Path: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!elnk-nf2-pas!newsfeed.earthlink.net!newshub.sdsu.edu!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" Epilogue 21/21 (C/P, J, AU) [NC-17] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 225 Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2004 12:55:52 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 209.198.142.218 X-Complaints-To: Abuse Role , We Care X-Trace: newshog.newsread.com 1092142552 209.198.142.218 (Tue, 10 Aug 2004 08:55:52 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2004 08:55:52 EDT Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated:82621 X-Received-Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2004 05:55:57 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) TITLE: "Absolute Power" Epilogue (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: 21 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 Epilogue **2376 Starfleet Headquarters San Francisco, Earth** He stood outside the Main Conference Lounge at Starfleet Headquarters and quietly observed his crewmates being briefed by Starfleet Command one by one. From the amount of time it was taking the officers to question each crewmember, it was obvious that Voyager's perilous journey through the Zokaa'rian spatial anomaly hadn't been their most onerous trial. It had been thirty-seven hours since their return and the briefings were still going on. He knew they would continue for a few more days. The status of the crew's morale was slowly improving. The pain of losing their friends was still fresh but coming home was nonetheless a heartening step for their inner emotional states. He watched his captain--the man he had served under in the Maquis as well as on Voyager--talking to members of Starfleet's investigative branch and knew there could be only one subject of discussion at this time. He watched Admiral Chapman join the group, the expressions on everyone's faces solemn as they spoke quietly for a few moments, and then several members from Starfleet Medical approached them, leading them inside the Conference Room. As the door closed behind the group, Tuvok of Vulcan, First Officer of the Federal Starship Voyager, folded his hands behind him--for the moment shifting the issue to the back of his mind--and continued observing his other crewmates. He knew Voyager's crew's trials had not yet ended. He wanted to make sure he was nearby in case any of them needed his assistance with any matter during their questioning by Starfleet Command. # # She strode along the corridor, her head held high, as her well-disciplined attendants--nice men in crisp white coats--followed her brisk pace hurriedly. They entered a large room and she took the cleared space at the center to face her fine audience. Her hands on her hips, she tilted up her chin and stared at the faces of the distinguished men and women, serving at the peaks of their careers, who now sat around her in revered silence, waiting for her to begin. "The topic I've chosen to speak on today is loyalty," she started, her voice clear and booming around the room. "Loyalty to your comrades, to your crewmates, to the men and women who give up their lives and their faith and offer you their ardent sacrifices simply because you have given them your loyalty. That loyalty is the truest test of nobility a Starfleet officer can pass; it confirms the dedication with which all of us take our first hesitant steps into this incredible odyssey of utterly delightful exploration as scientists. "But the closest form of loyalty is found within your own heart..." She stared deep into their eyes, seeking to find understanding in their considerate faces. "It is found within the folds of your own deeply conflicted soul. It is the loyalty to your own principles. That is the place where your mind analyzes the choices before you and assesses the value of the fidelity you've received from all those you have put your faith in. That is where it is decided whether your loved ones, your loyal aficionados, your passionate comrades, have done their jobs, whether they have fulfilled all their obligations to your discerning heart, the same heart in front of which they had promised to lay all their allegiances. "And as the diabolical and profoundly tragic reality of life articulates..." She saw skepticism in the eyes of her audience and raised her voice, feeling a frown form between her brows. "Where that loyalty is betrayed, retribution must be exacted. Without retribution, there can be no surety of the dedication that all of us as Starfleet officers expect from those who serve us and answer to our ideologies. In this tale of undeniable morality, no one can stand in the way of the completely uplifting, deeply rooted, and utterly overwhelming assurance of privilege that our sense of loyalty brings to us." Still there was uncertainty in their expressions, and she suddenly felt a snarl begin in her throat at their obstinacy. "Do not be fooled by flawed dogmas of diplomacy. When loyalty is abolished, vengeance must be obtained without remorse and dejection, from anyone and EVERYONE who crossed you and lied to your heart." Her eyes filled with tears. "It could be your father, your lover, your most trusted companion. You cannot think about familial bonds when the volatile ties within your own heart are infringed upon. When those you love more than life itself stand in the way of your principles, when they attempt to change the course of your life with their uncompromising intransigence, you must put an end to their infractions at any cost." But her audience was leaving their seats, were standing up to encircle her, and there wasn't a speck of appreciation in their eyes. "At any cost," she repeated, her teeth grinding, as a feeling of trepidation filled her bones. With frowns on their defiant faces, her attendants closed around her. "AT ANY COST," she yelled, feeling her hackles rise, as she took a step back to find a safe place, or anything sharp and pointed to fight them with. But they were on her in no time. Before she could react, the attendants had grabbed hold of her arms and a hypospray was pressed to her neck, and Kathryn Janeway, former captain of the Federation starship Voyager and scion of a long-running line of Starfleet aristocracy, collapsed in the arms of the orderlies at Starfleet Medical's Center for Mental Illnesses. # # "Madame," the doctor spoke softly in her ear and feeling weakness suddenly seize her she allowed him to lead her to the seat where she let herself sink down into the cushions. Her vision blurring, she raised one shaking hand to dab at the perspiration forming on her brow, as she looked through the glass partition where they treated her oldest child. Her beautiful, intense, brilliant one, brought back to Earth in a straitjacket. The one who had won all the accolades an officer could ever hope to win, the one who had always had all the answers, all the solutions. The one who'd bitten them all like a viper hiding in the grass. Why things had gone the way they had, she could not be certain. Perhaps it had been her protected upbringing that had blinded her, kept her from seeing the truth that had been so brazenly evident. But then a beloved child's exaltation of her father could rarely be deemed questionable, could it? Especially if that child had supposedly found the man she claimed to have fallen in love with and was engaged to be married to. Sickness of the soul was not always as apparent as sickness of the mind. She felt her throat suddenly tighten as pain filled her chest, her hands clenching into fists, and just when she thought she would scream at the intensity of her emotions, she was enveloped in a warm loving hug. "Mother," the woman whispered to her softly, holding her close. "Phoebe," Gretchen Janeway cried, as she held her youngest child in her arms and wept for her oldest one. The one who had once held all the answers. The one whose bite had poisoned their lives forever. # # THE END _________________________________________________________________ Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ASCEM messages are copied to a mailing list. Most recent messages can be found at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASCEML. NewMessage: