as she felt.
"I mean, he knows about Kes, Neelix, Seven, Tom, B'Elanna, you and me, everybody. But somehow it seems to me they're not the same people we know."
"And he doesn't know everything," Janeway remarked dryly, feeling more in control again. Chakotay cocked an eyebrow inquiringly.
"Remind me to tell you never to call me 'Kate'!"
She was trying to see the humor of the situation. Chakotay smiled. "I'll try to remember."
Neither of them had heard what the answer to the last question had been, and neither really cared. Janeway was about to suggest that they leave and continue their investigations elsewhere when the audience started to become restless again.
Chakotay, sensing his captain's impatience to move on, put a steadying hand on her arm. "He's saying his good-byes. Let's wait and see what's happening next. If it doesn't help us, we can still try and find that man later to talk to him."
Janeway nodded and relaxed somewhat. He was right. Considering the strange surroundings they were in, it couldn't hurt to collect some more information before moving on.
Meanwhile, Chakotay's look-alike had left the stage. A new guest was announced, but the crowd immediately started cheering and clapping so loudly that neither Janeway not Chakotay could catch the name. Another round of enthusiastic chaos with seemingly millions of flashlights ensued, lasting even longer than what they had witnessed before. Janeway shielded her eyes from the onslaught of blinding light and silently wondered how the person on stage could stand it. When the commotion started to clear, the Voyager's officers could finally attempt to take a look at the new arrival— and were stunned into silence one more time.
Janeway was the first to recover. "I guess we should have expected this," she remarked. Chakotay just shook his head. He was unable to tear his gaze away from the woman on stage. She looked exactly like Janeway, down to the auburn highlights in her hair and the twinkle in her eyes. Even her voice had the same unique but familiar tone which he had gotten so used to over the past four years.
Once she started talking and Chakotay recovered from his shock, however, he began to notice some differences. Although she looked and sounded just like the Janeway he knew, this woman's overall attitude was far more open and relaxed than he had ever seen his captain act. No, Chakotay silently corrected himself, he had seen her like that once— on New Earth. After the plasma storm had destroyed her research equipment, she had gradually opened herself up to the prospect of spending the rest of her life on the planet with him. For the first and only time since he knew her had he seen her truly and completely shed the captain's mask and attitude and simply be herself. Since their return to Voyager, he had never seen her quite this carefree and relaxed again, and watching this woman on stage now, totally at ease with herself and the room full of people (who obviously adored her at least as much as Voyager's crew adored their captain) seemed more unreal to him than seeing his own look-alike several minutes before.
He looked over at Janeway. She seemed to be listening intently, but he knew her well enough to notice the faintly vacant look in her eyes. She was pondering the situation just like he was, probably battling resurfacing memories as well. He turned his attention back to the front of the auditorium. There, the question-and-answer game played out much like before.
He quickly noticed that this woman must be the 'Kate' referred to earlier. He smiled when he remembered Janeway's comments about not liking to be called by that name. The longer Chakotay watched and listened to the questions, some of which were really stupid, and Kate's answers, which were always polite and full of details, the more he felt like he needed to do something.
He stole another glance at Janeway. She was still deep in thought. He leaned over and murmured "I'll be right back", then got up and moved down the rows of chairs. Janeway hardly even noticed.
The captain felt like her thoughts were going in circles. She kept coming back to the young girl's question about a romantic relationship between herself and her first officer. Was it possible that these people could somehow look into the future? And if yes, what did that mean for her own, Kathryn Janeway's future? She was very sorry now that she had not been able to hear Robert's answer to the question, it probably would have shed new light on a couple of things.
Deciding that they had to talk to the man after all, Janeway shook herself out of her reverie and looked for Chakotay. She dimly remembered him saying that he would be right back, but she had no idea where he had gone. Then she suddenly heard his voice.
It was loud, amplified by a microphone. Janeway's head shot up and she saw him standing at the front of the queue of people who were awaiting their turn to ask questions. Everybody was staring at him, including the woman on stage.
Chakotay acted like he did not notice. "Hi Kate," he said and paused, awaiting her reaction.
Kate Mulgrew shielded her eyes to be able to see him better. "Robert?" she asked in a bemused voice, "Is that you? What are you doing down there? Didn't you get enough exposure while you were up here?"
Chakotay chuckled. "I'm very sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not Robert." He remembered the young ensign in the ill-fitting uniform they had met before and added, "I just have a very good make-up artist."
Everybody laughed, except Janeway. Chakotay continued. "I just have one very simple question. Earlier, Robert said that you and him have discussed the possibility of a romantic relationship developing between Captain Janeway and the commander. What's your personal view of the situation?"
If he had been within her reach, Janeway would have strangled her first officer without second thought. How could he embarrass himself and her like that?
Her look-alike didn't seem at all perturbed by the question. "It remains a possibility, although the writers don't seem too eager to explore it at this point. If it is going to happen, it will be a gradual process. They have developed a very close friendship over the past four years, and there's still a lot to be explored there, even without crossing the boundary to a romantic relationship. So if you're asking whether they're going to jump into bed together anytime soon, the answer is no. But I'm not saying that it'll never happen. We'll just have to wait and see what the time brings." She smiled at Chakotay. "I hope you're not too disappointed now since you're obviously a very dedicated fan."
Chakotay smiled back. "Not at all. Thank you."
He slowly returned to his seat while the next question was being asked. When he approached Janeway, he could see that she was seething. Suddenly his actions didn't seems like such a good idea anymore.
Janeway silently got up and motioned for him to follow her to one of the back corners of the room. There, in the relative privacy of a niche in the wall, she exploded.
"Whatever did you think you were doing up there?! Was it really necessary to make a fool of yourself - and of me - like that?"
His look of remorse almost fooled her. "I'm sorry. I was just curious how much they really know about us. I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable."
"That's an understatement," Janeway muttered, her anger abating somewhat. She was about to make another remark when suddenly her communicator chirped.
B'Elanna Torres' voice filled the air, laden with static and barely audible. "Voyager ... Captain Jane... Can ... ...ear me?"
Janeway slapped the insignia on her chest. "B'Elanna! What happened?"
"No time ... explain," came the broken reply. "Stand ... for trans..."
Only a moment afterwards, the two officers found themselves enveloped by the familiar sparkle of the transporter beam. The last they saw were the astonished faces of about half a dozen people who happened to pass by at that particular moment.
B'Elanna Torres breathed a sigh of relief when the shapes of her two commanding officers solidified on Voyager's transporter pad. "Welcome home," she called out.
Captain Janeway stepped off the pad and advanced toward the door. "Thank you," she said, then turned to Chakotay. "I want a full report on what happened in 30 minutes. And after that," her eyes bore into Chakotay with such rigid determination that Torres thought she almost saw his uniform go up in flames, "we will have a little talk, Commander!" And she was gone.
Chakotay's gaze followed her, his expression one of amusement tinted with only a hint of concern.
"What was that all about?" Torres asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
"Nothing," Chakotay replied with an enigmatic smile that sent Torres' imagination reeling. "She just doesn't like being called 'Kate'". With that he departed, leaving a confused chief engineer behind.
Torres shook her head. The ship's rumor mill was going to have a field day with this one...
(In April 1998 there'll be a convention in Bonn/Germany where both Kate Mulgrew and Robert Beltran are scheduled to appear as guests. I'll be there— anyone else?!)
avid readers since February 15, 1998
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© 1998 by Hester