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UNSEEN QUESTIONER: Please state for the record your name, current occupation, and the planet, ship, base, or facility where you reside.
KIM: I’m Commander Harry Kim of the U.S.S. Rhode Island.
TORRES: My name is B’Elanna Torres. I work in ship propulsion design on Utopia Planetia.
TUVOK: I am Tuvok, chief of tactical studies at the Vulcan Science Academy on Vulcan.
SEVEN: My name is Annika Hansen. I am a counselor specializing in assisting children of Starfleet service members affected by traumatic incidents. My office is on the U.S.S. Pasteur, but I am frequently deployed elsewhere.
PARIS: Tom Paris. I work in shuttlecraft and short-range ship design on Utopia Planetia.
SEVEN: Yes, I did use a different name years ago ... Seven of Nine ... Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero One. Why?
DOCTOR: I don’t have an actual name, but I’ve been on special assignment for Starfleet studying the psycho-dynamics of the residents of the Rurigan planet in the Gamma Quadrant. I’ve been embraced as an elder there. The Rurigans call me Prako. It’s a term of endearment, really, a chance to —
JANEWAY: Kathryn Janeway, Vice Admiral, Starfleet Command, Earth.
UNSEEN QUESTIONER: Did you serve alongside a man known as Commander Chakotay on the U.S.S. Voyager during the seven years that ship was in the Delta Quadrant?
KIM: Yes.
TORRES: Yes.
TUVOK: I did.
PARIS: Sure did.
SEVEN: I lived on that ship for four years.
DOCTOR: Indeed, I did. I was confined to sickbay at first, but my mobile emitter soon allowed me to —
JANEWAY: I was captain of that ship during that time, yes.
UNSEEN QUESTIONER: What can you tell me about the person known to you as Commander Chakotay?
TORRES: From when we were on Voyager?
PARIS: Nice guy, I guess. Intense, but those could be intense times.
JANEWAY: Good officer.
KIM: Well, he was a vegetarian.
TUVOK: Commander Chakotay swiftly and masterfully encouraged former members of the Maquis to serve competently as Voyager crew members — with remarkably few exceptions.
SEVEN: I have no information regarding the Commander’s years on Voyager beyond what would be available in any Starfleet database.
KIM: He was into anthropology ... or was it paleontology?
PARIS: No, no issues once we got underway. It’s just hard to pin a firm memory on the guy from our time on Voyager. We had some problems beforehand, but that got better.... I’m trying to remember something specific, anything specific from the Voyager years. I think he was into boxing, maybe?
JANEWAY: What additional detail would you like?
TORRES: On Voyager, Chakotay was ... careful. He wanted to stay on everyone’s good side. Especially the Captain.
JANEWAY: He performed duties associated with his position as first officer. He argued with me when appropriate, but, most of the time, Commander Chakotay carried out my orders as expected.
KIM: I’m sure we spent a lot of time together, but I’m not sure I really knew him. Did anyone?
JANEWAY: No, I have nothing to add to my answer.
UNSEEN QUESTIONER: During the time you both served on Voyager, how would you describe your professional relationship with the person known to you as Commander Chakotay?
JANEWAY: I believe I answered that in your previous question.
SEVEN: Adequate.
KIM: It was fine.
PARIS: Fine.
DOCTOR: There were no problems there. In fact, I believe we worked together quite well on the occasions we had opportunity to do so.
TUVOK: Acceptable.
TORRES: Different from when we were on the Val Jean. He got more ... formal. But, that’s Starfleet. He was still Chakotay.
UNSEEN QUESTIONER: During the time you both served on Voyager, how would you describe your personal relationship with the person known to you as Commander Chakotay?
SEVEN: Because of our onboard duties, we were associated for years.... Technically, we briefly dated just before Voyager returned home.
PARIS: He was my wife’s friend.
TORRES: Well, early on we would eat together in the mess hall and laugh at the Starfleet crewmembers. But, when it became clear we would be out there a while, we started to become pretty “Starfleet,” ourselves.... We grew apart in some ways, I suppose. I got closer with Tom, and Chakotay and the Captain spent a lot of time together. Chakotay always was there for me when I needed him, though. He always seemed to know what was going on and how he could help.
JANEWAY: It was a traditional captain/first officer relationship — a bit closer than some due to the circumstances of being the only known Starfleet ship in the quadrant for the vast majority of seven years, but still well within the standards of protocol.
TUVOK: We both considered ourselves to be friends with the Captain, but not, I must say, with each other.
SEVEN: “Technically” because, as I reflected upon the “relationship” with the benefit of counseling, I realized it was — inadvertently — primarily a furtherance of my research project into human dating customs. A true relationship includes trust.
JANEWAY: Yes, I did state on multiple occasions there was no one on Voyager I trusted more than Chakotay. He was my first officer. What’s your point?
KIM: As I think back on it, I suppose I didn’t have much of a personal relationship with the guy.
JANEWAY: Dinners together and time in the holodeck are activities engaged in by many captains and first officers. Anything more “familiar,” as you say, could become a dangerous breach of command ethics. Captains are responsible for their crew, their entire crew. That responsibility was foremost on my mind during those seven years. Every day was a chance to get home. Every day was a chance to be destroyed. If my judgment wasn’t clear, every life on that ship could suffer. Nothing was worth that risk.
UNSEEN QUESTIONER: Did you ever have reason to suspect the person known to you as Commander Chakotay wasn’t telling you the whole truth?
JANEWAY: Not for one second.
TORRES: I don’t know if he ever lied, but I definitely think he was holding something back.
PARIS: Nothing big. Just jokes, sometimes.
KIM: No. He could be a pretty serious guy.
TUVOK: I require evidence of your Starfleet security clearance level before I may fully answer that question.
TORRES: I don’t know exactly what. But I always had this feeling.
SEVEN: Upon reflection ... yes.
DOCTOR: Unfortunately, many people are less than truthful with their physician. However, I didn’t find his lapses problematic ... at the time.
TUVOK: As my confidential report to Captain Janeway near the start of our mission showed, during the time I observed Mr. Chakotay on the Val Jean, I could not discern a motive for his activism in the Maquis. I had perused records indicating his father died defending their home world against Cardassians, but Mr. Chakotay did not voice solidarity with that fight. In fact, as an instructor for Starfleet's Advanced Tactical Training before “joining the Maquis,” Mr. Chakotay would have known the substantially dismal odds of tactical success for the Maquis mission.
SEVEN: No, I did not report my suspicions. To make such an accusation without adequate proof could have had disastrous repercussions for the Voyager bridge crew.
TUVOK: No. My report, as I said, was confidential, shared only with then-Captain Janeway.
SEVEN: Yes, the Borg assimilated thousands of Starfleet officers during the time I was part of the hive mind. But the record should show that despite my knowledge of confidential bases, particles, and sections, I have never disclosed such information to anyone not already aware of it.... I do not know of what information you are aware.
DOCTOR: It had to do with code in my program. Upon study with Dr. Lewis Zimmerman, we found insertion of a sophisticated algorithm that erased my memory of certain aspects of Commander Chakotay’s medical history and also of discussions with the Commander. The data were ... unrecoverable.
TUVOK: No, my report did not speculate. But, it could be surmised from that report he was simply using the Maquis as a way to pursue objectives for some other entity.
JANEWAY: I’ve read a lot of reports. Can you be more specific?
DOCTOR: Only with Dr. Zimmerman. He said querying anyone else would be a waste of his limited time. This was only a few weeks before he passed away.
SEVEN: No, I have not. Not until just now.
JANEWAY: The human mind is a complex thing. Discerning whether someone else’s motivation is “clear” is hardly my call. A person’s reaction to the death of a parent may not be predictable. Emotion, in such circumstances, can defy logic.
TORRES: Yes, we talked about it on the Val Jean. He said the Cardassians would take what wasn’t theirs if we let them. He said someone had to do the dirty work the Federation wouldn’t. He recruited me into the Maquis cause. I wanted to be on the winning side of a fight and I believed him when he said we could drive the Cardassians back into their space if we were willing to be accountable to something bigger than ourselves.
JANEWAY: No, he didn’t mention the word “Maquis” on New Earth — nor did he name any other organizational allegiance during that time.
TORRES: Now, of course, I see we couldn’t have won that fight. I don’t know why he thought we could.... But, whatever he had in mind, it didn’t matter because we got pulled into the Delta Quadrant and then he adjusted to life on Voyager seamlessly.
JANEWAY: I would say he adjusted to life on New Earth seamlessly, then seamlessly back again once we returned to Voyager.
SEVEN: I understand. But, the record should show I remained uncertain until Golden Gate Park.
UNSEEN QUESTIONER: When was the last time you saw Commander Chakotay?
KIM: The last time I saw him was the day we returned to the Alpha Quadrant. Captain Janeway had Commander Chakotay land Voyager in Golden Gate Park. Every member of the crew who walked off the ship that day felt like a hero — a hero walking right into the best chaos I’ve ever seen. Family and friends were beaming in like crazy; shuttlecraft were landing everywhere.... I saw Naomi Wildman opening her arms wide for her first hug from her dad. I saw Vulcans running — Vulcans running! — toward Tuvok. My mom and dad were there and they were so excited. Captain Janeway was the last person off the ship and she was smiling and shaking hands with these Starfleet admirals who were congratulating her. My mom wanted to talk to her, so we started moving that way. You would think she would have been mobbed, but everyone was catching up with their friends and family. The Captain just stood there and she looked out over the crowd. I was close enough to see her face, so I told my mom we would have to talk to her later, it wasn’t the right time.
TUVOK: I did not notice Mr. Chakotay at Golden Gate Park. I was otherwise occupied.
DOCTOR: I was in sickbay with Lieutenants Torres and Paris and their baby. Admiral Paris and other members of the Paris family met us there for their joyful reunion.
KIM: Well, the Captain just ... I don’t know. I asked her about it a few weeks later and she didn’t really answer me. But, her face ... it was like ... for just a minute ... she looked ... lost — after finally getting home. I don’t know how else to describe it.... Anyway, it’s good her mother and sister got there pretty quickly. But, to answer your question about Chakotay ... I didn’t see him at all once I left the bridge to run to the park. I thought about it later, and I realized I didn’t even know who to expect to see him with. During those seven years, everyone talked about family and friends back home. But not him. He mentioned a sister, I think, once. A cousin, too, maybe? Even Seven had her aunt right there in Golden Gate Park.
SEVEN: I had planned to introduce him to my Aunt Irene, but Commander Chakotay did not disembark from Voyager.
JANEWAY: When we landed, I made a shipwide announcement for all hands to secure their stations and proceed to terra firma. Chakotay and I secured the bridge, I told him he could go, he did, then I double-checked all vital areas as locked down.
SEVEN: My ocular implant, however, did detect a humanoid of Commander Chakotay’s approximate height and weight beaming into a building nearby. It was a building I recognized due to prior assimilation of Section 31 agents. That was the closest I came to confirmation.
JANEWAY: Vital areas in addition to the bridge would include engineering, weapons lockers, transporter rooms, and sickbay. I visited them in that order, per Starfleet protocol, and had the pleasure of concluding my last rounds on Voyager by meeting Lieutenants Paris and Torres’ newborn baby. I then formally concluded Voyager’s mission with Starfleet admirals and my mother and sister found me in Golden Gate Park. End of story.
TORRES: I remember being in sickbay with Tom and I was holding Miral. Tom’s parents rushed in and they were so loving to me and to him and to the baby. It felt like a dream, a wonderful, amazing dream. The Captain came in and she told us how happy she was for us. I just — I just figured Chakotay would have come, too, after all we’d been through together.... Later, when Starfleet was searching for him, the officers who went through his quarters found a baby gift he had left there. It was a medicine wheel, and the note said Miral should always be healthy and strong. Tom and I thought that was thoughtful.
JANEWAY: Harry told you about that? ... Well, I’ll just have to tell you the same thing I told him 18 years ago: I can’t possibly be expected to remember one, specific thought from such a busy day. I’m sure I had many thoughts, looking out over Golden Gate Park, but could I recall each one to recite them to you today? No, of course not.
UNSEEN QUESTIONER: What else should be known for the record in regards to the person known to you as Commander Chakotay?
KIM: I wish he had come to some of the Voyager reunions!
SEVEN: I have nothing to add on the record and I certainly shall continue my discretion on this matter. Thank you.
DOCTOR: He was a thoughtful officer. A good man. He treated me professionally at times when others did not. I wish I had thanked him for that.
PARIS: I appreciated his leadership through those seven years and I appreciate what a good friend he was to B’Elanna.
TORRES: He handled everything without getting ruffled. Even the whole thing with Seska — he always stayed focused on the goal. He knew how to size up situations and act accordingly. I try to remember that lesson.
TUVOK: Mr. Chakotay would seek counsel when unsure of a course of action. I hope our discussion today has brought you the answers you sought.
JANEWAY: When I offered Chakotay the position of first officer on Voyager, I told him that ship, in that situation, needed a unique first officer, one who could understand every crew member — Maquis or Starfleet — better than they understood themselves. I also told him, should he accept the position, he would be accountable to me and to the Voyager crew every moment of our journey ... and he was. I, for one, believe that should be truth enough.