Part Two
See part one for disclaimers.
Captain Janeway took her seat at the head of
the conference table. Slowly she looked around the table at the men seated
there. To her right was Lieutenant Commander Cabot, glaring across the table
with undisguised hatred.
On the other side of the table, the objects
of his glare were ignoring him completely, and she suspected if she were to
look under the table she’d find their hands would not be in their laps. Well
not their *own* laps any way.
“Gentlemen, I got you out of prison because
you have information I need.” She said looking at them. “And I need it now.”
“What do you want to know Captain.” Tom
asked.
“We’re perfectly willing to help.” Julian
added.
“I need to know where Chakotay will be, where
he’ll go. All of it.” She said.
“Well that could be a lot of places.” Tom
said sounding irritated.
Then came Bashir as usual tempering what his
partner said. “Do you know where he’s been recently, Captain?” He asked. “It
would narrow things down.”
“There have been reports that his ship lured
a Cardassian warship in to the Badlands a few days ago.” She paused bringing up
a star chart, then pointed out the coordinates. “Here. The Cardassian ship
hasn’t been seen since.” She paused again. “It would be much better for those
aboard Chakotay’s ship if we find them before the Cardassian do.”
Tom rose and moved to look at the star chart.
“He’s on the ‘D’ corridor.” He announced after a moment. “Or he was.”
“The what? Mr. Paris.” Janeway asked.
“The ‘D’ corridor. It’s a relatively stable
but very narrow passage through this section of the bad lands.” He traced the
path on the map. “Named for the shape it completes. If you stay out side the
Badlands you’d be going on a curved path, the corridor connects the ends.”
“Chakotay has always used it as a retreat. He
fly’s through the corridor and far enough ahead of any pursuing ship so that he
can get away as soon as he reaches open space. While the other ship has had to
take the long way around.” Julian explained. “I’d say those Cardassians knew
what he was planning to do and tried to follow him in.”
“But the corridor would have been very
difficult to navigate in a something as big as a war ship.” Tom said. “Only the
very best pilot could do it. And he’d still have to have luck on his side.”
“Trying to warn us off?” Janeway asked.
“Trying to save this beautiful ship.” Tom
replied.
“So what’s to stop us from simply placing a
ship on either end of the corridor.” She questioned. “He couldn’t stay in there
long.”
“You could do that.” Tom shrugged. “If you
had two ships.”
Oh the arrogance. Janeway seethed for a
moment. Then Bashir’s words broke in to her thoughts.
“I wouldn’t suggest cornering him Captain
Janeway.” He said. “Chakotay is real Maquis, not just someone looking for a
fight. He’ll force you to destroy him before he surrenders. He’s defending his
home, he’s like a wild animal he’s very dangerous to corner. He’ll go down
fighting, and take you with him if he can.”
She looked at him hard. He returned the gaze
steadily, his dark eyes unreadable. “Is there anything else gentlemen?” She
asked finally looking away. When she looked back at them, she saw the quick
glance that passed between them.
“I’m afraid not Ma’am.” Julian said with the
utmost politeness.
“We’re sorry we can’t tell you more Captain.
But we really didn’t know Chakotay particularly well.” Tom said, his voice
almost sounding truly apologetic.
**************************************************************************************
Julian sighed leaning against the wall of the
turbolift. “We didn’t know him well?” He questioned raising an eyebrow. “We’ve
only slept with the man.”
“I had to get us out of there some how, we’d
told her enough.” Tom said, uncharacteristically serious. Then a smile quirked
his mouth. “You’d rather I’d said something like. ‘Sorry Captain we’ve fucked
the man so we couldn’t possibly give you anything that could actually be useful
to you.”
“Very funny.” Julian grinned. “At least
she’ll find him now.”
“And she’s sufficiently intimidated.” Tom
smiled. “Oh and that true Maquis speech was so delightful. I can’t wait to tell
it to him.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Wouldn’t I?” The he asked mischievously as
they stepped off the turbolift almost knocking a young ensign down at the first
cross-corridor. The Oriental looking man stepped back looking somewhat awed and
apologizing.
“Don’t worry about it.” Tom said.
“It was our fault, we weren’t watching where
we were going.” Julian continued, dropping in to the twin act everyone expected
of them.
“But...”
“It was our fault Ensign...”
“Kim...Harry Kim.”
“Well, Ensign Kim, let us make it up to you.”
Julian suggested. “Dinner? Our quarters?”
“Sure...”
“Do you know where they are?”
“Everyone does.”
“Oh. Well, 19:00 then.”
“Okay.”
“*Julian!*” Tom exclaimed once they were out
of Harry Kim’s hearing distance.
“What? He was cute.”
“You can’t keep all the cute ones.” Tom said
exasperated. “Don’t you remember what happened the last time you took one
home?”
“But that was different.”
“Oh sure, how do you know this one isn’t an
Admiral’s pet too?” Tom asked as they entered their quarters.
“An Admiral’s pet wouldn’t be awed by us.”
“You *cannot* keep him.” Julian looked at Tom
with a look he knew too well. Julian was planning something. “No, we are not
taking him with us!”
“But...”
“Not even if he wants to come.”
“But he’s *so* cute.”
“No way!”
“It would just be a matter of a transporter
sub-program.”
“Julian, dinner and that’s it.” Tom said,
unwaveringly and Julian sulked. “No way!” Tom repeated firmly from his spot on
the couch.
********************************************************************************
Harry Kim stood nervously, somebody would
probably pull him aside tomorrow and lecture him on how inappropriate going to
dinner with two convicted traitors was. But for the moment, he was just going
to enjoy himself.
Julian smiled when he heard the door chime.
“Come in...good evening Ensign.”
“Harry. I’m still getting used to being an
Ensign.”
“That new an Ensign?” Julian asked, offering
him a glass of wine.
“Yes..” Harry said, sitting nervously when he
was offered a seat.
“Well, I’d say we could just eat, but Tom’s
off on the holodeck.”
“There’s no rush.”
“Harry, relax. The worst you’re going to come
out of this with is an unofficial warning to stay away from the traitorous
Gemini Twins.”
Harry smiled. “That’s what I was thinking
when I got here. I already got warned off when I asked about you two.”
“No doubt we were portrayed as the evil,
awful *Maquis*”
“Yes.” Harry said, stiffening slightly at the
jesting tone Julian used.
“Don’t worry, I know it’s your duty to think
that way.” Julian said. “My Starfleet training had me horrified when Tom
suggested joining the Maquis.”
“But you did.”
“Tom joined, he had to fly. I just tagged
along at first then I met some of the Maquis and I started to understand.”
“Understand what?”
“I can’t tell you, you have to find out for
yourself to understand.”
“Everyone seems to give me answers like
that.”
“I know, but it will make sense if you ever
have the chance to understand.” Julian said.
“Well, I’ll never get that chance.”
“One never knows...” Julian smiled.
“What?!?””
“I just meant you never know exactly what’s
in the future.”
“And you do?”
“Yes, dinner.” He smiled, raising his hand to
his comm badge. “Bashir to Paris.”
“Yes love?”
“Dinner, with Ensign Kim, remember?”
“Oh right, be right up.”
“Tom, I can still hear that sim, shut it
down.”
“Yes Mom.” The pilot teased.
“Is he always like that?” Harry asked. “You
two are so serious in public.”
“We act how people expect us to.” Julian told
him. “It’s easier that way.”
“Why?”
“It keeps people at a distance.”
“Then why...”
“Did I ask you to dinner.” Harry nodded. “I
like you and I think you have a chance to understand.”
“Are you trying to recruit me or something.”
“Nothing so official.” Julian laughed. “But
you could manage well. What would you do if I was?”
“I don’t know.”
“You should consider it you know, those
choices may need to be made in a split second.”
“But thinking about it is treason.”
“I suppose,” Julian smiled. “I’ll just get
dinner.”
Harry stared after the other man. Had he been
serious? How the heck was he supposed to respond to that...it was treason technically.
But Julian was so...well...he seemed so normal. Nothing like the Maquis were
supposed to be like.