The BLTS Archive- Complications
by Ben Mason (tychocelchu@mpx.com.au)

---

Disclaimer:TPTB have been possessed by aliens who don't understand the
human desire for happiness in others and have ruined the relationship
of certain of the characters they own. No profit is earnt.

Suggestions welcomed. Flames will be placed in the aft torpedo bay and
fired at the nearest producer.

Author's Note: This was the first idea I had rattling around in the
vacuum I call a mind but it took me a while to figure out how to write
it. Enjoy!

---

Acting Captain Tuvok of Vulcan sat in the command chair on the bridge
of the USS Voyager, reviewing the recent battle in his mind and
mentally preparing his report. Some would question this action. He was
captain. All he had to do was summarise the senior staffs reports to
him and add it to the official logs to be downloaded to Starfleet HQ.
The fact that HQ was decades of travel away was irrelevant. Procedure
and protocol must be followed.

The reason he was preparing to write a detailed report on the battle
was because he would shortly be resuming his former post as
Tactical/Security Officer. Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay were
going to be retrieved by their faithful and, as he was certain she
would elaborate, reckless crew. If he were human he would be elated.
He was not. He was Vulcan.

The Intrepid class vessel suddenly shuddered and began to slow down.
Something was wrong. "Helm: Report"

The hands of Lt. Tom Paris were dancing over the controls of his
workstation. His usual insolent grin had been replaced by a worried
frown. "Unknown, sir." Tuvok was such a stickler for protocol. But
still, perhaps it would rub off a little and he wouldn't offend the
Captain as much when she returned to her chair.

"The warp field appears to be destabilising, sir. I can't get any
details as yet." Ensign Harry Kim was worried. It was his job to
maintain the sensory integrity of the ship and be instantly aware of
anything happening that could endanger her. He hoped the captain would
not be too angry with him. He was too uncertain in his position as the
youngest member of the Senior Staff to take failure well. If he failed
badly enough he would lose his post and then there would be nothing
for him here in the Delta Quad. He would be alone.

Tuvok absorbed all this information in seconds and processed a logical
conclusion. Something was wrong with the complex warp drive. "Bridge
to Engineering. Report."

"Sorry Commander, I'm too busy trying keep us alive right now. We'll
be dropping out of warp shortly.  I'll explain everything in one hour.
Torres out."

Tuvok made the Vulcan equivalent of a frown. The chief engineer had
every right to delay explanation if she believed it was warranted in
the interests of the ship's safety. But it had seemed she had been
abrupt. Not enough to require disciplinary action but enough to be
noticed by him.

"She gets so testy when she's frustrated, doesn't she, Commander? I
wonder if the women on Qo'nos are the same?"

Tuvok considered this briefly and concluded that, for once, the knave
seated in front of him was indeed correct. Tuvok also perceived the
underlying reason for Tom's quick response to Torres -- loyalty to a
crewmate and a caring compassion -- and adjusted his opinion of the
pilot. Upwards. "Mild temperament is not a common trait among Klingons
Mr. Paris. Perhaps it would be wise of you to remember this fact."

Tom returned his full attention to the controls. *Hope you thank me
for this later, B'Elanna, I just saved your ass. * He was tempted to
grin. *And such a nice ass it is too!*

---

Two hours later B'Elanna Torres marched into the briefing room and
flopped into her chair. She was exhausted. Too much to do and not
enough energy to do it with. She slid her report PADD across the table
to Tuvok who merely waited for the verbal report he calculated he
would get regardless of any written report.

"It's the anti-matter. As far as we can determine, when we detonated
that container of it back there, it sent out a subspace ripple.
Ordinarily this wouldn't affect us in any way but, combined with the
torpedo and the unique properties of the Vidiian shielding on their
ships, it created a phase variance in our entire supply of anti-
matter.  It's going to take about a month to reverse the process and
afterwards I recommend we don't exceed warp 4 for a week so I can
monitor it."

Harry spoke up. "That can't be the entire problem. Similar problems
have happened on other ships from time to time. It usually only takes
about an hour to reverse it."

B'Elanna couldn't help but smile at her young friend's enthusiasm and
growing confidence. "The difficulty is that the variance is...varied.
There are about ten different variances for every gram of anti-matter
we have. If it was just a matter of altering each variance we could be
done inside a week, but every time one molecule is returned to normal,
the surrounding molecules have some sort of effect on it and change it
to another variance altogether. So, we are going to have to create the
shielded tanks -- one to store the contaminated anti-matter, one to do
the alteration and one to store the reconditioned stuff in. Add to
that all the small repairs from the battle and you are looking at
least a month if nothing goes wrong."

Tuvok nodded and gave her permission to begin the design and
construction of the tanks. It was encouraging to know that she was
able to come up with a sound logical solution to such a difficult
problem. "Perhaps the science division can devise a way to determine
the exact variance more efficiently. Request their assistance. The
doctor is working on the minor modifications required to use the cure
on humans and should have a solution at the end of the week. My
congratulations to you all on a successful..." he raised an eyebrow
"Mutiny." And with this remark he stood, ending the meeting.

---

Kathryn Janeway was irritated.  He had done it again. AGAIN! Seeing
that her needs were met, often at the expense of his own. This time
she had ended up telling him about her favourite things in her room as
a child, one of which had been a hanging mirror surrounded by a
beautifully hand-carved wooden frame. The next day had been special
for him, one he called a kind of thanksgiving, and he asked for her to
let him be alone in the woods for the day.

And she had. She had only started down the path he took three times
and each time her iron will had won out and she had returned to the
cabin. It had been on that final return that she had seen it, hanging
on the wall above her dresser.  She had looked at it for a long time,
eyes narrowed, then, sensing him, she turned to find him leaning
against the doorway, arms crossed, eyes sparkling in amusement...and
something  else. Something she now found familiar and reassuring. And
she knew she wouldn't win this argument. But the impossible had never
stopped Kathryn Janeway before.

After that the evening had gotten very...interesting. Emotions had
been stretched to the limits, as they always were when they argued
over such things. But, in the end, he had won. She frowned, bringing
her mind back to the present. That was becoming a disgustingly common
occurrence. She was supposed to win the arguments.  Didn't this
stubborn male know anything?

She rolled indolently out of the bed, contemplating revenge. But as
soon as her feet hit the floor, all thoughts of revenge (or anything
else) fled as she ran to the bathroom to reacquaint herself with
dinner.

When she finished, she staggered back to look at her new mirror and
study her appearance, to assure herself that she was still in one
piece.  As she did so her fingers traced the pattern in the mirror. *I
wonder what Tuvok would say if he saw this* she wondered, not for the
first time. She frowned and shook her head, clearing the remaining
nausea. It didn't really matter, Voyager was lightyears away from here
and out of their lives, but still she had regrets.

/Crackle/

She started. *Where did that come from? It almost sounded like*

/Crackle....way....zzzzt..nder..crackle....kotay/

She rushed over to the shelf that held the few items they had put
away, to separate their old lives from their new life. Kathryn reached
out, hesitantly, for the odd shaped piece of metal and then pulled
back as it came to life again, stating its intentions clearly.

"Voyager to Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay, please respond."
Tuvok's voice sounded out strongly in the small cabin.

She wrestled with herself for a second but finally curiosity won out.
She hadn't thought anything could possibly convince him to go against
her orders. "Janeway here, Tuvok. What do you think you are doing?"

"Sitting on the bridge attempting to contact you, Captain."

*No shit Sherlock* "You appear to have disobeyed my orders. Mr.
Tuvok.  Please explain yourself or you will have an official
reprimand added to your file.

"It appears, Captain, I have been the victim of a ship wide
insurrection. I had no choice from a tactical point of view but to aid
in the crew's efforts to obtain a cure for yourself and the
commander." A pause.  "We were successful."

---

Chakotay was standing at his workbench, contemplating what next to
build for her. The boat would have to wait until after the sap stopped
running in the trees so he could harvest enough lumber. *Perhaps a
rocking chair?* He heard her enter. This was unusual; she never
entered his workshop, having deemed it his domain. Chakotay believed
she actually didn't want to spoil the surprise of the next project,
preferring only to see the finished product. He turned, preparing to
say something amusing, but when he saw her, he stopped and his face
softened. "What's wrong?"

"I think we'd better make ourselves presentable, Chakotay.  We are
going to have visitors."

He was puzzled until he realised what she was holding in the palm of
her hand. A commbadge.

---

The seven members of the away team materialised in front of the tomato
patch and looked around in wonder at the home their commanding
officers had made for themselves. Tuvok was in the fore with Tom at
his right shoulder and B'Elanna at his left. Harry Kim stood next to
his best friend and marveled at all that the two of the most important
people in his life had achieved in such a short time. Ensign Samantha
Wildman sat her giggling daughter on the grass and began to help Kes
in setting up the equipment they would need to effect the cure,
keeping one eye on her rapidly maturing child, who was rapidly
learning about mobility.

The door to the building opened and two people emerged. The man was
dressed in simple brown slacks and a lightly patterned tan shirt. His
Indian heritage was immediately apparent and emphasised by the tattoo
over his left brow. Planet life appeared to agree with him.

If outdoor living agreed with Chakotay then it was obvious that it had
done wonders for their Captain. She appeared almost regal in the
simple emerald green summer dress she wore, a beautifully decorated
leather belt girding her slim waist. If eyes followed upwards, the
healthy tan on her face and arms indicated just how much activity she
had been up to since they had been left on the planet, and her hair
shone red-gold in the sunshine. Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears at
seeing familiar faces, and one escaped to follow a course down the
outside of her right cheek, starting its journey just below the
mirror image of his tattoo.

Kathryn studied them all, reaffirming their faces in her memory, never
to be forgotten. She smiled, and turned her eyes away slightly; she
would never forget what a shocked Vulcan looked like. The silence was
becoming a little awkward, so she released her husband's arm and
walked over to where the young girl-child was attempting to make her
escape and picked her up.

Kes was the first to recover, and offered congratulations in her soft
voice. She had sensed the strong bond between them as soon as the door
had opened. The others soon followed suit and before long they were
all (excepting Tuvok) grinning like mad loons.  Kathryn smiled and
turned to her love. "Well Chakotay, it appears we have made an
impression on our friends."Without taking her eyes off her husband,
she addressed the woman next to her.  "Well Sam, how much longer do
you think it'll be before Naomi here is able to take on some duties?"

"That depends on the duties, Captain." Samantha had a few suspicions
at this point.


Janeway grinned broader, the time for her revenge had come. "Baby
sitting?"

The other woman smiled at her superior. "Well, she is maturing faster
than human children, but I think it'll be .."

It was at this point that Chakotay, Commander and XO of the USS
Voyager, landed on his backside in the grass with a loud thud as he
realised the implications of this conversation, an awed expression on
his face. Then he jumped as another body joined him on the low earth.

It appeared that Lt. Commander Tuvok had had just too many shocks for
one day.

---

The End