The Hearing
"Attention to orders"
Icheb was brought out of his thoughts by the announcement of the Presiding Officer of the Board on Inquiry. He sat in the largest conference room at Starfleet Command along with Mezoti, Azan and Rebi as well as a number of Voyager's former complement that had been assigned to her for the trip back to Federation Headquarters.
"Attention!" the voice of Admiral Owen Paris spoke again as he tapped an ancient looking bell twice three times. At the same time, a Chief Petty Officer blew a bo'son's whistle "This Board is begun. This board has been ordered to investigate and examine the loss of the Intrepid class starship USS Voyager and the death of her commanding officer, Captain Naomi Wildman, on Stardate 60982 or 25th December 2083 – the event happening one year ago. Under the direction of the Commanding Admiral of Starfleet, I have been directed to take charge of this board. I have appointed Captains Picard and Rixx to serve as advisors and questioners. I believe a refreshment of the events of that day are in order. Captain Rixx?"
"Sir" the Bolian inclined his head in acknowledgement before standing with a PADD to read from. "Pursuant to orders received from Starfleet Command, NCC 74656 USS Voyager was heading to Utopia Planetia for examination and decision as to if her commissioned status should be continued. At the time of the loss, she was under the Command of Captain Naomi Wildman whom had held the command for seven and one half years. Senior officers comprised of her friends whom had made the journey from the Delta Quadrant – being residents of that area of space. This is somewhat unusual, but was keeping with the special orders applying to Voyager during her cruise home. At the time of her loss, senior officers comprised of Commander Icheb as Acting First Officer, Lieutenant Commander Mezoti as Acting Chief Science Officer, Lieutenant Commander Azan as Acting Operations Manager and Lieutenant Commander as Acting Chief Engineer. Also aboard were a number of Starfleet personnel scheduled to take rotation to Earth who were assigned to act as a skeleton crew to relieve the burden from Captain Wildman and her officers. After their return from the Delta Quadrant and two engagements with Dominion forces, they lay over at Deep Space Nine for several weeks effecting temporary repairs in order to make the trip safely. Aside from a detour that brought about the end of the Dominion War, Voyager arrived at the edge of Sector 001 where upon she encountered a lone Jem'Hadar Battleship on a suicide mission to ram into the Earth"
"That will do, Captain" Paris said and Rixx sat down and the hearing began in earnest.
#
The hearings lasted for a number of days with technical experts giving evidence along with Voyager's own records that had been received up to the moment of her destruction.
"Commander Icheb. Will you take the chair?"
"And put it where, Admiral?" Icheb was brought out of his thoughts again by Admiral Paris's voice.
"Perhaps we should send out a probe for your attention, Commander?" Paris smiled gently. Icheb went red with embarrassment before sitting in the chair facing the three senior officers. "Commander, can you relate to us, in your own words, your version of events leading up to Voyager's loss?"
"Sir. We proceeded as ordered to Sector 001 for a full damage assessment pending a decision as to the status of the ship. Naomi ordered all repairs that could be done to be finished by the start of the early shift. Once that was done, the order was given to clean the ship up for inspection by the President and the Admiralty"
"Clean the ship up?" asked Picard. "I am sure that Captain Wildman would have been excused the condition of her ship given the fact she spent years without refits and had gone through two engagements before her 'detour'"
"Yes, Sir… However, I believe that Naomi knew that the ship would be decommissioned and wanted it to go down on record as Starfleet having retired a combat ready starship. To that point, she came to the bridge and ordered all hands to initiate Procedure Alpha and to Dress Ship. We came out of warp outside Pluto's orbit and conducted a scan of the area. Sensors showed no ships nearby at that point, so Naomi ordered me to proceed onwards at my pleasure. Shortly after, a contact came on the edge of sensor range and we tried to communicate with it due to the readings"
"Readings?" asked Picard.
"Sensors indicated a larger then normal amount of radiation in the ship. It was thought that she was in some kind of trouble, so we went to investigate but found that it was a Jem'Hadar Battleship. Red Alert was ordered, and all hands went to Battlestations. We hailed it but it ignored us and then it jumped to warp. We called for assistance but there was nothing powerful enough at hand to stop it. We engaged warp in the solar system and overtook the vessel. Once there, we came about and then stopped right in front of the thing. Captain Wildman then ordered all hands to the escape pods and to abandon ship"
"Yet you remained" Rixx pressed.
"Yes, Sir" Icheb replied. "Naomi needed myself and the others to ram into the Jem'Hadar vessel, activate Self Destruct and then beam off"
"Continue"
"Aye, Admiral. We engaged the enemy vessel but suffered a loss of shields for just a moment. In that moment, the Jem'Hadar fired and hit our secondary processors – meaning we could not raise shields or weapons. We had also lost the Destruct programs, but we did not know that just then. I was at the helm and entered the final wheel commands myself. At full impulse, I rammed Voyager into the upper front section and lodged us several dozen feet inside. With hull damage still open from past battles, we were boarded with hundreds of Jem'Hadar soldiers heading for our transporter rooms"
"Why your transporters?" asked Rixx.
"Sensors determined that their's had failed – either through damage in battle or as a result of the collision" Icheb replied calmly. "To continue, we came up with a number of ways to blow the ship up, but only one way really worked out well. Naomi was going to lower all antimatter containment whilst overriding the safeties and detonating all the magazines at the same time. The rest of us tried to object to this but Naomi ordered us to abandon ship and then beamed us off Voyager to the ship evacuating the President. Voyager's logs indicate that Naomi then engaged full impulse in an attempt to place the upcoming debris away from major traffic lanes and to prevent any more attacks. The Bridge Procedural logs indicate the Bridge was forced at this point and there was a brief fight where Naomi ordered the computer to execute her orders which it did. At this point, there is no more data. Search teams led by myself and the surviving senior officers recovered much wreckage and Voyager's flight data recorder. Myself and Commanders Mezoti, Azan and Rebi located Captain Wildman's remains and escorted them on the last part of the journey to Earth" Icheb had to pause there as his normal composure was lost and he burst into tears. The Board looked amongst themselves and Paris offered to have a break until Icheb was able to speak again, but he shook his head, took a number of calming breaths and started once more. "Members of the Board… In the years that Naomi had Voyager she never lost a crew member. Naomi only did what she had to do once all of her crew was off the ship. I ask the Board that they clear Captain Naomi Wildman of any blame that may have been given to her"
"I suspect you are hiding something from us, Commander" said Picard.
"I am, Sir, but that has no bearing on the holding of this Board of Inquiry" Icheb replied a little firmly.
"Everything has bearing on this hearing, Commander. I order you to tell me"
"With all due respect, Captain, I am not going to reply. My reasons are personal and are known only by my friends and Starfleet Medical" Icheb replied.
"Captain, I have heard Commander Icheb's hidden thing. I can assure you and Captain Rixx that this has no bearing on this Board" Paris interrupted.
"Oh" Picard said. "As you wish, Admiral…"
"Commander, you are dismissed from the chair with our thanks. This Board is in recess until we render our Findings" Paris said. "Board dismissed" and he tapped the bell three times – the same bell that had started the whole proceedings days before.
#
"Paris saved you there" said Mezoti.
"Yes" Icheb said, gazing out the viewport to stare into space. He had never told Naomi whilst she had been alive, but he had developed a crush on her and would have asked her out on a date and seen how they went forward from there. He sometimes woke up at night from nightmares of Naomi taunting him, and he had submitted himself for counselling to get over his troubled mind.
"Starfleet wants to see all of us at Starfleet Command in the morning" Azan said.
"I will go only if the Board does not return tomorrow" Icheb said – a sentiment shared by the others.
"Lets hope all is what we hope" Rebi said.
#
"Attention! Attention to Orders! This Board is in session" Paris struck the bell three times before sitting down. "Captain Picard, you will read the findings of this Board"
"Yes, Sir" Picard stood and read from a PADD. "The Findings of the Board of Inquiry into the loss of USS Voyager are as follows:
Starfleet failed to have ships able to respond to a crisis in Sector 001. The Board recommends that a standing patrol be set up to ensure this never happens again.
No escort for Voyager was assigned. If there had been, the vessel would not have been lost. The Board recommends that, in future, all vessels so heavily damaged will have an escort comprising of no less then three other vessels.
The Board finds Admiral Ross, commander of the Bajor sector at Starbase 375, at fault for not providing the escort as set out by order of Starfleet Command and Starfleet Operations.
Captain Wildman had no choice but to remain behind to set off the explosion due to a failure of the secondary processors. This Board recommends that all Intrepid class vessels have an emergency back up computer installed deep within the hull in order to allow the Self Destruction to occur even in the event of computer failure.
The Board finds that Captain Naomi Wildman's actions in engaging the enemy, evacuating her crew and ensuring the enemy could not take USS Voyager in keeping with the highest traditions of service.
In keeping with Finding number four, The Board recommends that Naomi Wildman be posthumously awarded the Starfleet Command Decoration for Valour and the Legion of Honour"
"Thank you, Captain" Paris said. "This Board is concluded" and he tapped the bell three times. The friends stood up and got half way to the doors when Paris called them back. "I have seen many an act of courage in my years in Starfleet, but none more so then what you displayed. Attention to Orders" and everyone in the room came to attention. "By order of the Federation President and the Commanding Admiral of Starfleet, all four of you are promoted one grade higher and awarded the same honours as Captain Wildman. Mister Icheb…"
"Sir?"
"You have a large amount of leave coming up"
"Yes, Sir"
"Where do you plan to spend it?"
"Taking care of Naomi's remains until it is over, Admiral. Then, I plan to get a ship of my own and appoint my friends as senior officers"
"I see" Paris smiled warmly. "We've been planning a new series of heavily armed ships that can serve as anything from disaster relief vessels to battleships. We're naming them the Voyager class. The third vessel is going to be called the Naomi Wildman. We'd… That is to say Starfleet, would like it very much if you would take the Captaincy of it"
"Yes, Sir"
"I also note the four of you have placed requests to be buried in space" Paris frowned.
"When we were coming to Earth, the five of us made a solemn pact that we would all be cremated, placed in the same urn and shot into space so that we could spend eternity with our ship mates"
"I see" the Admiral suddenly realised that Icheb was wiser at his young age then he would ever be. "I see… Dismissed"
#
One Year Later
"Captain on the Bridge"
"As you were" Icheb smiled at Mezoti, Azan and Rebi as he stepped out of the turbolift. "I wonder if this was how Naomi felt every time we did it for her"
"I am certain of it" Mezoti said. She had admitted to Icheb that she also had a crush on Naomi and would have been open about a three way relationship if she had.
"Mmm… Stations" and the four of them moved to their locations. "Commander Mezoti, call all decks please"
"Aye, Captain" she worked her console. "All decks report they are manned and ready"
"Understood. Naomi Wildman to Control. Request permission to depart"
"This is Control. Permission granted. Fair winds and following seas, Wildman. Bon Voyage… Out"
"Operations, release all mooring lines. Helm, One quarter impulse power until we've cleared space doors" Icheb said.
"Aye, Captain" Operations reported. "All lines clear"
"Aft thrusters engaged" and slowly, but surely, the mighty ship left the dock, positioned itself and then headed into space – sunlight touching the metallic skin as it did so. "We are clear and free to navigate" Helm reported.
"Very good" Icheb replied, then stood up – much to the surprise of most of his Bridge crew. Walking forwards, he tapped the Helm officer on the shoulder. "I relieve you"
"Sir?" the Helm officer blinked before spinning around and vacating the station – quickly filled by Icheb himself.
"Bridge to Chief Engineer"
"Here, Captain"
"Is the beacon ready to be deployed?"
"Aye"
"Then have it ready on the pad. We'll handle the transport from the Bridge"
"Understood, Captain. Engineer out" It took a few minutes at their speed, but soon the starship was positioned at a point close to Earth orbit.
"Mister Azan"
"Sir"
"You may hoist the Ensigns and engage full colours, running lights and honours"
"Aye, Aye, Captain" and the whole exterior of the Naomi Wildman was lit up with all of her running lights, pennants and a plethora of illumination all brightly shining.
"Mezoti, open a channel to the ship"
"Channel open"
"Attention all hands, this is the Captain speaking. On our maiden voyage, I have brought us to a nearly unremarkable piece of space near Earth's orbit. We are currently at rest relative to the place where this vessel's name sake, Captain Naomi Wildman, died as a sacrifice to save her crew and the entire planet below. One of Voyager's own beacons will be placed here as a marker for all generations to know and to help discover what great deeds the ship, her crew and, most importantly, her Captain, did in all her years of existing. Commander Mezoti, you may energise at will"
"Aye Captain" and there was a faded blue on the main screen before it vanished leaving one of Voyager's beacons at the location of its destruction.
"Crew will render salute to forward. All hands, attention" Rebi gave the command himself and the entire crew came to attention and saluted towards the bow of their ship – the part facing the wreck site and beacon. They stood in silent tribute to Naomi and her sacrifice before gently bringing the ship about and heading for their first mission. The four former drones watched as the beacon quickly vanished to nothing ness and thought about their friend and how they wished they could see her again.
They would, they knew that for certain, but that would be a long time indeed
A/N:
Written at the request of TimDraco who wanted to know what happened to the remaining four after the end of The Long Way Home. I worked on this whilst on a day trip to London – missing out some important places I wanted to go to, so I hope he appreciates that! Got back at 02:10, got back home at 02:30 and then slept soundly for 12 hours then did this…
Hope him and others will like it
Regards
Pixel and Stephanie