The next two weeks were... interesting. The Klingon B'Elanna had decided to go by her grandmother's name to avoid confusion, L'Naan. She also decided to keep working in Engineering, but taking the graveyard shift to avoid directly working with her counterpart.
I had made a point of giving her a wide berth and even stopped going to meals in the Mess Hall to make sure that she had free roam of the Voyager. Despite that, there were still over a dozen times that we just 'happened' to run into each other in the corridors. It was clear that she was doing it intentionally, so I started to move through the Yin Realm to get to and from my duty shifts. It was a petty move, I knew, but I could be a petty bitch and she was the one who started this little war.
"Rebecca, could you join me in my Ready Room?" Janeway asked as I walked onto the Bridge for a duty shift.
"Of course," I sighed, feeling like I had been called to the Principal's Office.
I followed her into her private office. Thankfully, she headed to the couches instead of her desk which meant that she was not planning on reprimanding me. I sat down while she walked over to the replicator.
"A cup of Yridian tea and coffee, black," Janeway ordered and then brought the drinks over, before sitting down near me.
"Thanks," I said, taking the tea from her.
"So, how are you doing?" she asked.
I shrugged, "I'm fine."
"Uh-huh, and that's why no one sees you outside of your duty shifts these days," Janeway retorted, and then took a drink of her coffee.
I chuckled, "I'm just keeping the peace. Taking a step back is the best thing that I can do with L'Naan unless you force her to become half-human, I beat her into submission, or... well, I'm not exactly single, so that method would end up with a new set of problems for me."
"Are those really the only options?"
"For now," I replied with a sigh. "We need to get used to each other and it takes time. Klingons are obviously able to coexist with each other, albeit more prone to violence, but the problem is with me. Imagine two predators in the wild and their territories are crossing; the stronger one would drive out the weaker. It will take time for me to adjust to her presence and she seems intent on pushing the matter."
"I could have Chakotay talk to..." Janeway started but stopped as I gave her a look.
"I know that you only want to help, but blame it on my prideful nature, having someone else talk to her would almost be an insult because it would make me look weak. It's dumb, I know, and that I am listening to my Dragon side, but I can't help how I feel. As it is now, I truly am fine. The Mind Linker we have on our ship is like a personal holodeck and I've still got my little group plus my duty shifts. The four of us, plus our adopted daughter, spent five years isolated from the rest of our people during a nuclear disaster, so a few weeks to a few months isn't a big deal to me."
Janeway sighed, "If that's what you want, I won't push the issue, but that will change if I start seeing any real problems between you two."
"Thank you, Captain," I replied.
We talked for a while longer as we finished our drinks and then headed back to the Bridge. While we were talking, a subspace message came in which inquired about Neelix and requested to rendezvous with the Voyager. Janeway approved the request and called Neelix to the Bridge. I had not thought much about it since Neelix had friends all over this part of the quadrant, but when he got up here and the hailing ship came up on the viewscreen, I realized that this was an episode.
"You wanted to see me, Captain?" Neelix asked as he stepped off of the turbo lift.
"Yes, Neelix. We've received a subspace message from an approaching vessel. They're asking for you," Janeway replied.
"Me?" he asked, surprised.
"The alien ship is entering visual range, Captain," Harry said.
"Slow to impulse, on screen," Janeway instructed, standing up. "Do you recognize it?"
"That's a Haakonian shuttle," Neelix answered as he moved around the railing to join Janeway, Chakotay, and I in the main area.
"Haakonian?" Chakotay asked since we had yet to come across this race.
"My people were at war with them for the better part of a decade. They... conquered my home world more than fifteen years ago," Neelix explained.
"Any idea what the Haakonians want with you now?" Chakotay asked.
"None at all."
"The shuttle is hailing us, Captain," Harry said as his console beeped at him.
"Open a channel," Janeway said and moved in front of the rest of us as the viewscreen changed to the image of an alien man. "I'm Captain Janeway of the Federation Starship, Voyager. What can we do for you?"
"As I stated in my message, Captain, I understand you have a Talaxian called Neelix aboard your vessel," the alien replied in a tired, yet formal tone.
"I'm Neelix," he said, stepping up to stand by Janeway. "What do you want?"
"It is a matter of utmost urgency. However, I would prefer to speak with you privately. Your life may very well depend on it," the alien explained.
"Who are you?" Neelix asked with suspicion.
"Forgive me. I am Jetrel. Doctor Ma'bor Jetrel."
I could sense the anger and hatred radiating off of Neelix, which was out of character for the happy moral officer that we all knew, but I could understand why. Jetrel had been the lead scientist who created a weapon known as the metreon cascade which had been unleashed on the moon, Rinax, where Neelix had lived with his family; a Star Trek version of Oppenheimer. Neelix had been on Talax, the Talaxian home world, but his family had not been so lucky, and they were all killed in the blast. He had been on a rescue mission to evacuate the survivors, but that only led to more pain as he had to watch the survivors slowly die in front of him, including a young girl that he had personally found.
Without another word, Neelix stormed off the Bridge ignoring Janeway's call. Jetrel sighed and Janeway apologized, but he understood Neelix's anger. She told him that she needed to talk to him, and he agreed to wait until she contacted him again.
"Chakotay, you have the Bridge," Janeway said, before heading for the turbo lift.
I sighed as I sat back down in my usual seat. My thoughts shifted through the various scenes of the episode, and I could not help but remember all that I had lost in my life. Friends, family... despite knowing that they were at peace, I carried the weight of their absence, so I could only imagine how much worse it was for him without that bit of knowledge, knowing that they were just dead and gone.
Now the problem that I was facing was how to handle the situation. In the show, Jetrel had lied and said that Neelix had metremia, so that he could convince Janeway to travel to Rinax. His goal had been noble since he simply wanted to restore the victims of metreon cascade, but the Voyager's transporter technology was just a little too weak to accomplish it. There was a good chance that our ship would be able to do it, especially with Raven's and Echo's help, but then the question became 'should' we do it? Hundreds of thousands had been killed, so restoring all of them would not be a quick process and it was not like we could just stop after we proved that it was possible.
For the duration of my shift, I just let things play out as they had in the episode. Janeway met with Jetrel first and found out that there was a chance that Neelix could have metremia. Between her and Kes, they managed to convince Neelix meet with Jetrel who, in turn, convinced him to undergo testing. I had thought that it would take longer since most of the episodes stretched out for hours, if not days, but nearly everything had been wrapped up during my shift. As soon as I was off duty, my comm badge chimed.
"Kes to Rebecca. Could you come to Sick Bay?"
"Sure, I just got off duty," I replied, tapping my badge.
I had not even left the Bridge yet, so I headed to the turbo lift and instructed the computer to take me down to Deck Five. It was easy to guess why she had called me with everything going on, but that would just complicate the matter further for me. Running my fingers through my shaggy, short hair, I weighed the options of exposing Jetrel now or later. Everything would be simple if I just exposed him now, but this was a chance to possibly give Neelix back his family.
The turbo lift doors opened, and I walked to Sick Bay. Inside, Neelix was sitting on a bio-bed with Kes at his side and Katye and Filigree were standing at the foot of the bed, talking with them. Jetrel was packing up his equipment while the Doctor was looking at a data pad that did not fit Starfleet design, so it was likely information from Jetrel. All eyes turned to me when they heard the doors open and Filigree flew over right away.
"They say Neelix is sick, but I can't help him," Filigree pouted as she landed on my outstretched palm.
"Don't worry, Little Bit," I said, helping her to my shoulder. "We'll figure something out like we always do."
"Rebecca, this is Doctor Jetrel; Doctor Jetrel, this is Rebecca," Katye introduced as she walked over to me with Jetrel and the Doctor approaching as well.
"Doctor Jetrel," I said with a nod.
"A pleasure to meet you, Rebecca," he replied.
"Doc, could I look at the information about the illness?" I asked.
"Of course," the Doctor replied, passing over pad.
Katye gave me a subtle look since she knew that I did not need to understand the disease process to heal it. She probably already knew that this was an episode since Neelix was a main character, so the fact that Filigree could not heal him was suspicious. Thankfully, she knew better than to ask anything about it in front of anyone, but our little group. I scanned through the information, not understanding most of it, but I knew enough from the episode.
"This is the problem, Filigree. It's not an illness but a breakdown of the body's atomic structure caused by radiation. It's similar to how the transporters work by breaking down a person and moves them through Space, but it's uncontrolled and chaotic which is why it kills a person," I said, making up an excuse that worked with Jetrel's theory.
"You understand it so quickly?" Jetrel remarked with true surprise.
"I do. I'm not sure if I can treat him since my healing is also Yang-based like Filigree's, but perhaps Fae's databanks might give me some inspiration. Don't worry, Neelix, we'll figure something out," I assured as he and Kes walked over.
"Thank you, Rebecca," Kes said with a warm smile.
"Yes, thank you," Neelix added, but I could see the signs of stress in his eyes.
"Could I talk with Doctor Jetrel alone for a few minutes?" I asked as I handed the data pad back to the Doctor.
Neelix and Kes gave me a nod then headed out of Sick Bay. The Doctor also nodded and made his way back to his office. Katye held out a palm and Filigree flew over to her without a word.
"We'll wait for you outside," Katye said, glancing between me and Jetrel, then walked out as well.
"They have a lot of faith in you," Jetrel remarked.
"I've proven to be uniquely resourceful since I joined the Voyager crew," I replied. "Now, Doctor Jetrel, I'm going to give you one chance to be honest with me. Neelix doesn't have metremia, but rather, you are using him to get a look at the Voyager's transporter technology to both cure metremia and possibly restore the victims of Rinax."
Jetrel was so stunned by me laying out his plan so plainly that he could not even deny it. "H-how... did you know?"
"That doesn't matter. Lying to Janeway is dangerous because I won't countermand her orders, but I also won't expose you for now. I need time to figure out if our ship could restore them since it is unlikely that the Voyager will be able to accomplish the feat. Gather what you can about the transporter systems without breaking into any restricted information and create a solid plan for treating metremia to present to Captain Janeway. If it is possible to restore the victims, I will show it to her with you. Can you handle that?"
He let out a sigh and nodded his head. "Thank you for your help."
"I can't promise that I have the solution, but I will try for Neelix's sake. If you need me, my ship is in the Shuttle Bay," I said then turned and left Sick Bay.
As she promised, Katye was waiting for me outside in the corridor. She gave me a questioning look to which I nodded, and she smiled. She linked arms with me, and we walked to the turbo lift.
"Shuttle Bay," I instructed the computer when the doors closed behind us.
"You should really work on your Telepathy; it would make these situations a lot easier for us to discuss things," Katye said, resting her head on my shoulder.
"I'm trying, but unattributed spells are always difficult for me," I replied with a sigh.
"You'll get the hang of it eventually. But I take it that you have a plan to cure Neelix?"
"Something like that. I'll explain on the ship, but I'm going to need some information from Fae to help us figure out exactly what we are going to do."
"Fair enough," Katye agreed as she straightened up and the doors opened.
My eyes were drawn to the far end of the corridor where I sensed L'Naan conveniently waiting. I sighed and headed to the Shuttle Bay with Katye still holding my arm. Katye shook her head but said nothing. L'Naan had been a topic that had been brought up a number of times over dinner this past week, but I've stubbornly been ignoring it since I still did not know how to handle the situation between us, and her acting like a neglected puppy was not helping.
We walked onto the ship and, instead of heading straight upstairs, I walked over to one of the stations. I attached the data pad to the station and started uploading the information.
"So?" Katye asked.
"So... Neelix doesn't have metremia," I replied.
"What? Then why didn't you tell him and Kes?"
"Because of Jetrel's true plan. He wants to restore the victims of Rinax, including Neelix's family. In the show, Voyager nearly managed to restore a person, but there was a problem with the atomic cohesion, and they fell just short of success. I'm hoping that there is a chance that we might be able to accomplish it with Fae, or Raven's and Echo's abilities, but there is also the old expression 'in for a penny, in for a pound'. If we can save the victims of Rinax, then we will have to save them all, three hundred thousand. I've got no idea how much energy that will take, if we can use the Voyager's technology to help us, or how long it will take to save all of those people. There are so many factors that need to be discussed, so I had hoped to get to you and the others before I was pulled in, but here we are," I explained.
"And I thought that 'The 100' had some tough decisions for the general masses," Katye sighed. "I guess what we need to know first is whether it's even possible, Fae?"
::Affirmative. Based off of the information that Rebecca uploaded, there are multiple ways to restore the victims of Rinax with our technology or some adaptions to the Voyager's.::
"Can you compile all of the information for us to review, including what it will take to restore so many people?" I asked.
::Affirmative.::
"Let's go talk with Raven and Echo. Four heads are better than two to sort out this mess," I sighed.
"I can help too!" Filigree said.
"Of course, five heads are even better than four," Katye said encouragingly to the little pixie.
We headed upstairs where Raven and Echo were already sitting in the lounge area, talking. Katye and I explained the situation with Neelix and Rixan after we joined them on the couches. We all spent the evening going over the information that Fae provided, and it was a complex situation to say the least.
Using our ship to do the work of restoring everyone would deplete our core over a hundred times which translated to roughly two years of work. To adapt some of our technology into the Voyager's systems to make it possible for them to restore the victims would take two weeks then six months to do the actual work. Although we could save so many lives, the sheer amount of time needed would make it difficult for Janeway to agree to it, not to mention it would completely throw off the timeline that I knew. Then there was also the chance that Neelix might decide to stay behind with his family, which none of us would blame him, but he was essential for multiple episodes in the future.
"Damned if we do, damned if we don't," I grumbled. "There are so many people we could save, but it would mess up what I know of the future."
"What happened to 'we can't save the entire universe'?" Echo asked.
"But it's Neelix. He did so much in the show that he deserves his family back," I defended.
"I'm sorry, Becca, but she's right," Katye sighed. "Neelix hasn't done those good things yet, and we need his help. I know it's hard and it sucks, but we can't fix everything... just like in 'The 100'."
I sighed as well but did not argue. We had made a lot of tough decisions during our last life and, honestly, this one was easier. These people were already gone, so we were going against the natural order of things by restoring the victims.
In the end, we all agreed that we simply could not do it without risking our future here. Jetrel was crushed when I told him that we could not do it, but I made him a different offer instead. In return for healing his advanced metremia, he would dedicate the rest of his life to trying to help the victims. Although I also 'healed' Neelix as well, Jetrel and I convinced Janeway to travel to Rinax so that he could synthesize the antibody which would treat anymore cases of metremia. It was not the outcome that I had hoped for, but it was in line with the show and there was a chance that Jetrel might be able to save them on his own with more time to research.
A/N: Who would have guessed that Las Vegas would not be great for writing? Lol! I've got a chapter in my stock, so if I can finish the next before the next release, I'll do a double. =) Happy Holidays, everyone!