by Dakota

Tom watched B'Elanna as she paced outside the doors of the hearing room anxiously waiting for the announcement of findings of the Board of Inquiry. Other members of Voyager's crew were scattered along the hall but the majority were waiting on another level away from the mass of the civilian press.

Tom glanced toward a reporter a few feet away who was going over her summary for the sixth time.

"This is Karen Jackson outside the main hearing room of Starfleet headquarters where we are waiting to hear the results of the inquiry into the actions of Captain Kathryn Janeway while on undercover assignment to infiltrate the Maquis nearly twenty-five years ago. As you all know, the Maquis ship she was on was transported nearly seventy-five thousand light years to the Delta Quadrant while she was on an undercover assignment, along with the ship she commanded. While on the Maquis ship, she became involved with the very man she was sent to capture and had his child not long after she resumed command of her ship.

"After resuming command, she did not carry out her orders to arrest the Maquis. Instead, she brought them on board her ship and treated them as part of her crew, giving them access to secured areas of the ship and secret Starfleet files. She even made the Maquis captain the first officer of her ship rather than treating him like the criminal he was believed to be.

"When Captain Janeway returned with her ship a little over six months ago, it was hailed as a miracle. Then Starfleet started reviewing the ship's logs and investigating the reports Captain Janeway filed when she first resumed command of her ship all those years ago. The Maquis criminals were allowed to leave after answering a few questions despite the charges that had been pending against them. In the words of the Federation prosecutor, 'the statute of limitations has run on all the crimes for which the individuals were charged'.

"It seems that Starfleet is not so generous with its rules. Captain Janeway could be brought up on charges of disobeying orders and possibly espionage. Our expert on military law pointed out that fraternizing with the enemy had not been mentioned and one possible reason was that the child Captain Janeway carried might not have been the result of a voluntary relationship.

"The Board finished hearing testimony late yesterday and conferred all morning before notifying Captain Janeway that they would be announcing their findings this afternoon. She is in the hearing room now, accompanied only by her lawyer and the Maquis captain she was sent to capture."

The young woman stopped talking and waited a second before relaxing. "How was that?"

"Great!" The cameraman finally seemed satisfied with the summary. "Let's see if we can get some comments from one of the kids from her ship."

"All right." The woman glanced around and selected the group of young officers talking in the corner. She walked over to them.

"Hi." Karen Jackson's warm voice and sincere smile was a major reason she was good at getting people to talk to her. "Would you mind answering a few questions for me?"

The five young officers looked at each other trying to reach an unspoken consensus. Finally, one girl nodded to the others and a young blond who looked partly Klingon spoke. "All right. What do you want to know?"

"Were you all born on Voyager?"

"Yes." The blond seemed to be the spokesperson for this group.

"Were your parents Starfleet or Maquis?"

"Yes."

The young woman was clearly flustered by his answer. "No, I mean, which group were your parents -- Starfleet or Maquis?"

"Both." The blond seemed to derive some satisfaction from the repeated question. "My father was really a civilian but I guess you'd call him Starfleet and my mother was Maquis."

"What about the rest of you?"

"We all have parents. A few of us have parents from the same group and some of us have one parent from each." The blond looked disgusted.

The young woman had apparently had enough of the questions. She shook her head to cut off the young man. "That's enough, Robbie."

She turned to the reporter. "You know, we never thought about dividing ourselves this way before we got back. All our parents were officers or crew on Voyager and we all worked together, not just because Captain Janeway cared about the Maquis but also because we needed every single person to run Voyager. We never thought about who was Starfleet or Maquis until we got back here on Earth.

"For twenty-five years, those labels didn't mean anything important – and they still don't, not to us. What matters is what all of them did during those twenty-five years." She paused. 

"You make it sound like Captain Janeway committed some crime. Well, she didn’t. What she did was get a ship stranded seventy-five thousand light years from home back in twenty-five years – one-third the time it was expected to take. She never stopped pushing the crew and herself to get us all home. She expected everyone, Starfleet and Maquis alike, to do his or her best. Everyone worked together finding ways to get supplies, trading for technology that would make the journey a little shorter, anything that would make the journey easier.

"Captain Janeway walked away from opportunities to shorten the journey because of Starfleet's rules. She never let any of us forget for one minute that those rules were there for a reason and that we were all expected to follow them.

"You criticize her for making Chakotay her first officer. Well, he was the best person for the job. He was a graduate of Starfleet Academy and had been the captain of his own ship. He knew how to do the job and he knew the people.

"So what if she loved him? He loved her." The young officer glared at the reporter. "We all know that."

The young blond stepped closer to the young officer. "Calm down, Carlie. She's just some reporter who doesn't know them."

"But she's talking like she does, Robbie." Carlie was clearly angry. "How can you just stand there and listen to her say those things?"

"They are just words." Robbie tilted Carlie's head up. "How many times over the years did you tell me to ignore the taunts about being part Klingon and part Terran?"

"Hundreds, but that's not the same thing. Those were our friends teasing you and you are part Klingon and part Terran."

"What did she say that wasn't true?"

"Nothing." Carlie conceded. "It was the way she said it."

"What really bothered you?"

Carlie was close to tears. "She made it sound like Daddy raped Mom. You know Daddy didn't do that. He would never hurt Mom but she made it sound like he did. It's not true! It's just not true!"

Robbie pulled Carlie into his arms and the others closed around them shutting out the reporter.

Tom was ready to move forward to send the reporter away but she moved off on her own to talk to the cameraman. He wondered what she and the cameraman were discussing but figured he'd find out when the reporter returned to her earlier place near the door to tape something new.

"This is Karen Jackson outside the main hearing room of Starfleet headquarters where we are waiting to hear the results of the inquiry into the actions of Captain Kathryn Janeway while on undercover assignment to infiltrate the Maquis nearly twenty-five years ago. As you all know, the Maquis ship she was on was transported nearly seventy-five thousand light years to the Delta Quadrant while she was on an undercover assignment, along with the ship she commanded.

"Unofficial sources report that after resuming command, she did not carry out her orders to arrest the Maquis. Instead, she brought them on board her ship and made them part of her crew. She even made the Maquis captain the first officer of her ship rather than treat him like the criminal she was sent to arrest. Together they melded the two groups into one crew, a Starfleet crew, and brought them back to the Federation. A member of her crew reported that she never let any of them forget that those rules were there for a reason and that they were all expected to follow them.

"When Captain Janeway returned with her ship a little over six months ago, it was hailed as a miracle. Then Starfleet started reviewing the ship's logs and investigating the reports Captain Janeway filed when she first resumed command of her ship all those years ago. The Maquis criminals were allowed to leave after answering a few questions despite the charges that had been pending against them. In the words of the Federation prosecutor, 'the statute of limitations has run on all the crimes for which the individuals were charged'. The prosecutor went on to say that the twenty-five years served on Voyager exceeded the maximum sentences most would have received even if convicted.

"It seems that Starfleet is not so generous with its regulations. If the Board of Inquiry finds cause, Captain Janeway could be brought up on charges of disobeying orders and possibly espionage. Yes, after struggling for twenty-five years to bring her crew and ship and the Maquis back to Federation territory, Captain Janeway is the only person who might face criminal charges. It seems a strange way to reward the woman who walked away from opportunities to shorten the journey because of Starfleet's regulations.

"The Board finished hearing testimony late yesterday and conferred all morning before notifying Captain Janeway that they would be announcing their findings this afternoon. She entered the hearing room to hear their decision accompanied only by her lawyer and her first officer."

Karen Jackson stopped talking and waited for her cameraman to nod. "Great job, Karen. That will be a great lead in if the Board finds in her favor."

The young woman shook her head. "We're using it regardless of their findings." She stared at the cameraman daring him to contradict her but he nodded his agreement to her decision.

Tom smiled as he listened to the second version. The captain and first officer would have been proud of Carlie. B'Elanna walked over and leaned against him.

"How much longer do you think it will be?"

"I don't know. I'm hoping that the longer it is the better it is." Tom wrapped his arm around her. "You know better than I do that she didn't do anything wrong."

"I know that but Starfleet didn't ask for my opinion. They asked me what I remembered. Twenty-five years and they expect me to remember if she told Chakotay anything she shouldn't have."

Further conversation between them was interrupted by someone opening the door of the hearing room. Tom and B'Elanna both took a few steps toward the door. The first person they could see over the crowd was Chakotay and then Kathryn's lawyer but they couldn't see whether she was with them.

B'Elanna was the first to focus on the visual clues. "It's ok. He's smiling."

"You're right. I can see her next to him. She's between him and the lawyer." Tom breathed a sigh of relief and turned to watch as Carlie moved to meet her parents.

For once, the young officer didn't care whether she was in uniform. She pushed her way through the crowd of reporters trying to talk to her mother. "Mom!"

"Carlie." Kathryn reached for the young woman and pulled her into her arms as Chakotay stepped to block the crush of people from his family. "It's all over and everything is going to be fine."

Chakotay gave them a few minutes before gently reminding them that they still had to deal with the press. "Ensign, I believe these people want to speak to the captain."

Carlie nodded her head and took a deep breath as she stepped back. "Yes, sir."

During the brief interlude, several members of Starfleet Security had established a space between the captain and the press.

"What did the Board of Inquiry conclude?"

"The report was lengthy but in essence it says they found no cause to pursue any of the issues further." The lawyer took charge quickly.

"Captain Janeway, what are you going to do now?" Karen Jackson managed to get the question out before anyone else spoke.

Captain Janeway exchanged a long look with her first officer. Finally, he nodded slightly and smiled. She retuned his smile before turning to the press.

"About five minutes ago, my first officer asked me a question and my answer was yes." Kathryn smiled as her eyes met Carlie's. "I'm going to get married as soon as it can be arranged."

Before anyone could comment, Tom stepped forward. "Actually, Captain, your crew has a bit of a celebration planned downstairs and a little birdie told me there is a justice of the peace among the crowd."

Kathryn turned a glare at Chakotay knowing he had to have told them about his plans but no one noticed as Tom effectively cut off the press. "Sorry, folks. This is strictly by invitation only."

The Security personnel had been thoroughly briefed and were prepared to keep the press away from the gathering. The captain and first officer of Voyager turned toward the lift that would take them to join the rest of the crew. As they moved away, Carlie whispered to them. "I'll be there in just a minute. I promise."

Karen Jackson was headed toward the door when she heard the young officer speak. "Excuse me."

The reporter turned to face her. "Yes?"

"I wanted to apologize for my outburst and for being rude. There is no excuse for my behavior."

"Apology accepted. You made excellent points."

Carlie nodded. "I also wanted to thank you."

"Thank me?" Karen Jackson was truly puzzled. "I don't understand."

"You reminded me who I was. I had almost forgotten." Carlie smiled and stood taller. "I may have been raised Starfleet but I was born Maquis."