
Why take up land that could be added to New Zealand's magnificent National Parks system when
Alcatraz still crouched in the midst of San Francisco Bay, useless to everybody but tourists and seagulls?
After all, the felons sunning themselves on Auckland's beaches right now should be contemplating how
badly they never wanted to end up in prison again, not budgeting time for another stint here as though
planning some kind of expense-paid vacation.
That isn't fair, she scolded herself. They make them work here, and rehabilitation facilities like this enjoy a
much higher success rate than the old-style punishment systems. Still, a deeper part of her chafed at the
idea of cutting anyone else slack when she allowed so little room for error in herself.
The penal settlement accepted her clearance code without question, and she allowed the penitentiary's
flight computer to take the shuttle's controls for the final approach and touchdown.
It felt good, actually, to sit back--even for a few minutes--and rest her brain from the endless onslaught
of decisions it had been forced to make over the last few days. Mark, bless him, had been as supportive
as a civilian lovemate could be, never questioning the hours she spent away from him (even when they
were together), never demanding that he be more important than the things that Starfleet threw in front of
her to reconcile.
Even when Bear had gotten sick, poor angel, Mark had taken her to the vet without being asked, letting
the big dog ride the whole way with her head in his lap, even though it meant dun-colored hairs on his
trousers for the rest of the week. Janeway knew how much he hated dealing with dog hair.
Why does everything come down at once? she asked herself with a weary sigh. A part of her still hadn't
forgiven herself for handing Bear over to the kennel this morning, still with no idea why the dog had
suddenly swelled by nearly seven kilos and fallen into a persistent lazy torpor. If anything happens to her
while I'm gone, I'll hate myself.
And if anything happened to her wayward security officer because she couldn't get Voyager out of port
just one day earlier, she'd hate herself for that, too. There was just no way of winning this one.
The comp at the main gate was expecting her. Walking across the bright, open field separating the two
aircraft permanently assigned to this settlement from the actual facility that housed the detainees, Janeway
marveled again at the sweetness of the air, the beauty of the cerulean sky. I need a vacation, she decided.
Bad timing, that. She passed inside the gates on voiceprint and retinal scan only, and wasn't even past the
second barrier before the security system informed her, "Detainee Thomas E. Paris is in the motor fleet
repair bay. Would you like a security car to take you there?"
"No," she told it. "I'd rather walk."
It neither thanked her nor signed off; she left the gate behind without caring.
For all that they couldn't have many visitors to the penal settlement, the detainees she passed didn't seem
particularly interested in her arrival. She couldn't imagine that they'd known she'd be coming. More likely,
the arrival of a Starfleet officer meant nothing but trouble for somebody within this facility, and nobody
particularly wanted to be that somebody.
Just as well. She wasn't in the mood to talk right now, least of all to anyone who couldn't figure out how
to keep themselves out of serious trouble, much less rescue a stubborn friend from the fire.