June 21st, 0200
The Presidio, Earth
Kathryn Janeway was beyond tired. Her body was protesting the fact that she had not slept for over 40 hours straight now. Her muscles ached all over and her mind was constantly racing. It had been a few hours since she had sent out the fleet-wide message alerting all Starfleet vessels to the crisis that they now faced. She was seated at her desk, pouring over account after account of mass death and destruction throughout Federation space. She laid down the PADD she was reading and reached up to massage her temples for a moment. She was sorely tempted to return to her small, comfortably appointed house to rest for a few hours, before she summoned the Federation Council later in the morning, but she simply couldn't do it.
Unbeknown to those Federation Members, their President was in a deep coma, brought on by whatever was currently affecting all telepaths and that made Janeway de facto head of both Starfleet and the Federation as well. That burden of power was particularly heavy on her shoulders.
Her mind drifted once more to thoughts of Annika and also to Chakotay. It had been several years now since she had seen either of them: Ever since Chakotay had chosen to marry Annika.
Though she and Chakotay had ended their romantic entanglement several years before, it still wasn't easy to see her former lover and one of her dearest friends set out to share their life together. She had struggled to accept it and even to be happy for them, but as hard as she tried, it was impossible.
Now this new threat to the former Borg may have ended Annika's life; and Kathryn had no way of getting directly in contact with either she or Chakotay. A lump rose in her throat and she blinked away hot unshed tears.
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