Believing
Disclaimer: Paramount is
god... I just borrow their wonderful creations. The ideas however are all mine.
Once
again no betas have touched this.... heck i've heardly read it over. But how
many mistakes can you make in 571 words?
"Lieutenant may I see you in the ready
room." The Captain calls midway through my shift. I rise relinquishing the
helm to some poor new ensign who looks positive scared to death. But then that
could be because I tore shreds out of the last ensign off all trades who take
over stations when ever we get called off. She was awful. If seems she'd only
passed the piloting test by the skin of her teeth and then had promptly
forgotten everything. She almost hurt my ship. I was not impressed.
The Captain is seated at his desk when I
entered. "You look tried today Mr. Paris."
"I didn't sleep to well last
night." I say. It's not quite the truth I was up reading old logs until
the wee hours of the morning. "But I'm fine sir." I add reassuringly.
"The logs again?" He asks.
How does he do that I wonder he always seems
to know? "Yeah." I admit.
"Still can't quiet believe it Tom?"
"I think I might be starting to."
"Yeah me too. It is still hard to
believe sometimes."
"Well Chakotay considering the two of us
expected to be hauled off in irons." Yeah I said Chakotay. They pardoned
him, and all the other Maquis. Only a few of them stuck around with the Fleet
but last I heard they were all doing well. Next time we run in to Voyager I'll
have to ask B'Elanna she keeps tabs on every one.
He offers me a cup of tea. We sit and discuss
things for a while. I've found that since I got here if I can't talk to Harry
about something I'd much rather talk to Chakotay. Sure we have a ship's
counselor. She's a great women, does a great job. But there are some things she
just can't imagine much less understand.
Like being thrown 70,000 light years from
home never knowing if you'll get back. Or the utter confusion of thinking for
years you killed your shipmates. That it was entirely a fault. Only to discover
later you weren't.
Sure Chakotay and I didn't always get along
too well... okay fine we hated each other's guts. But we're better now. We were
mostly better even before we got back to the alpha quadrant. I think that next
to Harry he's probably my best friend.
He understands so much of the things that
still haunt me. Probably because it haunts us both. Even with his own command,
and in my case being third in the chain of command. Neither of us can quite
shake the feeling that someday it's all going to disappear and turn out to just
have been a dream. But I think it might finally be sinking in.
I sigh. "Thanks Chak." I smile.
"But I better get back before that terrified ensign I left at the conn
hurts my ship."
"My ship." He shoots back. It's a
long-standing play argument.
"Then why can't you get her to do half
the stuff I can?"
"Because you're her boyfriend and I'm
just her father, kids never do what their father tells them."
I'm still chuckling as I walk on to the bridge. No one pays any attention to me. They're used to things this way. I smile at Harry up at ops where he's all ways been. Yep things are the way they're supposed to be. Maybe this time it is real.