By:AW

Published in Unicorn Press. Editor: Nancy Border & Pat
Hayden.

You can buy it from Unicorn Press @
http://members.aol.com/UnicrnPrs/press.htm

Disclaimer: You know it, I know it, I don’t own idea
of Star Trek: Voyager. I just own the story.

Date With Destiny I

4. Destiny Dismantled II

Kathryn followed the Admiral into the office. All of a sudden she felt oddly alone and like a stranger in her own home. It has been too long Kathryn. She was led into the office by Admiral Paris and offered a seat.

“Captain, Kathryn, I’ll get straight to the point.”

She had a bad feeling about this, and all of a sudden realization dawned on her. This is the end Kathryn. This is the end of your career, this is the end of
your quest. This is the end of everything you’ve worked your whole life for. She resisted the urge to cry out at the injustice of it all, but it was true. She was the Captain, and she was ultimately responsible for everything that happened on her ship. Never had the saying ‘the Captain goes down with the
ship’ been more appropriate. She hardly heard the admiral as he droned on about her disobedience of rules and regulations. About Starfleet command and how, had she been in the Alpha Quadrant under Starfleet jurisdiction this never would have happened. Finally how these actions were unbecoming of a
Starfleet officer, especially one in her position. She saw the wall crumbling; she saw her carefully constructed future being dismantled. She felt her heart break, and she knew that she would never be the same again.

Admiral Paris had been given this assignment to make it easier on her. He had known this woman since she was in diapers. She had grown up a Starfleet brat, much like his son, and now truth be known, their fates were very similar. Owen had known his mission before he had ever been told. He was to strip her rank, to tear a strip off of her because someone had to pay. Starfleet needed a scapegoat, and it was Kathryn Janeway. In this time when they needed all the officers they could get, they had to take all personnel possible, even if they were former Maquis. But someone had to pay. They had to make an example out of someone, and that someone was her.

Normally they would have had weeks of deliberation. Months of defenses and a court-martial hearing before the end, but with the on-going war against the
Dominion, they didn’t have a choice. Things had to be dealt with in an expedient manner, and so she would suffer for it. He broke away from these thoughts; he had to get to the business at hand.

Owen looked her in the eyes; he saw her heart break. He knew she was made of steel and would not show her emotions, but he watched everything drain out of her, and she was now but a shell fo the woman she had been. He saw the realization, and he had yet to even make the formal announcement to her. “Kathryn, I was given this assignment to make it easier on you, and you know what I have to do. I’m sorry.” He looked up at her, the apology in his eyes and he k new that she knew that he was only doing his job, That this was not
his decision and had it been it would have turned out differently.

She watched in slow motion as he reached up and ripped the pips off her tunic. “Captain Kathryn Janeway, you are charged with the complete disregard of Starfleet principles and regulations. Of harboring felons aboard your ship without the intent of bringing them to justice, and behavior unbecoming a Starfleet Officer. You are hereby stripped of your rank of Captain and discharged under the rules of the rules of the United Federation of Planets.” He watched her as she stood stoic. Solid. Ramrod straight in front of him. “You are dismissed.”

Kathryn saw the man in front of her; she would not cry, she would not grieve. She just needed to know one thing. “Sir?”

“Yes.”

“Will my crew be pardoned?”

Admiral Paris looked at her. No harm in telling her now, but at the same time he couldn’t, he said one simple phrase which did not answer her question but
it’s meaning was not lost on her. “For one thing to live, another must die,” and with that he left the room.

She walked outside and saw that all of her senior staff had left, including Chakotay. She stopped to watch a news broadcast. It was stating the fact that
the crew of Voyager had performed admirably for the most part. That their Captain had been relieved after answering for any and all wrongful actions which had occurred during their time in the Delta Quadrant. They had even spoken to one unhappy former member of the Maquis who was quoted as saying that Kathryn Janeway was a self-righteous woman who had completely
disobeyed Starfleet’s objectives in stranding them in the Delta Quadrant. That, in destroying the array, she had disobeyed Starfleet’s cardinal rule: The Prime Directive.

She felt another piece of her carefully constructed façade fall away. This would be her undoing and she didn’t even have Chakotay. He had left, more than likely not wanting to be seen with her. She truly was alone, as she had been so many times while on Voyager, except this time there were no questions about it, and no first officer to tell her otherwise. The great Kathryn Janeway had fallen.

/\/\

B’Elanna stared at the doorway where Captain Janeway, all of their strength and their idol over the past years, had entered. She then looked up as the
lieutenant told them they could all go back to Voyager, that it would probably take a while to debrief Janeway.

Chakotay stepped in right away. “What if we want to wait to show our support for the Captain?” The lieutenant looked smugly at Commander Chakotay, “Then it will not be tolerated.” Chakotay knew that at this
point it was better to just let it go. He would talk to Kathryn later. He started, and they followed his lead. They made their way back to Voyager, their home
for too long to forget it.

B’Elanna followed Chakotay; she saw Tom was trailing slightly behind her. “Tom we really need to talk. What would you say to my quarters, twenty minutes? There’s no need to conserve replicator rations anymore.” She
paused the hesitation showing how nervous she truly was with this request. “I was thinking, chicken dinner, mashed potatoes, nice bottle of win…” She
realized he wasn’t listening to her. She tapped him on the shoulder. “Tom.”

He awoke from his daze. “B’Elanna, I’m sorry. Yes?”

“Dinner, my quarters, fifteen minutes.” He opened his mouth to protest but was stopped by the pleading look in her eyes. “Alright, I’ll be there.” He was vaguely aware of the fact that they made it to the transport site and Chakotay called for a transport back to Voyager. He heard the last words he would hear from either command team for a long time. “Energize.”

TBC in Chapter 5. Building Blocks

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