The BLTS Archive - Authority
by ILuvKate

---

"I really wish you wouldn't go, Kathryn," B'Elanna paused in pulling
on her boots to look up at her spouse who was pinning her pips to the
collar of her gray turtleneck. Kathryn put the last gold pip in place
and gave an irritated grimace.

"What is it with everybody about this mission, anyway?" she grumbled.
"You'd think I was some green ensign barely out of the Aca--" B'Elanna
stood up, interrupting her.

"For one thing," she said with acerbity, "neither Tuvok nor I liked
the look and sound of that--what'd he call himself?--Grandiose Supreme
Lord Minister. That in itself should tell you something, Kathryn."
Kathryn looked mulish. "Tuvok, Kathryn, and *me* having the same
intuition? Hello?"

"That's just how the Universal Translator translated it," Kathryn said
stubbornly. "Just because he has a pretentious title doesn't mean--"

"I don't like his looks," B'Elanna growled, interrupting Kathryn for
the second time and bringing a glint to the captain's eye, "and I
don't like his voice. And I don't like *him.*" Kathryn shook her head
and turned toward the door.

"I'm due on the Bridge," she said dismissively. "The matter is closed.
I'm going to the surface to conduct these negotiations because I'm the
only one this person will talk to. And we need those supplies and
foodstuffs." Without further ado, she exited the quarters, the doors
hissing closed with a soft sound of finality. B'Elanna swore and
seizing a coffee cup from the table hurled it with all her might
against the far wall. The sturdy alloy bounced harmlessly off the wall
and rolled away under a table. B'Elanna swore again.

"Why don't you just leave without a 'goodbye' or a kiss or anything?"
she growled, glaring at the doors that had just closed on Kathryn's
slim figure. Muttering under her breath, she, too, left the quarters
heading for Engineering.

---

"Tuvok," Kathryn said warningly as she headed for the transporter pad,
"Don't start. I've already heard it from B'Elanna and I don't need to
hear it again from you." She positioned herself on the pad and glanced
at the transporter tech standing behind the control console.

"If Lt. Torres was unable to convince you, Captain, then I am certain
I would be unsuccessful in dissuading you from this mission," the
Security chief said imperturbably. Kathryn shot him a sour look.

"You and B'Elanna," she groused. "You'd think I was a babe in the
woods. Energize," she said shortly to the transporter tech. The whine
of the transporter, accompanied by the tingling blue shimmer filled
the room and the captain vanished in a sparkle of light.

---

B'Elanna made her way to the Bridge as soon as she was able to leave
Engineering in Susan Nicoletti's charge. She'd been barely able to
concentrate on her duties, so worried was she about Kathryn. Another
flash of anger rippled through her. Sometimes the woman made her mad
enough to literally chew nails, but she was helplessly, hopelessly in
love with her and she would have put up with anything from her to just
be with her. That's why she was so worried about her safety down on
the surface.

Her very hackles had risen when the visage of Tark Roh, the Grandiose
Supreme Lord Minister of the Diburians, had appeared on the
viewscreen. Oddly enough, she had glanced at Tuvok and felt waves of
unease fairly flowing from the Vulcan's usually stoic features. His
eyes were even glittering. Tuvok had felt her gaze and glanced at her
wordlessly before turning his eyes back to the Diburian who was talking
to the captain.

Kathryn had seemed particularly unaffected by the alien as had every
other member of the Bridge crew. Apparently, B'Elanna realized, it was
just she and Tuvok who were experiencing this intense dislike of a
being on whom they had never laid eyes before.

As soon as the alien had signed off after Kathryn agreed to meet him
on the surface to negotiate a price for the supplies, B'Elanna had
pounced, followed by Tuvok, who of course would never have dreamed of
pouncing, but looked as distressed as anyone would ever hope to see
him. Kathryn had listened in astonishment as B'Elanna and Tuvok told
her about their antipathy toward Roh.

"I think the two of you need to take some time off," she said with
asperity when they'd finished. "I am going to the surface to
negotiate. Period." She hadn't said "Dismissed," but it was implicit
in her tone and B'Elanna and Tuvok withdrew.

"Has she always been this pig-headed?" B'Elanna ground out between
clenched teeth as she and Tuvok stepped onto the bridge from the ready
room. Tuvok didn't answer right away, but he finally said,

"The captain has always been somewhat intractable when she has made a
decision."

"Like I said," B'Elanna grumbled. "Pig-headed." She blew out her
breath in an exasperated sigh and headed for the turbolift. Tuvok,
looking thoughtful, turned toward the Security console.

---

B'Elanna fidgeted restlessly at the Engineering station on the Bridge.
She had run and rerun every diagnostic she could think of on every
system within her reach. She had recalibrated every sensor array and
scanning equipment she could think of. Anything to keep her mind off
the fact that Kathryn was down on the surface--alone--with that
Diburian, Roh.

She shuddered inwardly at the mental image conjured up by the thought
of the Diburian minister. The depth of loathing that she felt for the
being surprised her, for while she was not the most friendly and
affectionate person in the world, she rarely detested people on sight,
but Roh was a notable exception. It was also eerie that Tuvok had felt
the same way. She and Tuvok were emotional opposites, which made this
hostility they felt toward Roh all the more significant.

And all the more reason Kathryn should've listened to us," she thought
wrathfully, shifting for about the two hundredth time in her seat.
Damn her stubbornness, anyway, she thought. She thinks she's
invincible. If anything happened to her.... A wave of nausea rolled
through her at the thought and her loathing for Roh increased. She
glanced over at Chakotay, who sat in the command chair, seemingly
unperturbed, reading a PADD. B'Elanna wondered if Kathryn had told him
about the intuition she and Tuvok had expressed to her, and if she
had, had he agreed or dismissed it just as she had. She studied the
First Officer broodingly. Chakotay was as intuitive as anyone she knew
and apparently Roh had disturbed him not at all, or if he had, he'd
kept his feelings to himself. He knows as well as anybody, B'Elanna
reflected, how stubborn Kathryn could be when she had her mind made
up.

Impulsively, she got up and walked over to stand beside Chakotay's
chair, drawing a disapproving look from Tuvok, which she ignored.
Chakotay glanced up from his PADD and looked at her questioningly, a
faint look of disapproval, mirroring Tuvok's in his dark eyes.

"Yes, Lieutenant?" he said quietly, emphasizing her title slightly.

"Commander," she began, "did the Captain tell you about the feelings
Tuvok and I had about--that--alien... Roh?" Even the sound of his name
on her tongue sent a ripple of distaste through her. Chakotay nodded.

"Yes," he said briefly.

"Do you--how do you feel... about him?" she asked. Chakotay glanced
down at the PADD and then out at the viewscreen as though pondering
his response.

"I think it's significant that you *and* Tuvok both feel the same
antipathy toward him," he said finally.

"And?" B'Elanna said impatiently. He shifted in his seat, again
delaying his answer.

"He didn't inspire any feelings, good or bad, in me," he said after a
pause. B'Elanna's face fell. She'd been hoping he'd felt an instant
dislike to the creepy Roh, but apparently it was not to be.

"I see," she said sullenly. "Sorry to have bothered you," she muttered
and trudged back over to her station, feeling worse than ever. She
felt an irrational desire to punch her fist through something, but
restrained herself, running yet another recalibration of the sensor
arrays.

---

The realization burst upon her like a blow to her head and she
actually reeled, nearly falling from her chair at the Engineering
console. She grabbed the edge of the console to keep her seat, feeling
sweat trickle over her brow ridges. I've got to get her out of there!
she thought wildly, fighting down a wave of nausea that surged upward
from her belly, almost choking her. Her hand moved of its own accord
to transporter control and she stopped herself at the last second to
initiate transport. Breathing hard, she stared at the sensor readings
before her, willing them to reveal what she so strongly felt, but they
remained stubbornly normal and serene, showing nothing at all that
should've prompted such an intense premonition that Kathryn was in
grave danger. She swiveled her head to look at Tuvok, but the Vulcan's
dark face was calm, his eyes intent on his own console. Tuvok! Dammit!
she thought at him desperately. Don't you feel it, too? Tuvok did not
even glance up and, frustrated, B'Elanna turned back to her display,
her fingers flying over the touchpads, but the sensors still revealed
nothing out of the ordinary.

Torn in an agony of indecision, her fingers hovered over the
transporter controls. She will tear me limb from limb, she thought. In
no way will she understand.....

Without further conscious thought, she keyed in the command sequence
and initiated the transport of Kathryn from the surface to the Bridge.

"B'Elanna! What the hell are you doing?" Harry Kim demanded from
Operations. "Commander, she's just beamed the Ca--"

The tingling whine of the transporter sang through the suddenly silent
bridge as the astonished form of Kathryn Janeway shimmered into view.
She glanced around her questioningly and looked at the startled
Chakotay. Seeing his puzzlement, she nodded once briefly and turned a
steely gaze on her Chief Engineer, who had risen silently to her feet
and stood waiting.

Kathryn's face was a mask of barely controlled rage as she took two
measured steps toward B'Elanna. "All right, Lieutenant," she snapped.
"Explain." Tuvok had stepped out from behind his console and stood
watching the tableau. Chakotay, still mystified, stood behind the
captain. The silence lengthened and congealed.

"I--" B'Elanna's voice came out a hoarse croak, and she cleared her
throat. "I cannot, Captain." She sighed wearily. "I got this intense
feeling all of a sudden that you were in danger. I'm sorry."

"Captain, she's just disabled transport," Kim announced from
Operations. "And I can't override." Janeway snapped a command at the
computer.

"Unable to comply," the computer responded serenely. "Engineering
override Alpha Omega in place." A muscle leaped in Kathryn's clenched
jaw, and she turned toward B'Elanna.

"You're relieved of duty, Lieutenant," Kathryn said coldly. "And
you're confined to quarters. Leave the bridge." B'Elanna turned
silently and headed toward the turbolift doors, feeling the dagger of
Kathryn's gaze drilling into her back, and the arrows of everyone
else's questions.

In their quarters, she slumped down on the couch, burying her face in
her hands. Her heart was still pounding with the temerity of her
actions, but she wasn't sorry she'd done it. The feeling that Kathryn
was in danger had subsided upon the captain's arrival on the bridge,
but she didn't feel much better. There was no way Kathryn was going to
forgive this breach of protocol. If anything, Kathryn would punish her
more harshly so that no one could say she was sparing her spouse
punishment.

The doorchime intruded into her misery, and she looked up listlessly.
"Come in," she said. The doors hissed open and revealed two Security
officers. B'Elanna caught her breath. The brig? Kathryn was going to
throw her in the brig? "Yes?" she said, managing to keep her voice
level.

"The Captain wants to see you, Lieutenant," one of the women said.
B'Elanna rose, smoothing her uniform. She nodded once and left with
them. The walk to the Ready Room was tense and awkward. B'Elanna could
feel the sympathy of the two women accompanying her. They were Maquis,
former comrades, and she felt their silent understanding of her
actions.

They delivered her to the Ready Room, and withdrew, leaving her
standing before the stonily silent Kathryn. Tuvok stood to Kathryn's
left, Chakotay was seated at her right. The atmosphere crackled with
tension and anger. As the doors slid closed on the two Security
officers, Kathryn raised an icy blue gaze to B'Elanna's face.

"What you did," she said crisply, "was mutiny, Lieutenant. You are
aware of that?" B'Elanna swallowed.

"It was not my intention to mutiny, Captain," she said levelly.

"There is a reason we have a command structure," Kathryn snapped.
B'Elanna had searched her spouse's icy mask for just a glimmer of
understanding, love, and warmth and had found none, a fact that
chilled her soul.

"I am aware of that, Captain," she responded. "And I apologize to
Commander Chakotay for acting impulsively." She glanced at Chakotay
who looked back at her expressionlessly, and she felt even worse. "But
the feeling that you were in danger was so strong I could not ignore
it."

"We do not operate on feelings, Lieutenant," Kathryn snapped rudely.
"We operate on facts and statistics. None of which you had to back up
your assumptions or your actions."

"Yes, Captain," B'Elanna returned despondently. "But I stand by my
actions. You were in danger." Kathryn gave a short, sharp shake of her
head in frustration, reining in her temper with a visible effort.

"Do you realize," she ground out, "that you disrupted sensitive
negotiations for supplies that we were desperately in need of?"

"I'm sorry, Captain," was all the resolute B'Elanna would say.
Kathryn's nostrils flared as she drew in a deep breath.

"I am having a great deal of difficulty in persuading Minister Roh to
allow me to return to the surface to continue negotiations," she said.
"Thanks to you. The Diburians were greatly insulted." B'Elanna stared
fixedly at the toe of her boot, jaw clenched, and said nothing. The
silence grew. The sound of Chakotay shifting in his chair was
unnaturally loud in the quiet. "We finally managed to override your
block," Kathryn added. B'Elanna made no response. She'd known they'd
be able to override. A minute passed and B'Elanna raised her gaze to
Kathryn's.

"Please don't go back down there," she said in a choked voice. Tears
spilled over and rolled down her cheeks but Kathryn seemed singularly
unmoved, staring back at her with studied disinterest. "Please,
Kathryn." Kathryn scowled at this further breach of decorum and
reached up to tap her commbadge.

"Security, report back to the Ready Room," she said tersely. The two
officers re-entered the room and stood waiting. "Escort Lt. Torres to
the brig and confine her there," she ordered.

B'Elanna felt the breath leave her body, and Chakotay rose to his
feet. "Captain," he said uncertainly, and Kathryn shot him a look that
cut off whatever he might have wanted to say further. Tuvok made a
small, almost abortive movement, but said nothing. B'Elanna stared
numbly at the woman she loved, wondering if she'd been wrong all these
months. Maybe Kathryn didn't love her at all.... maybe all she'd
wanted was physical gratification. On the heels of this thought came a
swift denial. No, she was as sure of Kathryn's love as she was of her
Klingon blood. She'd overstepped the line and Kathryn was going to
make her pay. She was shaking inside. Execution for crimes may have
been outlawed in the 24th century, but mutiny was a lone exception to
that principle. Mutineers could be and were executed--often swiftly.
Surely Kathryn--would not--B'Elanna could not finish the thought, so
terrifying were the implications.

She felt hands grip her arms on either side and she turned woodenly
with the two security officers and left the Ready Room. She could feel
Kathryn's gaze on her as she left and she twisted her head around for
one final glance at her before the doors slid closed, cutting off her
view. She felt tears well up in her eyes. Kathryn, she cried silently,
all I wanted to do was keep you safe.

---

Kathryn Janeway dropped back into her chair as the doors closed on
B'Elanna, stubbornly refusing to acknowledge the lump of ice in her
stomach. She drummed her fingers on the desktop and glanced from
Chakotay to Tuvok.

"Did either of you have any reason to believe I was in any danger at
all while I was talking to Roh?" she asked.

"All readings were normal, Captain," Tuvok replied. "There was no
evidence of any weapon being powered, nor did sensors indicate the
approach of any persons that could be construed as presenting a danger
to your safety." Kathryn rubbed tired fingers across her brow, closing
her eyes briefly.

"And of course you have confirmed and reconfirmed that data," she
said, making it a statement, not a question.

"Of course, Captain," Tuvok said with faint rebuke. She glanced at
Chakotay.

"How about you, Commander?" she asked. "Did you have any reason for
concern?"

"None, Captain," her First Officer responded. "I had just checked my
own console a few minutes before B'Elanna... acted..." His voice
trailed off. He was visibly distressed. Kathryn sighed.

"That's what I was afraid of, gentlemen," she said, leaning forward,
her forehead resting on the heels of her hands. "Now what the hell do
I do?" Neither man envied her her dilemma. They all three knew that
the command structure must be preserved, and discipline maintained.
Voyager could not survive if that were not so. Dammit, B'Elanna! she
burst out silently at her absent mate. Why do you go off half-cocked
*all* the time? You have put me in an absolutely untenable position!
She sighed again.

"Captain," Tuvok spoke first. "It is quite clear that Lt. Torres acted
solely out of concern for your safety. There was no intent on her part
to overthrow the ship's command authority."

"I know that, Tuvok," Kathryn said wearily. "But the fact remains that
she acted without authority. We can't have that. Anarchy and chaos
would be the order of the day."

"Captain," Chakotay interjected, "I hardly think the crew is going to
begin a wholesale flaunting of your authority. Or mine, or Tuvok's."

"No," Kathryn answered briskly, "they will not, because they are going
to see that any such action is going to be severely and swiftly
punished."

"What do you propose, Captain?" Tuvok queried. "Your options, as I
perceive them, are to either execute Lt. Torres for mutiny, confine
her to the brig for life, or relieve her of duty permanently." The
ugly word "execute" hung malignantly in the air, and Kathryn winced.
The silence in the room was electric.

"Kathryn," Chakotay said in a hollow voice, "you wouldn't... 
execute... B'Elanna....would you?" Kathryn didn't answer immediately
and Chakotay felt a chill. "Kathryn," he said, agitated, "you wouldn't 
even consider executing Lon Suder for *murder*; y--"

"Chakotay." The single tired utterance of his name made him fall
silent. "I'm not going to have B'Elanna executed," Kathryn continued
after a protracted pause. "Hell," she added irritably, "I don't know
how I can even keep her in the brig. We can't do without her in
Engineering." Chakotay was unaware that his breath rushed out in a
relieved whoosh. He could've sworn he saw Tuvok relax.

"What *do* you intend to do, Captain?" her Chief of Security inquired.
Kathryn steepled her fingers and tapped them absently against her
lips.

"What would you do, Tuvok, were you in my place?" she countered
swiftly.

"Confine her to quarters during all off-duty hours for eighteen
months," Tuvok responded instantly. "Issue a severe reprimand to be
placed in her permanent record, and deny her shore leave privileges
for the next eighteen months." Chakotay stifled a grin as Kathryn
slowly turned her head to give her old friend a withering look. Then
she turned to glance up at Chakotay.

"Well?" she asked. "Do you concur?"

"Sounds pretty punitive to me," he said. She leaned back in her chair
and drummed her fingers again, staring into middle distance
consideringly. That punishes me as much as it does her, she grumbled
to herself, at the off-duty confinement and shore leave denial. They
had been directed to a well-known pleasure planet in this sector by a
friendly race they'd met a few weeks ago, and the crew was looking
forward to a lengthy stay and weeks of fun. She sighed.

"Captain," Tuvok said, "she is being more severely punished by your
anger and displeasure than by anything else." Kathryn glanced up at
him quickly and his dark gaze met hers tranquilly.

"I agree," Chakotay said quickly. "That is the hardest thing she's
having to deal with."

"Oh," Kathryn twitched out of her chair and stalked over to the
viewport to stare out it. "Will you two just go away and leave me
alone?" The two men glanced at each other knowingly and Chakotay
winked at Tuvok, who arched an eyebrow in return. They exited the
Ready Room, leaving their annoyed captain standing at the viewport.

As the doors closed behind her officers, Kathryn blew out her breath
in an explosive sigh. She didn't need them to tell her that B'Elanna
was more punished by her anger than any prospect of punishment. She'd
seen the puzzled hurt in her mate's eyes, and the tears that had
rolled down her cheeks had nearly torn her heart in two. She knew what
B'Elanna's motivation had been. Now that she was over her first wave
of anger, she could understand it clearly. You are not going to lose
her over some breach of protocol, Kathryn, she told herself, and you
know it. The thing was, she had to step back and view the long-term
effects of the young woman's actions. Objectively, she knew that
discipline had to be maintained. Even B'Elanna would agree that this
was true.

Kathryn sighed again and rubbed her hands over her face. Her mind went
to B'Elanna, sitting down in the brig and she winced. That had been
temper on her part, pure and simple. Impulsively she left the Ready
Room by her private entrance and headed for the brig.

Her heart twisted with regret as she stepped into the brig and saw the
forlorn and dejected figure huddled on the bunk behind the buzzing
forcefield. B'Elanna sat in the corner of the bunk, knees drawn up to
her chest, arms hugging them to her body. Her face was pale and
streaked with tears, her eyes puffy and red. As Kathryn watched, she
put her head down on her knees and her shoulders shook with silent
sobs. Horrified, Kathryn felt hot tears well up in her own eyes in
response, and her chest felt squeezed by an iron hand. She turned
blindly to the security officer standing quietly behind his console,
staring at the displays.

"Dismissed," she said quietly. The man left with alacrity. Kathryn
stepped behind the console and instituted a privacy lock and disabled
the forcefield. As she walked toward B'Elanna's cell, B'Elanna,
hearing the forcefield fall silent, glanced up. Color left her already
colorless face and her eyes widened as she saw Kathryn. Kathryn
crossed to her swiftly and pulled her off the bunk and upright.

"Oh, my God, darling, I'm so sorry!" she said in a choked voice. "Can
you ever forgive me?" She enveloped her lover in a giant hug. Stunned
B'Elanna, felt herself crushed in Kathryn's arms, and her own arms
automatically circled Kathryn.

Kathryn drew back slightly and searched B'Elanna's face intently.
B'Elanna, still bewildered, returned her gaze uncertainly. "Say you
forgive me, darling, please," Kathryn said. "Although I would
certainly understand if you didn't."

"I--Kathryn--there-there's nothing to forgive," B'Elanna croaked.
"You--"

"Acted like some kind of tin-god martinet," Kathryn said, disgusted.
"If you never spoke to me again, I couldn't blame you." B'Elanna
suddenly burst into tears.

"Oh, Kathryn," she sobbed. "*I'm* the one who's sorry, not you! I just
don't want you to hate me. I can't stand th--"

"Darling," Kathryn put in, "there's no way I could ever hate you. I
*love* you. I love you more than anything or anyone in the universe.
Always know that." She sighed. "I lost my temper, and I'm sorry." She
found B'Elanna's mouth and kissed her. B'Elanna melted into her
embrace, returning the kiss with fervor. Kathryn's hands stroked her
back in long, soothing strokes, easing the tension from her body.
Their passion ignited as they kissed and hands sought breasts and
bottoms. Kathryn made a noise in her throat as B'Elanna's hands found
her breasts and kneaded them through the crisp fabric of her uniform.
Her hands fumbled with the zipper of B'Elanna's jacket and undid it.
She pushed it off B'Elanna's shoulders and tossed it aside, and then
she found the opening of B'Elanna's uniform trousers and undid them,
pushing them down over B'Elanna's trembling thighs. B'Elanna kicked
free of them and Kathryn knelt in front of her, pressing her lips to
the damp front of B'Elanna's panties, feeling the heat there. B'Elanna
growled softly deep in her throat and pushed herself against Kathryn's
mouth. Kathryn's hands slid up to cup B'Elanna's firm round bottom,
eliciting a gasp from her lover at her touch.

"Kathryn....," B'Elanna whispered on a sigh as Kathryn's tongue teased
her through the fabric of her panties. "God, baby, you're making me
crazy...." Kathryn had managed to capture her swollen clit in her
mouth through the panties and was sucking on it hard. B'Elanna
writhed.

"God! Kathryn!" Kathryn sucked some more and then reached up and drew
the panties down with maddening slowness. B'Elanna was trembling all
over now with desire and her building climax and she cried out now as
Kathryn began to lick, with long, slow, hard strokes of her tongue,
the length of B'Elanna's sex. Then she replaced her tongue with
vigorous strokes of her fingers, punishing the sensitive spot and
catapulting B'Elanna to the apex of pleasure. B'Elanna came with
groans and cries of ecstasy, her body spasming and bucking under
Kathryn's assault. As the climax ebbed away, she sank bonelessly to
her knees to sag limply into Kathryn's arms as Kathryn murmured
endearments into her ear.

When she could move again, she pushed Kathryn back to lie on the deck
and she undressed her, covering each exposed part of her body with
kisses as Kathryn moaned under her ministrations. When Kathryn lay
naked, B'Elanna began at her mouth and kissed her way down and across
her body. "Oh, baby, oh, baby," Kathryn moaned over and over as
B'Elanna's mouth made its torturous way over her body, leaving heat in
its wake. She was panting as B'Elanna, deliberately skirting her
throbbing sex, kissed the insides of her thighs and nipped at them
gently."B'Elanna....please, baby," she begged, aching for release.
"C'mon, lover." B'Elanna laughed softly and licked tantalizing circles
down one thigh and up the other and then poised herself over Kathryn's
sex, feeling the heat there. Her tongue flicked lightly and Kathryn
twitched in response, groaning aloud. Then, taking pity on her,
B'Elanna plunged her tongue deeply into Kathryn's hot, wet sweetness
and attacked her clit voraciously. Kathryn came explosively, her body
heaving and bucking.

They lay in each other's damp embrace, sweaty skin sliding slickly
against sweaty skin as they shifted into a comfortable position.
B'Elanna lay, in deep contentment, her head pillowed on Kathryn's
shoulder, one arm across Kathryn's belly.

"Darling," Kathryn said a short while later, "It's going to be the
hardest thing I've ever done, but I am going to have to discipline you
for--"

"I know, Kathryn," B'Elanna interjected. "I'm prepared for it. I can
face anything as long as you still love me."

"That's a given," Kathryn said. "That will never change." She kissed
B'Elanna tenderly. "I'm just sorry to have to do it."

---

The hearing was held in the conference room with all senior officers
present, plus two representatives from the crew. Chakotay related the
charges against B'Elanna and polled each member of the tribunal. The
consensus was that B'Elanna had breached protocol and acted without
authority. Chakotay then relayed Tuvok's suggestion for punishment and
again polled the tribunal, receiving a second consensus that the
punishment was appropriate.

Kathryn sat silently apart from the proceedings, having excused
herself from presiding. B'Elanna stood silently before the tribunal,
hands clasped behind her back, her face sober. Her shoulders sagged
slightly at the pronouncement of her sentence and there was answering
sympathy on the faces of the younger crew. But it was better than the
alternative; everyone agreed on that point.

The Diburians had been persuaded to resume negotiations, but Chakotay
and Tuvok took Kathryn's place. Nothing definitive was ever discovered
to support B'Elanna's intuition that Kathryn had been in danger, but
Tuvok did report that he was uneasy in the extreme as he and Chakotay
negotiated with the aliens for supplies and food.

"I suppose," Chakotay remarked to Kathryn as Voyager resumed her
journey, "that we'll never really know for sure."

Neelix reported to Kathryn that there had been quite a bit of comment
among the crew in the mess hall as they ate meals, about Kathryn's
punishment of B'Elanna, her own spouse. He chuckled as he relayed one
crewman's remark: "If she'd do that to B'Elanna, boy, what would she
do to *me.*?" Kathryn had grinned broadly at hearing this, and
Chakotay had asked her teasingly if she thought her command might now
be safe.

---

Copyright 1998 ILuvKate

--

The End