Uncountably Infinite - Chapter 1
First, English is not my native language, and I am way too impatient to work with a beta. So, if you ever come across any typos or errors, feel free to let me know via PM. I would appreciate such help. Also, please tell me if you ever feel that the characters start acting out of character. That is always my biggest worry, and I cannot always tell, when I am so involved in writing.
Also, while I am currently on a roll, please do not expect this rate of updating to continue.
Second, regarding the story itself, I am not a big fan of Angst and Drama. Consequently, there will be little of this within my story. In addition, I am not big with writing action or anything like that. This story will be more about the characters, their relationships, and how these relationships process and develop. There will be a lot of talking and thinking.
As for the length of this adventure, I personally love long stories and I am somewhat longwinded myself (in case you haven’t already noticed), therefore, I think this story will have at least 50k words, and may even end up having as many as 150k. Yet, once the story is told, it is done; I will not drag this out endlessly.
I always welcome constructive criticism and welcome any ideas you may have.
Prologue
Uncountably Infinite
By Vendetta17, aka crASHed
Chapter 1
Of Headaches and Drugs
Kathryn Janeway’s headache has been bothering her all day. While Voyager was currently traveling through an apparently peaceful and quiet part of space, something was bothering her. The fact that she couldn’t put her finger on what exactly was bothering her, was likely the cause of the splitting headache she was currently nurturing. Janeway considered herself to be quite insightful, both within her professional and personal life, she was aware of her feelings and moods, and more importantly, she usually knew the causes of her emotional state. This time, no such luck. All she could tell was that a constant sense of utter dissatisfaction flooded her being, overshadowing almost all other aspects of her life. The captain of Voyager was well aware that this dissatisfaction had started to bleed into her interactions with her crew. She was short-tempered and quite a bit less tolerant to excuse common mistakes. Currently, she sat in her command chair; the thumb and index finger of her right hand were pinching the bridge of her nose. She tried to will her headache away, as she was in no mood to see the Doctor and listen to his constant prattling about how overworked and stressed she was. Talk about stating the obvious. However, there was nothing she could do, she was the captain of this ship, and they were lost in the Delta Quadrant, without allies or support. The burden of keeping her crew alive, while trying to reach Earth fell solely on her shoulders. There was no way around this. She would just have to find a way to channel her mood into something more productive and efficient. The moment the word efficient entered her mind, Janeway had to suppress the urge to roll her eyes. As if thoughts of her brilliant, yet extremely willful Astrometrics officer would do anything but aggravate her headache even further.
Janeway was still immersed in her musings when a bright light flashed on the bridge. Light, the sort that always meant trouble. Janeway jumped out of her chair, muttering “Q,” under her breath. Just what her day needed to become even more annoying. Unnecessary as it was, Janeway heard herself call out a red alert. Yet, instead of Q, right in front of the view screen materialized a middle-aged woman with short white hair and black glasses pursed on her prominent nose. The woman looked startled and Janeway took in her extravagant clothing. Before the captain could finish her further inspection of the women, another flash appeared and next to their first intruder materialized another woman. This one appeared to be in her mid-twenties with long brown hair. Her clothes looked to be less extravagant than what the first woman wore. Before Janeway could open her mouth, the younger woman looked alarmed at the other woman, her brown eyes wide in surprise and disbelief, “Miranda?” she addressed the older women flabbergasted.
By this time, Tuvok had stepped closer to the two intruders, phaser at the ready. Janeway somehow doubted that these two women posed a threat for her ship; nevertheless, one could never be too careful.
“Who are you and what are you doing on Voyager?” Janeway finally addressed the two women.
The white haired woman turned to look in her direction, raised one eyebrow and just continued to stare at Janeway for a moment, before answering in an icy tone,
“Who are we? Who are you? Most importantly, where are we and where is Simon?” the woman’s tone left no mistake that this was a person used to getting her way and having her questions answered.
While taken slightly aback by both the iciness of the tone and the forceful demeanor of the woman, Janeway was still aware of how distraught both women looked, she answered calmly,
“I am Captain Kathryn Janeway of the U.S.S. Voyager. As for your location, you are on board of the starship Voyager, and we are currently in the Delta Quadrant. As for your other question, I do not know anyone named Simon.”
The older woman gave her a look of utter disbelief. “Are you people on drugs?” came her indignant response.
“Miranda,” the younger woman stepped forward, moving to stand next to her companion. “I don’t think they are lying,” she continued, looking extremely nervous. She turned her attention towards Janeway and introduced both of them.
“Hello, uh, my name is Andrea Sachs, but you can call me Andy. This is Miranda Priestly and, uh, we are on a starship?” Andy asked nervously. Janeway had to smile at the young woman’s demeanor, she seemed a lot more approachable than Miranda. During Andy’s speech, Janeway saw Miranda quirk an eyebrow at Andy, looking somewhat scandalized.
“Well, Andy, Miranda, do you mind telling me what the last thing is you remember?” Janeway addressed both of them.
“Are you serious? Andréa, why do you even cooperate with these people? They are obviously in cahoots with Simon, and I know for sure that boy is not right in his mind.” Miranda addressed Andy in a steely voice, completely ignoring Janeway and the rest of Voyager’s bridge crew.
“Miranda, I also have never heard of this Simon you’re talking about. Besides, that guy over there still has his gun, or whatever it is, pointed in our direction. I doubt cooperating will cause a bigger problem than confrontation,” Andy pressed out in a low tone.
Miranda immediately glared at Andy, as if unwilling to believe her own ears.
“Well, I for one do not know what you have been up to during the last year, but it surely did not improve your intellect. Tell me, Andréa; are you not aware that either way, we are at the mercy of these people? I fail to see how cooperating will improve our situation,” Miranda voiced calmly, leveling her death glare at Andy, who slowly started to get angry.
“I didn’t know you had issues with my intellect, Miranda. Wasn’t it you who always called me the ‘smart, fat girl?’” Andy volleyed back surprisingly.
“Enough!” Janeway barked annoyed. This was not helping her headache at all. “Let’s take this to my Ready Room, shall we, ladies?” Janeway interrupted the disagreement and directed Miranda and Andy towards her Ready Room.
The moment Janeway started to follow her charges Tuvok addressed her stoically,
“Captain, I must insist on accompanying you to the Ready Room. While I do not believe these women are any danger, I would be negligent in my duties as you head of security, if I left you alone with them, before we have managed to establish the reason for their appearance on Voyager.”
“Well, Tuvok, by all means. Far be it for me to be the cause of you acting in a negligent manner.” Janeway smirked a little at her earnest friend and followed Miranda and Andy into her Ready Room, Tuvok, by now having put his phaser back, on their trails.
***
Miranda could hardly believe the nerve of both Janeway and Andréa. How could they take all this in stride? Moreover, why would Andréa believe this appallingly dressed redhead? Even worse, why did she appear to be so angry with Miranda? If any one had the right to be angry, it was Miranda herself! She was the one who was abandoned, not the other way around. Moreover, what was the Delta Quadrant, anyway. Starship, not likely. Miranda was still silently ranting when Janeway offered them to sit down, while she took the seat behind the desk.
“Now, after we’ve established who you are, I still need to know the last thing you remember, and I believe it would also be helpful to tell us your last known location” Janeway ventured on, much to Miranda’s continued ire.
“I can only speak for myself, but one minute I was working on an article for the New York Mirror, on my desk at work, then suddenly I was here and saw Miranda,” Andy started to talk, again sounding somewhat confused.
“So, you were in New York, on Earth then? Right before you materialized on the bridge?” Janeway addressed Andy curiously.
“No wonder they made you captain, your power of deduction is quite astounding,” Miranda sneered, feeling more annoyed by the second.
Andy rolled her eyes at that and Janeway glared at Miranda, still surprised by the continued hostility that was coming off the woman in waves.
“What about you, Miranda?” Janeway chose not to enter the verbal gauntlet with Miranda. Not yet, at least.
Miranda sighed, pursing her lips before answering in a clipped, low tone,
“I was at Runway, in my office,” before looking past Janeway with a bored expression.
“So you work in aviation?” Janeway continued. Getting information out of Miranda was like pulling teeth. She just could not understand why the woman was being so difficult. At her question, Miranda just glared at her while once more raising one eyebrow, effectively expressing her incredulity.
“Miranda is the editor-in-chief of Runway, a fashion magazine,” Andy supplied helpfully.
“’A’ fashion magazine, Andréa? I am sure you meant to say ‘the’ fashion magazine. After all, Runway is a class of its own,” Miranda sniped at Andy, wondering once more, why she was so infuriated by all of this.
“Of course, Miranda,” Andy replied resigned.
“Fashion magazine…” Janeway gazed at the two women contemplatively. “Excuse me, this may sound weird, but what is the current date?” she inquired carefully.
This question stumped both Miranda and Andy, but before Andy could recover her bearings, Miranda answered with disdain,
“Last time I checked, today was the 30th of March,” while looking with contempt upon Janeway’s guarded features. That woman is too good at hiding her emotions, Miranda thought, very much bothered by this discovery.
“Ok, but what is the year?” Janeway continued, calmly looking at both Miranda and Andy.
“2008?” Andy stammered, feeling very unsettled by this line of questioning.
“I see,” Janeway sighed, suppressing the urge to roll her eyes. Time travel! Why did she always have to come across time traveling? More than that, she already had a splitting headache.
“Really? If you see what is going on, feel free to share, considering that we are involved in this mess.” Miranda pressed out annoyed.
“Yes, of course.” Janeway folded her hands on top of her desk. “It appears that you have traveled into the future. Today is indeed the 30th of March, but the year is 2375, not 2008.” Janeway stated carefully. One never knows how people react to such distressing news.
While Andy visibly paled at the information, Miranda glowered at Janeway and started to laugh. It was not a pleasant laugh. “Now I know for sure that you people are on drugs!” Miranda exclaimed full of condescension. “All I know is that Simon wanted to see me because he was under the delusion that he could help me. Next, the boy touches my arm and I find myself here, on this supposed star ship, in the Delta Quadrant, wherever that may be. While I do not know how or why you felt the need to disrupt both Andréa’s and my day with this nonsense, I do know that both you and Simon are at the root of this debacle.” Miranda went on incensed.
“You have mentioned this Simon before; can you describe him for me?” Janeway suddenly looked suspicious, yet again, completely ignoring Miranda’s accusations.
Miranda sighed; this was all such a bother. “He is young, looked to be 19 or 20 years old. Tall, dark hair and eyes, thin and surprisingly well dressed, as opposed to all the other people in this little scheme. Tell me, captain, do you actually get paid to wear this atrocious uniform?” Miranda sneered hauntingly.
To Miranda’s surprise, Janeway closed her eyes and wore an expression of utter frustration. Then, she opened her eyes, still refusing to react to any on Miranda’s verbal barbs. Instead, Janeway stood up, put both hands palm down on her desk and in a tone, that was a mixture of total aggravation and resignation, whispered, “Q.” Right after this letter had slipped from her lips, the blinding light was back and next to Janeway’s desk stood a man, wearing the same dreadful red and black uniform that was also draped over Janeway’s form. He happened to have an uncanny resemblance with Simon.
“Kathy my love, you called?” the man purred, looking adoringly at Janeway who rolled her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. This day is just getting worse and worse, Janeway thought, focusing firmly on Q. She was sure that his son was involved in all of this.
“Q,” Janeway started and held up her hands to prevent the exuberant man from interrupting her, seeing as he had already started to open his mouth. “I was actually looking for Junior. It seems that your son has been up to one of his usual bouts of disturbing the universe and the fabrics of time.” Janeway finished, looking expectantly at Q.
“Junior, did he now? And what, dear Kathy, has my brilliant son done this time?” Q asked, sounding like a proud father who was just told that his child achieved the highest accolades for his behavior.
“Q, I am serious. I want you to get Junior here right now so we can sort out why these two ladies, whose correct timeframe reads 2008, have appeared on board of Voyager.”
At her word, Q turned his attention for the first time to the two women sitting in front of Janeway’s desk.
“Huh, I wonder what Junior wants with those two. Uniquely dressed, especially the old one,” Q went on, oblivious to the death glare he received from Miranda. Even Janeway frowned at him, the last thing she needed was for Miranda’s mood to deteriorate even further.
Q, noticing Janeway’s expression, sighed dramatically before calling out for his son,
“Junior!” whereupon more light flashed, after which Janeway looked into the sheepishly smiling face of her Godson. “Hi, Aunt Kathy,” he kept smiling, then turned to his father, “Dad,” he acknowledged slowly.
Suddenly, Janeway’s gaze turned towards Miranda who had stood up and glared unbelievingly at Junior.
“What are you wearing?” a slow, deadly voice addressed Junior, who actually flinched, then blushed.
“Oh, Miranda, I am sorry. Force of habit,” and in the blink of an eye Junior’s command uniform turned into the Zegna’s suit he had worn when meeting Miranda previously.
“Acceptable,” Miranda sounded almost bored when she turned her gaze from Junior and looked back at Janeway. “This boy, this Junior, he is the Simon I was talking about.” Miranda turned towards Andy. “Andréa, have you met this boy before?”
Andy’s mind was still reeling from everything Janeway had told them. Then, the appearance of these very strange acting men did not help in alleviating her confusion. Wait, Miranda was talking to her?
“Huh? Miranda, uh, Junior? Simon? No, uh, I’ve never seen him before,” Andy stuttered out, blushing at her poor delivery.
“Really Andréa, your poor diction is astonishing. I actually have to wonder why that rag bothered to hire you,” Miranda sniffed appalled.
Janeway had enough of all of this. First, her constant dreadful mood, then the splitting headache, followed by the appearance of these two women, who obviously can’t stand the sight of each other, which all somehow led to Qs and time travel. Her day was clearly shot. This fighting though was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
“I’ve sincerely had enough of the two of you fighting and trading insults. I do not care what issues you have with each other. Resolve them, if not, stop fighting in my presence. There are more important issues to resolve. Q, Junior, I expect you to send them back to their time frame, so that I can continue to take care of my ship!” Janeway’s voice had become deadly soft, yet one could hear and feel the steel that belied the first perceived softness.
Junior smiled, he really did like his Godmother and her ire surely was a sight to behold.
“I am truly sorry; Aunty Kathy, but I can’t do that. I have a deal with Miranda, and there are certain circumstances that need to be rectified before I can send them back.” Junior addressed Janeway calmly.
“A deal with Miranda…”
“A deal with me?”
Janeway and Miranda exclaimed at the same moment.
“You do not have a deal with me, young man! You barged into my office, spouting nonsense and dragged me here. I have never agreed to any deal. Moreover, I demand that you return both Andréa and I to our previous locations!” Miranda never raised her voice, still Junior felt the hairs on his neck stand at having been addressed by Miranda in such a commanding and disdainful manner.
“Sorry, Miranda. You are scary, I’ll give you that. Still, there is nothing you can do to me and as I’ve told Aunt Kathy, I cannot help you until you fix what was mentioned earlier.” Junior replied seriously.
Miranda looked away from Simon, Junior, whatever his name was. This was all becoming more ludicrous by the second. Change her biggest mistake? She refused even to contemplate that idea. Miranda stood up and walked over to look out of the window in Janeway’s office. Stars. She guessed they really were in space after all.
“Miranda, what is he talking about?” Andy carefully approached Miranda. Then, she suddenly turned around to face Junior. “Besides, what has all of this to do with me? Miranda and I haven’t seen each other in over a year, if Miranda needs to fix something, I can assure you it will have nothing to do with me,” Andy stated plainly.
“I did not make a mistake, Andy. This does concern you as well. You will see, eventually.” Junior looked at Andy with a weird mixture of concern and compassion. Andy was suddenly wondering if she was on drugs. Maybe someone at the Mirror had slipped something in her coffee and now she was hallucinating?
“Junior, tell me, what is all of this about?” Q suddenly asked his son. Junior contemplated this request for a short moment, then went over to his father and started to whisper something into his ear.
Janeway’s gaze flickered between the people in her Ready Room, when she suddenly focused on Tuvok, who stood quietly next to the couch and offered her a raised eyebrow. She had almost forgotten his presence. All of this started to become more and more complicated, not to mention confusing.
Eventually, Junior was finished informing his father of his plan. Q looked fondly at his son, before stating,
“That is very sweet and thoughtful of you, Junior. Naturally, your plan is also quite cunning and innovative. I am proud of you, son. Apparently, the apple really didn’t fall far from the tree, huh?” Q laughed, slapping his son on the shoulders. “Well, now that this is settled, what do you say we take a little vacation among the titillating virgins of the Drafon tribe?” Q suggested to his son, and a second later, both disappeared in another flash of light.
Great, just great, Janeway thought, sighing frustrated. Now she had to figure out a way to help Miranda fix whatever Junior had talked about, before they could return home and Voyager could assume business as usual. Why did she get the feeling that this would turn out to be a lot more complicated that it already appeared? Why did she always get stuck with the impossible? And time travel, really?
Chapter 2
Also, while I am currently on a roll, please do not expect this rate of updating to continue.
Second, regarding the story itself, I am not a big fan of Angst and Drama. Consequently, there will be little of this within my story. In addition, I am not big with writing action or anything like that. This story will be more about the characters, their relationships, and how these relationships process and develop. There will be a lot of talking and thinking.
As for the length of this adventure, I personally love long stories and I am somewhat longwinded myself (in case you haven’t already noticed), therefore, I think this story will have at least 50k words, and may even end up having as many as 150k. Yet, once the story is told, it is done; I will not drag this out endlessly.
I always welcome constructive criticism and welcome any ideas you may have.
Prologue
Uncountably Infinite
By Vendetta17, aka crASHed
Chapter 1
Of Headaches and Drugs
Kathryn Janeway’s headache has been bothering her all day. While Voyager was currently traveling through an apparently peaceful and quiet part of space, something was bothering her. The fact that she couldn’t put her finger on what exactly was bothering her, was likely the cause of the splitting headache she was currently nurturing. Janeway considered herself to be quite insightful, both within her professional and personal life, she was aware of her feelings and moods, and more importantly, she usually knew the causes of her emotional state. This time, no such luck. All she could tell was that a constant sense of utter dissatisfaction flooded her being, overshadowing almost all other aspects of her life. The captain of Voyager was well aware that this dissatisfaction had started to bleed into her interactions with her crew. She was short-tempered and quite a bit less tolerant to excuse common mistakes. Currently, she sat in her command chair; the thumb and index finger of her right hand were pinching the bridge of her nose. She tried to will her headache away, as she was in no mood to see the Doctor and listen to his constant prattling about how overworked and stressed she was. Talk about stating the obvious. However, there was nothing she could do, she was the captain of this ship, and they were lost in the Delta Quadrant, without allies or support. The burden of keeping her crew alive, while trying to reach Earth fell solely on her shoulders. There was no way around this. She would just have to find a way to channel her mood into something more productive and efficient. The moment the word efficient entered her mind, Janeway had to suppress the urge to roll her eyes. As if thoughts of her brilliant, yet extremely willful Astrometrics officer would do anything but aggravate her headache even further.
Janeway was still immersed in her musings when a bright light flashed on the bridge. Light, the sort that always meant trouble. Janeway jumped out of her chair, muttering “Q,” under her breath. Just what her day needed to become even more annoying. Unnecessary as it was, Janeway heard herself call out a red alert. Yet, instead of Q, right in front of the view screen materialized a middle-aged woman with short white hair and black glasses pursed on her prominent nose. The woman looked startled and Janeway took in her extravagant clothing. Before the captain could finish her further inspection of the women, another flash appeared and next to their first intruder materialized another woman. This one appeared to be in her mid-twenties with long brown hair. Her clothes looked to be less extravagant than what the first woman wore. Before Janeway could open her mouth, the younger woman looked alarmed at the other woman, her brown eyes wide in surprise and disbelief, “Miranda?” she addressed the older women flabbergasted.
By this time, Tuvok had stepped closer to the two intruders, phaser at the ready. Janeway somehow doubted that these two women posed a threat for her ship; nevertheless, one could never be too careful.
“Who are you and what are you doing on Voyager?” Janeway finally addressed the two women.
The white haired woman turned to look in her direction, raised one eyebrow and just continued to stare at Janeway for a moment, before answering in an icy tone,
“Who are we? Who are you? Most importantly, where are we and where is Simon?” the woman’s tone left no mistake that this was a person used to getting her way and having her questions answered.
While taken slightly aback by both the iciness of the tone and the forceful demeanor of the woman, Janeway was still aware of how distraught both women looked, she answered calmly,
“I am Captain Kathryn Janeway of the U.S.S. Voyager. As for your location, you are on board of the starship Voyager, and we are currently in the Delta Quadrant. As for your other question, I do not know anyone named Simon.”
The older woman gave her a look of utter disbelief. “Are you people on drugs?” came her indignant response.
“Miranda,” the younger woman stepped forward, moving to stand next to her companion. “I don’t think they are lying,” she continued, looking extremely nervous. She turned her attention towards Janeway and introduced both of them.
“Hello, uh, my name is Andrea Sachs, but you can call me Andy. This is Miranda Priestly and, uh, we are on a starship?” Andy asked nervously. Janeway had to smile at the young woman’s demeanor, she seemed a lot more approachable than Miranda. During Andy’s speech, Janeway saw Miranda quirk an eyebrow at Andy, looking somewhat scandalized.
“Well, Andy, Miranda, do you mind telling me what the last thing is you remember?” Janeway addressed both of them.
“Are you serious? Andréa, why do you even cooperate with these people? They are obviously in cahoots with Simon, and I know for sure that boy is not right in his mind.” Miranda addressed Andy in a steely voice, completely ignoring Janeway and the rest of Voyager’s bridge crew.
“Miranda, I also have never heard of this Simon you’re talking about. Besides, that guy over there still has his gun, or whatever it is, pointed in our direction. I doubt cooperating will cause a bigger problem than confrontation,” Andy pressed out in a low tone.
Miranda immediately glared at Andy, as if unwilling to believe her own ears.
“Well, I for one do not know what you have been up to during the last year, but it surely did not improve your intellect. Tell me, Andréa; are you not aware that either way, we are at the mercy of these people? I fail to see how cooperating will improve our situation,” Miranda voiced calmly, leveling her death glare at Andy, who slowly started to get angry.
“I didn’t know you had issues with my intellect, Miranda. Wasn’t it you who always called me the ‘smart, fat girl?’” Andy volleyed back surprisingly.
“Enough!” Janeway barked annoyed. This was not helping her headache at all. “Let’s take this to my Ready Room, shall we, ladies?” Janeway interrupted the disagreement and directed Miranda and Andy towards her Ready Room.
The moment Janeway started to follow her charges Tuvok addressed her stoically,
“Captain, I must insist on accompanying you to the Ready Room. While I do not believe these women are any danger, I would be negligent in my duties as you head of security, if I left you alone with them, before we have managed to establish the reason for their appearance on Voyager.”
“Well, Tuvok, by all means. Far be it for me to be the cause of you acting in a negligent manner.” Janeway smirked a little at her earnest friend and followed Miranda and Andy into her Ready Room, Tuvok, by now having put his phaser back, on their trails.
***
Miranda could hardly believe the nerve of both Janeway and Andréa. How could they take all this in stride? Moreover, why would Andréa believe this appallingly dressed redhead? Even worse, why did she appear to be so angry with Miranda? If any one had the right to be angry, it was Miranda herself! She was the one who was abandoned, not the other way around. Moreover, what was the Delta Quadrant, anyway. Starship, not likely. Miranda was still silently ranting when Janeway offered them to sit down, while she took the seat behind the desk.
“Now, after we’ve established who you are, I still need to know the last thing you remember, and I believe it would also be helpful to tell us your last known location” Janeway ventured on, much to Miranda’s continued ire.
“I can only speak for myself, but one minute I was working on an article for the New York Mirror, on my desk at work, then suddenly I was here and saw Miranda,” Andy started to talk, again sounding somewhat confused.
“So, you were in New York, on Earth then? Right before you materialized on the bridge?” Janeway addressed Andy curiously.
“No wonder they made you captain, your power of deduction is quite astounding,” Miranda sneered, feeling more annoyed by the second.
Andy rolled her eyes at that and Janeway glared at Miranda, still surprised by the continued hostility that was coming off the woman in waves.
“What about you, Miranda?” Janeway chose not to enter the verbal gauntlet with Miranda. Not yet, at least.
Miranda sighed, pursing her lips before answering in a clipped, low tone,
“I was at Runway, in my office,” before looking past Janeway with a bored expression.
“So you work in aviation?” Janeway continued. Getting information out of Miranda was like pulling teeth. She just could not understand why the woman was being so difficult. At her question, Miranda just glared at her while once more raising one eyebrow, effectively expressing her incredulity.
“Miranda is the editor-in-chief of Runway, a fashion magazine,” Andy supplied helpfully.
“’A’ fashion magazine, Andréa? I am sure you meant to say ‘the’ fashion magazine. After all, Runway is a class of its own,” Miranda sniped at Andy, wondering once more, why she was so infuriated by all of this.
“Of course, Miranda,” Andy replied resigned.
“Fashion magazine…” Janeway gazed at the two women contemplatively. “Excuse me, this may sound weird, but what is the current date?” she inquired carefully.
This question stumped both Miranda and Andy, but before Andy could recover her bearings, Miranda answered with disdain,
“Last time I checked, today was the 30th of March,” while looking with contempt upon Janeway’s guarded features. That woman is too good at hiding her emotions, Miranda thought, very much bothered by this discovery.
“Ok, but what is the year?” Janeway continued, calmly looking at both Miranda and Andy.
“2008?” Andy stammered, feeling very unsettled by this line of questioning.
“I see,” Janeway sighed, suppressing the urge to roll her eyes. Time travel! Why did she always have to come across time traveling? More than that, she already had a splitting headache.
“Really? If you see what is going on, feel free to share, considering that we are involved in this mess.” Miranda pressed out annoyed.
“Yes, of course.” Janeway folded her hands on top of her desk. “It appears that you have traveled into the future. Today is indeed the 30th of March, but the year is 2375, not 2008.” Janeway stated carefully. One never knows how people react to such distressing news.
While Andy visibly paled at the information, Miranda glowered at Janeway and started to laugh. It was not a pleasant laugh. “Now I know for sure that you people are on drugs!” Miranda exclaimed full of condescension. “All I know is that Simon wanted to see me because he was under the delusion that he could help me. Next, the boy touches my arm and I find myself here, on this supposed star ship, in the Delta Quadrant, wherever that may be. While I do not know how or why you felt the need to disrupt both Andréa’s and my day with this nonsense, I do know that both you and Simon are at the root of this debacle.” Miranda went on incensed.
“You have mentioned this Simon before; can you describe him for me?” Janeway suddenly looked suspicious, yet again, completely ignoring Miranda’s accusations.
Miranda sighed; this was all such a bother. “He is young, looked to be 19 or 20 years old. Tall, dark hair and eyes, thin and surprisingly well dressed, as opposed to all the other people in this little scheme. Tell me, captain, do you actually get paid to wear this atrocious uniform?” Miranda sneered hauntingly.
To Miranda’s surprise, Janeway closed her eyes and wore an expression of utter frustration. Then, she opened her eyes, still refusing to react to any on Miranda’s verbal barbs. Instead, Janeway stood up, put both hands palm down on her desk and in a tone, that was a mixture of total aggravation and resignation, whispered, “Q.” Right after this letter had slipped from her lips, the blinding light was back and next to Janeway’s desk stood a man, wearing the same dreadful red and black uniform that was also draped over Janeway’s form. He happened to have an uncanny resemblance with Simon.
“Kathy my love, you called?” the man purred, looking adoringly at Janeway who rolled her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. This day is just getting worse and worse, Janeway thought, focusing firmly on Q. She was sure that his son was involved in all of this.
“Q,” Janeway started and held up her hands to prevent the exuberant man from interrupting her, seeing as he had already started to open his mouth. “I was actually looking for Junior. It seems that your son has been up to one of his usual bouts of disturbing the universe and the fabrics of time.” Janeway finished, looking expectantly at Q.
“Junior, did he now? And what, dear Kathy, has my brilliant son done this time?” Q asked, sounding like a proud father who was just told that his child achieved the highest accolades for his behavior.
“Q, I am serious. I want you to get Junior here right now so we can sort out why these two ladies, whose correct timeframe reads 2008, have appeared on board of Voyager.”
At her word, Q turned his attention for the first time to the two women sitting in front of Janeway’s desk.
“Huh, I wonder what Junior wants with those two. Uniquely dressed, especially the old one,” Q went on, oblivious to the death glare he received from Miranda. Even Janeway frowned at him, the last thing she needed was for Miranda’s mood to deteriorate even further.
Q, noticing Janeway’s expression, sighed dramatically before calling out for his son,
“Junior!” whereupon more light flashed, after which Janeway looked into the sheepishly smiling face of her Godson. “Hi, Aunt Kathy,” he kept smiling, then turned to his father, “Dad,” he acknowledged slowly.
Suddenly, Janeway’s gaze turned towards Miranda who had stood up and glared unbelievingly at Junior.
“What are you wearing?” a slow, deadly voice addressed Junior, who actually flinched, then blushed.
“Oh, Miranda, I am sorry. Force of habit,” and in the blink of an eye Junior’s command uniform turned into the Zegna’s suit he had worn when meeting Miranda previously.
“Acceptable,” Miranda sounded almost bored when she turned her gaze from Junior and looked back at Janeway. “This boy, this Junior, he is the Simon I was talking about.” Miranda turned towards Andy. “Andréa, have you met this boy before?”
Andy’s mind was still reeling from everything Janeway had told them. Then, the appearance of these very strange acting men did not help in alleviating her confusion. Wait, Miranda was talking to her?
“Huh? Miranda, uh, Junior? Simon? No, uh, I’ve never seen him before,” Andy stuttered out, blushing at her poor delivery.
“Really Andréa, your poor diction is astonishing. I actually have to wonder why that rag bothered to hire you,” Miranda sniffed appalled.
Janeway had enough of all of this. First, her constant dreadful mood, then the splitting headache, followed by the appearance of these two women, who obviously can’t stand the sight of each other, which all somehow led to Qs and time travel. Her day was clearly shot. This fighting though was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
“I’ve sincerely had enough of the two of you fighting and trading insults. I do not care what issues you have with each other. Resolve them, if not, stop fighting in my presence. There are more important issues to resolve. Q, Junior, I expect you to send them back to their time frame, so that I can continue to take care of my ship!” Janeway’s voice had become deadly soft, yet one could hear and feel the steel that belied the first perceived softness.
Junior smiled, he really did like his Godmother and her ire surely was a sight to behold.
“I am truly sorry; Aunty Kathy, but I can’t do that. I have a deal with Miranda, and there are certain circumstances that need to be rectified before I can send them back.” Junior addressed Janeway calmly.
“A deal with Miranda…”
“A deal with me?”
Janeway and Miranda exclaimed at the same moment.
“You do not have a deal with me, young man! You barged into my office, spouting nonsense and dragged me here. I have never agreed to any deal. Moreover, I demand that you return both Andréa and I to our previous locations!” Miranda never raised her voice, still Junior felt the hairs on his neck stand at having been addressed by Miranda in such a commanding and disdainful manner.
“Sorry, Miranda. You are scary, I’ll give you that. Still, there is nothing you can do to me and as I’ve told Aunt Kathy, I cannot help you until you fix what was mentioned earlier.” Junior replied seriously.
Miranda looked away from Simon, Junior, whatever his name was. This was all becoming more ludicrous by the second. Change her biggest mistake? She refused even to contemplate that idea. Miranda stood up and walked over to look out of the window in Janeway’s office. Stars. She guessed they really were in space after all.
“Miranda, what is he talking about?” Andy carefully approached Miranda. Then, she suddenly turned around to face Junior. “Besides, what has all of this to do with me? Miranda and I haven’t seen each other in over a year, if Miranda needs to fix something, I can assure you it will have nothing to do with me,” Andy stated plainly.
“I did not make a mistake, Andy. This does concern you as well. You will see, eventually.” Junior looked at Andy with a weird mixture of concern and compassion. Andy was suddenly wondering if she was on drugs. Maybe someone at the Mirror had slipped something in her coffee and now she was hallucinating?
“Junior, tell me, what is all of this about?” Q suddenly asked his son. Junior contemplated this request for a short moment, then went over to his father and started to whisper something into his ear.
Janeway’s gaze flickered between the people in her Ready Room, when she suddenly focused on Tuvok, who stood quietly next to the couch and offered her a raised eyebrow. She had almost forgotten his presence. All of this started to become more and more complicated, not to mention confusing.
Eventually, Junior was finished informing his father of his plan. Q looked fondly at his son, before stating,
“That is very sweet and thoughtful of you, Junior. Naturally, your plan is also quite cunning and innovative. I am proud of you, son. Apparently, the apple really didn’t fall far from the tree, huh?” Q laughed, slapping his son on the shoulders. “Well, now that this is settled, what do you say we take a little vacation among the titillating virgins of the Drafon tribe?” Q suggested to his son, and a second later, both disappeared in another flash of light.
Great, just great, Janeway thought, sighing frustrated. Now she had to figure out a way to help Miranda fix whatever Junior had talked about, before they could return home and Voyager could assume business as usual. Why did she get the feeling that this would turn out to be a lot more complicated that it already appeared? Why did she always get stuck with the impossible? And time travel, really?
Chapter 2