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star trek: voyager - kathryn janeway

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[ captain janeway was certain of two things: one) there was no way of contacting voyager; and two) there were other federation signatures present in this strange, alien city that was eerily reminiscent of 20th century earth. neither served to please her, and she'd spent the better part of the morning trying to boost her combadge's frequency in hopes of setting up a homing beacon, but to no avail. she'd try again later, perhaps after dismantling this device she'd been saddled with, granted she could find anything worthwhile hiding beneath its infuriatingly pink casing.

as for those federation signatures... she was on the fence. while those frequencies possessed a distinct federation signature, they were also old and outdated, making use of a particular brand of waveform distribution that had been abandoned by starfleet before she was even born. the only reason she thought to scan for something other than the 24th century standard was her tendency to consider all possible variables, not just the most plausible. she'd come across enough in her time to not be too surprised by archaic federation frequencies, but wasn't so foolish as to trust them or assume they were really starfleet in origin at all. for all she knew, it was a cleverly laid trap, put there specifically to pique her curiosity and draw her in closer with a false sense of security and promises of home.

she debates contacting the source of those signatures directly, but ultimately decides against it, repinning her combadge to her chest and picking up the device instead. ]

This is Captain Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager. This act of hostility is unwarranted and without precedence. If we have done anything to offend you or have crossed into forbidden territory, I assure you, it was not intended, and we will do whatever it takes to reconcile the damages.

[ she shifts, sitting up a little straighter on the park bench she's laid claim to. ] In the meantime, I request to be put in contact with my ship. The sooner we clear up this misunderstanding, the sooner we can discuss opening the floor for diplomatic relations that do not involve unnecessary aggressive negotiations. [ why yes, that's a not-so-thinly veiled threat. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Like I said, it's something of an impossibility. Not only are our communiques with Starfleet understandably few and far between, there's a war going on back home, and the intel I've received on that didn't exactly shed light on which side of the fence the Romulans are standing.

[ kirk prime and spock prime... so this was what, auxiliary kirk? she hated matters of time. understanding them and knowing how to handle them for the most part does not mean she enjoyed them. ]

I'm not getting on your back, just thinking out loud. Spock's a hell of a lot sassier when he ages.

[ Telling fibs about breaking the universe like a breadstick if he informed mini!Spock about his existence, to name one. Jim's more surprised to hear Romulus is still around, but he digresses to what's easiest to assume when he asks; ]

Is it a war with the Klingons?

No. Not the Klingons. Believe it or not, the Klingons are our allies. There are relatively good relations between the Federation and Empire. [ though chancellor gowron could be a difficult man. there were things he got away with because he was sitting pretty at the top of the empire that any other klingon warrior would've been dishonored and dethroned for. but, it wasn't her place to judge. she wasn't klingon or a citizen of the empire. in the long run, gowron's discrepancies didn't affect her -- especially sixty-some-odd lightyears away in the delta quadrant. ]

It's... well, a complicated matter. [ she admittedly doesn't fully understand it herself. war broke out after they were stranded on the other side of the galaxy. ] I'd rather not get into the details of that if at all possible. There's bending the rules, and then there's outright breaking them. I see no reason to inform you of the details a conflict that has no impact on what we're doing here.

[ He nods along, wanting to know but holding out on his curiosity because she's right. Any future business always annoys him when he's told not to push for more, in the same way he can't feel the deckplates of his ship thrumming with the promise of shooting him lightyears ahead of wherever he wants to go.

Jim hates being grounded. ]

Spock would agree if he was still here. Pity he's not, he'd have liked you. [ He feels like he knows him well enough now to make a call like that. Jim checks himself a moment later. ] Obviously, I'm glad he's not here. I miss him being all monotone for the sake of hearing his own voice, that's all. Why are First Officers annoying, but you can never figure out why it feels so weird when they're not around?

[ And back to the safety of smalltalk. ]

[ his words unintentionally draw a smile out of her, and a warm one at that. it's both talk of vulcans and first officers that does it. ]

Annoying's not the word I'd use to describe my first officer, though I do understand how unsettling it is in their absence.

Edited 2013-07-09 15:55 (UTC)

[ A chuckle breathes out as Jim rubs his eyes, trying to forget the overly emotional reunion in the City; Spock thinking he was dead, unable to accept Jim being alive, and Jim feeling dead needing reassurance he was not. They had been so pained, mirroring each other.

At least the edge of Xanadu is in sight. It can't be a more than ten minute walk to the coffee shop he has in mind and then he can text Bones to meet them there. ]

What's yours like? Your First Officer.

Steadfast in every sense of the word. [ the best, easiest summation of his character. ] I somehow managed to mold one hell of a diplomat out of an angry warrior.

[ she normally wouldn't dare to echo chakotay's choice of words, especially not from the time in which he spoke them to her, but "terrorist" would raise too many questions she's not prepared to answer. the maquis don't even exist in kirk's time, and the territory disputes in the demilitarized zone have nothing to do with being stuck here. ]

[ It's lucky she didn't use that word, otherwise they wouldn't have continued walking so amiably. As it is, he looks pleased for her. ]

I don't know, put both our Firsts in a ring and I wouldn't be betting on my guy just because we're both old school.

[ He won't reveal Spock's emotional slip-up, but he can be vague. It was his fault that the guy was pushed to such a public extreme and not one of Jim's finer moments, albeit in the name of the greater good.

Doesn't mean he can't brag about having a brilliant officer, though. ]

He might recite regulations until yours falls asleep, but I'd still count that as a solid win.

That [ she holds up a hand, emphasizing her point ] and mine also happens to be quite the boxer. He was 23-1 during his Academy days.

[ she laughs, shakes her head. ] On the contrary, he'd be memorizing, interrupting, debating, and reciting those regulations right back at your Mister Spock.

[ Her laughter's infectious. ]

We could just sit them down at a three-tier chess match and ignore them until one won. Sounds like a lot less bother.

Now that's a game better suited to my Chief of Security.

It's a good game, to be fair, it would've been nice to have a board here. The twenty-first century isn't as ... It's not what I thought it'd be like.

[ she reaches out (though up is more like it, given his height), pats his shoulder. ]

I'm sure you'll find some way of living through the experience of having to rough it a couple centuries back in Earth's mimicked past.

That's just it, I don't want to start thinking like that. It's a bad idea to put down roots here and Chekov's been stuck for ages.

[ How am I even supposed to tear him away from the friends he's made, when it's time? Jim sighs, grateful when the cafe turns up around the corner and more so her touch on his arm, giving her a wan smile. ]

Uhura's upset, too. At this point, Bones is the sanest of us all.

[ she nods, pats his shoulder again, then lets her hand fall away. ]

Believe me, Mister Kirk; I understand that sentiment better than anyone. [ if she refused to settle down in the delta quadrant and let go of starfleet rules and principals, like hell is she doing it here.

and to her credit, she refrains from rolling her eyes or making a "hmph" noise at the mention of that doctor who'd already managed to get himself on her shit list this morning. ] That's yet to be seen.

[ Giving her a scrutinizing look, his lips twitch and he makes an educated guess at her tone. ]

Bones already snapped you up, didn't he.

[ Isn't even a question. ]

[ the look she gives him in return is even, calm, controlled. she's used to appearing as expressionless as possible in the face of a variety of things, whether it be some hostile alien force trying to intimidate her on the viewscreen or her own first officer trying to get her to admit that no, she's not as okay. ]

Let's just say, he's getting off on the wrong foot.

[ Knowing Bones as he does, it's not a massive leap of the imagination to picture the good country doctor irritating the shit out of another captain. ]

I'm sorry about that. Speaking from experience it's a lot less trouble to do what he says and get out of there in one piece, he doesn't care how he comes off as long as he gets your medical records in the end.

Good thing I don't care how I come off, either.

[ kathryn. ]

Edited 2013-07-10 14:36 (UTC)

You'll just wind each other up and no one will be happy. Humor him, Captain? He wants to be prepared in case anything happens to you.

There are rules to be followed, Mister Kirk. Directives that were put into place for a reason. I'm walking a fine line in sharing what information I have with you, let alone speaking to you. I don't intend to push the limits any further than I have to.

I understand those directives better than most, let me assure you of that. If you disappear like all the rest, I'll order your files to be destroyed whether my Chief Medical Officer agrees with that or not. [ He toes a reasonable line, calmer about it than he'd have been a year ago as he holds eye-contact and hedging his bets between what Chris and Spock Prime would suggest. ] It makes you a liability if we don't know how to treat you in an emergency. Bones will keep your information confidential from the other physicians in the City so we're not leaving it lying around for anyone from another reality outside our own to pick up.

I'll thank you to at least think it over if you're still here in a couple of weeks, or a month. Please. And I'll tell Bones to stop badgering you in the meantime.

[ Of all the people he's had to try negotiations with, it always seems to be Starfleet captains. ]

Edited 2013-07-10 15:20 (UTC)

[ she stops, presses her lips into a thin, unhappy line and her fingers to one of her temples, unsure if the headache surging in her skull is due to this situation or her considerable lack of coffee intake today. (probably both.) ]

I've been here for four hours, most of which I spent trying to contact my ship. I haven't even had time to sit down and absorb my situation, let alone figure out what I'm going to do about long term mingling with people from an alternate past. If there's one thing you must know about me, it's that I'm not in the business of breaking rules. I've been through more than you can possibly imagine, and I've managed to keep myself firmly on the proper side of the Prime Directive. The notion of bending the lines a bit doesn't sit well with me, and I need to weigh my options carefully, not make some split, quick decision because your doctor wants to examine me today, right now, when there are more important matters at hand.

He'll learn to wait. Just like my own Chief Medical Officer does. If and when I go to him, it will be on my terms, not his.

[ the thing about janeway is, she's been far more than a captain for too long. she's captain, governor, acting brass and command all rolled into one. there are no admirals withing hailing range to reach out to for consult should she need another, higher opinion on what ruling to make. just her, sitting alone at the top, leaving pieces of herself behind the closer they get to home. ]

Certainly, and I'm sorry we can't be more of a help in getting you back to your ship. All I want is for everyone to meet halfway and work together without having to pull teeth to do it.

[ He sympathizes with her, and when they reach the outdoors of the cafe he even draws a chair back for Janeway to show he isn't trying to rattle anyone. Playing nice. ]

I've violated the Prime Directive and believe me, I don't ever want to have to do that again.

[ she nods, then waves off the apology, having no use for it in the face of a situation that isn't his fault. if there's nothing immediate to be done, that's simply a fact of their predicament, and nothing that requires an apology when it cannot be helped -- as much as that fact alone serves to piss her off. even if they were gridlocked outside of their respective time frames as she'd been discussing with chekov, that didn't mean she wanted to be here. her place was on her ship, with their crew. she promised to get them home, and that promise was difficult to carry out while lodged in some temporal hub. ]

That must've been a difficult decision for you to make. [ and as she takes the seat he drew out for her, she wishes she could be more surprised by that, but she's sadly not. the kirk she learned about in school was known for breaking the prime directive, and there were as many "what not to do" lessons that featured his time on the enterprise as there were "what to do" lessons.

he was simply a different breed of starfleet officer, belonging to an era where it was perfectly acceptable to go without mentioning things in official logs and to observe the prime directive as they saw fit versus how they were supposed to. on some days, she envied that lackadaisical adherence to protocol, but she unfortunately wasn't that kind of officer. ]

I'll speak with your doctor and see what I can do about meeting him halfway.

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