In the Arms of Family
Story by Janet and Christina
Written by Janet, Christina, Cybermum, Diane, Julie,Mary, Penny, and Rocky
Compiled by Janet
Prologue
The question and answer session had been going on for far too long already, and Kira Nerys, the current commandant of Deep Space Nine, was rapidly running out of patience. She very pointedly ignored the hand waving energetically in her face for the umpteenth time. Kira wondered how the woman could manage to continue doing that, virtually without a break, for over an hour. Her own shoulder muscles ached in sympathy.
She saw others in the small gathering, mostly Bajorans, who had barely asked any questions at all. She recognized Tal Ceres, Tal Luji, and Tal Sheron, mother and sisters of the Bajoran engineer, but had not heard anything at all from any of them. Gerron Malyn, the grandmother and last living relative of the young Maquis, had been just as silent; Kira could hardly be surprised at that. Still she'd love to respond to someone else's question rather than subject everyone to another from the petite Earth woman in the first row. Fortunately, the mother of one of Voyager's engineers chose that moment to raise her hand.
"You have a question, Tabor Audran?" Kira asked.
"Will we have time to hold this memorial service for Liberty's lost Bajoran crew members before Voyager is ordered to return to Earth?" she asked.
"Yes, we will. We've been assured by Starfleet Command that Voyager will remain at the station long enough for the planned memorial service, as well as for a big parade of celebration on Bajor. Vedek Capril is preparing the memorial service at the shrine." Kira gestured in the general direction of the station shrine's vedek, standing to Kira's right. The vedek took his cue and bowed formally to the group. "Establishing a firm date and time for both of these events will be at the top of my agenda as soon as Voyager docks. As soon as I know when it will be, I'll have it posted to the newsnet. I'm sure you won't be able to escape that news even if you tried!"
Kira looked around again as the crowd chuckled, trying to find someone else to call upon besides the mother of Harry Kim. She was still waving her hand as energetically as a teacher's pet. That didn't surprise Kira either. Mary Kim had informed everyone who stopped to listen to her for five seconds that she was a fourth-grade school teacher on sabbatical, touring Bajor and DS9. Since the area's tourist trade had hardly recovered from the impact of the Dominion War, Mrs. Kim's true motive was transparent-not that she withheld that fact from anyone, either. Since DS9 had been the last port of call before her son Harry Kim and his crew mates on Voyager landed in the Delta Quadrant, Mrs. Kim thought it only logical the ship would return to the station before flying home to Earth.
Mrs. Kim's vigil for her son was truly touching, although Kira would have been far more sympathetic if the woman hadn't shown up at Ops, or Kira's quarters, or the security office daily over the past two months, wanting to know if anyone had heard when Voyager would arrive. Kira had been ready to strangle Mrs. Kim on more than one occasion.
Two weeks ago, Kira had been informed that Mrs. Kim's assumption had been proven correct. Voyager was to stop at DS9 on its way to Earth, with an ETA of one week. Kira also knew the starship's delayed arrival was due to damage sustained when Voyager had come out of the slipstream drive at the wrong coordinates, in the Badlands. Why they had arrived at this location instead of the general vicinity of DS9 was the mystery. All Kira knew at this point was that she wasn't supposed to say anything about it to anyone, particularly the voluble Mrs. Kim. Kira could accept this, however. If anyone Kira had ever encountered was more likely to be a security risk, she couldn't think who it might be at the moment.
Kira sighed as she exchanged glances with Lieutenant Ro Laren. The station's current security officer was standing to her left. Ro shrugged her shoulders, and Kira caved in; she couldn't avoid responding to the woman from Earth any longer. "Yes, Mrs. Kim?"
Mrs. Kim opened her mouth to ask, for what Kira was sure would be the one hundred twenty-third time: "When Voyager arrives, when will the families be able to go on board to be reunited with their loved ones?"
To which Kira would respond (for the one hundred twenty-third time), "I don't know. That's up to Captain Janeway, and she hasn't let me know yet." Kira's combadge sounded, however, cutting off Mrs. Kim's "Wh..."
"Excuse me," Kira replied, with a Cheshire Cat smile, "I need to answer this."
"Saved by the beep," Ro murmured softly as Kira turned away to respond to her hail.
::Colonel, we're in contact with Voyager. Captain Janeway wishes to speak with you:: said Lieutenant Tovan from Ops.
"Excellent. Patch me through."
::Colonel Kira? Captain Janeway here.::
The eruption of applause in the background prevented Kira from answering until the noise subsided enough for her to say, "Welcome home to the Alpha Quadrant, Captain! I'm with a group of relatives of your crew. They're all extremely glad to hear from you. May I help you with anything?"
Janeway's pause before answering this simple question was long enough to tip off Kira that Voyager's captain was not pleased Kira had a crowd near her. ::Nothing comes to mind at the moment. I just wanted to inform you to expect us in about eight more hours...::
Over the groans of disappointment from the relatives standing behind her, Kira replied, "Understood, Captain. I guess you can hear I've got some very impatient people here waiting for you."
::As long as they've been waiting, they deserve to feel impatient. They're no more impatient for us to get home than we are.::
"I'm certain that's true. Everyone is well on Voyager?"
::Everyone is very well, I can assure you of that. I've sent some additional messages to your Ops officer for you to read at your convenience, Colonel. I'll contact you again as soon as a more precise arrival time can be established.::
"I appreciate that, Captain. It's good to hear your voice."
::Good to hear yours as well, Colonel Kira. Janeway out.::
A spontaneous celebration broke out among the relatives as Kira broke the connection. A few non-relatives, mostly news media representatives, ran out of the room, undoubtedly hoping to "scoop" their compatriots on the story: "Voyager's Captain Contacts DS9-Crew Doing Fine and on Their Way Home!"
Kira waited for the commotion to die down a bit before finishing her address to the group, all the while wondering what was in those private messages. Confidential missives sent out via subspace just before a happy homecoming usually contained bad news, especially the kind Kira would be forced to pass on before the docking. Disturbing, especially when the still-unexplained delay in the ship's arrival was factored into the equation. Janeway had specifically reassured her everyone was all right, but Kira had to hear those messages to be sure, immediately, if not sooner.
"Well, everyone, I think that does it for now. Thank you for attending this..."
"Colonel Kira! My question! You haven't heard it yet!" Mrs. Kim broke in.
"You're right, Mrs. Kim," Kira acknowledged, bracing herself for the onslaught the woman from Earth was bound to unleash. "I know I said I'd ask Captain Janeway when you could meet with your son on Voyager as soon as she contacted us, but I'm sure you noticed I didn't have a chance..."
"That wasn't my question, Colonel. I wanted to ask about the memorial service on the station. Why is it that only the lost Maquis will be remembered? What about the Bajoran crewmen who lost their lives on Voyager, and on Equinox, too, when they were dragged into the Delta Quadrant by this Caretaker being? Shouldn't they be memorialized, too? In fact, what about all of those lost in the Delta Quadrant, of any species? Why can't the memorial service remember them all?"
Kira stood there, stunned to silence by the very appropriate questions that, to Kira's knowledge, no one else had broached.
Ro was Kira's savior. "Interesting points, Mrs. Kim. I'm sure Vedek Capril will be happy to speak to you about them." Mrs. Kim's head swiveled to follow Ro's pointing finger. Vedek Capril again bobbed his head to draw the attention of the Earth woman to him. Mrs. Kim began to walk in his direction.
Just when Kira thought she had the woman figured out...
And then Mrs. Kim halted in her tracks, craned her head back over her shoulder, and said, "But next time you talk to Captain Janeway, you will ask her when the families will be able to go on board..."
"Absolutely! First question!" Kira whipped out as rapidly as she could.
"That's one hundred twenty-one," Ro mumbled through her grin.
"Twenty-three," Kira corrected automatically.
"Not that you're counting, of course," Ro replied.
"Of course not," Kira sighed wearily.
She couldn't wait for Voyager to get here-so it could go away again-so they all could get on with their lives.