Chapter Text
Ten days later, Voyager moved quietly through open space. The turbulent tachyon region lay far behind them now, just another strange phenomenon recorded in the ship’s logs. Inside the ready room, Captain Kathryn Janeway sat behind her desk reviewing reports.
Or at least trying to. A small bassinet stood beside the desk. Inside it, her newborn son slept peacefully, wrapped in a soft selfknit blanket Neelix hat made for them. The faint rise and fall of his breathing was mesmerizing. Janeway leaned back in her chair and allowed herself a small smile. Across the room, Commander Chakotay stood near the viewport, holding a padd. Except he wasn’t reading it. He was watching the baby. “Hard to believe,” he said quietly.
Janeway glanced up. “What is?”
“That someone that small can already rearrange our entire schedule.”
Janeway chuckled looking at her daughter playing with blocks on the ground. “Like we didn’t know what to expect… Wait until he learns to crawl.”
Chakotay walked over to the bassinet and leaned down slightly. The baby stirred, stretching one tiny hand. Chakotay carefully offered his finger. The infant wrapped his hand around it instantly. Chakotay smiled.
“I think he has your grip.”
Janeway tilted her head. “Hopefully not my stubbornness.”
“That might be unavoidable.”
For a moment the room fell quiet again. Janeway picked up another padd from her desk. “Engineering reports everything normal since the tachyon field crossing.”
Chakotay nodded. “Astrometrics confirmed it as well. No lingering chronometric anomalies.”
Janeway hesitated. Then she added thoughtfully, “I had the strangest dream while we were inside the field.”
Chakotay glanced at her while she leaned back in her chair.
“The ship was fractured into different time periods.”
Chakotay’s expression shifted subtly as Janeway continued. “I spoke with Commander Cavit. Naomi Wildman and Icheb all grown up.” She paused. “And you.”
Chakotay’s brow furrowed slightly. “What happened?”
Janeway watched him carefully. “You helped me repair the timeline.”
Chakotay leaned against the desk. “Sounds familiar.”
Janeway smiled faintly. “Does it?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know why, but when I walked into sickbay during the birth…” He hesitated. “I had this strange feeling.”
“What kind of feeling?”
“Like I had already been there before.”
Janeway considered that quietly. Before she could reply, the door chime sounded. “Come in.”
The doors slid open and Seven of Nine stepped inside. “Captain,” she said.
Janeway gestured toward a chair. “Report.”
Seven remained standing. “I have completed a detailed analysis of the tachyon field we passed through.”
Janeway raised an eyebrow. “And?”
Seven folded her hands behind her back. “It appears that for approximately fourteen minutes Voyager was exposed to overlapping chronometric frequencies from multiple parallel timelines. The measurements were unexpectedly especially high near the warp core.”
“You mean alternate versions of Voyager?”, Chakotay summed up.
Janeway exchanged a glance with him. Seven continued.
“In theory, brief neural synchronization between those timelines may have occurred.”
Chakotay crossed his arms. “You’re saying people might remember events that happened in another reality.”
Seven nodded. “That is a reasonable interpretation.”
Janeway looked down at the sleeping baby beside her desk. “Fascinating.”
Seven studied her for a moment. “Captain, may I ask a personal question?”
Janeway smiled slightly. “Since when has that stopped you?”
Seven gestured toward the bassinet. “Did you experience any unusual dreams during the tachyon exposure?”
Janeway glanced at Chakotay. He gave a small amused shrug. She turned back to Seven. “Possibly.”
Seven nodded thoughtfully. “That would be consistent with my hypothesis.”
Janeway leaned back in her chair again. “Thank you, Seven.”
Seven inclined her head and left the ready room. For a few seconds neither Janeway nor Chakotay spoke. Then Chakotay chuckled softly. “So… hypothetically speaking…”
Janeway looked up.
“Even if two people started off as enemies…”
Janeway smiled immediately. “…it seems they might get to know each other pretty well?”
Chakotay nodded. “And maybe cross a few barriers along the way.”