The Road Not Taken

Starlight streaked past the window in the darkened mess hall. A lone figure sat on one of the couches facing the opening to eternity, knees drawn up to their chest and a cold cup of yesterday's coffee in her hands. The doors hissed open and light from the corridor poured into the silent room. Captain Kathryn Janeway looked up from her perch on the couch and squinted at the intruder standing in the light.

"Who's there?"

"I'm sorry Captain. I didn't think anyone would be here at this hour." It was Chakotay.

"That's alright. Or it will be if you step out of the doorway." said Janeway, holding a hand up to ward off the light. Chakotay smiled and stepped out of the door's way allowing it to close. "So what are you doing here at this hour?" she asked.

Chakotay came over and sat down across from Kathryn. "I come here sometimes when I need to think. Being in my quarters all the time becomes monotonous and coming here helps give me a change of scenery."

Kathryn nodded and smiled. "I know the feeling. No one else has ever been in here when I've come and I have decided to take advantage of that many times."

A worried look crossed Chakotay's face and he asked, "Do you want me to leave?" He stood up and was about to start walking when Kathryn put out her hand.

"No. Stay. Please. It would be nice to have some company tonight." She indicated the seat next to her and he sat down beside her. "I've been thinking about a poem that was written a long time ago. I can't remember the author, but the words seem to speak to me tonight. Maybe you know it.

        "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

        And sorry I could not travel both

        And be one traveler, long I stood

        And looked down one as far as I could

        To where it bent in the undergrowth;

        Then took the other, as just as fair,

        And having perhaps the better claim,

        Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

        Though as for that the passing there

        Had worn them really about the same,

        And both that morning equally lay

        In leaves no step had trodden black."

Chakotay picked up when she paused.

        "Oh, I kept the first for another day!

        Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

        I doubted if I should ever come back.

        I shall be telling this with a sigh

        Somewhere ages and ages hence:"

Kathryn finished:

        "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

        I took the one less traveled by,

        And that has made all the difference."

They sat a moment and looked at each other, smiling softly. "I thought it went along some of the decisions I've made. When we were first stranded here, I had two choices: help the Ocampa or use the Caretaker to get us home. The Ocampa were the road with the undergrowth and using the Caretaker to get home was the fairer path. There was no way to reverse the decision once it was made. 'I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference'. And it has." Kathryn sighed as she finished and looked out at the stars. Then she turned back to Chakotay. "Have you ever wondered what would have happened if another decision was made? How that would have affected our lives?"

Chakotay contemplated the question carefully before answering. "I'm not sure what would have happened. The Maquis would probably have been put in a penal colony, you would have married Mark, and everything would have gone on as if nothing had happened."

Kathryn nodded her head. "Do you ever wish you could just go back and change something in the past? Like preventing Voyager from leaving Deep Space 9 or stopping yourself from going into the Badlands?"

"Sometimes yes, but not anymore."

"Why not?"

"Because then I wouldn't have had the chance to get to know you."

They smiled at each other and cautiously Kathryn leaned into Chakotay who welcomed the unexpected move. After a moment he said, "Robert Frost."

"What?"

"Robert Frost wrote the poem. 'The Road Not Taken'."

"Oh yes, now I remember. Thanks."

They sat there in silence in each other's arms, watching eternity pass before them and for that moment they could forget about all the roads not taken.

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The End.