Anne's Rose Garden - Tale of the Purple Comet

Kathryn blinked as blinding light filled the bridge. "Cut visual input to the main viewer!"

Harry reached down to adjust the settings, but he couldn't find the right button on his panel. Unless he was mistaken, this was the security console.

Chakotay's head swiveled towards the Ops station, as Kathryn spoke again. "And who exactly are you?" She chuckled. Her voice sounded odd in her ears.

Harry opened and closed his hands, testing them out. He looked up at the first officer. "I am Tuvok, and you appear to be Commander Chakotay."

Kathryn laughed and then looked at her own hands. She gasped and brought her hands up to her face. Then she turned and saw herself standing next to her. "Chakotay?"

She saw her own head nod back at her. "Yes... Kathryn?" She saw her alter ego touch its face. "I think we're not in Kansas anymore, Captain."

"Apparently not." She replied. "Shall we swap seats?" Kathryn and Chakotay switched seats and sat down. "If you would be so kind as to inform the computer of our change in status."

"Of course, Captain." Chakotay, in Kathryn's voice, ordered the computer to recognize Chakotay as captain.

"I think I'm getting a headache," Kathryn said. "All right, everyone who is not themselves, please raise a hand." She looked around the bridge as Harry, Tuvok, Tom, and B'Elanna raised their hands.

She pointed at each one in turn, identifying who each one was. "Please assume your regular station until we get this straightened out."

At the helm, Tom adjusted his seat to fit his new dimensions. "Good thing there are no foot pedals." He grinned at his own joke.

Kathryn shook her head as she heard a distinctly Tom tone and inflection coming from B'Elanna's mouth. "We need to find out how much of the crew was affected. Contact your departments for status reports."

For a few minutes the bridge was silent except for the tapping on consoles as reports were requested and processed.

Chakotay's console beeped as a summary of the reports uploaded to his station. He read through it for a moment. "Captain, only those personnel on the bridge and in the mess hall were affected. Fortunately it was between meals and only Neelix and Mortimer Harren were in there at the time."

Kathryn looked over her shoulder at Tuvok. She blinked as Harry's face looked back at her. "Any theories, Mr. Tuvok?"

Harry's mouth opened. "The mess hall, like the bridge, has windows which would expose the occupants to the same flash of light we experienced. I suggest we analyze the scans we did of the comet. And I advise against informing our passengers of our situation."

"Agreed," Kathryn said. The alliance with Seven of Nine and the drones she brought with her from the destroyed cube was tenuous at best. There was no way to predict how these Borg would react if they perceived any weakness.

"Now we have three problems. Defeat the 8472, avoid being assimilated, and get back into our own bodies." She sat down and rubbed her head. "Only the Borg could make being disembodied seem like only a minor inconvenience." She winked at Chakotay.

He grinned in response. "We'd better hurry before I'm incapacitated by caffeine withdrawals."

The others chuckled at the joke, and Kathryn smiled. Crew morale was critical if they hoped to defeat the Borg and this new threat.

The next few hours were spent analyzing data on the comet and formulating a strategy. While Chakotay headed up that effort, Kathryn worked with the Doctor to increase the production of nanoprobes.

"We'll never have enough in time, Captain." The Doctor adjusted the growth medium again and saw a slight increase in the rate of production.

"Keep working at it, Doctor." She patted him on the shoulder and went back to her own console and tweaked the conditions in her sample batches.

The nanoprobes reproduced at a frightening rate, but the millions required to assimilate a humanoid were only a fraction of the billions they estimated would be required to stop a bio-ship, let alone a fleet of them.

The door to sickbay opened and Chakotay walked in carrying a pot of coffee. The Doctor glared at him, but Chakotay ignored him and walked over to Kathryn's station. He waved the pot in front of her face. "I thought you might like something to drink. My body doesn't have any caffeine reserves."

Kathryn stretched and rolled her shoulders. "I'm done here. Let's take it back to my ready room. I need to get a progress report from the other teams anyway."

They walked along the corridor together. Chakotay had to hurry to keep up with Kathryn on his shorter legs, and when they were standing and talking he had to crane his neck to look up at her. He'd never really considered how her height affected her.

Kathryn walked through the bridge and into her ready room. She made herself comfortable on the couch and offered Chakotay a seat. "Care to join me? I'm afraid to think how my body is reacting to lack of caffeine."

He nodded and poured them each a cup. Kathryn took the one he offered her and they sipped them quietly, lost in thought.

Coffee wasn't the only unusual thing they had shared today. If this lasted more than a day there were going to be a great many more awkward situations to deal with.

Kathryn noticed that she'd never really seen him blush before. As if to change the subject she asked, "How is your team progressing on the comet issue?"

"We analyzed the properties of the comet. It seems the same elements that gave it its striking purple color also generated a rather unique combination of neurogenic radiation. The purple crystals in the comet's tail created a resonance that caused our consciousnesses to jump bodies."

"It's impossible to say for sure. We have some theories, but we won't know until we test them," he answered.

"So, either we return to our own bodies, or I could find myself as Harry or Tuvok?"

"That's about it." He took another small sip of coffee. "We have another problem. The Borg are getting restless."

"They want us to turn Voyager around and rendezvous with their fleet. Personally, I think there are limits to the aid we should offer them. Right now we are defending ourselves against a mutual foe. Even if the Borg are not successful, they should be enough of a diversion to get us past the 8472."

Kathryn sat and considered their options as she drank her coffee. "Our alliance with the Borg is the only thing preventing them from assimilating us."

"And we are the only thing preventing their absolute destruction." He pointed out.

"Also, that comet is headed toward the Alpha Quadrant. If we want to attempt to restore ourselves, we should do it as soon as possible. There's no way to know how a detour could affect that." He pressed on. "We need to get them off the ship. If they don't get what they want, they won't hesitate to assimilate Voyager."

"Consider it done." He patted her on the shoulder, and then stood and left for the cargo bay.

"Captain Janeway" had given the Borg a fictitious reason for Voyager pursuing the comet while continuing en route to the Alpha Quadrant. He said it had affected some of Voyagers systems and they needed to know why.

What followed was a vigorous debate about the merits of human versus Borg methodology and prioritization. In short, they disagreed at every point.

Finally, Seven arched her human eyebrow. "It is unacceptable. We do not have time to pursue this comet. Your essential functions have not been compromised. You will adapt." There was a tone of finality in her voice.

Chakotay nodded. "I see. Perhaps you are right." He walked out of the cargo bay and went directly to the panel on the wall just outside the doors. He tapped on it for a moment.

The door creaked and flexed inward just a fraction. He monitored the life signs in the cargo bay as the atmosphere and contents were vented into space. When the computer registered that the bay was empty, he closed the outer doors. "Or perhaps not."

"Is everything all right? Did you come to an understanding with our visitors?" she asked.

"Yes. We agreed to disagree. They'll be finding their own way back to the collective."

"I see." She paused for a moment. "Tuvok thinks he may have a solution for our other problem. Report to the briefing room as soon as possible."

Chakotay arrived at the briefing room and took a seat. The rest of the affected crew members, including Neelix and Crewman Harren were present. The latter was fuming even more than usual. He liked to eat by himself to avoid dealing with the rest of the crew, so finding himself in the Talaxian's body was particularly offensive to him. He wasn't shy about sharing those feelings.

"Mr. Harren," Kathryn interrupted his string of complaints. "Now that Commander Chakotay is here, we will begin."

Mortimer closed his mouth and gave the rest of the room a very un-Neelix-like scowl.

Tuvok stood and outlined the plan for restoring them to their own bodies. He looked a little embarrassed that after all their research, the best thing they could come up with was to fly through the comet in a mirror image of their previous trajectory.

"So, we just do it again, backwards, cross our fingers and hope for the best?" Tom asked.

"It would be best if you approximated your original position as closely as possible, but yes, that captures the essential points of the plan," Tuvok replied.

"Did you have something to add, Crewman?" Kathryn asked. She knew how much he hated any practical application of theoretical matters, but he needed to rein in his annoyance and cooperate.

"All right then. Tom, lay in a course to take us back through the comet's tail. Neelix, clear the mess hall. The rest of you, return to your body's station." She walked over and put her hand on B'Elanna's shoulder. "You feel up to flying the ship?"

"We'd better hurry. You're starting to sound like Tom." Kathryn smiled and then looked around the room. "All right people. Let's do this."

Tom laid in the course and gave B'Elanna a few pointers. "Ok, we'll be at warp 9 until we've caught the comet. Then we'll drop back to warp 6, matching the speed Voyager was at when we first encountered it."

Kathryn nodded. Voyager leaped forward, chasing after the comet. They traveled on at nearly top speed for a few minutes until the navigational computer detected the comet and decreased speed. They were almost on top of it.

"Uh, Captain," Harry said. "We've got company." The nervous look on Tuvok's face made the comment all the more disconcerting. "I'm detecting several transwarp corridors opening behind us."

Kathryn shifted in her chair. It looked like their calculated risk might be coming back to bite them.

"On the bright side." Harry didn't sound bright at all. "Over a dozen singularities are also forming behind us. I doubt the Borg will have time to worry about us."

"We have six photon torpedoes armed with the modified nanoprobes," Tuvok said. "It is not enough to defeat the 8472 bioships..."

"But perhaps it will be enough to encourage them to go home." Kathryn finished for him. "Good idea. Fire when you see the whites of their eyes."

The bridge fell silent as the crew awaited the outcome. If the Borg and the 8472 ships continued full speed, they would intercept Voyager before it reached the comet. On the other hand, if they noticed each other, they might make it to the comet. They had a chance of facing assimilation or destruction by the 8472 as themselves. It was small comfort.

Kathryn shook her head to clear away those thoughts. They would find a way out of this situation. She hadn't brought her crew this far to lose them now.

"The bioships are in range, Captain." Tuvok launched the enhanced torpedoes at the lead ships.

Moments before the torpedoes hit the bioships, a fleet of cubes poured out of the transwarp corridors.

Voyager flew through the tale of the comet, and the view of the battle was blocked out by a blinding flash of light. Kathryn looked down at herself as soon as she could see. She was relieved to see that once again she was in her own body, and Chakotay's body was in the seat next to her.

"Is everyone else back?" She did a quick survey and found that they were. "Next item of business - Tuvok, what's the status on the enemy fleets?"

"They are still on the same trajectory as Voyager, however I can not say for certain if they are pursuing us." He looked at the read outs. "Captain, both fleets are beginning to exhibit eccentric flight vectors."

"It is uncertain at this time. The ships in question are not firing," Tuvok answered. "There is one point that may be significant. Only the ships that followed us through the comet are exhibiting the strange behavior."

There was silence for a few moments. "Captain, I'm getting very muddled images. I'm seeing the inside of Borg ships again, but it's all mixed together with images from the bioships. The voices are not clear, they are all talking at once."

"Kes has fainted. I believe the strain was too much for her. I'm going to sedate her until Voyager is clear of this area," he said.

"Please let me know when she's recovered. Captain out." Kathryn looked around the bridge. "I wonder what you get when you cross a telepathic species with the collective."

"Let's hope it keeps them busy for a while." Kathryn looked down at her panel for a moment. "Tom, get us out of here, warp 9.97."

"Yes, ma'am." Tom tapped his panel. "I've never pealed out in a ship this size. Let's see if this leaves skid marks." He chuckled as Kathryn rolled her eyes.

They held their breaths as Voyager streaked through the stars, waiting to see if either the Borg or 8472 would reappear.

When an hour, and several light years had passed, Janeway stood up. "Tom, I think you can let the engines cool off a little. I'll be in my ready room." She looked at Chakotay, and he stood and followed her.

Kathryn sat down on the couch and crossed her legs. She patted the seat next to her.

"Oh, I don't know. It does make you think differently about things." She looked at him.

He jumped slightly as she trailed a hand up his arm. "Ok, you have my attention."

"We just saved the entire galaxy from invasion and every known species from certain annihilation." She dragged the tip of her finger from the point of his shoulder, under his chin, and up to his lower lip.

"I figure that should pretty well outweigh any minor breaches of protocol, don't you? After all, there are no regulations against relationships between captains and members of the crew." She gently traced the outline of his lips.

Chakotay leaned forward and slid his hand around her neck, cradling the back of her head. "I've felt that way for a long time."

After a minute he felt her pushing back on his chest and pulling her lips away. He gave her a questioning look.

She smiled at him, and tapped her commbadge. "Janeway to Tuvok. You're in command until further notice. If anything comes up, handle it."

"I believe we were getting ready to breach a protocol." He smiled and covered her lips with his.

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Tale of the Purple Comet

by Anne Rose