#i hope real tuvok is okay

[captainhattersvoyagerstuff]

Caretaker Part 1

Okay, so I just finished Caretaker, the 2 part season premiere of Voyager. It's been a while, so there's stuff I forgot was there. Some of it was good. Some of it was, omg. But let's see if I can post my review, which is a series of notes I made while watching. I hope for more discussion later.

That thingy you're running into means you're screwed, Chakotay

Star Wars Crawl

Okay we start out with words on a screen. There’s this group of federation citizens called the Maquis who didn’t agree with Starfleet’s moronic treaty that are fighting the Cardassians and some say they are heroes and the Federation says they are outlaws.  Yay I saw the Maquis on Ds9!  I can’t wait to see more of them. (cough)

Scene 1: Maqui Ship. Chakotay and Maquis crew trying to outrun Cardassians.  Yay!  Chakotay is a really assertive leader here.  I’m excited. We have a coherent tetryan beam.  I hate those incoherent ones.

Wave hits them and light and we have Voyager credits.  Good theme song. Love the orchestra.

Scene 2: Federation penal colony.  In New Zealand?

That's right, bitches, I'm here.

Janeway shows up at the penal colony to find Tom Paris who could maybe find the Maquis cause he served with them before they kicked him out just like Starfleet did.

I'm really tough. I don't have Daddy issues.

She tells Tom he is an observer and he whines about being a good pilot. Except for the pilot error that got three people killed, oh nevermind. Just wait five minutes, Tom.

Scene 3 Tom is annoying on the shuttle to Voyager

Okay I have a question. Tom is wearing a Starfleet uniform. Why do observers still wear a uniform?  Don’t you need to earn that?

Also: Pretty Betazoid Ensign Stadi (don't get used to her) informs Tom that Voyager has bio-nueral gel packs.  They are so much more efficient.  Unless there is cheese on board.

Scene 4 Harry is nearly conned for first time on space station ds9. Harry's theory: get con artists off your back by buying everything. Tom saves him cause he's as big of a con as Quark.

Oh, hey, is that Quark from Ds9 that other show you should watch?

Scene 5 Tom and Harry meet the Doctor

The Doc is super bitchy to them. I met he's gonna make stuff hard for Tom.

Scene 6 Janeway talks to fiancee

His name is Mark Johnson. Really. Unknown Truth: Tuvok's real last name is Smith. Anyway, the show has a few minutes to tell us who Mark is and why Janeway loves him. So they talk about her dog.

Nice knowin' ya, Mark

Janeway's dog is named Molly. She is expecting puppies. She likes her doggy bed. I am officially more invested in her dog now.

Scene 7 Junior High mess hall

Doctor and First Officer Cavitt, two of the most nondescript white guys ever (doctor isn't even named), gossip with Harry about what Tom did cause it's junior high and oh no these guys don't like Tom what will he do?

Scene 8 Wonder why it's called the Badlands

Plasma storms, more coherent beams, stuff is fine. What could go wrong? What's that bright light?

Scene 9 Voyager go boom

This is going to take FOREVER to fix!

Ship is transported 75,000 light years to the Delta Quadrant and they hit the breaks kinda hard. The ship is all messed up. So is Janeway's hair.

Where is my HAIRSPRAY?

A couple of shots later:

Seriously? It's hair magic!

Turns out that all command officers (including that pesky doctor and first officer) except Janeway and the entire medical staff are dead. What kind of bad karma does Janeway have? They get scanned and beamed off the ship.

Gonna stop here for a break so it's not so long. Stay tuned next time for Farmville and the evil corn on the cob lady.

[bumblingbabooshka]

Hey -waves my hand in the air like I’m conjuring something- um....what if Neelix ran up to Tuvok, doing his mail rounds, and was like “Ooh here you are again Mr. Vulcan! It’s from your children!” and Tuvok was like don’t read my mail (I only read the veeery start!) and Tuvok looks at it and raises an eyebrow. He hands the PADD back to Neelix. “It’s for you.”

Neelix is confused. For him? No, this is from Tuvok’s children. He’s sure...and then he looks down and sees that after greetings, small family updates and well wishes to Tuvok, they have instructed for him to give the PADD to Neelix.  Neelix is shocked. He looks at Tuvok and asks if it’s?? Okay??? Is it okay to just read this?? (It’s addressed to you.) Should you stay here and read it with me?? (There is no need. I have work to do. -pointed look at his stack of PADDS- as do you.) So Neelix finishes delivering the rest of the PADDS then runs off to his quarters before thinking its too intimate and instead going off to read in some slow corner of the ship.  The writer of the letter appears to Tuvok’s eldest, Sek - though as Neelix reads more he is introduced to basically his entire family who all have something they have asked Sek to dictate or mention. The very first one is “My daughter T’Meni has asked me to inform you that she is three years old, can tie her own shoes and ate all of her dinner last night. Important information, no doubt. All true.”   The letter is mainly just a very typical letter, like one would send a family member. They all say they were pleased to hear that not only was Voyager still operational but that Tuvok was alive and well. They say that Neelix has been mentioned quite a bit by both Tuvok and other crew members (whose families have in turn mentioned him to each other). They say that if he’s anxious about whether or not there will be a place for him upon Voyager’s return - they hope this letter will ease that anxiety.  Elieth thanks him for his ‘resilience’ in ‘dealing with my father’s taciturn nature.’ (Neelix grins, is that a sense of humor!?) Asil details a recipe which she has found to be hearty and broadly pleasing to most aliens she has encountered. Varith says that Starfleet is very interested in Talaxians as an unencountered species.  Sek finishes off the letter saying that his mother wishes to meet Neelix the next time Voyager is able to establish contact with Starfleet and video call. He then says, very quickly as if brushing past it, that they all understand to some extent the emptiness which can come from being without family. He hopes this letter has, perhaps, been a drop within that emptiness.  Neelix is very touched. Beyond touched actually. Then he freaks out. A video call!?? MEETING T’Pel!?? Tuvok’s treasured wife!?? He runs to Tuvok (I am eating.) and explains the situation. Tuvok appears proud of his children’s thoughtfulness and a bit dubious about Neelix meeting T’Pel. Neelix is anxious: Why, do you think she won’t like me?? (On the contrary. I believe she will ‘like’ you very much.) Then the day comes where they can talk to their family members for however many minutes they get this time and Neelix is so pleased to have someone to look forward to talking to!! Even though he’s also so nervous about it!! He goes to Tuvok, worried. I’m so nervous to meet her. This is your /wife/ we’re talking about after all!! Should I dress up?? (There is no need to ‘dress up’, this is hardly a formal occasion. -squints- ...perhaps you could comb your hair.) Then it happens and Neelix MEETS T’Pel. He’s nervous and stammering and he should have known she’d be beautiful but also she’s so important to Tuvok and she’s REAL and oh wow oh wow. T’Pel asks him to calm down. She’s certain Tuvok has exaggerated her attributes, he has a tendency to do so. “Only because he loves you Mrs. Vulcan- I mean, Mrs. Tuvok?? Mrs....oh, he never told me-!” T’Pel tilts her head as if considering something. “T’Pel will be adequate. Though...Mrs. Vulcan does have a certain ring to it.” And Idk man...just seeing Neelix so happy about passing out those letters and stuff made me go ‘ahhhhghghhhh and he doesn’t have ANYONE waiting for him!!!’ and that it’d be nice if someone sent him a lil letter....and I chose Tuvok’s family to do that because  1 Look at my blog then deep into my eyes and tell me HONESTLY that you don’t think I’d shoehorn them into whatever situation possible 2 I think it would take a certain amount of divorce from one’s own emotions to give up a very rare chance to speak with your loved one. Sometimes it takes a certain unyielding logic to be extremely kind.

[thessalian]

Thess vs the Desert

Well, I seem to have aimed a bit for POSEIDON without really meaning to, but it's been quite the ride thus far.

LAST NIGHT

Hmmkay, what've we got this way? Ooh, a settlement.

...Well, fuck you too.

"Hair like blood", huh? That's ... a descriptor. I guess.

You ... pen the machines and slaughter them that way, huh? HAEPHESTUS probably doesn't like that very much... Yeah, see? You guys are such efficient hunters you get Thunderjaws thrown at you. Yes, I will help.

So ... yeah, I heard something about this from the flood people - you have to trade machine parts for water that's not polluted? This is some Immortan Joe bullshit, right here.

Right. None of this right here is too onerous. No Thunderjaw yet. This here is just a Tuesday, frankly.

(I mean, literally. It is Tuesday.)

So ... "bagged and tagged" means to bury with honours here? That's actually kind of fascinating. Because what it means in the real is just "put in body bag and tie a tag to the toe to identify them", but because they all wear dog tags... Huh. I do love how the Cradle people worked out things based on a combination of religion and really basic anthropology.

Wait. The Tenakth -- the TENakth -- call on the Ten. I checked, and it's not branches of military, unless they added more in this world's future / past / whatever. Hmm. How many subordinate functions does GAIA have? ...Nine. And GAIA makes ten. Clever.

Right. Onward to get your fellow hunters their honourable burial-- Oh, hey, you got a survivor! Great!

Yes. That is a Thunderjaw. Now stop yelling at me I am hiding in this bush for a reason.

Gun gone, gun gone ... Thunderjaw gone without firing off a shot.

Oh, you want me to go on ahead with the hearts? You're trusting me big time. But I guess since I just two-shotted a Thunderjaw for you, that's fair.

I'mma hunt those Frost Bellowbacks first. Sorry not sorry.

And see? I barely just beat you here with your injured comrade.

Oh. You think something bad is going on in your capital whatever. And having to pay that kind of premium for potable water wasn't enough? Yes, fine, I will meet you there later but I kinda need some Tallnecks first.

Also ... hi, Tuvok.

Right. Gonna edge my way south a bit for a few more campfires and... Ooh. Question mark. What is--? Oh. Oseram camp.

Ah. You were waiting on those folks on the other side of the mountains. Yeaaaaaaah that didn't go well. I'll help you deal with that tomorrow.

THIS MORNING

Right. Going to go track what happened to the rest of that dude's crew.

Rumble rumble-- This is going to end with a Rockbreaker, isn't it.

Alas, poor Lunda. Also ... yep. Rockbreaker.

There is some shiny down here. Hope Porguf doesn't mind my having hit this place first. Well, if he does, that's his problem. I've got Burrowers and a probably-Rockbreaker to deal with.

Aha! Way out! ...Wait, did I just get trapped in-- No, there's enough room to sneak through the gap that's left.

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeep. Rockbreaker. Sneak. In. Quietly.

Okay. I am concealed in a high place. SHOW YOURSELF, YOU SUBTERRANEAN ANNOYANCE-ENGINE!

Theeeeeeeeeeeere you are. Okay. This might get spicy. POONK.

...

......

.........I. Just. One-shotted it.

I JUST ONE-SHOTTED A ROCKBREAKER AND THEREFORE WIN AT EVERYTHING!

Right. More shinies and ... yes, Porguf, you can have your lockbox back.

Aloy, only you would consider "vertically up a mountain" to be a 'shortcut'.

And now that I've mastered gliding, I can-- SUNWINGS SHIT INTO A BUSH.

Okay, there's you dealt with. I'll turn in this quest and see what I have to climb for the Tallneck--

What do you mean, "it looks damaged"?!?

Right. Porguf, here. I'll be back after I look at that apparently damaged Tallneck and maybe take out a rebel outpost or something.

Oseram have been trying to take down a Tallneck?!? Ambitious little buggers, I'll give you Oseram weirdoes that, but HAEPHESTUS clearly is not a fan of their plans. But I need to do the same idiocy that got you dipshits killed so I can fix your dipshittery.

Okay ... one anchor, and we get Burrowers. Bye, Burrowers.

Two anchors, aaaaaaand ... Sunwings.

YES I KNOW I COULD USE THE BALLISTA ON THE SMALLER MACHINES, BUT I DON'T WANT TO! THESE THINGS HAVE NO PRECISION!

Huh. Bellowback. ...Acid Bellowback, in point of fact. New scan, huzzah. Now, lemme pop you like a pimple-- Theeeeeeeeere we go.

Okay, those are impressive when they go down.

Aaaaaand reboot! Huzzah! BEGONE, FOG OF WAR!

Right. I probably do have time to hit a rebel outpost but I do not have the energy to do so. I need to save spoons for work. So lemme clear these Burrowers out of my way, set up at this shelter, and I can deal with other stuff later or tomorrow or whatever.

I do not know what's been waking me so damn early lately. Maybe I need thicker curtains. Eh, at least it gives me "wake up to the Forbidden West" time...

[giffingthingsss]

J/C, C/7, and Me

Disclaimer: I am not necessarily a J/C shipper. I just have eyeballs and enjoy the show. Long ass post. 

In the Beginning

Was a Janeway/Chakotay romantic plot baked in? I tend to think not. At least not at the very start. But this is pure speculation on my part.

If romance is your goal, then it’s much more interesting to have Chakotay not immediately being 100% supportive. (An AU where they never get lost and it’s just Janeway pursuing this Maquis leader and maybe eventually being persuaded and helping him, please.) 

I think initially they were flirting with the idea of Janeway/Paris. The character of Tom was described as being a potential love interest for Janeway. That idea doesn’t seem to have made it past the character sketches, but you can see a trace element of it in the very beginning. 

The writers played with a number of character combinations. A pretty natural chemistry was cropping up between Captain and First Officer. Little things were dropped into scripts. Performances certainly came across as interested, whether intended or not, who knows. 

Ramping Up

Where before there were hints and moments, Resolutions kicks off a series of flashing red sirens.

From this episode on there would be declarations of... ‘you bring me true peace’, and ‘I’m frickin jealous, okay?’ and bawling declarations of ‘you can’t die!’ These developments are not in the shipper’s imagination. They’re building toward something. Clearly. Obviously. Said all the people with eyes. 

For the first couple seasons, Janeway being engaged kind of kept this at bay. But now they’re fully playing with it. 

Road Block

However, Kate Mulgrew (and maybe others, I dunno) was like, ‘sure. develop the relationship. but no sex. the first female captain isn’t going to be having booty calls in the ready room. not gonna happen. people are going to take this captain seriously.’

So they played with it here and there, but it could only go so far. Kate seemed to want the best of both worlds. A deep, complicated, growing relationship, that never tipped over into the sexual. Her focus was on getting the crew home. 

Beltran flat out says (in one of the books I own that I don’t feel like digging out) that Chakotay was in love with her. But Beltran was getting frustrated. When Year of Hell came around, he apparently called up the writers and said, ‘how long is this guy gonna keep throwing himself at a woman who never reciprocates? it’s getting pathetic. either do something with these two or don’t.’ 

Loner Janeway

Along the way, I think Kate became enamored with the idea of the loneliness of command, the sacrifices it entails. Fell in love with the poignancy of it all.

This is not something that’s out of character for Janeway. Beyond the fact that in the beginning she was engaged, pairing off was a luxury she didn’t think the captain had. So any kind of romantic relationship she might pursue would have to start with her being broken out of that mindset. 

That’s basically what Resolutions did. Once they finally pried Voyager out of her fingers, you could see a burgeoning love very clearly. But then Voyager came back. And with it her... resolutions. 

Coulda Woulda Shoulda

If they had wanted to snip it and move on, they should have had that conflict between Janeway and Chakotay at some point. Perhaps after Beltran called them up and said, ‘hey. Make up your minds.’ 

Have the characters actually talk about it and reach a conclusion and there ya go. But maybe the writers just didn’t know wtf they wanted to do with it and wanted to leave their options open. And then did nothing at all. 

Me, a Non-Shipper

Personally, I tend to agree with the Mulgrew side of things (and can also see why Beltran would be bored with the eternal holding pattern and not mind when they said ‘hey, you can kiss Jeri Ryan.’)

They developed the Tom/B’Elanna romance, which was great. We didn’t need non-stop romantic plots. I think the shippers could understand Kate’s reasoning and were willing to go with the slow burn...if the writers had actually sat down and decided that’s what they were doing. If only they hadn’t dropped the ball at the very end.

Here’s the thing: if you build up a relationship like that, you can’t be upset when people notice. And you can’t give up on it behind the scenes without telling the audience on screen. ‘There are some lines we never cross’ might have been an attempt, but was too late. And was certainly not closure. The audience deserved better. 

C/7? WTF!?

Well, if you thought there was no build up for it, it’s because there wasn’t. If you felt like it was whirlwind and came out of nowhere, it’s because it was, and it did. Apparently even in the writer’s room. 

Brannon Braga wanted Seven to die in the finale. He was writing her episodes to gear up for that. Human Error, the episode where Seven experiments with romantic ideas with a holographic Chakotay (with a kiss that was apparently the result of a dare Beltran made to Jeri), was written with Seven’s death in mind. It wasn’t supposed to be the opening salvo of an actual relationship. 

I think Seven of Nine should have bit the dust. I think there had to be a real sacrifice for this crew getting home, a real blood sacrifice. Seven of Nine was, for me, designed to be a character that was gonna die tragically. I planned that.... There’s an episode called Human Error that I wrote...she's trying to feel emotions. She actually succeeds and then almost dies. She learns there’s a Borg implant, that if she becomes too human, it will kill her. And it was that moment in my mind that would set up the finale, where she realized she can’t live here, she can’t live there. And she dies getting her family home. - Brannon Braga

I’m glad they didn’t go that way for various reasons. I love Endgame as it is. But it’s interesting to know the thought process. They weren’t gearing up for romance, they were aiming for tragedy. At least Braga was. 

Human Error was only about six episodes from the end. At the time of that writing, that's what was in at least his head. 

Human Error was not written with an eye toward a C/7 future. Without that episode I doubt highly C/7 would have been a thing. And it wasn’t even written to make it a thing.

Endgame obviously didn't go that way. Janeway-palooza instead. So. What do we do now? What to do with Seven? And from here on, all I have is speculation.

Retooling

'Well, we've got this holodeck scenario from the episode we wrote when we were planning to kill her off that hints that she might like Chakotay. So. I guess we'll go with that.' 

It appears to me that they retooled recently written story elements to fit their ending, to provide more motivation for that ending.

They picked the three people it would kill Janeway most to lose. Tuvok, obviously. An ongoing torment, visiting him every week. Seven dies (a remnant of plan A) and in a sense takes Chakotay with her. 

This is all fuel for Admiral Janeway without making it about saving her lover (unless you’re a J/7 shipper, in which case, hog heaven).

When you think of it only in terms of ‘what can we do to make the finale work’, it’s not terrible. When you think of it in terms of seven preceding years, it doesn’t work at all. They got myopic. 

In hindsight I think the writers could probably admit it was a mistake in terms of the show, and they should have resisted the urge to do something that was thrown together and jarring rather than nothing at all with Seven.

Gossip

Apparently neither Mulgrew or Beltran were opposed to C7 in the end. Maybe because they had at points been a bit frustrated with each other behind the scenes. Whether those frustrations were forefront in anyone’s mind at the time, idk. 

I tend to think Kate really was over the idea of Janeway’s destiny having much to do with romance at all.

It is interesting that when Seven first arrived on the show, Kate specifically mentioned not wanting the writers to throw her with Chakotay. At that point perhaps feeling a tad possessive. Perhaps didn’t want him ‘sullied’ by the busty blonde.

But this was seasons in the past by the time the finale rolled around, and I doubt highly it had anything to do with anything. Who knows. 

Me on Endgame

Personally, I'm glad Endgame was a Janeway palooza. I love 99% of Endgame. I’m glad it was about Janeway vs.Janeway vs. Borg Queen. I wouldn’t have wanted it to be about J/C either.

But if you’re not willing to go there, leave it then to the imagination. It's cruel to basically tell your audience that these two would be together if not for their delta quadrant circumstances, and then rip the rug from under them the second they get to the quadrant where this romance is supposed to be possible. Not cool, man. Not cool. 

When I first saw Endgame (as a non-shipper with eyes) C/7 was jarring and weird. But I thought the scene where Seven was distancing herself was well acted and stirred up an emotion or two (even if it was a little histrionic, considering they'd just started dating). So I wasn’t throwing things at my television. Just confused.

I also basically dismissed their future relationship. They got home after like one date, not ten years of marriage. And now their lives will completely change. So I just kind of hand-waved it away. "It did its job for the episode, but the future's changed and they won't last. So whatever."

Headanons on Janeway’s romantic reasoning and original timeline reaction to C/7

Captain Janeway had no idea how long it would take to get back home. Obviously you hope for tomorrow, but it could be twenty years from now. She resigned herself to not pursue romance. Her sole purpose in life was to get the crew safely home.

So I speculate her reaction to C/7 would be quite stoic. She would recognize it’s not fair for him to just pine away, possibly forever. That she has made this choice and he shouldn't have to be alone because of it. Her being alone is just part of the price she must pay, the burden she must bear. Her own wants and needs must take a backseat. She has greater responsibilities.

In fact, I can see her encouraging C/7. She would see it as a form of selfless love. ‘It doesn’t matter that he’s with me; it matters that he’s happy.’ Of course feelings would rear their heads from time to time, but she would quickly corral them into that channel.

Lots of lovely internal martyrdom. She would make it her mission to make sure they were both okay and happy. A bit of a masochistic streak that she buries under a sense of nobility and sacrifice.

This is the kind of angle I think Mulgrew came to prefer. That lovely little tragic pang. She loves drama, if nothing else.

“It’s a lonely thing, but I’m gonna get this crew home.” - Kate Mulgrew

“You always made it hard for yourself. If there was a rocky path and a smooth one, you chose the rocky one every time.” - Coda

This is a woman with a lot of love to give. But finds herself, or perhaps unnecessarily forces herself, depending on your view, in a place where that’s not a possible life choice. So those instincts expand outward, enveloping them all. She finds fulfillment in the well-being of the crew and the ship as a whole. 

Post Endgame

Their trip was shortened by a lot because of Endgame. The future is no longer written in stone. So the possibilities are endless, the sky’s the limit. And apparently Seven’s a lesbian (I haven’t seen it, but I hear tell). So. There ya go. 

(She is crying here, btw. I never noticed before I did that episode and feel the need to point it out once again. Lest anyone else still not have noticed.) 

If you actually read this whole thing, congratulations. Hopefully it made sense. I now continue with my rewatch and probably won’t talk much about this in the future. Unless something new comes up, I’ll just continue to be a non-shipper with eyeballs, enjoying whatever’s around. 

[ariella884]

Voyager Book Club - February Favorite Fics

So I put forth a challenge of sorts to our Voyager Book Club. I asked everyone to pick ONE Voyager fic that they consider to be their favorite. Now, you can imagine, this is pretty freaking hard! There are so many incredible fics out there. I didn’t say it had to be the best written, or the most in character. I gave examples such as: the one you read over and over or your go-to fic, however you want to phrase it. It was pointed out that a favorite fic can change every hour based on your frame of mind and what you are in the mood to read at any one moment. I get it. Even so....I challenged everyone to only pick ONE. And they did it! Or most of them! I got around 20 different favorites picked! So here is the list of our Favorite Voyager Fics, why they were chosen and by whom. Happy Reading!!

Note: Click on the name of the fic for a link to it! Also, this list is in no particular order.

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@curator-on-ao3: ‘Fragile Things’ by @mia-cooper

“Fanfic is about exploring possibilities. That’s what put this fic over the top to be my favorite. In Fragile Things, MiaCooper examines multiple versions of one relationship, pulling different threads to see how things unravel or knit together. It’s thoughtful, it’s meta, it’s realistic as hell, it’s damn good writing — it’s MiaCooper and it’s excellent.”

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@ariella884(yep, that’s me!): ‘2013′ by PCBW (@pcbw)

“I had a hard time choosing my favorite (like most people here), mostly because as i was gathering them all from everyone else I kept seeing ones and going, ‘Oh! I love that one!’.  I also didn’t want to have any duplicates so I had to change mine a couple times, that being said, 2013 is easily one of my top three (which of themselves is almost impossible to pick just one. I’m lucky that my other two were chosen already and I didn’t have to!). I love 2013 because it is a modern AU, without being a completely modern AU. No, that doesn’t make sense. But you get our Janeway and Chakotay, Starfleet officers and all, and you get them in the modern world. It’s incredible! We see the challenges they go through of being taken from everything they know and put into a world that is pretty much unknown to them. Add to that the personal differences they have to work out together. Splash in the normal challenges that we all go through when trying to live a life in this day and age (jobs, house, money, love, family, etc). This is just an incredibly beautiful story that I have read many times and will continue to read over and over. It’s also a long fic and those are my favorite because I like to get completely involved in stories!”

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@mia-cooper: ‘Deceiving’ by QuantumSilver

“Because it starts with a canon event that is absolutely devastating and shows just how devastated Janeway and Chakotay are by it (and Tuvok and Ayala as well, though they only make a brief appearance). It shows Janeway at her absolute best - every last inch the captain, going above and beyond for her crew not just physically but emotionally in spite of the absolutely gut-wrenching cost to her - and it really kicks off with one of my absolute favourite tropes: mutual pining to the Nth Fucking Degree.

It has Chakotay being every bit the commander, backing her up even though he's dying inside, and REFUSING to let her shut herself away even though he KNOWS she's going to want to murder him for pushing and pushing and pushing at her.

And then OH MY GOD, he's deliberately getting on her every last nerve just so he can wrench honesty from her because he knows if she doesn't tell him how badly he's hurt her, how she's absolutely bottomed out because of him, she will never open up to him or anyone else again.

AND THEY DRINK WHISKEY OMG GIVE ME KJ AND C UTTERLY MISERABLE AND DRINKING WHISKEY LIKE IT'S WATER AND PINING LIKE FUCK AND NOT SAYING A WORD BUT BLEEDING TO DEATH FROM THE HEART AND I WILL DIE HAPPY FOREVERRRRRRR

I'm sorry for yelling but this fic makes me want to rip off my clothes and run up and down the street screeching how everybody should read it and they are just BRUTAL with each other and they STILL do not understand, refuse to, CANNOT understand, that the other would not just die for them but MURDER WHOLE FUCKING ARMIES FOR THEM and it's tragic and devastating but then oH MY GOoOoOODDDDD

So that is my favourite fic and the one i read approximately every two months or more if i really hate my writing that day and want to torture myself with How It Should Be Done.”

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@bizships: ‘Fealty’ by MsDisdain

“My favorite story. I honestly don’t have to think about it. It’s one I always go back to.

I love the way the crew pledges their loyalty to her and the way subtle way they tell her that it’s okay that she’s happy too in that they effectively give her Chakotay for her birthday, by way of him “fighting” Tuvok(Starfleet)  for her hand.”

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@arcadia1995: ‘The Space Between’ by lauawill ( @joyful-voyager)

“The Space Between is a story I return to time and time again when I'm feeling down.  I like that it realistically portrays what might have happened between Janeway and Chakotay right after the returned home in Endgame.  I like that no one in the J/C/7 triangle ends up being a bad guy.  I like the hopeful ending and imaging what might have happened after the fade to black (lots of sex!!!)“

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@wishful-thinker-87 : ‘if you came this way’ by tree

“It’s always a go to for me, even though I don’t usually like AUs. The sex is intense and emotional. The characterization is pot on. And we get Phoebe being an awesome sister and some Chakotay/Molly bonding too. What’s not to love?!”

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BlackVelvet: ‘Bluffing the Crowd’ by @ralkana

“Even after years since i read this, just thinking about this story brings a warm fuzzy feeling to my heart and a huge silly grin to my face. I simply love it.”

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@purpledog47: ‘The Future is Ours’ by Dawn

“My favorite is most definitely Dawn’s ‘The Future is Ours. This is my one fic. It’s super long and it tells us what happened after Endgame and it has a little bit of everything in it: angst, romance, hurt/comfort, Q, babyfic, romance.” 

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@amoderngirl: ‘Time and Distance’ by northernexposure

“If I am ever loosing the thread with J/C, I can always read this and I am immediately in love again.”

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@coffeeblack75: ‘Soft Light’ by northernexposure

“There are so many reasons why I love it that I can't even, haha. I'll start with: it was the first piece of fanfic smut I read, so I love it for that reason - my first time haha. More importantly, it is just beautifully, beautifully written - it's plotted beautifully, it flows beautifully and the pacing is spot on. The author has complete control over all of that & over the language, which is just used masterfully. There's so much subtley going on in this story too - the author doesn't spell everything out for us and instead draws us to the details that reveal what is important - the beginnings of these two getting to know each other. Gosh, it's so hard to articulate haha! But lines like this just make me shiver in delight for their beauty and what they reveal: "he was kissing her, with a lot more sweetness than was wise. Ah god, I could go on and on but perhaps I'll finish with my favourite bit, which is when C feels that first stab of lust & realises she might too & tests his theory by blowing softly on the back of her neck. This moment, omg, the moment is just so beautiful, so quiet, so pointed and private and intimate. You really feel that moment as if you are there. Ahhhhh :)

Also….there are two sequels to it that are equally as wonderful ;)  

Oh and one more thing I adore about this story is the way that the C thinks he is lusting after KJ but it is quite obvious he loves her - even before they come together - but he hasn’t realized it yet. The way the author does this is just incredible - so deft! Everything for C is about taking care of KJ … it’s just beautiful.”

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@caladeniablue: ‘Lifeline’ by helenagray ( @picking-daisies-in-the-outfield)

“Why do I like that fic? An unfinished WIP at that (Started in 2013; last update in Jan 2019. No indication how many chapters to go.) The perfect serial story and that's part of the attraction for me.

The first chapter sets the scene: raw Janeway, alone, without the backup of her ship, her crew or Chakotay. Bare of essentials and with only her courage and intelligence and sheer determination to help her survive, and even she wonders how long those will last her.

And while we learn about Chakotay and how he seeks her while the crew has to move on, I am drawn to Janeway most of all.

The fic jumps back and forth across locations and in time from that first chapter to catch up with it again some 20 chapters later, but there is no jarring. The reader knows immediately what KJ is experiencing , but the past events that led to that situation are as important, and that's one of the many attractions of this story. No overlong flashbacks, no tedious info dump. It's all layered, making one wait for the next chapter and the next one, while knowing all the time where KJ has ended up.

The writing is gorgeous, which is a bonus. And it is pure J/C, distilled to its purest by separation.  Perfect.”

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@keiraniels: ‘Bad Ensign’ (Series) by @curator-on-ao3

“Ok so I chose Curator’s ‘Bad Ensign’ because I come back to it often - - it’s such a freaking brilliant idea that I can 100% imagine being canon, and it inspired so many Voyager Bookclubbers to write Bad Ensign stories”

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@cnrothtrek: ‘War Torn’ by @curator-on-ao3

“Why? I had the pleasure of beta reading this story, and I am so glad that I did. It has a great plot, is well-written and perfectly paced, and is hard to put down. The way it pulls together two pieces of canon backstories for Miles O’Brien and Kathryn Janeway is genius. The characters feel so real and their voices can be clearly heard in the text. And the supporting characters of Captain Benjamin Maxwell, Will “Stompie” Kayden, and Molly Walsh are incredible. The story is intense, absorbing, and emotional. I just can’t say enough good things about it.”

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@theshortywrites: ‘The Dragonfly Oath’ by Koneia

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@emmikamikatze: ‘All the Good Things We Never Did’ by northernexposure

“This story brings me to tears, makes me smile and shiver and fear and worry. It's given me phrases that won't leave me, that keep repeating itself in my head even months (years) after first reading it. There's just the right amount of show trivia to make it a fanfiction, but little enough to make it a unique and original story. ne makes me fall in love with these characters all over again as if I didn't know them beforehand.

This story is special and precious and it speaks to me on so many levels I can hardly comprehend how genius it is. It's a literary masterpiece of fanfic if there ever was one.”

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@missmil: ‘Here I Stand’ by lauawill

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@manalyzer13: ‘Gravitation’ by northernexposure

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@grace-among-the-stars: ‘Filling the Void’ by Spiletta42

“Filling the Void is the one fic I always return to. It has my fave ships, JC, PT and D7. Minor characters play major parts and it is just funny. It makes me laugh every time. 

JC’s relationship is really explored from all angles, this is not just your average, ‘the crew get them together fics’, it is so much more. It has sexual tension, smut, humour, sadness and is pure JC BLISS. It always cheers me up and I was so happy when Spiletta42 added it to Ao3 because this meant so many more people would find it.”

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Anonymous: ‘Bent, Not Broken’ by @killermanatee

“This is an incredible hurt/comfort Janeway/Chakotay fic. The story is painfully written from both characters' perspectives, showing how each is suffering in a different way from the traumatic event that has occurred. In the end, their love for each other will help them come together and they will both be able to heal with time, comfort, and support from one another. This is a beautifully told, emotionally heavy story of one couple's love overcoming tragedy. It is my favorite Janeway/Chakotay fic, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to read a heartbreaking yet fulfilling story.”

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@minakotenjou: ‘Mysterious and Curious’ by @h4t08 

“It was so hard to choose - there are a lot of incredible fanfics out there. This was one of the first...shall we say spicier J/C fics I read and for some reason I still think of it often. It's great smut for sure, but I think it stuck with me because of how it all gets tied together at the end.”

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@leisylaura: ‘The Bitter End’ by @mia-cooper

“We have post endgame books but not one about the original timeline, I remember reading “The bitter end” and thinking “this is it, this is what happened”.  I cried from beginning to end.”

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@killermanatee: ‘The Dying of the Light’ by @cnrothtrek

"This fic is such a gorgeous piece of art. I hadn't seen the TNG episode before reading it and when I did watch it I was very disappointed because this fic is just on such a completely different level. The storytelling is so delicate and intriguing, that combined with the poignant and elegant writing style, so that it was impossible to put my phone down. I can't recommend this fic highly enough."

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@cheile: ‘Marooned’ by Soliquilii9 (aka Running Horse)

“I love how she makes the story unfold in slow steady measures.  Also, she filled in the gaps left by the writers in regards to his heritage by using information from her own Cherokee background and it is done naturally (not in an info dump type manner). “

__________

What do you think of our list of Voyager favorites? Do you have a favorite that isn’t on this list? Reply to this post with your favorite!! And if you haven’t read ALL of these fics yet, I strongly suggest you get started!! Have fun and enjoy!!

[thesummerstorms]

001 - Star Trek, please!

Favorite character: 

.... this is so, so hard. This is, like, a three way tie between Kira, Janeway, and Sisko.

Least Favorite character: 

NEELIX.

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): 

Kira/Odo (I know I am in a minority)

Janeway/Chakotay even with some of the major misteps (that’s what fanon is for)

honestly? most of the DS9 Starfleet characters (+Kira, Odo, Garak) in a ..like.. poly web of some sort,

Character I find most attractive: 

like, aesthetically, but this is so damn hard

Kira Nerys

Jadzia Dax

Kathryn Janeway

Seven of Nine in Picard but not so much in Voyager

Michael Burnham

this is all women and I don’t have an explanation for you, it just is, they’re pretty and compelling to watch

Character I would marry: 

I am not the marrying kind, and besides, most of these people would run circles around me

Character I would be best friends with: 

I  want to say maybe Harry Kim, as he’s chill and sweet and less intimidating than most of these casts, but I am not interesting enough to be friends with a Starfleet officer, let’s be real.

a random thought: 

I really hope Picard Season 2 gives Seven of Nine some meaningful background that allows for her current emotional state without trashing Voyager, the Voyager crew, or her connections to them. 

Also, can we please let either Saru or Michael be Captain already; I liked Pike okay but I’m tired.

An unpopular opinion: 

I like the TNG characters, mostly, but I can’t watch it because I don’t like most of the TNG episodes.

 can understand where Tom Paris’s narrative was supposed to go, and he has his sympathetic moments, but over all I don’t really like him

according to twitter this is unpopular: I liked Disco season 2 better than season 1. No I don’t care if S1 was “groundbreaking”. They still need to treat Michael better though.

My Canon OTP: 

Kira/Odo which I am apparently one of the only people to like. 

Also, Janeway/Chakotay is technically canon in the novels, even though I know the novels are not actually canon.

My Non-canon OTP:

I don’t know that I have an OTP that isn’t canon; I don’t ship Trek as enthusiastically as I do SW. But I’d be interested to see Seven/B’Elanna, Michael/Tilly, Deanna Troi with some respect from the showrunners... Bashir/Garak isn’t technically canon but it’s borderline; I think it’s interesting but I’m not a hard core shipper/I don’t read fic for it.

Most Badass Character:

... this is Star Trek, how am I supposed to pick one??? 

Most Epic Villain: 

what do we mean by epic here? 

Grandiose is Dukat

understandable but monstrous goes to that one Krennim played by the actor

tragic in a greek drama sense but not likeable is Kai Wynn. 

Pairing I am not a fan of: 

Tom Paris/B’Elanna

Chakotay/Seven

Michael Burham/Ash Taylor

Ziyal/Garak

Ezri/Julian. 

also, just let me be retroactively GRATEFUL that Nana Visitor put her foot down on Dukat/Kira because what the hell.

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): 

Okay, this is also a list. 

Harry Kim (underutilized), 

Chakotay (in terms of his background)

Phillipa Georgiou (I didn’t want a show with edgy mirror Lorca or  ONLY Empress Georgiou, okay, I wanted what Captain Georgiou and what she represented)

Deanna Troi ( can we please stop with the weird outfits and the sexual assault adjacent scenarios???)

Favourite Friendship: 

Janeway & Tuvok. It’s just such a fun dynamic. 

But Spock & Michael’s sibling bond is a close second even if it hurts at first.

So is Bashir & O’Brien 

Character I most identify with:

Hmmm. Ezri maybe? some confusion, some imposter syndrome, some feeling out of place. which is weird cause she really doesn’t make my top list of characters.

Character I wish I could be: 

Listen, I don’t want to be in the same situation as ANY of these characters, but give me Janeway’s beauty, brains, and confidence, please.

[mia-cooper]

2019 fanfiction in review

I usually put more effort into pimping my favourite fics of the year, boosting a few new writers in my fandoms, etc. This year, however, I have not, for reasons both within and beyond my control. Which is pretty much my excuse for not Doing Better with writing for the past month or so, but hey. At least there’s this.

.......................................................

1. Best fic(s) you read all year, and why?

How can I even begin to list all the beautiful, shocking, feel-good, feel-terrible-but-in-a-good-way, envy-inducing, page-turning, soul-destroying, fluffy, hilarious, infuriating and horny fics I’ve read this year? I can’t. So I will instead list three that come immediately to mind.

@curator-on-ao3 – The Dismissed Protocol (rated T, VOY, TNG, Janeway & Crusher)

This fic made me angry. So angry that I left a ranty and incoherent comment, slammed down the lid on my laptop and stormed around the house for a bit. Why was I so pissed, you ask? Because this fic hit a good few of my personal triggers around bodily autonomy and the right to make informed choices, and because although the fic ends triumphantly, it’s somewhat of a pyrrhic victory and it left a really bad taste in my mouth. Which, considering this is fiction, is the mark of some really good writing. When it comes to tackling difficult topics with a fresh and thought-provoking perspective, and without opting for the easy answers, Curator never disappoints. This story is just one of many examples of that in her work.

@love-in-the-time-of-kolinahr​ – it will take place without witnesses (rated E, DSC, Pike/Number One)

Okay so let me start by saying it was the author’s fucking EXCELLENT pun of a pseudonym that made me read this in the first place. Then it was the poem they quoted (Discovery by Wislawa Szymborska, which is like a portentous rocket in the guts). Then it was Una’s scales-off-the-eyes, we-are-true-equals, don’t-bullshit-me-lover candidness in the way she sees, talks to, knows Chris Pike. I adore Pike in his laconic-space-cowboy-with-a-heart Disco incarnation, I like him a lot as the CoolDad in AOS, but this fic? This fic gives me smart, forthright, deeply tender Number One, and Pike as the fractured and very human hero I hope like hell we’ll see more of because they are definitely making a Pike series RIGHT? It is written. Anyway… this fic is beautiful and harsh and deft and real and sexy and poetic and at its core it’s about love, and who doesn’t love love?

@captacorn​ – Stars in a Ruined Sky (rated M, VOY, Paris/Torres)

It took me a while to read this one because CaptAcorn was posting it at the same time I was writing my epic, and I had no brain space to maintain a hold on someone else’s dark and compelling plot. But when I picked this one up, I couldn’t put it down. It is AMAZING. A Timeless AU, set in a universe where Voyager crashed and most of the crew survived, this goes where no other 100k+ epic I’ve read before has dared to tread, and it does so without flinching. The details are what make this unforgettable – there’s no magic reset button, so when something bad happens to the crew, there are actual lasting consequences – but it’s the humanity of the characters (if I can use that word to describe a crew that includes aliens) that makes it unputdownable (fuck off, my nana said that’s a word). This is not an AU I want to think happened, but CaptAcorn makes it one that rings true. And I’ll definitely read this again when I have the emotional fortitude for it.

Wow, there’s no Janeway/Chakotay in my top three. What? So here’s a bonus:

Northernexposure’s trilogy – Soft Light, Aftershocks and Resolution (rated E, VOY, Janeway/Chakotay) – three for the price of one! I mean, when northernexposure posts a new fic I race to read it no matter what, but smut! Beautifully written, true to character, sexy sexy smut from one of my all time favourite authors! How could I turn that down?

2. Best fic(s) you published all year, and why?

Mmmyeah to be honest I kinda feel as though my writing peaked in 2017, but here we go.

Desperate Measures (rated E, VOY, Janeway/Chakotay and other pairings) – because there’s angst and smut and the plot is twisty as fuck and I feel like there’s a pretty satisfying payoff. And it’s really long and relies on the reader engaging with my OCs which people seem to have done, which makes me think that if I ever do want to go write another original novel, maybe I won’t want to burn it as soon as I’m done.

This Is The Moment (rated M, DSC, Pike/Tyler) – because these two have exhausting chemistry and I couldn’t not write this but it was hard to make it come out of my brain the way I wanted it. But I’m really happy with it.

And I have a soft spot for First Officer’s Log (rated T, VOY, Chakotay & Tuvok, implied Janeway/Paris), because I just really love Threshold, okay? And while the episode is wack on so many levels there are really dark and heavy themes to explore there which I feel have gone very unexplored and I hope my fic struck that same balance between moral philosophy and holywhatthefuckery.

3. Favourite opening line(s) in a fic you published in 2019:

From Bad Maquis (rated M, VOY, Janeway/Chakotay):

The only thing more restrictive – and bosomy – than this outfit, Kathryn mused as she stared at her reflection, was her holodeck governess costume.



Still, at least she didn’t have to leave her quarters wearing this getup, and thank goodness for small mercies. Because she was on the verge of backing down from this challenge as it was, and Kathryn Janeway did not chicken out. Ever.

I mean, it sets the scene, doesn’t it? Who doesn’t love Janeway in leather.

4. Favourite closing line(s):

This is maybe cheating a little bit because this fic isn’t finished, but this first chapter can stand alone and I won’t be continuing it for some time (first, I have to finish the two prequels, haha). Anyway, these are the closing lines from Inertia (rated T so far, VOY, Janeway/Paris and others):

When the daze clears and Tom looks up to discover that his hovercar is parked in front of an address he’s never visited but has nonetheless memorised, maybe he should feel a little bit surprised.



He doesn’t. No matter how far he tries to go or how long he stays away from her, turning up at Kathryn Janeway’s door is inevitable.

Why do I like it? Well, I have an everlasting appreciation for Janeway/Paris, for one thing. For another, if you read the rest of the story and understand what Tom has just learned, you’ll want to know what happens next. I hope. I sure want to know.

5. The fic that was best received, and your favourite comment(s) on it:

That would be Desperate Measures again. It’s my longest fic by far and I was absolutely bowled over by the response to it, but one of my favourite comments on it is this one:

It actually looks like Janeway is saying gimme and it cracks me up.

Honestly though… the depth and kindness of comments on that fic in particular, the time and thought and effort that people have put into their reviews … it made up for every moment I wanted to chuck it in and never look at that fic again, or any other.

6. The fic you wish had gotten more love:

Honestly, I was surprised there was so little response to my @voyagermirrormarch​ fic trilogy, Heaven in the Shape of Hell. I really thought they’d be crowd pleasers, but it shows what I know, lol. I haven’t even finished the third one because the lack of interest made me wonder if they were just really shite, but I’m not so butthurt about it anymore and I will come back to it someday.

7. How many fandoms you wrote for in 2019, and which inspired you most:

Does Star Trek in all its incarnations count as one fandom? If so, I wrote for two (Trek and Marvel). If all the different versions of Trek count separately, I wrote for seven (MCU, AOS (that’s Trek Alternate Original Series, not Agents of SHIELD), Disco, Mirror, Enterprise, DS9 and Voyager).

Anyway, I guess I’ll never stop being inspired by Voyager, so even if Disco season 3 and the Picard show do nothing for me, I’ll always have that.

8. Your favourite pairing(s) to write for:

I mean, Janeway x Chakotay, for sure. But I’m deeply, deeply invested in Janeway x Paris at the moment.

9. What you’re writing now/next:

I’m struggling through the second part of what was supposed to be my contribution to @25daysofvoyager​. I’m actually going to post the first part once I’m done with this quiz in the hope it’ll kick my ass into gear. I’m also on semi-hiatus from Kinetic Friction, but I’ll be going back to it as soon as I’m done with my 25 Days fic. At some point after Kinetic there’ll be the sequel, and then the rest of Inertia. I’m also contemplating something for Threshold Day, possibly throwing something into @voytalentchallenge​ (don’t count on that one), and I have an idea for a pre-Enterprise D, pre-Voyager meeting between Picard and Janeway (with smut, obvs), plus all the other fics I’m definitely going to write …

And of course there’s my meat raffle. Time to pimp that one again. Donate to AO3 and if I draw your name out of the hat of randomness I’ll write you a fic to your specifications (roughly).

10. Writing goals for 2020 (word count? new fandoms/pairings? anything?):

Look, I’d just really like to actually write to some of the prompts I’ve had sitting in my ridiculously complex filing system without getting sidetracked by the newest shiny thing to catch my eye. In terms of fandoms, I hope I’ll write more for Discovery, I’m looking forward to Picard, and I would like to branch out from Trek a bit. More MCU, definitely, and maybe others if I get inspired. The main thing I want out of writing fanfiction at the moment is for it to continue making me happy, though, so I just hope I keep having fun with it.

[blue-mint-winter]

ST Voy s4e8 Year of Hell and s4e9 Year of Hell part II -  Voyager pulls off another time travel story and does it well. The crew is out through a real wringer and brought to almost complete destruction like in Kes’ vision, but details are much different, for example Janeway and B’Elanna don’t die and there’s Seven on board. I really liked how the bonds between the crew became even stronger in the hardship. Janeway became very extreme too, constantly taking risk on herself and making everyone worry (I mean myself too!). She also got a haircut. I really felt the stakes in this ep, the desperation they felt. Btw, Tuvok’s blind shaving with a big knife was extra too. I liked the symbolism of that pocket watch Chakotay gave to Janeway on her birthday. The main villain, Annorax, was detestable. The show tried to make us feel bad for him by comparing him with Voyager crew, but the key difference is that one was erasing other races from history as if that would bring back his family and other wasn’t. Chakotay almost buying into his way of thinking and methods seems to continue in line with his character’s tendency to get influenced by authority figures he encounters. Thankfully, Paris was there to say it how it was. I thought the ending solution to the problem was clever, how erasing his time manipulating ship from the timeline erased the reason his race got in trouble and Voyager was also restored back to normal. On the other hand it means the loss of memory for everyone, of the good ones too, but they still have the chance to make new memories, so they can make up for that.

s4e10 Random Thoughts - Voyager visits a peaceful planet of Mirians who are telepaths and B’Elanna get arrested for having a violent thought that caused one of them to commit an assault. The concept of this ep reminded me of that TNG ep with Wesley getting sentenced for trampling a lawn, but this ep’s story has much more finesse and complexity to it. It explores the idea of a society in which thought crimes are real and can be persecuted. Interestingly enough, it brings a dose of realism into something that at first glance was an utopia where everyone is nice and there’s no crime. Turns out outlawing something and memory purging isn’t going to make the problem gone, it just went underground. People will want the forbidden fruit and total control over thoughts is impossible. I liked that Tuvok once again took charge of investigation, it was cool to see him work. Though I do wonder since when Vulcans could speak telepathically like Betazoids? Btw, I like Seven’s friendship with Tuvok, they are both set apart from their human crewmates. I liked the moments with Seven questioning Janeway’s decisions to explore other planets instead of just going home as fast as possible.

s4e11 Concerning Flight - In this ep, I realized that the actor who played hologram of Leonardo da Vinci played Gimli in LOTR. Anyway, it was a fun ep. From the beginning, I thought that Janeway’s Leonardo holodeck program was a good idea and I liked those short scenes. It makes a lot of sense that she’d choose Leonardo da Vinci as her mentor and role model. He brings together two things - hard science she pursued in her career and arts which is something she struggles with. In this ep, Leonardo is part of an adventure to take back stolen main computer from the thieves. What makes this story worhtwhile is how thoughtful it gets, but still maintains the flow of action. It has a message about opening your mind, pursuing dreams - like Leonardo’s flying machine - even if others ridicule you for it. It’s just very hopeful and uplifting. Also, Janeway’s undercover clothes make her look like a working mom lol.

s4e12 Mortal Coil - In this ep, Neelix dies, but it’s okay because Seven knows how to bring him back. However as a result Neelix has an existential crisis because he didn’t see Talaxian afterlife he believed in. I think the episode was interesting in trying to explore Neelix’ problem, but it wasn’t done in a satisfactory way. They used Chakotay’s vision method, but it just made Neelix worse and he almost offed himself. I can’t expect a TV show to find an answer to the meaning of life, but Star Trek approached the topic of life and death and beliefs about what’s in the afterlife before with more thoughtfulness. Here, it was simplified and shallowed, everything just went away because Neelix was needed by the living so he decided not to kill himself. Idk, it just didn’t feel right after everything that happened with him. It was just a rushed ending.

[chiefmilesobrien]

Final Discovery Thoughts

I wish we’d seen more of the rest of the crew. I know that most first episodes focus on one character, but we didn’t see any of the crew of Discovery at all. We didn’t even see Discovery.

I love the idea of the coffins of the Klingons lining the outside of it. It was beautiful and gave depth while still making the Klingon culture feel alien (hard to do after so many years of knowing them!)

THERE WAS A SHORT SLEEVED UNIFORM. That is all.

I still adore any and all engineers. I love engineers. I partly want to see the new crew because I am ready to be emotionally attached to the new engineer.

I think the theme song is very this time era. I’m not sure that’s a bad thing (the sixties one sounds very… Sixties, and we all love it). But I don’t think it’s the same kind of timeless that the TNG, DS9, or VOY themes all had. ENT continues to be the odd one out by having lyrics, sorry.

I wanna see some aliens we’ve seen before! I’m hoping we get an explanation for why the Denobulans disappeared. I’m a little annoyed they decided to make another new alien species instead of exploring one we’ve already seen before, but whatever.

I had the sudden realization that Kira was the first female first officer in all of Star Trek, when they were talking about this being the first female led ship we’ve seen.

I’m interested to see how they write Michael out of jail, although it may have something to do with them losing the Klingon-Federation war, and desperately needing people, I’m assuming. That seems the obvious answer, but I’m hoping for a better than Tom Paris kind of arrangement, honestly - one that sets up more friction between the captain and first officer than we’ve seen. DS9 and VOY did this to some extent, and that was part of what made their command officers actually interesting to me, although VOY mostly abandoned that by season 3 or 4, and DS9 had only one real Bajoran to cause issue.

I know someone said something (ages ago) about Star Trek having one obvious autism-like people, who don’t understand emotions, (they gave Spock, Data, Odo, Tuvok, and Catsuit, whose name I’m blanking on atm. T'Pol, as examples), so I’m interested in who that will be, because I don’t think it’s likely to be Michael, due to her high emotional decisions, and it’s definitely not Saru.

On Saru, I’m… Idk, he was okay, I guess. I’m not sold on him yet. I wasn’t sold on plenty of people in the beginning though, and it’s only been two episodes, so I’m keeping my mind open, I hope.

Showing the forcefields stopping people from being sucked into space was SO. COOL. I’m SO. EXCITED. by it. I love it so much!!!!

Overall, I’m definitely going to keep watching, I’m excited, I’m concerned at the fact that they call this a 15 hour miniseries, because I’m not in love with Michael, and just generally don’t love the “”“"main”“”“ character, so it’s probably never going to be on my list of favourite episodes, but it had

[littlestooge]

Dear author

Hello, Writer!

I am so excited for Chocolate Box! Thank you so very much for writing something for me. I cannot wait to read it!

Yep: happy endings that doin’t fall into syrupy sap, loyalty, domesticity, downtime where the characters just hang out and bond, still waters running deep in terms of emotions (some characters may have trouble expressing emotions but they certainly have them), found families, friendship, emotional bonding, loyalty. If you want to write smut, that’s fine by me! If you don’t, that’s also more than okay. I do prefer sex with an emotional bond present, and that all parties have a good time (winkwink).

Nope: rape/dubious consent, fusions, crossovers, BDSM, scat, sex with people aged under 18, sex with animals, sex with more than two people involved in a single encounter, OT3s, dom/sub, A/B/O-verses or A/B/O dynamics (or similar) in genenral, trans/pansexual/demisexual/asexual headcanons.

Thank you so much for writing for me!

MY REQUESTS

The X-Files

Fox Mulder/Dana Scully; Mulder/Scully & William (their son) My very, very first OTP from when I was just a little girl is Mulder/Scully. I ship them. And I ship them HARD.

Was I utterly thrilled that the shw came back for six new episodes in 2016? Yes! Was I disappointed in episodes 1, 5 and 6? Sure! Was I annoyed that Mulder and Scully had broken up for reasons unknown? Definitely!

But, sadly, I was willing to forgive Chris Carter for writing three terrible episodes (and whoever the hell let him do it!) just for some more time with these two awesome people, and some new information about their feelings about their much longed-for son. And I am looking forward to the new episodes Fox has indicated will land in 2018. Which I very much hope will not suck.

But until then, I would love absolutely anything written about these two crazy kids, at any point of the series (from the Pilot all the way through til now, and anywhere in between). I’d also love to see anything featuring either or both of them and their son. If you’d like to write smut, that’d be great, but I would ask you to remember two things, please: the desperately deep feelings Scully and Mulder have for each other, and the fact that Mulder has an oral fixation...which I’m sure keeps Scully very happy. Ahem.

Star Trek: Voyager

Chakotay/Janeway; Janeway & Q; Janeway & Tuvok; Janeway & Kes; Janeway & Seven of Nine  Chakotay and Janeway are an OTP of mine from way, way back, and few lazy canon additions have annoyed me as much as the tacked-on Seven of Nine/Chakotay ‘romance’ in the finale episode (which I already have plenty of issues with).

I don’t think I’m alone in loving their trapped-on-a-planet-together episode, Resolutions, back in Season 2. I also doubt I’m alone in thinking the likely original intentions of The Powers That Be were to put Janeway and Chakotay together as a couple at some point.

So I’d be down with a fix-it that gets rid of the stupid Chakotay/Seven pairing (Seven is probably best with the Doctor, to be honest), and puts Janeway and Chakotay together. I’d just really like some shipfic of these two, please. Anytime in the series (or after it) is fine. And a fic that ignores the finale is fine. And fic that refers to Resolutions would be awesome. An AU where they’re on New Earth for longer, or an AU where they get together at some point after the episode once they’re back on the ship, or anything along those lines? Awesome!

I also love Janeway’s long, deep friendship with Tuvok, her frindly yet antagonistic friendship with Q, and her affectionate, maternal friendships with Kes (who should have never been written out of the series) and Seven.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Kira/Odo; Kira & Odo I admit that DS9 is not my favourite Trek series. It’s not that I hate it, it’s just that I haven’t made the time to sit down and watch all of it the way I have with most of the other bits of the Trek universe. So I’m nowhere near as familiar with the intricacies of the overarching plots and story arcs.

But one part of DS9 I love is how badass Kira Nerys is. I also really love Odo, and how well his confusion and isolation is represented and acted. But most of all, I love the relationship between Kira and Odo, and how it grows and changes throughout the series. 

I especially like season five’s Children of Time (and not just because I love time travel as a trope, which I totally do). Odo’s love for Kira is shown as being both a strength and a weakness: the Odo who was trapped on the planet after the Defiant crashed has been able to grow and develop as as a person because of his love for Kira, but he is also driven to extreme lengths (which includes sacrificing his own existence) just so that Kira will live. Kira’s reaction to this news is far more realistic than usually allowed on TV: she is conflicted, touched that Odo loves her, but more than anything, horrified by what that love has caused him to do, especially as she had said she was at peace with her supposedly fated death.

That’s not to say that the writers handled this relationship as well as they could have (a mishandling which I’m almost certain had a lot to do with executive meddling, rather than the writers not knowing what they were doing). 

But I’d love to see any fic featuring these guys, during or after the series. Preferably either when they are a couple (perhaps one or both considering the reality of the romantic relationship versus what they thought it would be, especially for Odo), or perhaps just before they take the plunge. When did Kira realise she loved Odo? How did she feel about his feelings for her? 

Star Trek: The Original Series

Kirk/Spock; Kirk/Spock & McCoy Ah, Kirk and Spcok! The granddaddy of slash pairings. Who invented slash, damnit. So I love these two. So, so much. And I ship them HARD. I love these two, and I don’t care when any fic about them is set: before the series, during the series, between the series and the films, during the films, after them. Kirk was likely Spock’ first real, close friend, and definitely helped Spock out of his shell, and helped him with his loneliness. And Spock also became friends with McCoy through Kirk, of course. So the three of them could be awesome together!

Christine Chapel & Nyota Uhura & Janice Rand Some of the original awesome sci-fi ladies! I love these three, and I loved them even more when I found out Majel Barrett (who plays Christine Chapel) was originally meant to play the ship’s first officer. So Gene Roddenberry, for all his faults, was certainly a progressive! So I’d love to see some fic featuring any or all of these ladies being BAMFs, please. As they likely would have been presented all the damn time, had executive meddling not got in the way.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Picard/Guinan; Picard & Guinan

Why did we never get any real insight into this relationship, goddamn it?! How did these two first meet? (And no, not in Time’s Arrow; how did Picard first meet Guinan?) And why is their relationship “beyond family”? Genfic or shipfic both very much appreciated!

Picard & Tasha Yar; Guinan & Tasha Yar

There are few pointless deaths in canon that shit me more than Tasha Yar’s. I know Denise Crosby wanted to leave the series because she felt the character was being under-utilised. But goddamn it, that should have promoted The Powers That Be to fic the issue, not let her walk away when Tasha was such a fab, kickass BAMF of a female character. Christ! 

I liked the growing relationship between Picard and Tasha: Picard obviously felt very fatherly toward Tasha, which was lovely. And Tasha, who was orphaned at a young age and had to struggle to survive when the colony world she lived on went to shit, obviously held Picard in high regard. So I’d love to hear more about them! I’m more than down for an AU fic where Tasha doesn’t die, too.

And while we only saw Guinan interact with an alternate timeline Tasha in the truly epicYesterday’s Enterprise, it’s still an intriguing realtionship between two awesome women. Would love to see what friendship they could have had had Tasha survived!

Picard & Data; Data & Spot I admit it. I love Data, and the way in which he struggles to understand humans and our emotions. And that shows a lot in his relationships with Picard (who he sacrifices himself for in Nemesis - that’s love!) and Spot, who he clearly loves.

Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion (1997)  

Romy White/Michele Weinberger; Romy White & Michele Weinberger; Romy White & Michele Weinberger and Heather Mooney; Heather Mooney/Sandy Frink Near the beginning of the film, Michele asks Romy if they should “have sex sometime” to check if they’re actually lesbians. Romy says no, but to “ask me again” if they reach 30 and are still single.

What happens when these two awesome ladies get to 30? They’re obviously successful business women (for real!) by the time they’re 30, but they’re still single. Do they decide to check if they’re lesbians after all? What happens?

I also really love Heather and Sandy as characters. What happens to them next? Do they get together? And what LA adventures do Romy, Michele and Heather get up together?

Frozen (2013)  

Anna & Elsa Finally! A wildly popular, money-spinning animated Disney movie featuring a strong female protagonist who doesn’t have even a potential future love interest in the form of some dude hanging around her by the end of the film!

I love the relationship between Anna and Elsa, and the fact that this familial love (and between two women! Who aren’t competing with each other over who is prettier or over some dude or whatever!) was the main love story of the film. And was the love that saved the day.

I understand why some people would like Elsa to be lesbian or bi or ace or whatever in the sequel: there is just so little representation, especially in mainstream media. But simply that she is presented as a female character whose main goal in life isn’t to find someone to shack up with is incredibly refreshing. Which I loved.

(I liked Brave for the same reason: the bond between Merida and her mother. But remember, there were those Scottish lads who were competing for her hand at the start of the film. And Frozen made a hell of a lot more money.)

I’d love to see some more Anna and Elsa bonding, please. I don’t care what they’re doing or talking about. I don’t mind if it’s during the film or after it. As long as it’s not incest (which I admit squicks me), I’m happy! 

The Martian - All Media Types

Mark Watney & Ares III Crew This movie also really surprised me with how awesome it was. I admit I have yet to read the book, although it’s on my list!

I just love the bond between Mark and the crew, and would love to see what happens when he gets back to the ship at the end of the film. How do the crew - another chosen family - help Mark put himself back together?

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (movies)

I need to say, firstly, that I was really surprised by how much I loved this movie. I loved the Harry Potter book series growing up (and still do), but I was always “meh” about the movies. But this movie was great!

Well-rounded, non-stereotypical characters, all of whom are actual adults (read: I am so sick of seeing movies and other media featuring characters who are all 24 and under. I’m in my twenties and I couldn’t care less for these brainless stereotypes! Give us some real, complex people who are all at least a decade out of puberty! Please! Jeez.) and have actual personalities. 

Tina, for one, is neither played by an anorexic 21 year old, nor is she inappropriately attired for either the time period or HER GODDAMN JOB AS AN AUROR. WHICH SHE COULDN’T DO IN HEELS. THAT YOU VERY MUCH, BRYCE DALLKAS HOWARD IN JURASSIC WORLD. FFS. Even Queenie, who is far “girlier” is still wearing clothes and shoes she can comfortably move around in, and both women have actual depth to their characters. Awesome!

Queenie Goldstein & Tina Goldstein

Just like Anna and Elsa above, I adore the sisterly relationship presented between these two. These two appear to have been on their own for a while, so I’d love to see any genfic featuring these two, please. Before the movie, after it, during it. I don’t mind! They’re both such asskicking BAMFs, and I’d love to see more of it.

Queenie Goldstein & Tina Goldstein & Jacob Kowalski & Newt Scamander

Do I love the found family/family of choice trope? Why yes. Yes I do. All four of these characters are interesting separately, and lose none of that depth when they come together as a little tribe, taking on the world together. And I love the bond these grown ups (who have all lived, at least a little bit, and experienced love, loss, and war, and have grown from it) form. And I’d love to see more of it!

They’re all great characters, and it’s so nice to see such kind characters find each other, and to be able to help the others. They’re all a bit damaged, after all, but they try their very best to rise above it and live the best lives they can.

Newt Scamander & Newt Scamander's Magical Beasts;  Frank The Thunderbird & Newt Scamander

To say that Newt cares for his animal friends is putting it mildly. Much was made of the fact that Newt is a true Hufflepuff and attempts to settle his battles with his wits and mind rather than his fists, which was just awesome to see in a mainstream film.

Before Newt finds Jacob, Tina and Queenie, his magical beasts are very much his family of choice, and it’s clear they love him. After all, he travels to America purely to free Frank! So any fic featuring them all being awesome together would be great. How did he find Frank? How did he know where Frank originally came from? How did he begin to collect these animals?

Queenie Goldstein/Jacob Kowalski

I truly surprised myself with how much I ship these two. The affection between them felt so deep and real, and they (surprisingly) completely avert the schlubby-guy-and-beautiful-woman-fall-in-love trope. I really did buy it when psychic Queenie told Jacob she was intrigued by who he was as a person, and that she knew he wasn’t just attracted to her because she’s pretty. The friendship between them felt real, and I’d love to see more of it.

I was actually a bit teary when Jacob stepped out into the amnesia rain at the end of the film, and actually smiled when Queenie came into his bakery at the end of the film. This pairing is just begging for reunion fic. Pretty please? Jacob might get his memory back, or he might not. But I’d love to know what happens next!

Jacob Kowalski & Newt Scamander; Jacob Kowalski/Newt Scamander

I just love these guys. I both ship them and like them as BFFs, so would be happy with them being presented as either.  This pairing is just begging for reunion fic. Pretty please? Jacob might get his memory back, or he might not. But I’d love to know what happens next!

Tina Goldstein & Newt Scamander; Tina Goldstein/Newt Scamander

We all already know that, in canon, these two end up married: Luna Lovegood marries their grandson, and they have twin boys. And I have a feeling Luna and her dad would get on gangbusters with Newt and Tina.

I really like how the film ended with these two as friends, rather than with their damn wedding. Tina is a grown ass woman, and she has better things to do than go moping after some English dude with floppy hair. And I love how polite and non-douchebaggy Newt is (both in general, and in the way he doesn’t crack on to Tina like a fucking stalker, whining about how he’s “such a nice guy!”). 

They clearly are good friends before they ever become a couple, so I’d love to see either genfic featuring these two as friends, or shippy fic with them as a couple, or pre-relationship UST fic, please. Or whatever you’d like to write! Maybe a flash forward to what they got up to during WWII? Or either of the wars with Voldemort?

Leta Lestrange & Newt Scamander; Albus Dumbledore & Newt Scamander

I don’t think you need magical powers to know that these two relationships from Newt’s Hogwarts days will play a larger role in future films. So any exploration of these relationships would be wonderful!

Harry Potter (book series)

Dumbledore/Grindelwald I’ve long found this relationship fascinating, and the news (from J.K. Rowling herself!) that Dumbledore was gay and in love with Grindelwald was most intriguing. Did Grindelwald return those feelings? Did he not? Did he never know Albus loved him?

Oh, the possibilities! I am also really pleased that JKR herself is writing the Fantastic Beasts movies (rather than the hodge-podge mess the original movies often were, scripted by other people) because we may finally have some light shed on this relationship, which is obviously so crucial to everything that follows it in the wizarding world. So I’d love to read more about it!

[mot-the-ships-barber]

More Star Trek voyager ramblings

Future’s End (I skipped talking about sacred ground cause it was boring)

Some rando from the future is attacking them, nice

Voyager’s putting up a good fight for being 500 years out of date

awww I was hoping they’d go forward in time instead of back, going back in time is so overdone

Okay if this is just the voyage home but 90s im gonna take back every single bad thing I ever said about voyager

Homeless guy moment

I wanna see Tom Paris just fucking speed down the road

This really shows why time police are a flawed concept, history will inevitably be corrupted by them just as much as would -be time criminals would. Even the noblest of intentions can go horribly wrong when you deal with such broad concepts

Quasi-Cardassian totalitarian! What an insult!

Staring is a chad, I love how he’s just fucking playing pinball the whole time

Tom’s got good taste, stud magnet

Phaser fight in broad daylight? Only in LA

Neelix and Kes are totally soap opera parents and I love them

THE COMPUTER AGE WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN

Starling is great I love him

Mfers stole the doctor, can’t have shit in LA

Torturing the poor doctor that’s a low blow

Welcome to the real world doc 

I love chakotay and b’ellana’s friendship

Beat em up doctor! Footloose and fancy-free!

Oh god it’s the rednecks

I doubt even a Klingon could stand up to a 12-gage

Starling reminds me a lot of my roommate lol

VIVA LA REVOLUTION

FUCK THE GOVERNMENT

DOWN WITH THE BEAST

HEY DONT INSULT TUVOK’S FASHION

This episode is so quotable. “Divine intervention is...unlikely.” *quick draws and stuns both their asses*

Honestly just vaporize the whole thing and be done with it

There we go

JANEWAY GIRLBOSS I LOVE HER

I hope the doctor gets to keep his arm badge

I don’t like that starling’s last words are just “uh oh”

Janeway gets the prime directive thrown at her lmao, time for her to start breaking it

Okay that was a classic and I loved every minute of it

[voyagerafod]

Star Trek Voyager: A Fire of Devotion: Part 2 of 4: Louder Than Bells: Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

    “Are you sure?” Samantha Wildman said to Seven of Nine, the latter sitting across from her in the mostly empty mess hall. The only other sentients there were Neelix preparing some snacks for the night shift, and Harry Kim sitting at the far end of the room drinking coffee while working on his reports.     “Unfortunately, yes,” Seven said. “Even if the risk of damaging my regeneration alcove were lower, it would be simply too impractical to move it to your quarters.”     “And the Captain shot down my idea of just moving mine and Naomi’s stuff to cargo bay two,” Sam said, her chin resting in her hand. “She actually thought I was joking when I suggested it, if you can believe it.”

    “I am often surprised at what Captain Janeway finds funny,” Seven said.

    “Well,” Sam said, “I stand by it. The walls in the cargo bays are modular. Moving one over to make your alcove area small enough to qualify as crew quarters shouldn’t be that hard, and there’d still be plenty of room for Naomi.”     “Where would the sonic shower go though?” Seven said. “It would be more than just moving a wall. Inappropriate laughter aside, the Captain does have a fair point.”     “Yeah, you’re right. I guess we’ll just have to keep doing things they way we have been,” Sam said.     “Our living situation is certainly not traditional Sam,” Seven said, smiling as she put her hand on Sam’s knee under the table. “But it has not been a particular burden. Doing anything different is just too impractical for the time being.”     Sam nodded, and looked around.     “It’s late, we probably should-”     “Lieutenant Kim,” Commander Chakotay’s voice said over the comm. “Please report to the bridge.”     “On my way, sir,” Harry said. Sam looked at Harry as he got up to leave, and only then noticed that the view out the mess hall viewports had changed from the familiar streaks of light from warp travel, and that they were getting closer to a planet.     “Odd,” she heard Seven say.     “How so?”     “We were not projected to come that close to a planetary body for another several days. We must have changed course.”     “Must be important,” Sam said.

    “I suppose I should stay awake in case I am needed,” Seven said. “I’m not due for another regeneration cycle for at least twelve hours.”     “You do that,” Sam said, leaning over the table to kiss Seven on the cheek. “Me, I need sleep. I’ll see you before your next regen cycle?”     “Almost certainly,” Seven said. ---

    Harry Kim didn’t let his excitement show, which was easy because there was less of it than he’d expected. He’d been given a real opportunity here; his first time commanding an away team. Voyager had received an automated distress signal just under an hour before he’d been summoned from the mess hall. The signal originated from an M-class planet, but attempts to hail the originator of the signal were met with no response. The bridge crew failed to detect any life signs, but Commander Chakotay had pointed out there could be any number of reasons for that and they should send a team down anyway, a team that he would monitor from the bridge while Harry was in charge. So Harry quickly put a team together, a small one consisting of himself, the Doctor, and Timothy Lang from security division.     “The distress call was automated?” the Doctor asked as he and Harry made their way to the transport room, where Lang would already be waiting for them.

    “That’s right,” Harry said. “We’re hoping whoever sent it is still alive.”     “Well,” the Doctor said, “thanks for bringing me along, Lieutenant. And congratulations.”     “For what?”     “This is your first away mission as lead, is it not?”     “It is,” Harry said. “but it’s just a standard recon. If a full rescue is required, Commander Chakotay will take over from there. I don’t think I deserve a lot of praise for something so basic.”     “Ah,” the Doctor said. Harry wondering what that ‘Ah’ meant exactly, but decided not to press it. The two entered the transport room, their other team member already on the pad, clearly ready to go, but not looking impatient at all. Though to Harry’s memory, Timothy Lang hardly ever had any expression beyond detached disinterest. Harry and the Doctor stepped onto the pad as well.     “Energize,” Harry said.     Within seconds, the away team was on the planet, surrounded by rocks, and reddish orange sky, no signs of any kind of life nearby, not even plant life.

    “Are you sure these are the right coordinates?” the Doctor asked.     “Positive,” Harry said, taking out his tricorder as he spoke.

    “Apparently,” the Doctor continued, “whoever sent the distress call was already rescued.”     “Maybe,” Harry said. “But if that’s the case why not turn off the beacon once they were gone? We should make a thorough search anyway, just to be sure. Spread out.”

    Harry went off in one direction, the Doctor and Lang each taking another, both with tricorders out. It was barely a minute before Harry heard the Doctor call out for him. He jogged over to where the Doctor was standing.     “This is the source of the distress call,” the Doctor said, looking at a device of some sort that was embedded in a nearby outcrop. The device emitted a very low hum, one that was barely any more audible once Harry was closer to it, scanning with his tricorder.     “Para-trinic shielding” Harry said. “A dense energy matrix, bio-neural circuitry…”

    “Bio-neural?” the Doctor said, “Like Voyager?”     Before Harry could confirm that, a series of blue lights on the side of the device activated, and the low hum was replaced with a high pitched beeping.     “Okay,” Harry said, “back off, this thing could be dangerous.” He wondered if a noise like that had been what Tuvok had heard from the Krenim torpedo that had cost him his sight during the Year of Hell. He then felt disappointed at having thought about the Year of Hell for the first time in months.

    “Wait,” the Doctor said. “There are patterns in the beeps. It’s speaking to us, speaking in duotronic algorithms. I think it’s an A.I. My translation matrix is still interpreting, give me a moment.”     The beeps continued.     “It says it’s injured,” the Doctor said. “It needs our help. It’s asking why it can’t see, or why it can’t feel it’s arms and legs.”

    “It doesn’t have any arms and legs,” Harry said.     “I’m aware of that,” the Doctor said. “Regardless, it’s terrified.”

    The Doctor moved over to the opposite side of the device. Harry kept his tricorder open. Lang simply stood just behind Harry occasionally looking around to see if anyone was trying to approach them, perhaps expecting some kind of ambush.     “Can you identify yourself?” the Doctor said to the device. A short series of beeps followed. “It’s saying that its memory’s been damaged. It doesn’t remember its name. Excuse me one moment please while I speak to my colleague.” The Doctor went over to Harry.

    “So,” Harry said, “we have an artificial intelligence on our hands.”     “One who doesn’t seem to realize it is artificial, “ the Doctor said. “I don’t want to risk any psychological trauma, so we can’t tell it what it is just yet.”     “Doc,” Harry said. “It’s a machine. I don’t think synthetic lifeforms are that fragile.”     “Perhaps, but regardless it’s confused and it needs our help, Lieutenant,” the Doctor said. “We should beam it aboard.”     “Not until we know what we’re dealing with,” Harry said. “You know away mission protocols, Doc.”     “I do,” the Doctor said. “But I also know what morality dictates. It is clearly in distress, and we are in a position to help.”

    Harry sighed. Something about this didn’t sit well with him, but his instincts had let him down in the past. He tapped his com badge.     “Kim to Voyager,” he said.

    “Go ahead, Harry,” Captain Janeway’s voice replied.     “We found the source of the distress call,” Harry continued. “It’s a synthetic life form, badly damaged. The Doctor thinks we should beam it aboard.”

    “You’re in charge of the away mission, Lieutenant,” Janeway said, “what do you think?”     Harry looked at the Doctor, and at the device.     “We’ve had bad experiences with A.I.’s before, Captain, but this one has no visible weapon ports that I can find. I’m going to suggest going along with the Doctor’s suggestion, but as a precaution I recommend sealing off an engineering bay with a level ten force field and beaming it directly there.”     “Agreed,” Janeway said. “Give us a few minutes.”

    The Doctor smiled, turning to the device.

    “We’re going to transport you back to our ship,” he said. The device let out another series of beeps. “I’m Voyager’s Emergency Medical Hologram.” The device beeped again, and the Doctor began going into detail about the science behind how holograms worked, and Harry had to suppress a laugh.     Well, Harry thought, if we can get this thing fixed up it looks like Naomi is going to have a real classmate for the first time.

---

    B’Elanna Torres looked at the device that the Doctor had brought aboard, resting on a workbench near the back of engineering.

    “Well, at least this one isn’t silver and humanoid shaped,” she said.

    “I hope you aren’t implying that my new patient is also a leftover weapon from a centuries old war, are you?” the Doctor said.

    “Nah,” B'Elanna said, shaking her head, more to try and clear the mental image of the robot called 3947 from her memory than to show disagreement. “Realistically, what are the odds that twice in less than five years we come across two synthetic life forms dedicated to fighting a war that its creators had ended?”     The Doctor frowned.     “Given some of the things this crew has been through the past six years?”     “Touché,” B’Elanna said. ”Though I have to admit, if it does turn out to be a weapon we couldn’t have picked a worse place to start working on it. Could we maybe move it a bit further away from the warp core?”     “There’s a level ten force field around it, B’Elanna,” the Doctor said. “If it goes kablooey it won’t take us with it.”     “I wish I had your confidence,” B’Elanna said. She heard the door to engineering open, and turned to see Captain Janeway and Lieutenant Kim enter.

    “How’s our patient?” the captain asked.

    “Complicated,” B’Elanna said. “It uses bio-neural circuitry to mimic humanoid synaptic functions, but its memory core is damaged. Basically, it has the technological equivalent of amnesia.”     “Any theories as to what it might be?” Janeway said.     “It could be a probe,” B’Elanna said. “or a communications device.”

    “Whoever our friend is,” the Doctor said, “he wasn’t alone. He claims to have been traveling with a companion.”     “He?”     “He insisted on male pronouns, Captain,” the Doctor said.     “Ah, okay. Carry on. Was the companion an A.I. too?”

    “I believe so,” the Doctor said.

    “Okay, I’ll have Seven use astrometrics to start looking for him. Perhaps if we can find his companion we’ll get more answers.”     With that, the Captain and Harry left. The Doctor moved closer to the device, and asked Tim Lang, who had been watching over the device since both had been beamed up, to lower the force field so he could go talk to it.     “How are you?” the Doctor said. B’Elanna continued on her scanning of the device, but the Doctor was not being quiet, making it impossible not to hear his side of the conversation.

    “Well, that’s an interesting question,” the Doctor continued, after a series of beeps and chirps. “Lieutenants Kim and Torres are attempting to repair your, um, damaged circuitry.”     The series of noises the device emitted next didn’t need much translation in B’Elanna’s opinion.     I guess now I know how to say ‘what the hell are you talking about?’ in binary, she thought.

    “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” the Doctor said. “You’re not an organic being. You’re technological. You’re an artificial intelligence, embedded in a machine of some kind.”     Another series of beeps.

    “No, there’s no mistake,” the Doctor said. “We believe the damage you suffered in the crash is causing your confusion.”     The next series of beeps to come out of the device sounded distressed to B’Elanna’s ears. She supposed she couldn’t blame him at all.     “Well,” the Doctor continued, “look at it this way. You and I have something in common.”

---

    Seven of Nine hoped the planetary scans would go by quicker now that the Captain was here to aid. In the past she might have been insulted that Janeway would jump in on a task that Seven could easily complete herself, but between her romantic relationship with Samantha, and her budding friendships with several other crew members, she had learned the value of free time.

    “I’m detecting no further technology on the planet surface,” she said.     “Maybe the second device was destroyed when it crashed,” Janeway said. “Scan for metallic particulates consistent with our friend in engineering.”

    Seven made the proper adjustments to the sensors in seconds, and had results shortly after that. It was an oddly pleasant experience being able to scan a planet without any sort of unusual outside factors making it difficult. The lack of a metaphorical ticking clock putting pressure on her to find something within an unreasonable amount of time was also nice.

    “There are minute traces scattered across the northern continent,” Seven said. “I’m isolating them now.”     Both women turned from their consoles to look at the astrometrics lab viewscreen, the view shifting to zoom in and clarify the image of that area of the planet. When it was finished, Janeway stated what Seven had already deduced.

“An impact crater,” she said.

“It spans a radius of two hundred kilometers,” Seven said.   

“And look at this,” Janeway said. “Heavy concentrations of radiogenic decay in the crater walls. The fracture gradients are consistent with a highly focused explosion.     “Evidently we’ve discovered the device’s function,” Seven said. “The Doctor will likely be less than pleased to hear this.”

“True, though I’m also not looking forward to telling B’Elanna we’ve got a weapon of mass destruction sitting right next to our warp core.”

“To be fair, Captain,” Seven said, “I doubt anyone in her position would be pleased about such a discovery. I believe the term Mister Paris would use would be ‘sphincter tightening.’”     “Yeah,” Janeway said, Seven noticing that the Captain was not taking her eyes off the crater on the viewscreen. “Sounds about right.”

---

    “I understand your concerns,” the Doctor said to Captain Janeway in the briefing room. “but the device hasn’t shown itself to be hostile.”     “Not yet,” B’Elanna said, standing next to Harry, who was the only one in the room sitting down at that moment, the latter looking worried. The Doctor figured that Harry was blaming himself for potentially endangering the ship, but the Doctor didn’t see it that way at all. He saw an opportunity and he wanted to pursue it.

    “All the more reason to talk to it,” the Doctor said. “We explain our concerns, and then ask it for help in safely defusing its explosive components.”

    “If it’s programmed to detonate,” Chakotay said, standing between Janeway and B’Elanna, “there’s no telling how it would react.”     “Agreed,” Janeway said. “We have to neutralize the threat now. Suggestions?”     “We could beam it off the ship,” Harry said. “Out into space, or back where we found it.”     “Harry, this is a sentient being we’re talking about,” the Doctor said. “I refuse to believe our only options are to kill it or abandon it.”

    “What if we could separate the bio-neural circuitry from the explosive?” B’Elanna said. “Take the weapon off-line, but salvage the intelligence?”     “They’re fully integrated,” Harry said. “Where would we keep the A.I. if we can do that?”

    The Doctor smiled, excited at the prospect of having another synthetic life form to talk to.     “The answer’s obvious,” he said. “Download its synaptic patterns into a holographic matrix like mine.”     “Then what?” Chakotay said, his tone flat enough that the Doctor couldn’t tell if the commander was on his side or not, the way B’Elanna appeared to be.     “First off,” the Doctor said, “we try to find out where it came from, and return it to its people.”     “What if it doesn’t want to go?” Harry asked. “I don’t know if I’m alone in thinking this, but it would seem to me that creating a synthetic life form as complex as this one, only to stick it in what is essentially a missile is just downright sadistic. That would be like having a child for the sole purpose of training it to commit suicide.”

    Janeway sighed.     “Well,” she said, leaning forward on her chair, “in that case I suppose we’d have to grant it asylum, if it asked. Very well then. Harry, B’Elanna, assist the Doctor.”     “Thank you, Captain,” the Doctor said.

    “At the first sign of danger though, we transport it off the ship. Understood?”     Captain Janeway’s tone and stance made it clear that no amount of arguing would do any good on that front, but the Doctor wasn’t worried. He was sure that working with Harry and B’Elanna they’d be able to save the A.I.

    “Yes, Captain,” he said.     “Dismissed,” Janeway said.

---

“This begs the question,” Joe Carey said as he helped Harry carry the device, now known to be a weapon, out of engineering to take to sickbay. “why would you waste such a sophisticated artificial intelligence on a bomb?”     “Harry said pretty much the same thing,” B’Elanna said as she started gathering tools they’d need to perform the procedure to attempt to disable the explosive. “He called the thing’s creators sadistic. Though I wouldn’t entirely rule out stupidity. Anyway, I’ll meet you there. There won’t be enough room for all three of us plus the synthetic in the turbolift.”

“Understood,” Carey said.

The device made a loud noise as the two men started moving towards the door with the device in their arms.     “It’s okay,” the Doctor said, walking alongside them. “I wouldn’t like being carried around either.”     More beeps came out of the device as the group entered the nearest turbolift, B’Elanna walking past them to get to the next nearest.     “We’re taking you to sickbay,” the Doctor said. “we’re better equipped to help you there. Don’t worry.”     We’re talking to a bomb the way I’d talk to my sons when I had to take them to the doctors when they were little, Carey thought, trying not to laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

There was another series of beeps, softer this time. Carey hoped that meant the explosive device wasn’t panicking. The yield of the explosive was irrelevant, the ship might survive, but he was holding the damn thing. He and Harry certainly wouldn’t. He doubted the Doctor’s mobile emitter would survive either.

“We’re going to transfer your intelligence to a holo-matrix,” the Doctor said. “In a little while, you’re going to be walking around, just like me.”     “Which reminds me,” Harry said. “Have you picked a body for it yet? Him, I mean, sorry.”     “I figured I’d let him choose an appearance,” the Doctor said. “I’ve removed any crew members, especially deceased ones, from the list in order to avoid any possible discomfort for the rest of the crew. Though since we have only the one mobile emitter I suppose we’ll have to work out some kind of sharing schedule so he won’t be confined to just sickbay and the holodeck.”     “Just a thought,” Carey said, “you may want to remove any Cardassians from the list as well. Don’t want to risk anymore drama like we had that one time.”     The Doctor sighed. “Why do I have to keep reminding people I had no idea the man was a war criminal when I created the consultant program?”

The conversation was cut off when the turbolift doors opened on deck five, and the group made their way to sickbay. They carried the device in, and set it down on one of the bio-beds. Seconds later, B’Elanna entered.     “Alright,” she said, setting her tool kit next to the device and opening it up. “ready whenever you are, Doctor.”

“Are you ready?” the Doctor said to the device.     There was a short, single beep.     “Okay then,” the Doctor said.     Harry opened a panel on top of the device, and B’Elanna went to work. Carey stepped back. He didn’t think he’d be needed since B’Elanna and Harry were perfectly qualified to handle this task, but the former had insisted he stay in case they needed an extra pair of hands.

A series of rapid, loud beeps and chirps began. Even before the Doctor started telling the device to remain calm, that they needed to access some of its system in order to perform the transfer, Carey figured the device was responding with panic. He wondered if the device felt pain. After all, if Harry’s theory about the designer’s sadism were accurate he couldn’t rule that out.

“He says he wants to know exactly what you’re doing as you do it,” the Doctor said to B’Elanna, who rolled her eyes.     “If I’ve ever been that annoying while you were working on me,” she said, “I owe you an apology.”     “Actually you owe me six, but who’s counting,” the Doctor said.     “Regardless,” B'Elanna said, “this is a delicate procedure. I won’t be able to concentrate if I have to give constant updates.”

“I can help with that,” Carey said.     “Okay, Joe,” B’Elanna said. “Get as close as you can without getting in my or Harry’s way.”     “Alright,” Carey said, “Well, first we’re going to be setting up an active interlink between you and the holo-systems. To do that we’re going to have to take your program off-line while we resequence your bio-neural circuitry.”     There was another series of beeps. Carey picked up on the tone of distress, impressed with himself for doing so.     “I’m sorry,” he said, “there isn’t another way.”     “Very perceptive Mister Carey,” the Doctor said. “He did in fact say he didn’t want to be turned off.”

“I figured it was something close,” Carey said.

B’Elanna continued to manipulate the tool she was using, but seconds later, the lights in the device began flashing red, and a loud alarm sound starting coming out of it. B’Elanna and Harry immediately took a step back, the latter opening his tricorder.     “He’s arming,” Harry said. “The detonation sequence has started.”

“Sickbay to transporter room 1,” B’Elanna said. “the device is going to detonate. Beam it off the ship.”     “Yes ma’am,” Todd Mulcahey’s voice responded. After a few moments passed and no sign of a transporter beam, Todd began speaking again. “For the love of- it’s protecting itself somehow, I can’t get a lock.”     “Goddamit,” B’Elanna said, “I really wish that kind of thing would stop happening. When we get back to Earth I’m recommending a complete fleet wide overhaul of our transporter systems. Doctor, try to talk it down.”     “Please, stop,” the Doctor said earnestly, “you’re going to destroy yourself, and us.”     Not the order I would’ve put that in, Carey thought.     “Detonation in twenty seconds,” Harry said. “I’m going to try sending an E.M. pulse through its power matrix. maybe I can short it out.”     “Fifteen seconds,” B’Elanna said.     “Please don’t detonate,” the Doctor said, still talking to the device. “We’re only trying to help you.”     “Ten seconds!” B’Elanna said. Carey stepped back. He could help Harry, but since Harry was working on a smaller console than the ones they had in engineering, it was more likely he’d just get in the way if he tried.     “Initiating the pulse,” Harry said.

“Six, five, fo-” The device shut down, cutting B’Elanna’s countdown, much to Carey’s relief, and apparently Harry’s as well give how loud his exhale was.     “That was too close,” B’Elanna said.     “You shouldn’t have done that,” the Doctor said.     Carey looked at the Doctor, and felt a sense of dread. Something was off with the Doctor’s voice.     “I know you got a little attached to the thing,” B’Elanna said, packing up her tool kit. “But we had-”     “You lied,” the Doctor said.     “Oh shit,” Carey muttered under his breath.

“You said you were trying to transfer my neural patterns, but you were really trying to shut me down.”     “Oh no,” Harry said, having reached the same conclusion Carey had.     “You’re the A.I.,” B’Elanna said. “You used the interlink to hijack the Doctor.”

“You tried to destroy me,” the A.I. said through the Doctor’s voice.     “We were only trying to disarm the explosives in your body,” Harry said.     “I’m a weapon. Why didn’t you tell me?”     “It was a precaution,” Harry said. “We were afraid you might be dangerous.”     “Looks like we were right,” B’Elanna said. “We were going to try and destroy you, but the Doctor, the hologram you just hijacked, convinced us to try and help you.”

“You must help me complete my mission,” the A.I. said. “I remember it now. I am a long-range tactical-armor unit. I’ve been deployed by my people. They’re facing a terrible threat. A hostile species. My companion unit was destroyed, but I will reach my target. Your ship will take me there.”     “Look,” Harry said, cautiously walking towards the A.I. that had stolen the Doctor’s form, “we can contact your people, you just need to tell us who they are-”     “I must resume my mission!” the A.I. screamed, pushing the buttons on the side of the device in pattern. The lights on the top, where the panel had been removed earlier, lit up again. The three officers looked at each other. No one needed to say it out loud; the device had been rearmed. “If you try to stop me, I’ll detonate. This ship, and everyone on it, will be destroyed.”

“Oh hell,” Harry said. “Kim to security, do not, I repeat do not attempt to enter sickbay.”

“Lieutenant Kim,” Tuvok’s voice said, “what is your status?”

    Harry filled Tuvok in on what had happened. Carey risked getting closer to the A.I. in order to look it in the eyes, the Doctor’s eyes.     “Listen to me,” he said, “we don’t even know how long you were on that planet. Your mission may be over already. Give us back our Doctor, and tell us who your people are so we can return you to them. Please.”     The A.I. ignored Carey, and picked up a PADD, and began entering coordinates into it.

“Give this to your navigator,” he said. “Set this course, and proceed there at maximum velocity. The target system is approximately two light years from here” He shoved the PADD into Carey’s hands. Carey looked at B’Elanna, who nodded.     “Go ahead. Fill the Captain in. We’ll go along,” she said, the ‘for now’ implied in her tone.

“On it,” Carey said, leaving sickbay.

“The course I have plotted bypasses enemy minefields,” the A.I. said. “Do not deviate from it.”

---

    “If he has access to the Doctor’s program,” Captain Janeway said, “he probably knows how fast the ship can go, so going at warp 1 to buy time won’t help.”     She looked again at the PADD that Joe Carey had given her before returning to engineering, as if just staring at it for a little longer would give her a solution to this problem. She wished she could contact Harry and B’Elanna, but the A.I. had locked down sickbay after Carey had left, and wouldn’t allow anyone to exit or enter. If she tried hailing them, the A.I. would overhear.

    “We could offer to fix its own propulsion system and send it on its way,” Chakotay said.     Janeway shook her head.     “Helping it would be getting involved in a war we know nothing about,” she said. “I know there’s been debate about the Prime Directive among the crew lately, but I doubt anyone could argue this case isn’t a pretty cut and dried example.”     “I hope you aren’t suggesting we just let it blow up the ship,” Tom said without turning from his console.     “Only as a last resort,” Janeway said, not ready to give up just yet. “We’ve still got time for options, so if anybody has any, I’m all ears. We’ve survived so much since we got to the Delta Quadrant, I’m not willing to accept that of all things we end up losing Voyager to a damaged A.I.”

    “Sensors are being accessed from sickbay, Captain,” Tuvok said.

    “Let them be,” Janeway said. “We need to play along until we can find a way out of this. If the A.I. can’t see the sensors he might just assume we’re lying and blow us up anyway. Chakotay, get Seven of Nine up here. Don’t use communicators, not yet anyway, we don’t know how much if any of the systems the A.I. is able to access through the Doctor. Tuvok, Tom, report to the briefing room.”     Both Tom and Tuvok acknowledged the request and immediately stepped away from their posts, junior officers moving in to cover for them.

    Janeway waited until Chakotay returned to the bridge, Seven of Nine in tow, to the bridge before heading to the briefing room herself.     “Brainstorm time people,” Janeway said.     “If we could disable the force field around sickbay we could beam the device out into space,” Tom said.     “Even if we could do that fast enough to get a lock before it detonated,” Seven said, “we could not beam it out far enough from the ship to escape the blast.”

    “If we could tap into the holo-projectors we might be able to shut him down,” Chakotay said.     Janeway shook her head.     “Mister Carey told me that the Doctor’s mobile emitter is still on him,” she said. “He didn’t remove it when they got to sickbay before they started the procedure. It’s not a bad idea otherwise, just our bad luck.”

    “Have we entirely ruled out attempting to reason with the bomb?” Tuvok said. “Is it a true A.I., or just a sophisticated weapons system?”     “It certainly seems capable of anger and paranoia,” Janeway said. “It’s certainly sentient, but it has the determination of a zealot. Trying to change its mind might work if we had more time before reaching the target system.”

    “If it can be talked down,” Seven said, “Lieutenant Kim is likely already attempting to do so. He and Lieutenant Torres are still trapped with the device, after all.”

    Janeway sighed.     “Good point,” she said, “but I’d like to have other options besides hoping Harry can build a rapport with it. We need to outsmart the smart bomb.”

---

    “You don’t have to do this you know,” Harry Kim said to the A.I.     “It’s what I was programmed for,” the A.I. replied, not looking up from the console where it monitored the ship’s sensors.     “So?” Harry said. “You’re a sentient being, capable of making your own decisions. Look at the Doctor. He was designed to be just a doctor, but in the past five years he has become more than that. He’s taken up hobbies, made friends, he’s even dated.”     “Your Doctor is a tool,” the A.I. said.     “A tool that saved your life,” Harry said. “If it weren’t for him you’d still be damaged and alone on that planet. He’s the one who convinced me to beam you aboard.”

    The A.I. looked at Harry for a moment, but didn’t respond before returning its gaze to the console. Harry continued speaking, not allowing the unusual situation of trying to reason with a bomb to get to him.     “When we found out what you were, most of the senior staff wanted to destroy you. The Doctor defended you, said you weren’t just a bomb, you were a synthetic life form with the same rights as any synthetic in the Federation.”     “Tell me,” the A.I. said, “despite all his achievements, did your, friend ever stop being a Doctor?”

    “No,” Harry said, wondering where this was going.

    “And I can’t stop being a weapon,” the A.I. said.     “It doesn’t have to be like that,” Harry said. “We can give your own holo-matrix, and you can keep all of this. Eyes, the ability to move around, the ability to speak. You blow yourself up, that all goes away.”

    “The only thing I want is the destruction of my target,” the A.I. said.     “What is your target anyway?” Harry said.

    “A military installation on Selinia Prime,” the A.I. said. “Grid 11, Vector 9341.”     “Tell me about it,” Harry said. “Who is your enemy?”     “A ruthless violent race that’s threatening to destroy my people,” the A.I. said, anger in his voice.

    “What else do you know about them? Do you even know their name? What’s their planet like?”

    “I’m not programmed with superfluous data.”     “Or maybe your creators just didn’t want you to know,” Harry said, hoping he’d found a thread to pull on. “Maybe, they knew that if you knew more about them, you might change your mind and decide not to blow up at all. One of the risks of making a weapon with an artificial intelligence after all. Did I ever tell you my theory about your creators? That they are sadists for creating something with such remarkable intelligence, only to make it blow itself up?”     “Enough!” the A.I. shouted.

    “You’re aboard Voyager now, you have access to our scanners,” Harry said. “Why don’t we take a closer look at your target?” Harry went to a console behind the one the A.I. was using and started pulling out long-range sensor data.     “If you must,” the A.I. said. “Just stop talking about it.”     “Or what, you’ll blow up? When you are so close to your goal?”

    Harry crossed his arms, and grinned, even though inwardly he worried he’d pushed the bomb just a bit too hard and his talking to it was going to literally blow up in his face.

    “Get out,” the A.I. said, “before I use your friend’s body to harm you.” The A.I. stood up and turned off the monitor Harry was using.     Harry found himself at a loss, not sure what he could say next that wouldn’t escalate the situation. He sighed and left the Doctor’s office, leaving the A.I. alone.     B’Elanna saw him, walked over, and put a hand on his shoulder.     “You tried,” she said. “no one can fault you for that.”     “Can’t they? This all happened because of the first command decision I ever made as an away team leader.”

---

    “The name of the species that made the bomb is the Druoda,” Neelix said, setting something down on the briefing room table. Seven of Nine looked at it, wondering what it was.     “How’d you find that out?” Janeway said, which was the second question that Seven had thought of herself, the first being how Neelix had even known there was a meeting since he hadn’t been invited.     “I saw the bomb while it was in engineering,” Neelix said, “and parts of it looked familiar. So I went through some of the items we collected during our last trading run, and that right there is a piece of kitchen equipment that uses the same technology.”     “Good catch,” Chakotay said, “but I don’t know how that helps us right now.”

    Neelix didn’t have a response, and Seven felt sorry for him. It was in Neelix’s nature to want to help, and under different circumstances, this information would be more valuable than it was currently.

    “That’s alright, Neelix,” Janeway said. “But since you’re here, go ahead and take a seat. We’ve been at this for over an hour with no luck, we could use a fresh perspective.”

    Neelix shrugged.     “I suppose it can’t hurt,” he said. “just promise not to laugh too hard if I make a stupid suggestion.”

    “Promised,” Chakotay said.

    Seven of Nine took another look at the schematics of the weapon on the PADD in her hand, and had an idea. One with a low probability of success, but it was better than the nothing they had so far.     “I have studied the weapon’s schematics,” she said, “and I believe my nanoprobes can be modified to disable its bio-neural circuitry. However, that would require me gaining access to its primary control port.”     “Great idea,” Janeway said, “except for the force fields around sickbay. How would we get you in there without giving the bomb enough time to detonate itself?”

    “We could just shut down the warp core,” Chakotay said. “and stop the auxiliaries from kicking in right away. We’d have more than enough time before air ran out for Seven to disable the bomb. How much time would you need?”     “Approximately twenty seconds,” Seven said.     “Does that include how long it would take you to get to the device?” Janeway said. “He might have forced Harry and B’Elanna to move him further away from the door, and he has his own power supply.”     “But his intelligence is in the Doctor,” Chakotay said.     “Who, as Mister Carey informed us, was still wearing his mobile emitter,” Tuvok said.     Seven sighed.     “I had failed to take that into consideration,” she said. “I apologize.”

    “Don’t,” Janeway said. “Maybe there is another way to get you in there. Tuvok, run a scan on that subspace minefield the bomb warned us about. Specifically, I want to know their explosive yield and how much damage they could do to the ship.”     “Captain?” Tuvok said.     “I believe the Captain intends to stage an injury,” Seven said, “that would require taking me to sickbay, A bold strategy, however it supposes the bomb would allow me to be brought in.”     “True,” Janeway said, “but it’s the best idea I’ve got so far. Any objections?”     No one said anything.     “Alright then,” Janeway said. “Seven, start looking into the best way to fake third-degree plasma burns. The injury is going to need to look severe if this is going to even have a chance at working.”     “Understood,” Seven said.

    “Wait a second,” Tom Paris said, “wouldn’t we have to change course to hit those mines? The bomb would be on to us immediately.”     “That’s why I’m having Tuvok study them” Janeway said. “So we can find a way to mimic the side effects of encountering the mines. I know this is going to be anathema to your sensibilities as a pilot Tom, but we may be asking you to give us a bumpy ride on purpose.”     “I can learn to live with it,” Tom said.     “Good. Dismissed,” Janeway said. With that, the crew filed out of the briefing room, ready to do what they needed to to try and save the ship from an intelligent bomb. From Seven’s perspective, that was far from the most unusual thing she’d encountered, in or out of the collective.

---

    The A.I. stood at the bio-bed where it’s original body still lay, scanning it, and visibly getting more and more frustrated. B’Elanna hoped it would get angry enough to make a mistake, but then admonished herself.     How would I even know what to do if it did? she thought.     “Assist me,” the A.I. suddenly said, going into the Doctor’s office where she and Harry were sitting.     “Excuse me?” B’Elanna said.

“I am attempting to find the malfunction that caused me to crash,” he said, “but several of my memory files are still damaged. Restore them.” The A.I. turned around and left the office without giving her time to respond.     B’Elanna looked at Harry, who was already standing up.     “Might as well,” he said, “can’t risk pissing him off, he might blow us up right now.”     “You’re still hoping the Captain can find a way out of this?” B’Elanna said.     “She’ll have the rest of the senior staff helping her,” Harry said, “we just need to buy them time.”     B’Elanna sighed. She would’ve preferred to just sit and let the damn bomb try to fix its own memory banks, but she saw no point in resisting if Harry was going to help.

“The Cardassian missile, the silver robots, now this. If I make it back to the Alpha Quadrant, I’m going to make sure I’m never alone in a room with Commander Data,” she muttered to herself. To the A.I. she said in a louder tone, “Where do we start?”     “There are several disruptions in my memory index,” the A.I. said. “including a three minute, thirty-seven-second gap just prior to the crash.”     “A recursive search algorithm might retrieve the missing data,” B’Elanna said. She touched a few buttons on the console, and quickly she found what the A.I. was looking for.

“Well, that was easy even by my standards,” she said, hoping the A.I. took offense at her pride at being able to accomplish in seconds what he hadn’t been able to at all. “Right there, you received a subspace transmission, a command. A command to alter course and head to the planet surface. Looks like your landing wasn’t an accident.”     “So much for your target,” Harry said. “Seems to me like your creators managed to solve their problems without you.”     “It must’ve been an attempt by the enemy to divert me from my target,” the A.I. said insistently.     “No way,” B’Elanna said. “Your access codes are encrypted.”     “They must have developed an infiltration code.”     “Why do you say that?” Harry said.     “Who else would try to divert me?”     “Correct me if I’m wrong,” Harry said, “but these are the same duotronic algorithms you use to communicate with.”     “My own people wouldn’t try to stop me!” The A.I. said.     “Looks to me like they did,” B’Elanna said, starting to get a sinking feeling of deja vu for the silver robots she’d met several years ago who had wiped out their own creators to prevent them from ending their own war. “Whatever the reason, they didn’t need you to be a bomb anymore. Now, me, if I’d created something as sophisticated as you I’d want it back, but-”     “The enemy is ruthless. The target is a threat. Why would my people call off the assault?”     “Motherf- we just told you we don’t know,” B’Elanna said. “And don’t try suggesting we planted that order there, you were looking right at me when I found it in your memory banks.”

“Okay, everyone calm down,” Harry said. “Maybe if we clear up some more of these memory files, we’ll see why your orders were changed.”     “Your assistance is no longer required,” the A.I. said.     “Because you’re afraid of the truth?” Harry said. “Let us finish our job, then decide what to do next. But you have to accept that you may not like what we find.”     The A.I. looked at Harry, then at B’Elanna, then back at Harry.     “Proceed,” he said. “But I will be monitoring you, looking for any sign of subterfuge.”

B’Elanna went back to work, and began pulling up more damaged data.     “Does the phrase ‘designated command matrix’ mean anything to you?” she said.     “That’s my control center,” the A.I. said, sounding calmer.     “It looks like they rescinded your orders some time after you originally launched,” Harry said, looking over B’Elanna’s shoulder at the monitor.. “See for yourself.”

    The A.I. looked at the screen in shock as it read the order he had received out loud.     “‘All long-range tactical armor units, terminate mission immediately.’ It says the war is over, that it ended nearly three years ago. My launch was a mistake. There was a malfunction in one of the command sensors that activated a series of launch sequencers. My people managed to shut most of them down, but thirty-four weapons were fired. Including me.”     “I guess this means you can disarm yourself now,” Harry said. “We can return you to your people. You can go home.”     “No,” the A.I. said, “there’s no confirmation code here. We evaded the enemy minefield so they are attempting to deceive us.”     “The confirmation code could be in one of your damaged memory files,” B’Elanna said.     “Or maybe it was you!” the A.I. shouted, getting agitated again. B’Elanna decided she had had enough of this.     “How?” she said, yelling as loud as he had been. “Seriously asshole, how? You’ve been monitoring us this whole time! When would we have been able to alter your memory files like that?”

    “You have lied to me before, why should I trust you now?”     “We didn’t lie to you before, you paranoid synthetic,” B’Elanna said. “We were trying to get you your own holographic body when you decided to hijack our Doctor and take our ship hostage. But you don’t even have to trust us, just access the rest of your damn memory files!”

    “No! I am programmed to destroy my target! I will complete my mission!”

    “You don’t have a mission anymore,” Harry said, somehow staying calm amidst all the shouting. “The war is over, but you could end up starting another one. How many of your people would die then? At the very least, the very very least you owe it to them to determine the truth before you go blowing yourself up.”

    The ship suddenly shuddered, and the red alert klaxons started going off.

    “Sickbay to bridge,” the A.I. said, “what is happening?”     “We’ve run into a subspace mine,” Janeway’s voice said, sounding upset. “You told us your course would bypass your enemy's minefields.”     “There shouldn’t be any mines along this course,” the A.I. said. He glowered at B’Elanna and Harry, and B’Elanna glowered right back.     “Your information is a little out of date in case you forgot,” she said.     “We’re plotting a new course to avoid them,” Janeway’s voice continued. “But there are thousands of them scattered throughout the region.”     “Transmit it to me,” the A.I. said. He looked at the new course on the monitor. “This trajectory will delay us for two days!”     “That just gives you time to confirm the war is over,” Harry said, “since you won’t believe your own memory banks, we can contact your people. Unless you expect your own controllers to lie to you as well.”     “Don’t give the paranoid any ideas, Harry,” B’Elanna whispered.

    “No! Proceed as planned, Captain Janeway. I am programming a shield enhancement that will protect Voyager.”     “I’m still going to have to reduce speed. That last hit dropped us out of warp,” Janeway said.

    “Agreed,” the A.I. said, grudgingly. “But only until we’ve cleared the minefield.”

    “Understood. Janeway out,” the Captain said before closing the channel.

---

    “Do you think he bought it?” Janeway said.     “He seemed to,” Chakotay said.     “Mister Paris,” Janeway said, “give us another good shake or two, just to be sure.”     “Yes ma’am,” Tom said.

    “Bridge to Neelix, get started on Seven’s plasma burns.”     “Already on it, Captain,” Neelix said over the com. “And I think they look pretty good if I do say so myself.”

    “Good,” Janeway said. “Tom, once he’s done, hit another ‘mine,’ a big one. Chakotay, prepare to blow out the plasma relays on deck six.”     The ship shook violently as Tom did his work.     “Janeway to sickbay, we’re taking casualties,” she said, hoping she sounded concerned enough to fool the A.I.     “Maintain course and speed,” the A.I. said.     “That’s going to be difficult,” Janeway said. “Our astrometrics officer has been injured. She’s the one who has been guiding us through the minefield.”

    “Replace her,” the A.I. shouted.     “Seven of Nine’s abilities are unique,” Janeway said, adding a bit of anger to her reply even though she was grinning while she spoke. “We’re not going to get past these mines without her.”

    “Then treat her injuries and send her back to her post!”     “She has third-degree plasma burns. She needs to go to sickbay to be treated. if you want to reach your target you’re going to have to wait.”     “Alright Captain, but I am warning you, no deceptions.” The channel to sickbay cut off.     “I really hope this works. Bridge to Neelix, you’re good to go.”     “Aye, Captain,” Neelix said.

---

    Seven of Nine made a note to thank Samantha for the opportunity to learn about acting. While the two had not performed even once since they had done Coriolanus nearly a year ago, Seven still attempted to apply what she had learned to her performance as a burn victim, letting herself limp, and leaning on Neelix as though she really needed his support to remain upright as he escorted her to sickbay.

    The door to sickbay opened, and the A.I. still in the Doctor’s holographic body, and still wearing the mobile emitter, let them in, closing the door behind them.     “Treat her as quickly as possible,” he said to B’Elanna before walking away to do, something, in the doctor’s office. She groaned in mock pain as B’Elanna helped her into the bio-bed right next to the one the device was in.

    “Is he looking the other way?” Seven whispered as B’Elanna looked at her ‘injuries.’     “Um, yes,” B’Elanna whispered back. “What’s going on?”     Seven sat upright as quick as she could, and put her hand over the thankfully still open panel atop the device, and extended her assimilation tubules into it.     “She's attempting to defuse the weapon,” she heard Neelix say.     Now I just need twenty sec-     Her thought was interrupted by intense pain, real this time, as the device started to electrocute her.     She heard Neelix call her name in concern before she hit the floor, barely conscious. She could hear that Neelix was talking over her, but couldn’t make out what he was saying right away.

    “-me move her,” she heard Neelix, feeling him and B’Elanna get their arms under her to try and lift up to the bio-bed.     I failed, she thought sadly, How did I not see that coming? How did I not know it would have some kind of defense like that?     She heard the pressing of buttons, and the A.I. began speaking.     “Sickbay to bridge. Your attempt to disable me has failed.”

“We tried to reason with you,” Janeway said. “You left me no choice.”     “And you leave me no choice. You and your crew will abandon Voyager immediately.”     “No deal,” Janeway said.     “You will comply or I will detonate!” The A.I.’s scream shocked Seven into full alertness. She could see from their wincing that B’Elanna, Neelix, and even Harry who had joined the rest at her side, though she was unaware of when, also did not appreciate someone being that loud that close to them.

“Go ahead,” Janeway said. “Do it.”     The A.I. paused, clearly not expecting that. “Everyone aboard will be killed!”     “But no one else will,” Janeway said. “The only reason I didn’t tell you to do it sooner is because I thought there was a chance we could stop you. Through reason, or force, it didn’t matter. I had hope. But now I know that I can’t stop you from destroying us. I can however stop you from continuing your war. Every Starfleet officer knows there’s a chance they’ll have to lay down their lives to uphold the Prime Directive, and that’s what I’m doing now. I know nothing about your people, or your enemy, or your war, and I don’t care. My people are not a part of it, and we would rather die than be dragged into it.”

“I really hope she’s bluffing,” Seven heard Harry whisper.

The A.I. looked stunned, unsure of how to respond, but he didn’t immediately detonate his explosives, so Seven allowed herself to be optimistic and hope that was a good sign.

“Captain,” Tom Paris said, his voice heard over the still open channel. “Thirty-two vessels just dropped out of warp, right off our port bow.”

“On screen,” Janeway said.

    “Shit,” Harry said. “Thirty-two.”     “It’s our bomb’s friends,” B’Elanna said to Seven and Neelix.

    “They detected my presence aboard your vessel,” the A.I. said. “They say my target is essential. and that they altered course to ensure that I reach it. They demand that I be transported off your vessel so I can be tractored to my target.”     “Mister Kim,” Janeway said. “reintegrate his neural matrix and prepare to beam it off-”     “We can’t do that Captain,” Harry said.     “Explain.”

    “These weapons were fired by accident, we can’t let them reach their target.”

    “ENOUGH!” the A.I. screamed so loud that had it real vocal chords it would’ve been in danger of blowing them out. Everyone flinched, and Harry even put his hand over the ear closest to the A.I. “Captain, order him to proceed!”     “Harry, what are you talking about?” Janeway said.     “Give me a minute,” Harry said. He got right in front of the A.I. and jabbed him with his pointer finger. “Bomb, can I call you bomb? Forget it, I don’t care. You’re making a mistake. Your own people tried to disarm you.”     “I cannot be certain of that,” the A.I. said. Seven found herself grateful that he wasn't shouting for once.

    “Yes you can,” Harry said. “Check your memory files. Look for the confirmation code.”

    “No more delays,” the A.I., looking pained, and confused. “Reintegrate my matrix.”     “Check the files,” Harry said, not as loud as the A.I. had been but still shouting,.     “Do what Harry says,” Janeway said, “or you’re not leaving this ship. And if you detonate now, your companions are close enough the explosion would destroy most if not all of them too. The power in this situation is out of your hands.”

    The A.I. began working on the console. Seven couldn’t see what he was seeing, and in fact was very tempted to just lie down and go to sleep, the pain of the shock she’d suffered still affecting her, but that was overpowered by the desire to see this through. If the worst came to pass, she did not want to die unconscious.     “Coding intersequence 443,” the A.I. said. “Vector 39121. Cessation of hostilities… Confirmed. Unauthorized launch, confirmed. Order to terminate mission, confirmed.”

    “You must disarm and order your companions to do the same,” Harry said, speaking softly now, Seven having to strain to hear him. She tried to get up, but Neelix and B’Elanna held her down. She was weak enough that they didn’t need to exert themselves to do so.     “It’s a deception,” the A.I. said, but it sounded more like it was trying to convince itself than Harry.     “This code of your uses a modulating algorithm,” Harry said. “It would be almost impossible to duplicate.”

    “Almost impossible,” the A.I. said. “Almost. I- we, should return to our home system, seek additional confirmation. Too many variables.”

    “Yes,” B’Elanna said. “You should. War is too big a thing to leave to maybes.”

    “No,” the A.I. said, “the enemy is ruthless. Violent.”     “Now you’re just spouting propaganda,” Harry said. “You are a sentient being. Your designers gave you intelligence so you could make decisions in the field. The evidence is pointing to this attack being a mistake. You owe it to yourself as much as to the people you’d potentially kill to find out for sure, and the best to do that is, in your own words, to return to your home system.”

    “Bridge to sickbay,” Janeway said. “You’re receiving a transmission from the other bombs. What are they saying?”     The A.I. looked down.     “They are asking why I haven’t left your ship,” he said.

    “Tell them,” Harry said.     “I will,” the A.I. said. “I’m transmitting our orders to terminate the mission.”     Harry breathed a sigh of relief. B’Elanna smiled and nodded.     “Good job, Harry,” she muttered under her breath.     “Definitely,” Neelix said, concurring with B’Elanna. Seven herself admitted internally she hadn’t thought this was possible.

“Oh no,” the A.I. said. “They already received those orders, but were past the targeting threshold.”

“The what?” B’Elanna said.     “Once within two light years of a target we cannot, in theory anyway, be diverted. I’ve resent the orders, but they are not standing down.”     The A.I. looked sad. “This is my fault,“ he said. “Had I listened to you sooner I could’ve prevented this.”     “We can worry about blame later,” Harry said. “How can we stop them?”     “We can’t,” the A.I. said, “not without destroying them I mean. I don’t want to do that, but I think we may have no choice.”

“That seems like a bad design flaw,” B’Elanna said. “Why give you that level of intelligence, only to yank it away at an arbitrary distance?”     Seven, now able to sit up on her own, saw the A.I., looking ashamed, but still pressing buttons on the console.     “I’m trying to convince them to stand down, but they don’t believe me about the order. We will have to destroy them. Thirty-three sentient lives is a small price to pay to save thousands, isn’t it?”     “Wait, thirty-three?” Harry said.

“Reintegrate me into my matrix, and let me join them. Get Voyager to a safe distance, and I will detonate, taking them with me.”     “We can’t let you do that,” Harry said.     “You wanted me to see beyond my programming, Lieutenant Kim,” the A.I. said. “That’s what I’m doing now. Noble self-sacrifice is not part of my original code. I have entered contact information for my people. Tell them everything, including the part about the targeting threshold. Your engineer is right, that is a terrible design flaw.”     Another synthetic life form allowing itself to die, Seven said, thinking sadly of Edwin. One more time and this officially ceases to be mere coincidence.

“Captain, are you still listening?” Harry said.     “Lock on to the weapon and prepare to beam it out. B’Elanna let’s get started on the reintegration.”     “Harry, are you sure about this?” the Captain said, though she easily could’ve refused if she’d felt that Lieutenant Kim was making a mistake.     “Trust me on this one, Captain,” Harry said.     “Got it,” Janeway said. “Let transporter room one know when you’re ready. I’ll patch you through.”     The A.I. put a hand on Harry’s shoulder.

    “Thank you,” he said.     “For what?”     “I am still getting to complete my mission, only my target has changed. When I destroy the other weapons, a new war will be averted. Countless lives on both sides will be spared.”     “It’s ready,” B’Elanna said, closing the top panel on the device. Harry pressed a button, and the hologram flickered at the same time the lights on the device powered up.     “Please state the nature of the medic- wait, what happened?” The hologram was still there, but clearly the Doctor was back. “How long was I off-line?”     “I’ll explain later,” B’Elanna said. “Seven’s hurt.”     “It is not life-threatening,” Seven insisted, though she made no effort to get out of the bio-bed. She had a feeling that the after effects of the bomb’s defense measures would last a while though.

    “Transporter room one, are you there?” Harry said.

    “Ready and waiting,” Ensign Mulcahey said.

    Another coincidence, Seven thought. Of course Todd Mulcahey is involved in this too.

    “Energize,” Harry said.

    Seven leaned back, hearing rather than seeing the device being beamed away.

---

    “I’m detecting a series of antimatter explosions,” Tuvok said.     “In proximity to what?” Chakotay said.     Janeway knew however. Her instinct told her that she’d been right to trust Harry’s judgement.     “No ships, no planets, nothing. The weapons have been destroyed,” Tuvok said.     “Bridge to Lieutenant Kim,” Janeway said. “Good work. The A.I. kept its promise and destroyed the other weapons.”     “Good to hear,” Harry’s voice replied, though his tone suggested he was less than thrilled. Janeway couldn’t entirely blame him, it had been barely a few minutes between Harry successfully convincing the smart bomb to disarm itself before it had to go and die. Her ancestors had a term for that; bittersweet.

    “Harry,” Janeway said, “go ahead and take the rest of your shift off. That goes for B’Elanna and Seven too. I think you’ve earned it.”     “Thank you, Captain, but if you don’t mind there’s something we need to take care of first.”     “The weapon’s people?” Janeway said. “Apparently they’re called the Druoda. We’ll make sure they get the information. Get some rest. That’s an order.”     “Yes, Captain,” Harry said.