The captain’s personal quarters had never been kept in regulation order. Fife was astonished when he entered to find the usual disarray had been replaced by a spotless workspace, a freshly made rack, and a visible deck.
His surprise was clearly not lost on O’Donnell.
“Just because I choose not to do something doesn’t mean I don’t know how,” O’Donnell said, correctly intuiting the reason for the shock on Fife’s face.
Now that the moment had come, Fife found himself at a loss for words.
O’Donnell spared him. “I have spoken at great length with Counselor Cambridge. I never saw much use for a counselor, let alone on a starship. But I might reconsider that in the future, assuming I have one with Starfleet. He’s given me a lot to think about.”
“I am pleased to hear that, sir.”
“I bet you are.” It sounded like a dig, but O’Donnell added quickly, “I owe you an apology, Atlee.”
“For what?”
“I lost track of my responsibilities to you and to our ship.”
“It happens.”
“Clearly. But you deserve better than that from me.”
“Thank you, sir.”
An uncomfortable pause followed until O’Donnell said, “I hope when we’re done here, we’ll be able to put this behind us.”
“That’s not… what I mean to say is…” Fife floundered.
O’Donnell’s face paled. “Unless you have other ideas?”
“Actually, I did. But it didn’t quite work out the way I expected.”
“What are we talking about?”
“Are you aware of the reason the Edrehmaia brought Galen out here?” Fife asked.
“I haven’t seen or heard anything that didn’t happen in this room in days,” O’Donnell replied.
Fife shifted his weight from foot to foot uncertainly.
“Sit the hell down and spit it out, Atlee,” O’Donnell said.
Fife moved to one of the two chairs that sat at a small table beside the suite’s replicator. O’Donnell joined him there.
“The Edrehmaia intend to leave our galaxy. They needed our slipstream drive to break the galactic barrier,” Fife reported.
Delight, confusion, awe, and wonder played simultaneously across O’Donnell’s face. “I did not see that coming,” he said.
“None of us did. While Galen is clearly not an appropriate ship for such an undertaking, it occurred to me that Demeter might be.”
A slow smile began to form on O’Donnell’s face. “Did it?”
Fife nodded. “Just because you went about it in the most egregiously incompetent manner possible, that does not mean your scientific curiosity about the Edrehmaia was entirely misplaced.”
“I’ll allow that because we’re friends, Atlee, but don’t push it.”
Fife chuckled agreeably. “I spoke with Captain Chakotay and asked if he thought the admiral would consider allowing Demeter to undertake that mission.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew that once you learned what the Edrehmaia wanted, you would do the same.”
“I would have,” O’Donnell agreed, “but never in a million years would I expect it from you.”
Fife shrugged. “Elkins assured me it was safe. I saw no reason to deny you the ability to continue to pursue the answers to the questions you’ve spent your entire life searching for. And as long as I was willing to support it, I assumed the admiral would at least give it due consideration.”
“I appreciate that. But you still haven’t answered my question. Why would you do that for me?”
“I betrayed you once, sir. And your response to that betrayal was to trust more, to communicate better, and to help me become an officer worthy of my position here. I owe you everything. It felt like the least I could do.”
O’Donnell bowed his head for a moment. Finally, he said, “Thank you, Atlee.”
“Unfortunately, the admiral has denied my request.”
“I see,” O’Donnell said. “I guess it was a long shot at best. Still, I appreciate that you were willing…”
“She has decided to take Voyager beyond the barrier instead.”
O’Donnell shot out of his chair. “Are you serious?”
“Always, sir.”
“Can we…? I have to speak with her.”
“I have already been assured that a position in Voyager’s science department is yours for the taking, sir.”
O’Donnell began to pace fretfully. “That’s just… I can’t believe… do you realize what you’ve done, Atlee?”
“I believe so, yes, sir,” Fife said, rising.
O’Donnell came to an abrupt halt. “Wait. What does this mean for you?”
“I have been asked to remain with the fleet and continue on as Demeter’s captain,” Fife replied.
Some of the light in O’Donnell’s eyes dimmed.
“I see.”
“I told the admiral I would not accept until I had spoken to you.”
“You want my permission?”
“No, sir. I want you to make me one promise. Two, come to think of it.”
“Go ahead.”
“I want you to be careful. More careful than has become your custom of late.”
“I think I can manage that,” O’Donnell assured him.
“And I want you to come back. Someday, I want to receive a transmission from you, and I want to hear everything that you saw and did and learned while you were away.”
O’Donnell closed the space between them. Although he had never been physically demonstrative, he raised his arms and embraced Fife warmly. When he pulled away, his eyes were glistening.
“I never had a son, Atlee,” O’Donnell said softly. “I wanted one. Or a daughter, I suppose. I thought I’d lost that opportunity forever when Alana died. I was wrong.”
“That’s kind of you to say, sir.”
“Call me ‘sir’ one more time, Atlee…” O’Donnell said.
Fife’s throat tightened as he replied, “Take care of yourself, Liam.”
VOYAGER
Aytar Gwyn had remained with Devi Patel since the moment of her transformation. She had spoken to the interlocutor Patel had become and found it to be the worst conversationalist she’d ever met, which was ironic given that its purpose was communication. Apart from the coordinates where the Galen could be found, it had spoken continuously about builders and architects and submarines and positive infinity, none of which meant anything to Gwyn. But she had let it speak, had asked it as many questions as she could think of, all in the hope that what had been done to Devi might somehow be undone. But for that to happen, this thing that had taken her friend
