Summary: “Missing” scenes from “Counterpoint” showing how J/C worked together to fool Kashyk.

Disclaimer: Voyager and her crew belong to Paramount. I’m just playing with them. No infringement intended.

What Goes Around . . .

by Mizvoy

This scene occurs prior to the opening of the episode.

Captain Kathryn Janeway interrupted her senior officers’ heated discussion with a wave of her hand.

“I’ve heard enough, people,” she said in her most commanding voice. “This is my decision to make, and mine alone. I know how you feel about smuggling these telepaths through Devore space to the wormhole, but they bring with them invaluable information about this sector and the Devore. To avoid this region would add months to our journey, and that’s unacceptable to me. So, we go across it, with their help. We deliver them to the wormhole, and, if possible, we use the wormhole ourselves. This is a space-faring people with warp capabilities. This is a fair trade, their information for our transportation.” She looked around the table, still holding up her hand to prevent argument or comment. “Let’s get to work with a plan.”

For a long moment, the staff was silent. Each officer knew how dangerous this smuggling operation could be. The Devore were dedicated to the genocide of all telepathic races and were unforgiving of any ship or crew that tried to thwart them. Failure could result in capture, imprisonment, and the loss of their ship and any hope of return to the Alpha Quadrant. At the same time, navigating around their space would add long months to an already interminable journey. Janeway took their silence as acquiescence.

“Tuvok,” she continued, “obtain all possible information from the telepaths and begin to analyze the Devore’s tactical and operational capabilities. As soon as possible, share pertinent information with the rest of the crew. Chakotay, you’ll have to make arrangements for our guests. Perhaps Cargo Bay 1? Torres and Seven, figure out how we can hide these people, and our own telepaths, from detection while in Devore space. Start with the transporter buffer. Doctor, you’ll want to be in on that as well. Paris, look at the charts of Devore space and figure out the quickest way through. The less time we’re there the better. Kim, enhance our sensors so we have plenty of time to react to the approach of Devore vessels and hide our people. Any questions?” She paused and looked around the table. “If not, dismissed.”

The staff stood and walked out of the conference room without a word, anxious to get out of the captain’s earshot before they started discussing the impact and danger of her controversial decision. Janeway stood at the head of the table and watched them leave, aware that her first officer still sat silently on her left. She’d been avoiding his eyes, but knew she no longer had any choice but to hear his comments.

“Something troubling you, Commander?”

“Kathryn, this decision is going to get you in trouble.”

“It’s the right thing to do. I can’t let these people be massacred by the Devore.”

“Doing the right thing isn’t always safe. I thought I was doing the right thing as a Maquis, and look at what it got me.” He smiled at the face she made at him. “Then, there is the Prime Directive.”

“I’ve already bent and broken the Prime Directive enough times to get myself a nice long vacation in prison, Chakotay. I doubt that one more violation will make that much difference to a board of inquiry.”

“The worst is the Devore themselves. They are serious about catching these telepaths, and their technology has been focused on doing just that for the last hundred years. There’s no way we can keep them from finding them.”

“Don’t be so pessimistic. We can lock them in the transporter buffer during their inspections.”

“For a short period, maybe. But, remember that the Devore have transporter capabilities, too, and have probably found other stowaways hidden in the same way.”

“But we have pattern enhancers that will allow us to run much less energy through the buffers, Chakotay. In fact, the transporter could be returned to the standby level, as if they weren’t in use at all.”

“I guess it could work. But, we have to be ready just in case it doesn’t.”

Janeway nodded her head and settled into her seat, resting her elbow on the table and putting her chin in her hand. “Let me guess. You have a duplicitous Maquis-inspired plot in mind.”

He smiled. “The Devore are famous for playing games with their prey, for upping the ante whenever possible. My bet is that they are much more interested in finding the wormhole than they are in capturing a few dozen telepaths.”

A slow grin appeared on the captain’s face. “I love to play games, and the higher the stakes, the more fun the game.”

“Okay. We need to find out all we can about the inspector for this area,” he paused as he referred to his padd, “a fellow named Kashyk. Apparently, he has visions of grandeur, just the type to be looking for the wormhole instead of taking care of a routine inspection.”

Janeway turned the padd around and looked into the face of her adversary on the tiny screen. She could see the arrogance and the pride in the way he held his head-a real bully. She looked up and smiled, “This could be fun.”

A second scene prior to the episode.

Three days later, the senior staff reconvened their meeting in the conference room. Deep in the bowels of the ship, the small band of telepaths had settled into the cargo bay. As the stars streamed by, Voyager grew ever closer to the boundary of Devore space. Janeway stood.

“So, it’s your opinion, Tuvok, that we cannot successfully hide these people in the pattern buffers.”

“My analysis of the information provided by the telepaths indicates that past attempts to do so have failed. The Devore people have had transporter technology for as long as we have. They have sophisticated scanning devices that will be able to detect even the slight power needed to maintain the pattern buffers on standby.”

“But, they don’t know that we know so much about them,” Janeway mused. “They may decide to let us think that we’ve fooled them so that we’ll continue to lead them toward the wormhole.”

“That is a possibility,” Tuvok agreed. “However, it is also a gamble.”

“Yes, it is. But I believe it’s a safe bet.” She envisioned the face of Inspector Kashyk, an opponent blinded by his belief in his own infallibility. She had to be right about him or all was lost. “It will be a game of cat and mouse.”

“A dangerous game for the mouse,” Tuvok warned. The room was silent.

“Tom, how long before we reach Davore space?”

“A little over four hours, Captain.”

“Very well. We need to brief our people on what do to. I don’t care how badly these inspection teams behave, I want everyone to comply with their orders without question and without complaint. I don’t even want a scowl on anyone’s face, is that clear?” She looked at every officer one by one and received a nod from each. “We must make the Devore believe that we’re desperate to get home the quickest way possible, even if it means that we have to endure their constant inspections. If we make it past the first inspection–and we will make it past the first inspection, people–then we’ll know that the game is afoot.”

Just prior to first contact with the Devore; again, prior to the episode.

Four hours later, Janeway left her Ready Room and made her way to the command seat on Commander Chakotay’s right. She sat down, crossed her legs, and turned to him. “Any sign yet of Devore ships?”

“Not yet.”

“B’Elanna and Seven are ready?”

“Everything’s ready, Captain. We just need some Devore to get this show on the road.”

She gave him a long look, and he grinned back. “You’re a mess,” she whispered, thankful, beneath her nervousness, for a reason to laugh. She turned back to face the view screen and straightened ever so slightly. “Bridge to all decks. This is Captain Janeway speaking. We expect to meet the first inspection team in a few minutes. You have been briefed about the importance of our complete cooperation and compliance with the inspection team. Our safe passage through this space depends on your self- control and attendance to duty. I know that I can count on you to do your best. This first time will be the hardest because we naturally fear the unknown, but we’ve faced worse odds together. We can face this, too, and come out the winner. Carry on.”

Chakotay watched her relax slightly and sit back in her chair. He leaned toward her and whispered, “You believe that?”

She looked at him and smiled. “I do because I have a couple of aces up my sleeve. Now we just have to wait for the cards to be dealt.”

First contact with the Devore.

Janeway had been standing in her Ready Room for a full ninety minutes while the first inspection was carried out. Inspector Kashyk spent the time browsing through her computer while relaxing in her chair at her desk and badgering her with a thousand questions about why Voyager wanted to cross Devore space. Occasionally, he had her trot over to the replicator and order some delicacy of the Alpha Quadrant, starting with her favorite, coffee, and currently shrimp scampi. Her desk was a mess, filled with plates, platters, glasses, and cups of partially eaten food and drink, everything from macaroni and cheese to caramel brownies to dry martinis, and she was furious that so many replicator rations had been wasted on this pompous jerk.

Her face, however, was perfectly composed, even if her feet were killing her.

“I can’t remember a more welcoming group of people,” Kashyk commented as he scrolled through her selection of music with one hand and licked garlic sauce off of the other. “Do you mind if I download some of these instrumental pieces? They are so soothing and peaceful.”

“Please.” Janeway couldn’t trust herself to make more than a monosyllabic response. One more word and her fury would have spilled over into her voice and her expression. Surely this was almost over. How much more could one man eat?

He had just removed the data chip when his two henchmen entered the Ready Room with their report. Kashyk listened as they told him that nothing had been found-no telepaths and no evidence of smuggling.

“What good news.” He stood and walked to Janeway, looking down at her with a self-satisfied smirk. “We have downloaded your expected course through our space. Be certain not to deviate from it.”

“I wouldn’t think of it, Inspector.” He narrowed his eyes as he looked down his nose at her. She held her breath. Had she been too sarcastic? Too brazen? She softened her stance, and said, “I assure you that we just want to get home.”

“So you say. Well, we shall meet again. And I must say,” he continued, glancing back at the desk groaning with its load of half-eaten food, “I’m looking forward to it. Gentlemen.”

With that, their forms disappeared in a shimmer of transporter energy, and their ships immediately powered their engines and disappeared into space at warp speed.

Janeway was exhausted from standing so long in such a tense atmosphere. The boots had to come off. “Janeway to bridge. Scan the ship for any devices the Devore might have left behind, and when you’re sure we’re clear, implement Download and resume course.”

“Aye, Captain,” came Chakotay’s response.

Ten minutes later, Chakotay entered the Ready Room and gazed at the mess on the captain’s desk. The captain was sitting in the upper level, her boots removed, and her feet on the coffee table. “Looks like you had a party in here.”

“Party? It was more like a smorgasbord-for one.” Janeway sat up and massaged a foot. “Is everything all right?”

“No sign of any listening or video devices. Our ‘cargo’ has rematerialized with no detectable sign of damage, other than the usual cell degradation. We are following our planned course through their space.”

“Could we tell if they detected the patterns in the transporter buffer?”

“Seven thinks their scanning devices picked them up.”

“So they know.”

“They know. And, as you said, the game is afoot.”

She groaned and started massaging her other foot. “Oh, please, don’t mention feet!”

The following scene immediately follows the first scene of the episode, where Kashyk is in Janeway’s ready room.

By the time the third inspection had concluded, Janeway was sure something would happen soon. Once things returned to normal following Kashyk’s departure, Janeway and Chakotay met in her Ready Room. It was late, after midnight, and most of the crew not on duty was asleep. They had been talking for hours, debating about what step the Devore would take in pursuing them. It was just a matter of time.

“If they really want to gain access to the wormhole, they can either follow us or join us,” Chakotay said, finally. “They can’t want the ship. They could’ve taken Voyager any time they wanted.”

“Why not just follow us?”

“As far as we know, they don’t have cloaking technology, so they can’t follow us very closely. We could disappear into the wormhole before they could react to stop us.”

“But, how could they join us?”

“Defect.”

“Defect?”

“We used to do it in the Maquis once in awhile, when we were desperate for information. Someone would suddenly tire of being a rebel, of enduring the hard life of the revolutionary. He’d turn himself in and offer to help in any way possible to atone for his wrongs. It didn’t always work, but . . .”

“Incredible.”

“What?”

“You’re right. Kashyk was almost complimentary of my taste in music during our last inspection. He acted as if he respected me, or at least he wanted me to think he did. He seemed reluctant to leave.”

“So it will be Kashyk.”

“When?”

“Soon. We are well into their space. Time’s running out for them, Kathryn.”

“Chakotay, what will I do?”

“Work with him. Give him just enough information to believe he’s in on the truth. I’ll listen in at all times.”

She stood up and paced. “I don’t want to work with him. I keep seeing him behind my desk, eating our food, playing my favorite music. He makes me angry with his arrogant, condescending attitude.”

“The best thing to do is to get even with him. He’s toying with you, Kathryn, toying with us. So, we’re just going to play his game better than he does.”

“What goes around . . .”

“Comes around. Exactly.”

The following scene occurs after Janeway and Kashyk’s discovery of the probable location of the wormhole and the electrifying scene between them in the hallway outside his quarters.

Chakotay entered Janeway’s darkened quarters and stood a moment to let his eyes adjust. After a couple of minutes, he could see her shadow against the dim starlight.

“Kathryn?”

“Sorry. Computer, 75 illumination.” Chakotay squinted against the sudden light. “I was so busy thinking, I didn’t realize you wouldn’t be able to see when you came in from the corridor. Sit down.”

“A productive evening. You two had quite a conversation in the mess hall. You actually managed to figure out the general location of the next wormhole together.”

“I’m glad it sounded okay. Most of the time I felt like spitting in his eye.”

“He thinks you like him.”

She made a face. “Then I deserve an acting award. But, I would let him come with us if he were sincere. I actually think he could be an asset to us with his intelligence and ruthlessness.” She turned and looked out the view port again, hugging herself. “I’m going to have to convince him that I trust him.”

“What?”

“He knows I don’t trust him. You heard us talking outside his quarters. ‘Won’t you come in for a drink?’ Does he actually think he can seduce me?”

“Well, Kathryn, he just doesn’t know you very well.”

She smiled in spite of herself. “Stop teasing,” she said, turning to look at him and shaking her head. “You can tease me at a time like this?”

“Kathryn, you need to relax.”

“Right.” She walked to the replicator. “Something to drink? Coffee?”

“Not at this hour.”

She brought the coffee to the sofa and invited him to join her there. “So, you’ve been pretty much on target so far. What’s next?”

“They know where we are, of course, and now they know just about where we need to be. It will be easy for them to position some ships in our path to create the necessary ‘complication.'”

“How do they know where we’re going?”

Chakotay handed her a padd. “As soon as Kashyk entered his quarters, this pulse went out with an embedded set of coordinates–the region of space where we expect the next wormhole. He used our warp signature as a carrier.”

Janeway’s face reddened with anger. “How? I thought we did a complete scan of him when he boarded the ship. How could he send out this pulse?”

“Seven thinks one of his people must have left a communication device on the ship during a previous inspection. He probably retrieved it and used it to let them know.”

“Round and round. Where will this end, Chakotay? Are we in their snare?”

“I don’t think so. Not yet.”

“But they’ll stop us. They’ll capture the telepaths. We’ll lose Voyager.”

“He’ll offer to go back and help us from the other side.”

Her mouth fell open. “You must be kidding. How stupid does he think I am?”

“Desperate people believe anything, do stupid things.”

They looked at each other for a long moment before Janeway’s eyes shifted to the stars. “Okay. I have to make him think I trust him. And he’s certainly arrogant enough to think he’s irresistible to the opposite sex. I’ll kiss him.”

“You don’t have to kiss him.”

“Oh, but I do, Chakotay. I do.”

“The things a captain has to do for the good of the ship.”

She grinned and gave him a tiny shove.

Scenes after the end of the episode.

It was over. As soon as she could, Janeway would get underway and head out of Devore space at the highest warp speed B’Elanna and her precious engines could produce. She could still see the look on Kashyk’s face when the two shuttles full of telepaths disappeared into the wormhole. But, the wormhole was gone forever, destroyed by two torpedoes, and so was Voyager’s chance to use it to speed home faster, a bitter pill to swallow. The turbolift doors opened and her bridge crew emerged. Janeway vacated the first officer’s chair in favor of her own.

“All right, everyone. Let’s check all systems and prepare to get the hell out of here. Mr. Paris, lay in a direct course for the edge of Devore space and get us there at maximum warp.”

“Aye, Captain.”

“Mr. Kim, I don’t think we’ll be bothered with any further inspections, but be vigilant just in case.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Course laid in, Captain, and the engines are ready to be engaged at warp 9.5.”

“Do it.”

It didn’t take long, at that speed, to leave Devore space. Once Paris announced that they were safe, Janeway felt like doing an Irish jig. Thank God it was over. She nearly slumped in her seat.

“Captain, I don’t think you had lunch.”

She looked over at her first officer and frowned. “What time is it?”

“Time for dinner.”

“Are you buying, Commander?”

“Why not? I know you let Kashyk use all your replicator rations. It’s either dine with me or eat Neelix’s newest creation in the Mess Hall.”

“You don’t have to threaten me!”

The two rose from their seats and made their way to the turbolift. Janeway turned the bridge over to Tuvok and, when the doors closed, gratefully leaned against her first officer. “I’m exhausted.”

“You beat him.”

“Only partially. He had us, Chakotay. He could have taken us all prisoner and confiscated Voyager any time he wanted to. If it hadn’t been for his pride, he would have.”

“Luckily, his ego can’t let him appear fallible to his superiors. But, we did save those telepaths.”

“Yes, and lost two shuttles the exchange. We didn’t even get to use the wormhole ourselves.”

“But we got across Devore space. And we have the satisfaction of knowing we did the right thing.”

She looked up, imagining the star chart in her head and the great stride this shortcut represented. “Well, we did cut some time off of our trip.”

The turbolift doors opened and they strolled toward Chakotay’s quarters. “At this rate I figure we’ll be home before we hit a hundred,” he said.

She stopped in her tracks. “You’re such a comfort to me.”

He laughed. “I’m just trying to figure out how to convince you that I don’t trust you. I could use a kiss like the one you laid on old Kashyk in the shuttle bay.”

She blushed. “Chakotay, you said you’d be listening, but you didn’t say you’d be watching.”

“I didn’t want things to get out of hand.”

For a moment, she didn’t know what to say. Here stood her first officer, teasing her about something that she deeply regretted and wanted to forget. “I should throw you in the brig.”

“But then you wouldn’t get to use my replicator rations.”

She resumed course for his quarters. “Lucky for you, I’m hungrier than I am angry.”

After dinner they talked late into the night, reviewing the charts provided by the telepaths and discussing the best course through the upcoming sectors. At last, it was time for Janeway to return to her quarters and get some much-needed sleep. She said goodnight and walked toward the door, only to stop a few steps short. Chakotay watched her standing there, looking tiny and fragile, yet a formidable powerhouse of a captain, the strongest he’d ever known. Many, like Kashyk, had underestimated her. He was proud of her and proud to serve with her.

“Kathryn, you played Kashyk’s game perfectly. He never knew what hit him.”

She turned, and he could see the raw emotion in her eyes. “You know, I was just thinking about that, Chakotay. I just acted out a part. It was you. You did it. You knew exactly what Kashyk was going to do every step of the way. You coached me perfectly; I just had to follow your directions. I owe you a debt of gratitude, and so does everyone on this ship. How can I ever thank you?”

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I think you just did.”

She closed the space between them so quickly that he hardly realized she had moved. Her hands came up behind his head and pulled his face down to hers for a kiss, gentle at first and then with a sudden urgency and hunger. She quickly stepped back, before he could react to her, and her embarrassment was visible in every muscle and bone in her body. He could see the blush climbing up her neck and into her cheeks. “I don’t know why I did that. I’m sorry. I just kept feeling Kashyk’s kiss and his arms around me, and I needed, well, to get the bad taste out of my mouth.”

He chuckled. “Is that what that was? Like brushing your teeth? Or mouthwash?”

She smiled at him sadly. “I can’t talk about this, Chakotay. I can’t think about what it meant, about what it could mean. Someday, but not now. I’m just so grateful to have you beside me, so happy to know that you’re there if I need you, so relieved to have a first officer who suits me perfectly in too many ways, in ways I can’t even let myself consider. My heart is full. Right now, that’s all I can say.”

He studied her face, resisting the urge to go to her. “That’s enough, Kathryn.”

She backed toward the door until it opened behind her. “Good night, Chakotay.”

The door closed as she turned and fled toward her quarters. Chakotay stood silently for several moments imagining again her arms around his neck, her lips on his. When he had seen her kiss Kashyk, he had thought he would lose his mind, but she had erased that memory as surely as she had replaced Kashyk’s kiss with his own. What was it she had said? Someday, but not now. He sighed. That would have to do.

Meanwhile, Janeway crawled into her bed expecting to fall asleep immediately, but her mind was still too stimulated. They had safely gotten the telepaths away from the people who wanted to murder them, and all it had cost her was two shuttles, two torpedoes, a few weeks of nerve-wracking worry, and a well-played con game on a master con artist. She hoped the memory of all that success would keep her happy when she was sentenced to a Federation prison for breaking the Prime Directive.

What was it Chakotay had said? I’ll come see you on visiting days. She laughed out loud. Thank God he had such a good sense of humor. She sighed, rolled over, and fell into a deep, satisfying sleep.