Timeless By Erin (aka Jane Griffen) Author‘s Note: I wrote this before the episode Timeless actually aired as a takeoff from what I‘d seen in the previews aired on TV. Some Collective members said that they would‘ve thought that B‘Elanna would have been the worried one. <sheepish grin> That‘s how I wrote it, anyway. I NEED FEEDBACK! We now return you to your previous broadcasting =P   Kathryn Janeway laughed as she entered Engineering, holding Chakotay‘s hand. She hadn‘t felt this good in a long time, and she had a perfectly good reason to now. Looking around, she saw most of the crew; talking excitedly to one another about the latest information they had all received. She spotted Harry Kim, Tom Paris, and B‘Elanna Torres standing in a corner talking to one another. She smiled as she remembered the joyful look on the ensign‘s face when he had first proposed the experiment. After a month of trial runs and preparation, the new propulsion system was fully operational. It involved warp drive and slip-stream technology. The two put together would almost definitely get them home. Seeing Paris and Torres standing next to each other, Kathryn smiled. The couple had come a long way since mutual enemies. Even she had been surprised when they had started dating, but she had known from the start that it was a perfect match. Tom and B‘Elanna obviously loved each other, and it showed. It truly showed. Her azure eyes catching the glint off the diamond engagement ring on B‘Elanna‘s finger, Janeway grinned. It was a wonderful end to one era, and a wonderful beginning to another. "Captain! Commander!" Harry called, beckoning them over. Chakotay glanced up, brushing a snowflake out of his eyes. "Neelix sure did a good job decorating." he commented. Light snow was floating down from the ceiling of the engine room, and there were streamers everywhere. Torres rolled her eyes. "It‘ll take a long time to clean this mess up." she muttered, but she was smiling anyway. The prospect of going back to the Alpha Quadrant had made her upset at first, but now that she had thought about it, she sort of liked the idea of actually getting back home. Of course, considering she was an ex-convict, she might get thrown in prison. But that didn‘t matter now. "You‘re such an optimist." teased Paris, grinning at her. She shook her head, but couldn‘t stop smiling. It felt good to be smiling; she hadn‘t been this happy in a long time. Not after hearing that the Maquis had died and going through clinical depression, or whatever the Doctor had called it. It had been hard, but she was finally through with that stage of her life. She could feel her emotions plainly, and she was overjoyed at the fact that she and Tom were going to get married. It couldn‘t have been better timing, either. Feeling him squeeze her hand, she glanced up and knew that he was thinking the same thing. Music started playing, and B‘Elanna looked skeptical. "We‘re supposed to dance in Engineering?" she commented. "Don‘t worry, I won‘t step on your feet." Tom answered. "I think its more for the affect. Besides, this place is packed as it is." Kathryn replied, running her hand through her hair. It felt good to be celebrating; there hadn‘t been a reason to celebrate in a long time. Seven of Nine walked over to them and greeted them. A slight frown marred her normal calm composure, but it vanished quickly. She herself was not sure if she should be happy to be going back to the Alpha Quadrant or not. Like the captain had said, it was her home, but she felt for sure that people would resent her because of her Borg heritage. I will adapt. she reminded herself, but the truth was she was finding the Borg sayings more and more useless. "Seven! Enjoying the party?" Harry asked, smiling over at her. She nodded. "I am. However, Mr. Neelix keeps on insisting that we should crack the warp core open with a champagne bottle. I do not understand how that would affect the party." "What?" said Tom, looking down at B‘Elanna. The chief engineer shrugged; she hadn‘t a clue. Comprehension dawned on the captain and commander. They smiled at each other. "Let‘s go find Neelix." Chakotay commented, and the two excused themselves from the group. "Isn‘t it against the law to have alcoholic beverages in Engineering?" he asked Kathryn jokingly. Janeway rolled her eyes. "I‘ve got a traitor as a first officer. A little wine won‘t hurt my reputation once we get back home." she replied dryly. Chakotay shook his head, smiling. "I‘ll go see if Neelix is by the buffet." he suggested, and the two split up. A minute later, Kathryn ran into Tuvok. "Hello, Tuvok! Looking forward to going home?" she asked the Vulcan. Tuvok nodded. "I am." he replied. The two walked through Engineering, Janeway busy greeting people and scanning the room for the morale officer. He had to be around here somewhere. "Its hard to believe that only four years ago we weren‘t even in the Delta quadrant." she commented softly to Tuvok. "It is indeed." the security officer said. "I wonder what‘s going to happen when we return." Tuvok raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" "Think about it, Tuvok. This crew is made up of Starfleet officers, former Maquis rebels, native Delta quadrant aliens, and an ex-Borg drone. I wonder what the Federation is going to say to all this." Janeway tried to explain her worries. "Might I remind you, Captain, that Starfleet already knows of Voyager‘s countless adventures from myself." a familiar voice called. The two officers turned around to find the Doctor. "I wasn‘t trying to eavesdrop, but when I heard-" His apologies were cut short by a wave of Kathryn‘s hand. "I know, Doctor. But still..." her voice trailed off as she spotted Neelix. "Neelix!" The Talaxian, who was busy talking to Commander Chakotay and Samantha Wildman, looked up at the sound of his name. "Captain Janeway! What do you think of the party so far?" Neelix beamed as he glanced around Engineering. His opinion was that everything was spectacular, but, of course, that was just his opinion. "You‘ve outdone yourself this time, Neelix." Kathryn said, smiling. Chakotay took her hand again and she leaned against him, "Is it time to give your speech?" he asked softly, grinning down at her. She sent him a withering glance, but ended up smiling. "I guess so." she commented. Neelix wordlessly handed her a champagne bottle. "What speech?" Samantha asked curiously. Naomi ran up to the group. "Hi, Captain!" she said excitedly. "Mom, you‘ll never guess what just happened!" Naomi went on to tell her mother about something, and Kathryn and Chakotay looked at each other. Seeing Samantha‘s curious glance, Janeway grinned. "You‘ll find out." was the only explanation. The two walked over to the warp core railing. Janeway waved her hands and cleared her throat. "Ahem." she said loudly. Even though her voice didn‘t carry very far, everyone stopped talking and turned to face their captain of the past four years. "Thanks to Harry Kim, we‘re going home. And something that crossed my mind was that Voyager has never been christened properly. After all, I was given command on such short notice to go find the Maquis that I forgot about the many century-old traditions that go with a ship. And one of them is christening the ship by smashing a champagne bottle against it." Kathryn said, and she held up a champagne bottle. Various crewmembers smiled and nodded. "And its my privilege to hand over the tradition to our one and only chief engineer: B‘Elanna Torres." Meghan Delany stifled a laugh as she glanced over at the lieutenant, who had a bewildered but skeptical look on her face. Meeting the ensign‘s gaze, B‘Elanna rolled her eyes, smiling. Torres glanced up and looked at Tom, whose eyes were laughing at her. She raised her eyes to the ceiling. "All right." she said, walking over to the captain. Janeway handed her the champagne bottle. B‘Elanna eyed it warily. "What exactly am I supposed to do?" Kathryn took it from her and pretended to smash it against the railing. "Just like that." A smile creased B‘Elanna‘s face and she took the bottle from the captain. Grinning, she followed the captain‘s example. Champagne sprayed everywhere, and B‘Elanna was trying hard not to laugh at the sight of the soaking wet crewmembers around her. Glancing down at her uniform, she realized she wasn‘t better off at all. Laughing, she handed the broken champagne bottle to Chakotay. "What kind of a tradition is that, anyway?" she demanded. "It goes back to the twentieth century." Tom explained, walking over to them. Torres shook her head. "Figures." she shot back. Harry Kim smiled. He couldn‘t wait to get back to the Alpha quadrant. It was like a dream come true. For all of them. Later that night, B‘Elanna brushed her hair, gazing into the mirror. It seemed like a fairy tale that they were actually going home. She only hoped that this fairy tale had a happy ending. "What‘s wrong?" "Hmm?" Torres turned, the brush still in her hair. Tom sat on the bed, a padd in his hand. "Nothing." she replied quickly, turning back to the mirror. Paris knew her too well. Putting the datapadd down, he walked over to her. "B‘Elanna, what‘s wrong? You can tell me." He wrapped his arms around her waist and she leaned against him, frowning thoughtfully. B‘Elanna tilted her head back. "It‘s nothing. Really, its nothing." She looked down. "Are you sure?" Tom kissed her, then pulled back, blue eyes troubled. "B‘Elanna-" Torres broke away from the embrace and placed her hairbrush down on her dresser. She gazed at the refection of herself and Tom in the mirror. She met his gaze. "Everything‘s perfect." she commented. "I just don‘t want that to change." "I know what you mean." Paris replied truthfully. "I‘m not exactly thrilled about facing Starfleet Headquarters again." He made a face. "I‘ve just got a gut feeling that something‘s going to go wrong." B‘Elanna said. Tom took her hand. "Is Engineering ready to go?" The chief engineer nodded. "Is Voyager fitted for the new technology?" "Yes." was the slow reply. B‘Elanna‘s eyes grew troubled. "Do you trust the rest of the crew?" came the next question. Torres replied quickly, "I wouldn‘t be here if I didn‘t." "Do you trust me?" Tom asked quietly, meeting her gaze through the mirror. "Of course." replied B‘Elanna, turning to face him. "But what does all that have to do with-" "Then why can‘t you believe me when I say that everything‘s going to be all right?" "You can‘t promise me that. Besides, no matter how big or small it is, something has to go wrong." Torres retorted, tears in her eyes. Paris was confused. "What do you mean?" he asked softly. B‘Elanna sat down on the bed. "Let‘s see...I‘ll start from a year ago." Tom sat down next to her. "All right." "Transwarp experiment - we had to eject the warp core; Tom, no sarcastic comments." she added, seeing the soft smile on the pilot‘s face. Paris frowned, nodding. B‘Elanna continued, "When the Doctor and I went to rescue that hologram, I barely got out of there alive. And what about the Mari? Then there was that away mission to the Demon planet - you and Harry almost died down there. What about the Hirogen? And what about Steth? In the Void, there was the Maylon, and then-" B‘Elanna stopped when Tom put a finger up to her lips. "I can‘t promise you that everything will go fine, but I doubt that anything can go wrong. Lets go to bed, all right?" Paris asked, gently squeezing her hand. But as B‘Elanna lay down with Tom‘s arms around her, she still had a bad feeling about the whole experiment. She fell asleep with a slight frown on her face. Tom leaned over and scrutinized B‘Elanna as soon as he thought she was asleep. He brushed a piece of hair out of her face and back behind her ear. Seeing the frown on her face, he frowned, too. B‘Elanna was the chief engineer, and she knew every nook and cranny in Voyager. If anyone could predict what would happen it was her. Sighing, he kissed Torres on the cheek and lay back down. He sighed. He only hoped B‘Elanna was wrong. The next morning, everyone was in energetic moods. As Paris and Torres entered the Mess Hall, they spotted Kim and Seven of Nine sitting at a table for four. After getting what Neelix had prepared for breakfast, the two lieutenants headed over to them. Harry and Seven were busy working, practically ignoring their breakfast. Even when Tom greeted them they barely acknowledged them. "May we join you?" B‘Elanna asked, holding her tray in one hand as she looked down at the two. Even after a year of adjusting, Seven of Nine would never really change much, but B‘Elanna was getting used to her. The former drone looked up, realizing that she and Harry weren‘t the only ones at the table. "Of course." she commented, motioning for the two to sit down. Tom and B‘Elanna did. "So, is the breakfast edible?" Tom joked. Harry glanced up. "I don‘t know; I haven‘t had any yet." "C‘mon, Harry, lighten up!" replied the pilot. "You said all the work is done." "It‘s only just beginning. We still need to modify the plasma manifolds and upgrade the deflector shielding." Kim said, barely looking up as he continued to work. Paris frowned, noticing that B‘Elanna had tensed. Meeting his gaze, she gave him a look that he had learned rather well. It meant ‚I told you so.‘ Torres leaned forward so that she could see what Seven was working on. "The relays should be aligned at .035." she commented, interrupting the other woman‘s work. Seven of Nine backed up the text and corrected the error. "Lieutenant Torres, if you could work on the plasma manifolds?" she asked, taking a sip of her drink. B‘Elanna nodded. "Sure!" she said, taking a datapadd from the stack. She handed another one to Tom. "Here, Helmboy. You can work on the navigation system." Tom took the padd, shaking his head. So much for their last day in the Delta quadrant being calm and peaceful. Five hours later, the senior staff was gathered in the conference lounge. Captain Janeway had insisted that they do a last-minute checkup. "Everything‘s set do go?" she asked Harry. Kim nodded. "All we need to do is finished upgrading the deflector shielding." he said. "I‘ll get an Engineering team to work on that right away." commented B‘Elanna, attentive. "Oversee the work yourself." Janeway ordered. "Captain?" Torres questioned. "I don‘t want anything to go wrong. This is a highly unstable form of warp-speed travel, and I don‘t want any last minute errors. Understood?" The chief engineer nodded, her mind already calculating the time it would take to do the upgrading. She decided to take along Joe Carey, Susan Nicoletti, Ensign Vorik, and Ensigns Marlett and Chesly. They were some of the best engineers onboard, and if the captain wanted her to oversee the process herself, she would. "Just think: we‘ll be home this time tomorrow." Tom commented, leaning forward. No one else seemed to share his optimism. "Does that mean anything to anyone but me?" he asked, frowning. "A lot could go wrong, Tom." Chakotay reminded the energetic pilot. Paris shrugged. "After all the precautions we‘re taking? I don‘t think so." "Tom." Janeway said his name sharply, and it took the smile off his face. He raised his hands as if in self defense and leaned back. "Forget I said anything." And everyone was in such good moods yesterday, too. "Neelix, what about food supplies?" asked Chakotay. "We‘re stocked full, Commander. We‘ve got enough food stuffs to last for a good two months." replied the Talaxian. "Doctor?" Kathryn asked. True, she knew she should be relaxed and happy, but she didn‘t want anything to go wrong. Yesterday she had been excited. Now she was just tense and leery. After all the times that Voyager had come so close to getting home, she didn‘t want anything to go wrong now. Not when everything was going according to plan. "Sick Bay‘s fine. We‘re not short on medical supplies at all." replied the EMH. "Good." Janeway leaned back and sighed. "B‘Elanna, what about Engineering?" "Raring to go. I haven‘t seen everyone so worked since the time we encountered the Borg." replied the chief engineer. She glanced over at Seven. "No offense meant, Seven." "None taken." replied Seven. "Tuvok, what about our shields?" Kathryn asked. "As soon as the deflector grid is finished being upgraded, they shall be running at 172% efficiency." replied the Vulcan in an emotionless tone. Janeway nodded. "Tom, how is the helm?" asked Chakotay. "As smooth to handle as ever. I‘ll have no problems flying this baby home." came the smooth reply. Janeway wouldn‘t have expected anything less from the pilot. "Harry? Why don‘t you take over." she instructed. The ensign nodded and walked over to the computer panel. He brought up a large scale, complete with Voyager, the Delta Flyer, and the slip-stream technology. "In order for Voyager to last for as long as we need her to last, another ship has to be flying in front to divert the electron streams. I‘ve reprogrammed the Delta Flyer‘s shielding so it‘ll work, but we‘d need two officers onboard." Harry reported, magnifying the Delta Flyer and playing it through the actual run-through. He then went on to describe everything in detail, and when he was done even Tuvok looked impressed. Kathryn smiled. "Great job, Harry." She frowned thoughtfully. "Chakotay, Harry, you‘ll be the two in the Delta Flyer. Understood?" she asked. Both men acknowledged her; Harry nodded and Chakotay smiled at her. "Everyone: well done. Return to your posts. I want reports from all sections tonight, and we‘ll try a trial run tomorrow morning. If it works, then we‘ll head for home at approximately 2400 hours. Dismissed." The officers stood up and exited the lounge, deep in conversation with one another. Chakotay stayed behind. "You were so excited yesterday." he observed. Kathryn turned to stare out the window, hands on her hips. "Chakotay, everything depends on this. And I don‘t need to exaggerate when I say ‚everything‘." she said softly. The commander squeezed her shoulder, then left the conference room. Janeway stood gazing out at the stars for a few more minutes, then she, too, walked out of the room. After all, there was work to be done. Harry sighed as he reached for yet another tool in the Engineering kit. He was almost done reprogramming the Delta Flyer‘s shields, and he couldn‘t help but wonder what would happen to everyone once they returned home. He‘d gotten a letter from his parents, but none from Libby. That had made him frustrated, for neither his mother nor his father had mentioned her at all. He only hoped that nothing had happened to her. Thinking back, he decided that she had probably moved on with his life. He still loved her, but part of him didn‘t care about her as much as he had before. Kim sighed. Love was a strange thing. "Ensign Kim, are you finished?" "One more minute, Seven." replied Harry, finishing up his work. He scooted out from under the computer console. "I’m done, Seven." The former Borg drone nodded. "Good. Now we can start on the shielding patterns." she said, glancing wistfully out the shuttle’s window. If Harry hadn’t known Seven better, he would’ve said that she had just sighed. Seven had come a long way from being an emotionless robotlike Borg drone, and she was turning into a remarkable beautiful woman. Kim pushed those thoughts out of his head. "Shall we go?" he asked, beckoning towards the door after he stood up. Seven of Nine smiled. "We shall." she replied, and walked out the door. Harry followed, deep in thought. While Harry was deep in thought, Kathryn Janeway was standing practically knee-deep in datapadds which were strewn about her office. She gaped at them all in amazement. She hadn’t requested reports from everyone, had she? Then she grinned, realizing that, more or less, she had. Sighing, she began making a neat pile of them. The doorbell chimed. "Come in!" she called, bending down to pick up a padd. The person who had entered cleared his throat, and Kathryn looked up. Chakotay stood there, trying not to smile. He gestured to the stack of padds he was carrying. "You wanted reports on the Delta Flyer, too?" he asked incredulously. Janeway brushed the hair out of her face. "Those must be the mission reports I asked the Stellar Cartographists to write." she lied. "Set them down wherever there’s room." Chakotay did as he was told, smiling softly. "Coffee?" At her first officer’s reproving glance, she gaped. "This is only my second cup!" she replied, indignant. "Now that is hard to believe." Chakotay replied. Kathryn rolled her eyes and handed him a mug. He took it. "Thanks. Nodding, the captain removed a pile of padds and sat down. Chakotay sat down on another chair. "B’Elanna reports that the deflector grid is realigned, and she and her staff will be done within the hour." Kathryn leaned back and closed her eyes. "So soon?" If the commander hadn’t known Kathryn better, he would have sworn that he heard a touch of regret in her voice. "Kathryn, aren’t you excited?" he asked. Janeway opened her eyes and grinned at him from across the desk. "I am, Chakotay, I promise. I just can’t help wondering what will happen to us all..." her voice trailed off and she looked helplessly up at him. "The Federation’s at war; the Maquis is gone. What are we going to do?" Chakotay looked down, sadness washing over him at the mention at the Maquis. Then he smiled and reached over, gently taking her hand. "Kathryn, we’ll face Starfleet Headquarters together." he reminded her in a knowing tone. Janeway leaned forward, and their faces were inches apart. "But what then?" she demanded. Hesitantly, she looked into his dark eyes. "What about us?" Leaning nearer, Chakotay kissed her. Janeway pushed all thoughts of the Alpha quadrant and just enjoyed the moment, closing her eyes in contentment. B’Elanna swore in Klingon as she kicked the wall in Engineering. Several engineers glanced up, but not one commented on her behavior. Seeing Joe Carey glance her way, she grinned sheepishly. "Sorry," she apologized. "Don’t mention it. We’re all under a lot of stress." Joe replied. Torres smiled ruefully and went back to her work. A few minutes later, she looked up. "We’re done." she said quietly. "What?" Sue Nicoletti called from the second story of Engineering. A small smile crept across the chief engineer’s face. "We’re done!" she exclaimed, louder this time. Everyone cheered, grinning in excitement. Torres hit her commbadge. "Engineering to Janeway." Chakotay and Kathryn broke away from the kiss. Janeway tapped her commbadge. "Janeway here." she said, out of breath. Chakotay could practically see B’Elanna raising an eyebrow at Kathryn’s tone. "We’re ready to go!" she yelled over the din of the engineers’ cheering. Kathryn looked up at Chakotay and smiled. "Then let’s do it!" she exclaimed. Without another word, the two walked out of the captain’s ready room. It truly was a wonderful beginning. For a lot of reasons. Tom sat at the helm of Voyager, his eyes on the view screen as the Delta Flyer came into view. "Open a hailing frequency to the Flyer." Janeway ordered, sitting with her legs crossed in the captain’s chair. Melissa Paso did as she was ordered. "Hailing frequency open, sir." she reported, the excitement plain in her voice. Janeway sent the young ensign a smile, then cleared her throat. "How’s everything running, Commander?" "Nice and smooth." Chakotay replied, appearing on the view screen. Harry nodded as well. "Just say the word." he added. Kathryn sighed. "There’s been a change of plans. An ion storm has appeared over Niras III, and since I don’t want a replay of what happened the last time we ran into an ion storm, we’re going to go to Niras V. Tuvok will send over the course corrections." she informed Harry and Chakotay, who were on the Delta Flyer. From Chakotay’s nod as he glanced down at the helm, she could tell he had gotten them. Paso disengaged the hailing frequency, switching it over to audio only. They would need the viewscreen to see what was happening around them on this flight. "Then let’s get this over with. We’ll start at warp four and go up from there." she paused. "Mark." Tom’s fingers flew over the computer console, and within seconds Voyager had leaped to warp. The Delta Flyer was right in front of the larger starship, and Harry’s voice could be heard through the comm system. "We’re ready." "Bridge to Engineering. Are we ready to go down there?" asked the captain, standing up and staring at the viewscreen. B’Elanna’s voice could be heard loud and clear. "Yes, Captain. Whenever you give the word, we’re free to go." she replied. "Do it." Janeway ordered. Tuvok raised an eyebrow slightly as he complied. "Subspace slipstream is forming." he reported. "How’s everything holding up, Chakotay?" Kathryn asked. "Everything’s fine, Captain. The Delta Flyer’s flying quite nicely, only she keeps veering off to the left." "Cause?" replied Janeway. "Unknown, sir. It’s probably nothing." Kim suggested. Kathryn frowned. "How much longer?" she asked Tuvok. The Vulcan replied, "Three hours, ten minutes." "Captain," Seven of Nine spoke up, frowning. Her voice was close to revealing her emotions. "We are being hailed." What? Janeway thought, but she nodded. "By whom?" "It has a Federation carrier wave signature, but I can’t identify it." Paso reported. "On screen." Kathryn nearly fainted with surprise when a much older Harry Kim, complete with gray hair, appeared on the viewscreen. He appeared to be in Engineering, and she could see another officer working at a console nearby. The place was otherwise deserted, and she frowned. The Doctor and Chakotay walked into Engineering, stopping to talk with the woman. Harry Kim looked up and met her gaze. He sighed with relief. "It worked." he said, mostly to himself. "What worked, and who the hell are you?" Janeway decided to skip the pleasantries. Harry Kim frowned. "You’ve got to stop using the slipstream technology, Captain Janeway. Voyager makes it the Alpha quadrant, but everyone onboard dies. The Delta Flyer survives, but that’s just about it." "What on earth are you talking about?" Tom asked, mystified. "Listen. You have to trust me. The course calculations are slightly off-" "We had to re-change course because of a-" "An ion storm." the older Kim finished. "But how did you know-" "Stress on the hull is increasing." Seven of Nine reported. "Seven, remember the microfractures that were reported yesterday on Deck 12?" Harry questioned. Ensign Kim’s voice filtered through the commsystem. "Captain, what’s going on? Sensors show that Voyager’s dropped its speed by .5 acceleration." "Just a minute, Harry." Janeway said, then stood up and turned to look at Seven. The former drone nodded. "I do, however we thought we had repaired it and did not report it." she reported. The older Harry Kim continued. "You have to drop out of slipstream now unless you want to all be dead in three hours." He gave one last desperate look at them all, then the transmission ended. "Tom, drop out of slipstream. Chakotay, that goes for you, too." "Captain-" Voyager started to jolt downward, throwing everyone near their stations. The transmission went dead. Tom lurched forward, but managed to stay in his seat. He could hear various crewmembers cry out, and his thoughts rested on B’Elanna. He prayed to God that she was all right down in Engineering. He banged his head, and found himself slowly drifting into unconsciousness. A fleeting thought crossed his mind: had he pulled Voyager out of slipstream to soon? Was this what that older Harry Kim had been warning them about? He closed his eyes, a picture of B’Elanna in his mind as he became unconscious. And then the lights went back on.   Copyright 1998 by Jane Griffen