Path: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!newshosting.com!nx01.iad01.newshosting.com!yellow.newsread.com!news-toy.newsread.com!netaxs.com!newsread.com!POSTED.newshog.newsread.com!not-for-mail Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated Approved: ascem@earthlink.net Organization: Better Living Thru TrekSmut Sender: ascem@earthlink.net Message-ID: From: "Layla V." MIME-Version: 1.0 Mailing-List: list ASCEML@yahoogroups.com; contact ASCEML-owner@yahoogroups.com Subject: NEW VOY "Absolute Power" Chap 1b 3/21 (C/P, J, AU) [NC-17] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 605 Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2004 12:55:09 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 209.198.142.218 X-Complaints-To: Abuse Role , We Care X-Trace: newshog.newsread.com 1092142509 209.198.142.218 (Tue, 10 Aug 2004 08:55:09 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2004 08:55:09 EDT Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated:82602 X-Received-Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2004 05:55:13 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) TITLE: "Absolute Power" Chapter 1b (July 2004) AUTHOR: Layla V CONTACT: v_layla@hotmail.com WEBSITE: http://www.geocities.com/laylatrek ARCHIVING: Personal website, CPSG, Cha_Club, ASCEML SERIES: Star Trek Voyager RATING: NC-17 for violence, sex and language PART: 3 of 21 CODES: C/P, J/m, P/T implied, All Voyager characters, AU, Angst, H/c, OCC SUMMARY: Voyager's encounter with an intergalactic STORY NOTES: Evil!Janeway alert. See Part 1 of 21 for the details. DISCLAIMER: All characters, other than the original ones created by me, are owned by Paramount. I am merely playing. No copyright infringement is intended. NOTES: Thank you, Britta, for your clearheaded suggestions CHAPTER 1b The Gods of Nature worked in strange ways. His Excellency, Chieftain of the Kel'nohr home world, Kel'kar'vheel the Eighth, looked down at his beautiful red-blue-green world from the viewport of the alien starship, Voyager, and smiled. If he strained his eyes hard enough, he was sure he could make out the beautiful grayish shadows of the first autumn clouds over the Western Continent, where his beloved place of birth lay. He still remembered his childhood days when he'd look up at the darkening reddish skies, pregnant with impending rain clouds, and listen to the sounds of the many critter species greeting the coming rains with their own prayer-sounds. Such strange inexplicable games Nature played. All life on his own world, all life on all the worlds in this system, perhaps all life on all the planets on all the three systems in the imperious Zokaa'r Sovereignty, sentient or otherwise, were comprised of a superior male and a companion female created to work under him. Of all the sentient and non-sentient life he'd come across on his many voyages into the galaxy, the male of the species was not only more dominant but also of indomitable beauty and the ordinary female's acquiescence and dutiful disposition was obvious in the face of the supreme male form. No matter how far he traveled, he came across the same phenomenon, everywhere, with every species he encountered. And yet, here on this alien vessel, docked at the grid station of his very own world, he had to come across a walking contradiction: a female who thought herself superior to the insuperable male form. It was bizarre to say the least. All the males he'd met of this vessel, the ones who'd gone down to the homeworld whom he'd met on the visual link as well as the ones he'd been greeted by upon docking, seemed of superior intelligence and gifted with able bodies. Much more so than this quite ordinary looking female he was now standing before. Even stranger was the fact that the other females he'd come across had been of much preferred pulchritude than this one, and yet it seemed it didn't make any difference to these people. They chose leaders of the wrong gender, and even when doing that had chosen someone who had failed to impress him upon first glance. He found it hard to imagine how such an incongruity could allow this female to rule a people fairly. What was even more astonishing was her barely concealed disdain for the fact that her male command crewmembers had been invited to do the negotiating by the supreme Zokaa'r Sovereignty. She tried to hide it, very valiantly indeed--yes, he could see the effort plainly--but unfortunately, her efforts didn't meet with much success. Yet, although this was the first instance that he had come across a female who had achieved such a high level in the hierarchy of her vessel, he knew of many System Kings who fostered contempt and doubt towards the very people they had sworn to trust and protect. He knew what it was like to be subordinate to an unworthy System King, and thus felt a faint tremor of empathy for the crew that must be forced to endure this female's false dominance. He supposed they had learned to endure it the way he had. He thought of his childhood days again when he'd stared up at the resplendent darkening skies, and remembered how his father, His Excellency, Chieftain Kel'kar'vheel the Seventh, would tell him stories of the ancient days when his people still breathed the air of freedom. And tell him dreams of the soon-to-be future days when once more the people would sing the songs of liberation. Now standing here in this alien vessel and looking down at his beautiful imprisoned world, he could almost hear the freedom chants of his ancients. He suddenly knew that this strange female would be instrumental in bringing him closer to that liberation. Like drops of water falling upon a stone face, this vessel led by this female captain would be one more drop in the continuing effort for Kel'nohr's freedom from Zokaa'r domination. He blinked and nodded, as he got the signal through the surgically hidden device inside him. The alien negotiating team had landed and settled in. It was time to play the game the Gods of Nature had obviously planned for him. His Excellency, Chieftain of the Kel'nohr home world, Kel'kar'vheel the Eighth, turned around to face Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager and gave her one of his most endearingly sweet smiles. He'd spent a lifetime bowing to false Kings; what was taking care of one frail, plain alien female who thought more of herself than she should? # # United Federation of the Delta Quadrant Planets. Tuvok knew it was illogical to think of this gathering as an equivalent of the Federation, knew Voyager had seen far too many species and worlds in their six year journey into the DQ than this large banquet hall could possibly hold, knew the hierarchical structure of the politics this *alliance* seemed to observe was not analogous to how the Federation did things. Still. So many species. So many races. So many different people breathing the same air, under the same roof. It was not logical, no. But somehow, in a purely visceral sense, it felt instinctive, almost habitual, to look for the familiar within the exotic. To try to find recognizable patterns within an exclusively alien arrangement. And it was alien indeed. As alien as anything they'd come across in the Delta Quadrant, if not more so. The level of technological advancement alone was unparalleled to anything he'd seen in the Federation. And yet, the basic building blocks of all ways of life--all politics between people, all bureaucratic systems holding races together--all of it seemed to follow a familiar pattern. Familiar enough to make them feel welcomed in this extrinsic environment. One species to originate from the planet, to form the government, and yet so many more to be welcomed--outsiders bringing their own other--worldly, exotic tastes to one's world. And then to have representatives from the larger alliance--the Monarch itself--be present in key decision-making positions. For an imperialistic society, this structure was not all unlike the Federation. On the face of it, it was royalties and crowned heads ruling, but didn't the bureaucratic officials coexisting with the local population work similarly to the Federation council? Then again, there were those who called the Federation an imperialistic hegemony too. "It brings great contentment to the Zokaa'r High Council to come across new faces, to get the opportunity to make unsullied alliances with those worthy of being friends in these changing times, from across the opening borders of our worlds." Tuvok's eyes settled on Great Overseer, Resh'lon of Du'kazinon IV, the highest-ranking official of the Zokaa'r High Council present on Kel'nohr, now standing up to make the welcoming speech, and suddenly recognized the flaw in his initial reasoning. All the Zokaa'rians present in the governments on all of these worlds had "noble blood", and that was where the difference between this *alliance* and the Federation lay. The overseeing of the three star systems under the System Kings, as well as the individual worlds under the Great Overseer, was kept in the regal families--passed on from fathers to sons. It was the most intensely adhered to and widely spread form of patriarchic establishment that he'd ever seen. Although, Tuvok admitted, the Great Overseer, despite his officious and impressive-sounding title, seemed a most congenial man, his demeanor candid and very amicable with the away team. "We gather here to greet our honorable guests," continued Resh'lon, "the remarkably stalwart and competent command crew of the Starship Voyager...who have traveled thousands of light years on their quest to return home." A light murmur went through the gathering. "Home--how sweet is the sound of that word...how hard you must have tried, what pains you must have felt to be so far away from your beloved homeland." Resh'lon looked at Voyager's First Officer and his team and smiled. "We all know what it is like to be away from one's home." The Zokaa'rian Royal looked at the people sitting around the banquet tables, and Tuvok noticed several of them nodding at his words. "And hold you and your crew in high regard, Commander," he turned to Chakotay, and Tuvok saw the First Officer return the sentiments with a solemn nod and respectful smile. "We welcome you to the trade negotiations with arms open in friendship and goodwill." The crowd stirred as the Zokaa'rian Royal took his place at the head of the table, and the conversations that had abated earlier during his short oration recommenced. As Tuvok had expected earlier on, there were several females present in the gathering--females that were in fact holders of positions of authority. Coming from a matriarchy himself, Tuvok knew very well that despite the overall impression these forms of governments gave to the outsider, they couldn't possibly survive without being influenced by members of the gender opposite to the one that held the ruling position. Tuvok's eyes narrowed as he looked around his table, his sharp ears picking up threads of conversations taking place, and tried to search for any signs of disarray. He could find none. The Sovereignty followed a patriarchic structure, and everyone seemed content with it. Over a dozen different species had gathered in this room, had come together hundreds of years ago under the Zokaa'rian Monarchy to form this structure of governance, and it had to have worked well for it to have survived so long. It was reassuring to note the Zokaa'rians had taken well to the members of the Voyager entourage. Commander Chakotay's calming influence and diplomatic expertise especially was a favorable factor in how things had gone so far. Tuvok only hoped the same held true for Captain Janeway's persuasive powers, which would be the driving force in how things would come to fruition for the rest of the crew--her actions undoubtedly an important facet of how the final decisions would affect Voyager, whether she was aware of it or not. He had held a long discussion with the captain in the privacy of her Ready Room, after the invitation to visit the homeworld had been extended to the three members of Voyager's command crew. He had done all he could to reassure the captain of her ultimate authority, and how important it was to use all her influence in getting the best deal possible with the Zokaa'rians. With her usual aplomb, she had told him there was nothing to worry about, and that of course she knew all that was at stake and had everything under control. She said she was going to treat this as a usual first contact. In a normal setting, perhaps Tuvok would have taken her at her word. However, he knew this was neither a normal setting, nor her initial reaction to meeting the Zokaa'rians a normal happenstance. It was illogical to be uncertain of one's commanding officer due to her one-time inability to keep her emotions in check. But it was also illogical to let those emotions out of control in the first place. No matter how human that need may be. His eyes on the cheerful faces around him, Tuvok found himself frowning in recollection. The more he tried not to think of things past, the more he found himself troubled by such thoughts. If he were to be accurate, things had not been quite normal with the captain for the last several months. Beginning with the incident more than a year ago when they had found themselves stranded in a starless void with no habitable planets--where the captain had fallen into a depressive state--to her month-long incarceration of Tom Paris after Monea although she had already demoted him to ensign, to the incident with the Equinox, where she had displayed an obsessive streak in her fixation to apprehend Captain Ransom. While it was true that things had ended favorably at the end of each of these instances, Tuvok still felt it was only out of sheer luck that they'd fared well--a gamble he wouldn't consider taking under normal circumstances. He also felt he had been derelict in his duty to his crewmates, and most importantly to his captain, when he'd failed to get through to her at crucial times. Foremost on his mind were the calamitous moments during the Equinox incident, when he'd backed down from a potential conflict because the captain had threatened to remove him from duty--even though the agreement she was in the process of finalizing with the aliens almost proved disastrous for the Equinox crew. It appeared equally regrettable in the light of how things had fared between the captain and Commander Chakotay, who was removed from duty for the very same reason: the First Officer had simply chosen to challenge her decisions. Tuvok suddenly caught the eye of Ensign Paris, who had been seated next to one of the female members of the High Council at the end of the table, and received a quick flash of acknowledgement. It appeared Voyager's Chief Pilot was enjoying his discussions with his exquisite companion. His eyes then fell on the First Officer who now sat between the Zokaa'rian Governor-general and one of the high ministers of the Kel'zian cabinet, softly speaking to them as they asked him questions about Voyager. He realized the aliens were fascinated by Voyager's First Officer--his quiet strength was often impressive in the wake of his calm and steady perceptiveness. Tuvok knew things hadn't been quite the same between Voyager's two commanding officers since that discordant encounter during the Equinox incident. Although things had continued to happen in their routine fashion in the last few months, that feeling of unease remained; the feeling that something wasn't quite right. A ship's command structure was one of the most important factors that helped determine the smooth running of affairs for the whole crew. Even the slightest disturbance had the potential of causing incalculable complications, and it was his concern that such a possibility be avoided at all costs. "Commander Tuvok." At the sound of his name being called, his focus shifted to the High-Council member sitting next to him, a young Zokaa'rian male with a smiling face. "Minister Jess'phan," he replied. The Zokaa'rian nodded, as his blue eyes sparkled. "Commander, I've come to a most remarkable realization. I am told you're a telepath..." Tuvok sat back as one of his brows lifted in acknowledgement. "I am merely a touch-telepath. Being a Vulcan, my telepathic abilities are limited and not normally used with species other than my own." The Zokaa'rian frowned. "You mean you do not communicate with your shipmates with your abilities?" "To attempt to do so would be inconclusive," Tuvok continued. "Aside from two other members of my species among the junior crew on my vessel, none of the other crewmembers present are capable of communicating telepathically." "Ah. I must tell you I find the concept of telepathy absolutely fascinating." The young male smiled. "I've studied it in some detail out of sheer curiosity, especially since so many new people have started coming into our borders these days. There's been much talk of us meeting those with these abilities as well." Tuvok's ears perked up at this. "There are other telepaths at this gathering?" He felt ill at ease that he hadn't felt any presence in all the time he'd been on the planet. "Not this gathering, no." The minister shook his head. "Only fantastical tales of beings who have these abilities. Rumors, so to speak. We haven't traded with any such peoples as yet. In fact, you're the first telepath I've ever met." Tuvok looked at the Zokaa'rian closely. "I see." He nodded. He sensed no deception from this alien, but he would keep his eyes and ears open for any changes in the pattern. The presence of telepaths in this Sovereignty could be significant. The more he knew about who they were dealing with, the better it would be. It was his job not just as Voyager's Security Chief, but also as the Observer. The Zokaa'rian male was, however, impatient to continue the discussion he had started. "Tell me," he looked at Tuvok eagerly, "how does a telepath, even one with your level of cognitive abilities, find life on a vessel filled with so many *non-telepaths*?" Thus began another round of the information exchange between Voyager and the Zokaa'rian Sovereignty. Tuvok settled back into his seat as he began to talk, knowing he was going to enjoy his part in the diplomatic proceedings due to this simple fact. Curiosity. About new cultures, new worlds. The urge to seek out new civilizations, and to explore undiscovered territories and meet new people. That was the reason they'd all taken the oath. Whether they admitted it or not. He only hoped things were proceeding as well on Voyager as they were with the three away team members in the large banquet hall in the Kel'zian capital--where ties with the great alien Monarchy were being joined, in their attempt to negotiate for much needed supplies. # # Kathryn Janeway felt she was finally getting things under control. Making sure the table was set appropriately according to Kel'zian customs, her gaze drifted over to land on her guest once more. She looked into his eyes and felt her lips quirk in one of her clever, ever ready smiles. Purple. What an unusually rare color for eyes, she thought. And how white his skin was. And yet the prominent ridges along his forehead, which would've given her a private urge to wrinkle her nose in distaste, somehow managed to enhance the aristocratic elegance of the alien's features. For a backward patriarchic imperialist, this man wasn't all that bad looking. But why was her mind straying to these unnecessary and inefficient abstractions, she silently scolded herself--abstractions that were designed merely to waste her and Voyager's precious time? Her purpose was to negotiate for supplies and repair facilities, which Voyager needed very badly. Besides, there were very few men who could do for her what she really needed. She'd been disappointed too many times in her life to know better. Yes, she had been perturbed at the Sovereignty's infraction, their inability to recognize her as the true paradigm of Starfleet Bureaucracy when they made first contact with Voyager. It was the captain who was the veritable leader of any Federation ship, of all ships, especially of this ship--traveling in this unknown region of space, lost, fighting hostile aliens, cruising her way valiantly through heretofore-unrevealed stars to reach home. How utterly small of them, she had thought, to not recognize the significance of the true leadership of this valiant starship. Chakotay for information exchange? Why? While it was certainly true that the man was well educated and well bred, in his own raised-from-humble-beginnings way--wasn't she, as the captain of the vessel, the best choice for information exchange? After all, she was from the long line of Starfleet officers who'd done the Federation proud time and again. What comparison was there between someone as refined as herself and a man who'd once been a felon to the Fleet--delectable as he had once been to her. Why... it was *laughable*, she had found herself thinking. But then she had let it go with the simple acknowledgement that it was but a primitive patriarchy. No matter how much technological advancement these people had made, if they judged the competency of a leader on the basis of his or her gender then all their advancement had obviously gone to hell. She probably would've grown more and more bothered over this, if it hadn't been for the Chieftain's repeated assurances that it was her very consummate cultivation that was the cause of this current meeting. As the leader of the crew, she deserved the veneration of being visited by the highest ranking official in the Kel'zian government, a true native of the Kel'nohr home world. As the second in command under her, Chakotay had to go and do the information exchange. It was as simple as that. Nothing more. Besides, as defiant as he could be in personal situations, she knew Chakotay could be most effective in diplomatic matters. Besides, his rebellious streak notwithstanding, she knew that his unwavering and often blind loyalty to her was never in question. He had pledged to be by her side and serve her devotedly till the end of times. Like everything else, that promise would also ensure his remaining available to her when and if she ever decided to change the parameters of their relationship. Putting these wayward thoughts out of her mind, she focused on the tall, lean-bodied man standing in front of her. His gaze was leveled straight at her face, uninhibited and direct, but somehow strangely unresisting. She didn't feel threatened by his scrutiny, but then she was hardly ever threatened by anyone's scrutiny. She knew she could handle the best of them at the best of times. And the worst at worst. But still. There was something about this man. Those exotic purple-speckled irises imbibed with swirling bluish hues. The blues becoming more pronounced as his pupils dilated at her own scrutiny. She knew she should be more cautious. Dilating pupils usually led to more complicated situations. And there were very few who could do what she needed. But still there was something. Lurking deep within. "Captain Janeway," Chieftain Kel'kar'vheel the Eighth sang out, an answering smile spreading on his face. "I can't tell you what an honor it is for the Zokaa'r Sovereignty to come across a leader of your fine credentials and acclaim. It is no wonder Voyager's journey across this part of the galaxy has been so astoundingly phenomenal." The Royal bowed his head modestly. "With a leader of your high erudition, the Monarch would've expected to have encountered no less." Kathryn suddenly felt a lightness invade her, as a sense of fulfillment filled her. Yes, her being the revered leader being visited in seclusion was the right decision. Tuvok had been right. Her authority was implacable, her place in the hierarchy secure. "Your Excellency." She inclined her head. "It is an honor for me and my crew to have this opportunity to meet and do negotiations with the great Zokaa'r Sovereignty." She led her guest to sit down at the table before she continued. "Your government has been most generous in their offer to trade with us. More than anything else, I am grateful for the repair facilities you have permitted us to use. But so far we've not understood what is it that you require from us?" Her eyes were inquiring as she looked at the Chieftain. The Kel'zian smiled. "As the captain of the team that has gone down to meet with the High-Council, you will be the one who will decide on how the information exchange takes place. But that can come later. Right now you mustn't bother yourself with such mundane details. I am more interested in hearing the story of Kathryn Janeway and her crew." She stared in his eyes. "And how may I serve to satisfy your curiosity about my crew?" The blues of his eyes darkened further, as he looked deep into her eyes. "Do not mortify me, my dear Captain. It is I, as the Chieftain, who's here to satisfy your curiosity about our culture since you'll be absent from the proceedings on the planet." A smile quirked on his lips, as he tipped his head in another gesture of humility. "And it is I who will serve you to make the information exchange taking place on the planet whole and complete." A glint appeared in his eye as his smile deepened. "In any capacity whatsoever." As the meaning of the words sank, she felt an unexpected quiver run down her spine as for the first time, a delicately genuine smile grew on her face--and her mind squabbled over the possibilities presented before her. Perhaps things weren't all that hopeless after all. The bureaucratic entanglements involving this man and his primitive culture that had nearly put her off a while back suddenly seemed very secondary. Even the generic forehead that was reminiscent of so many ordinary Delta Quadrant species she'd seen didn't seem to matter much. As was the case each time she felt in control of a situation like this, a situation she secretly craved but hardly ever found the opportunity to experiment on--it was never what the man looked like that mattered to her, but how he acted. Whether he knew his place before her. Whether he knew the command structure her life inevitably followed, in all cases. As Kathryn Janeway lifted her chin to regard the alien before her, she was greeted with a look she had seen during some very special moments in her private life. It was a look very few men had the proper intellectualism of achieving when dealing with her. It was a look that filled her with a sense of magnificence unlike any she'd encountered in the last many years on Voyager. It was a look of a man who was discerningly shrewd enough to realize his place before Kathryn Janeway--scion of the long-running line of Starfleet aristocracy. A look of a man who'd submitted. Willingly. # # END CHAPTER 1 Continuted in Chap 2a _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ASCEM messages are copied to a mailing list. Most recent messages can be found at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASCEML. NewMessage: