by Dakota

The four members of the Continuum sat quibbling about their problem. It was all Q’s fault, of course.  He had become frustrated with the situation and queried his spouse for an opinion, which Q had been more than happy to provide. The heated debate that resulted drew the attention of their son who felt obligated to add his Q's cents worth – which made little sense to his parents. Q was forced to seek support for his viewpoint so he called upon his old friend from the Enterprise days, Q. He soon regretted that decision when yet a fourth opinion added to his quandary.

After eons, at least to humans, of questions, qualitative study, quantitative analysis, quarrels and finally quiescence, the four concurred. Everything had been tried either by those involved, their friends or the Q themselves. Nothing had worked. There were no options remaining – they had to tell her. Q graciously volunteered at the urging of his companions – after all, he was the one who had asked the first question because he could not accept the alternative.

"Ah! Kathy! It's so good to see you again, my dear."

Kathryn put down the padd she had been reading and let her head drop forward while she counted to ten – three times.

"What now, Q?"

"Nothing much, Kathy. I just need to convince you to change your mind on one small point."

"And that small point would be what?"

"The relative importance of certain personal values in connection with the expectations of your commanding officers and specifically your interpretation of specific regulations those commanding officers expect you to carry out."

"What?"

"I said, the relative importance of..."

"I know what you said. I want to know what you're talking about."

"Oh! I thought I was very succinct. You've placed certain personal values below every regulation written by Starfleet and a few they haven't written."

"Personal preferences have to be subject to regulations or the regulations would be meaningless."

"I didn't say personal preferences, Kathy. I said personal values. You have abandoned all your personal values for the sake of Starfleet regulations, as you've interpreted them."

"That's grand talk, Q, and could apply to every action I take and decision I make, but somehow I think you have something specific in mind. Don't you?"

"Well, yes. There is one thing in specific that has prompted my visit here and one fact that makes it critical that you do as I ask."

"Just get to the point, Q. I don't have time for this."

"You have to have time for this, or you will soon have no time for anything."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Let me start again. You've completely put aside your personal values, including those that deal with honesty about your feelings and doing what is best for Kathryn Janeway."

"Following Starfleet regulations is best for me."

"Most of the time, you're right. But you've put aside your feelings and denied them even to yourself. This is not good for you or in the best interest of Starfleet. It is definitely not in the best interest of your ship or crew."

"My feelings?"

"Your feelings, and you know exactly which feelings I'm talking about."

"I can guess with reasonable certainty, yes. Well, thank you for your opinion and your concern, but my personal life is none of your business. Now, if you don't mind, I have work to finish."

"I do mind and I'm not finished. I said there was one fact that made this choice of yours critical."

Kathryn sighed. She had no desire to listen to Q on any issue, much less this one. Maybe letting him have his say was the fastest and simplest way to be rid of him.

"If I listen, will you leave?"

"If I know you have truly heard what I say and understand it's import, yes. I will leave."

"Then talk, and keep it short."

"Straight to the bottom line, Kathy? OK. This timeline you live in should not exist." Q did not allow Kathryn to interrupt. "Based on everything known to the Continuum, which is pretty much everything, this timeline should not exist. Every timeline in which you and Chakotay meet in the Delta Quadrant has you two together as a couple within two years. Not many, not most, ALL the timelines, except this one. In our experience, variations this significant exist in at least a dozen different timelines. This one does not.

"You are the only Kathryn Janeway who completely sets aside her personal values. You are a person of great conviction and that is true in all the timelines, but this is the only one in which you gave up your personal values. The only explanation is that this timeline should not exist. It's an aberration. In short, something is wrong here. You can fix it, if you want."

"Surely I must have made this decision in other timelines?"

"Well, yes, you did, but Voyager was destroyed by the Borg in most of them and by other races or technical malfunctions during the third or fourth years of your journey in the others. I can't tell you more, Kathy, but there are some patterns that nature must follow. Do you understand what I'm telling you?"

"I think I do, Q. I'll think about it. I promise."

"Don't just think, act. Act quickly, Kathy. Time waits for no man or woman."

"All right, Q."

"He's a good man, Kathy. After all, you turned me down because of him." With that final comment, Q was gone leaving Kathryn to contemplate his words and warning. If Kathryn understood the subtext of his little speech, Voyager would probably be destroyed in the not too distant future if she continued to deny her feelings. Talk about being backed into a corner. She was still trying to decide what to do when the chime sounded.

"Enter."

"Captain, we're getting some readings ahead that could indicate the formation of an ion storm. It's nothing critical yet, but I'd suggest we adjust our course to avoid the center of it." Kathryn looked at Chakotay for a long minute before making her decision.

"Janeway to Paris."

"Paris here."

"Adjust our course to avoid that storm by at least two light years."

"Aye, Captain. Paris out."

"Chakotay, have a seat. We need to finish a conversation about parameters and legends. I think the legend ended too quickly."

Chakotay understood her reference immediately but took a few minutes to grasp her meaning. They talked for several hours about the events since they left New Earth. Finally, Kathryn told Chakotay about Q's most recent visit. She knew that there could be nothing held back at this point.

Near the end of their shift, as they were making plans for dinner, Voyager was rocked by something. They both made their way to the bridge to investigate.

"Report!" Chakotay spoke for them both.

"Sorry about that. It's just a little turbulence from that storm, Commander. At this distance, it's no problem."

"Just how strong is that storm, Tom?" Kathryn was curious.

"It's off all scales at the center. It's a good thing you had us go around it, Captain."

Kathryn and Chakotay exchanged glances and smiled as Kathryn replied to Tom's report. "I've learned that it isn't always the direct path that brings you home."