Ethical Considerations 2
Author: J.A. Toner

Epilogue:

Neelix had outdone himself with the decorations. Starfleet and Federation flags were everywhere. An elaborate array of drinks, finger foods and snacks crowded the mess hall counter. And everyone was in uniform. Neelix's, admittedly, was formal wear well-suited to his role of ambassador, but everyone else wore a Starfleet uniform of one type or another.

Icheb and Naomi were resplendent in their brand-new cadet uniforms. A stream of people were passing by, making the sort of fuss that, privately, Janeway believed both richly deserved. Icheb was praised for his medical discovery, while Naomi was being congratulated for passing her entrance exams. Icheb's achievement was plain to see, since the beneficiaries of his research were among those enjoying the evening's festivities. And for anyone to pass those examinations when barely seven years old was a remarkable feat, no matter how quickly the applicant matured. Kathryn Janeway was proud of Naomi and Icheb, as she was of her entire crew. Had any captain ever had a better one? She doubted it.

A small knot of people constantly milled around one person's chair, greeting him and generally just wishing him well. The captain decided to become one of them. She had a question she wanted to ask anyway.

"Good evening, Mr. Tessoni," Janeway said as she approached him. "I'm glad the Doctor released you for the ceremony. How are you feeling today?"

He was wan and thin, but his smile was the one she remembered from that day in her ready room. "Much better, thank you, Captain. The Doctor didn't have much choice about releasing me, though. I threatened to hide his mobile emitter so he couldn't go unless he let me come, too."

"Don't expect to make a late night of it, Mr. Tessoni," the EMH sniffed from his position immediately behind the young man's chair. "Remember, I'm monitoring you every second. At the slightest irregularity, you may expect to be whisked back to Sickbay."

"I'll make sure he behaves himself, Doctor. I'm still waiting for him to make good on that love note he owes me," Tal chided from her seat next to Angelo.

"You're going to have to wait until I'm not so dizzy from all these nanoprobes running around inside my head . . . ." he joked, leaning in towards Tal and whispered something into her ear which sounded a bit like "celestial" to Janeway's ears. The pretty Bajoran blushed, but, Janeway noted, she didn't move away from her seat next to Angelo. She had to admit the man was doing pretty well for someone who had been placed in stasis and pronounced as dead a couple of weeks before.

After Janeway had moved from the convalescent's part to that of her chief engineer and helmsman, she recalled she'd meant to ask Angelo if Giovanna was related to him, and if so, how. After the ceremony, she really must remember to do that.

Next to B'Elanna, a graceful figure in teal and black stood. Janeway leaned in towards her to ask, "I've got a couple of extra pips, Seven, if you've changed your mind."

"Thank you, but no, Captain. I'm still mulling over your offer."

"You look very good in that uniform," Janeway said, still hopeful.

"I've decided to wear the uniform from now on with or without the status of an officer, Captain. All the Maquis wear it. Now that Icheb and Naomi both are wearing cadet uniforms since being granted 'distant learner' status at Starfleet Academy, it seemed pointless to refuse any longer."

Janeway resisted the impulse to make any reference to "resistance is futile." She suspected the joke would not go over well.

When Chakotay signaled her from across the mess hall, Janeway raised her glass to acknowledge him. Walking to the front center of the room and placing her glass upon the podium Neelix had fabricated, she took her place next to him. The buzzing of conversations died down rapidly. Everyone knew the reason for the gathering tonight. They wanted to get past the ceremonial aspects and back to the party, she guessed. That suited her, as well.

"As you know, I've held the line on promotions for more than six years, giving them out to only a very few. Now that we're in contact with Starfleet, I've decided I may have been too cautious. And after the bravery and devotion to duty I've seen in the past weeks from all of you as you fought off our attackers and returned Voyager to specifications, despite the degree of damage we sustained, the time has come to reward those whose contributions to this ship can no longer be ignored."

At Janeway's nod, four members of the crew took their places in a row in front of their two most senior officers.

"Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres, for your courage under fire and brilliance in engineering, I raise your field commission to the status of full lieutenant. Congratulations, B'Elanna."

As soon as the new Maquis full lieutenant's rank insignia was attached to her collar, Neelix called out, "You'd better be careful now, Tom. She outranks you again," to general laughter from the assembly. When the chuckling had died down, Janeway picked up another Maquis insignia, exactly like the one she had just bestowed upon her chief engineer.

"Lieutenant Michael Ayala, for your services as Commander Tuvok's right hand man in Security, particularly for instituting the improved security measures that recently were tested to the utmost, from lieutenant j.g. to full lieutenant." The tall, generally quiet man bent down and received his new rank insignia from his captain, a huge grin upon his face.

"To Ensign Harry Kim, whose loyal service to the crew of this ship have long been sufficient to justify my granting him a lieutenant's pip, but whose diplomatic and humanitarian efforts with the Pojzan deserve special mention. Here it is, Harry, at long last." Harry was positively beaming as she positioned the gleaming black pip upon his collar, and whispered congratulations to him.

Her mind churned over how she should word the last citation. It would be controversial back at Starfleet, but it was something she simply had to do. Let the Admiralty decide to take it away, if they dared. When Janeway recalled how far Marla Gilmore had come, from the young Equinox officer whose nerves had been frayed so badly she couldn't even bring herself to travel by turbolift on Voyager, to the crewman who had remained at her post while the Borg were literally tearing people apart all around her, she was finally able to formulate what she would say.

"And last, but certainly not least . . . Marla Gilmore . . . when you first became a member of this crew, I stripped away this pip from your collar and said you would have to earn my trust and that of your shipmates to get it back. It is abundantly clear you have done just that. You acted to save this ship and its crew from its enemies at the very grave risk of your own life. For this action in particular, I am recommending you for the Star Cross, for gallantry. And I am reinstating you to the rank of ensign. Congratulations, Ensign Gilmore."