Fly's Eye View by Celestia Starr
	I flew behind her, swerving back and forth, careful not to get hit by those hands which were explaining some delicate matter or another. Seems everything is a delicate matter to her. I was careful to keep quiet and out of her sight as well, for I didn't want to be swatted on purpose either. See, I'm a fly, and most humanoids seem to feel that we're a nuisance, but we're not. We're just doing our jobs. See, every fly is assigned to a certain humanoid in times of trouble, and, by way of subliminal suggestion, we guide them on the correct path. And, according to my superiors, this Kathryn Janeway was one messed up chick, and was way off the path that she's supposed to be travelling. Apparently, she missed all the signposts, ignored them and went onto the rocky bush trails instead of turning onto Easy Street or Cherry Tree Lane. I'm supposed to show her new signposts, and somehow get her to pay attention this time. Which is not going to be easy. There's a lot of clutter in that mind of hers, all about protocol and obligation, and trying to get this crew of hers home. So there I was, two days ago, following her onto the Bridge. She sat into her chair. Then she turned around and said something to one of her officers. Here's one of the biggest drawbacks of being a fly: it's really hard to hear what those humanoids say. Hard to understand them. The elders will send me a telepathic translation into fly if they feel that the dialogue pertains to my case, which is good. It makes it so I can concentrate fully on my job, and not just listen to every little complaint these humanoids make, like how awful the soup was last night. I could see the viewscreen clearly through my compound eyes, and something beautiful had just opened up. It was all sorts of colours, purple, blue, yellow, and others against the velvety black of space. It was....breathtaking. Even to a fly. Everyone on the Bridge seemed to be smiling wider than I'd ever seen, and I'd been there for a week. To the poker games, the pool games, a party on the Holodeck.....but the smiles there had been nothing like this. These smiles were brighter than a warp core breach. Suddenly, the item on the viewscreen came closer and closer.....my wings stopped moving and I almost fell to the ground. We were being sucked in! At least, that was what I had thought at the time. Now, I realize that the item on the screen was a wormhole (why they call it that, I have no idea, as worm's holes aren't such wonderful colours and I've never met a worm who could live in space) and that wormhole brought Kathryn and her crew closer to their goal, the ever-elusive Alpha Quadrant. Or, as they called it, home. But I think, while they were on Voyager, they were closer to home than they ever thought. But enough about that, lets get back to the story. The ride was bumpy, we were tossed around worse than the time I followed a peasant in a horse and buggy in 1672. The colours on the screen were still breathtaking, but they now seemed more deadly than beautiful. All of a sudden, in a bright flash of light, the colours were gone and the welcoming velvet of space was back again. Phew! That was more than my little fly mind could take. Even looking back at it now, I still can't believe that we all got through it in one piece. That night, I followed Kathryn back to her quarters and watched her record her log. Most of it was gibberish, as it didn't pertain to my job, but one part of it came through loud and clear, which meant that I was supposed to pay attention. I did. Fate works in mysterious ways. She used the guise of the Caretaker to bring us here, to make sure that the Starfleet and Maquis crews had to meld together. And so Chakotay and I would meet. What would I be without my experiences in that strange Delta Quadrant? What would I be without my First Officer, who is now so much more than just that, he's my anchor, my advice-giver, my friend? I'd be nothing, that's what. But now, we've found a wormhole, and we're in the Beta Quadrant, only five months away, and as excited as we all are about getting home, some of us can't help but wonder; 'What will Starfleet do about the Maquis?'; 'Will we all be separated?'; 'Given different assignments?'; 'What will we do without each other?' What will I do without Chakotay? But Fate works in mysterious ways. She'll work something out. That was it, the end of her log. Also the beginning of a revelation to me. So, she did know what her feelings for this Chakotay were! She just wouldn't let them out. Whether she would admit it or not, that made her a coward. One of the worst kinds. But she's brave and strong and she'll pull through, I knew it then and I know it now, even though my task is not fully completed. But I have the feeling that the end of my task is near. Kathryn's getting ready to go to the holodeck right now, and, from what I can tell from the snippets of conversation I've been able to understand, she's going on a 'date' with Chakotay, even though she won't call it that. I move quickly out of the way as a shoe whizzes by, almost cutting off my wing. Geez! The amount of guff we put up with! You'd think the humanoids would give us more credit. She finally picked what shoes she wanted to wear and we move into the corridors. Next time Starfleet builds a ship, I think they need to take in account the fact that flies might need to attempt to navigate these hallways! They're so twisty, turns every which way, no sense of rythm to it at all! Good thing I'm just following Kathryn, or it'd be a wonder if I got out alive. This meeting is actually my idea. These subliminal messages are very influential, you know. Over the past 24 hours, I've given her some pretty good ideas, after all, a fly knows a good catch when she sees one, and Chakotay is a good catch. Better than good. But, that's not the story I'm trying to tell here. See, this morning, I convinced her to call him into her Ready Room. I started the conversation by giving her an idea of what to say, but she was on her own from there. And it seems she's finally started to pay attention to the "TURN LEFT, NOT RIGHT" and "THIS WAY" signs, instead of just the "YIELD" and "DANGER AHEAD" signs, which were just made up by evil people in the first place. So, my brilliant conversation starter was, (drumroll), "Chakotay, I've decided something." Well, it's not as if a fly has ever won a medal for creatvity or anything. They started talking, and, what a marvel! I could understand it all. Just a simple conversation, too. I'm not going to get into it, it was a really long conversation, but the main point was that Kathryn was worried about what was going to happen to the Maquis after they got back, and she didn't want to never see him again and wonder whether they could have had something. So she was willing to explore the possibility of a relationship. Chakotay just about jumped up and down, and I don't blame him. The conversation ended by Kathryn inviting him to dinner on the holodeck. Here we are! The doors slide open to reveal the wonderful setting that Kathryn set up earlier. Apparently, it's a place that used to mean a lot to both of them, someplace that Kathryn keeps referring to as "New Earth". He's already here, marvelling at the beauty of the place and waiting patiently for her arrival. Nothing is translated, since my task is already completed, but they say that a picture is worth a thousand words. If that's true, the unspoken words in their eyes are a novel. A 4 000 page one at that! I fly in loop de loops and buzz happily. A fly just loves it when her task is completed. Abruptly, they both turn around. Oh no! They're going to squish me and I'm not going to get to see any of the juicy stuff! Oh please let them leave me alone until at least I get to see them kiss! But apparently, the fly gods won't allow that. It's too late, Chakotay's strong hands are about to close in on me and I have nowhere to run. Oh well, at least I managed to get them together..... SPLAT!