Rainstorm

A Perfect Day.

Kathryn Janeway snuggled down under her duvet. The rain was pouring down outside the Hotel in San Francisco. Phoebe who was sharing the room was fast asleep. It would take an atomic bomb going off under the bed to wake her. Their father was on business at head quarters and she and Phoebe were going to get a tour. Kathryn couldn't wait. It was going to be fantastic. She fell asleep dreaming of just casually meeting Jean-Luc Picard and just as casually starting a conversation which would impress him and make him admire her. The Enterprise crew were her current idols.

The next dawned bright and sunny. They ate in the Hotel's main dining room. Phoebe who had the menu ordered two full English Breakfasts from the specials list for herself and Kathryn. Kathryn could not help a slight scowl at that; she'd been looking forward to a buttered croissant with a double espresso.

She cheered up however when she found that the meal did have a complimentary pot of coffee. Phoebe only drank tea and wasn't going to change that habit anytime soon which suited Kathryn. They were halfway through their breakfast when their parents came down.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say that these two are rather excited about a tour of Headquarters. Can't imagine why." Gretchen remarked to her husband who chuckled.

Kathryn and Phoebe waited impatiently for their parents to finish eating and practically dragged them out of the building. Gretchen declared that she was going to look at the interplanetary market and they split up.

Kathryn and Phoebe bombarded their father with questions as they went. He fended them off as best he could saying that they'd see when they got there. The tour of headquarters took about three hours. They saw all the briefing rooms, a few of the offices, the mess hall the science labs, (which delighted Kathryn and bored Phoebe half to death,) and a room full of shuttle designs of the shuttles currently used by Starfleet. This interested both of them for different reasons. Phoebe was very into art and graphics and the design features of the hulls and the engines fascinated Kathryn. They were disappointed when they had to leave.

On the way out, they met Admiral Paris with his son Tom. Phoebe went to say hello and the three year old retreated behind his father's legs. Phoebe straightened up and Tom came out again. The moment she went to say hello again, he hid behind the Admiral. Phoebe straightened up again then dropped down again catching the little boy unawares. He giggled and Phoebe grinned. It became a game. Kathryn meanwhile was quizzing the Admiral about every aspect of life on a starship completely oblivious to the game of peek-a-boo that was going on.

Edward cut in eventually and got his daughters' to wait outside for him. He told Owen he would meet him at the usual time and place that evening after a few polite enquiries after his wife and two daughters.

Kathryn and Phoebe then wanted to go to the market to find their mother and perhaps purchase some trinkets with the bar of Latinum each that their father had given them the night before. He had won six bars off a Nausican, two weeks ago at Deep Space Four, who thought he could best Edward at poker.

Carrying a small fortune each in their pockets Kathryn and Phoebe disappeared in the crowd and were soon haggling. Edward wanted them back at the Hotel by seven that evening so that he would know they were safe before going to meet Owen with Gretchen. He had also recommended a nearby restaurants' seafood gumbo if they got hungry later on.

Kathryn had bought a few trinkets and still had eleven strips six slips of Latinum left when the rain started coming down. Shoving her money and purchases into her pockets and zipping them up, she ran for cover from the downpour. It was when she'd managed to get under an awning at the edge of the street that she realised she'd lost Phoebe.

She groaned. It was annoying but she supposed that Phoebe could find her own way back to the Hotel if she was completely lost. All Kathryn could do was wait out the rain.

Ten minutes later the rain was stopping. Kathryn was about to go back out into the market to look for Phoebe when she was grabbed from behind. She tried to scream but something thick and extremely sweet scented had been clamped over her mouth and nose. She couldn't breath as she struggled against her captor the sickly smell was making her dizzy. She continued to struggle and scream as lights danced merrily in front of her eyes before retreating completely leaving total darkness in their wake.

The unconscious form of Kathryn Janeway sagged limply back against the body of her captor. The whole incident had taken less than five minutes. No-one had noticed and no-one had been able to hear her muffled screams. Her captor put the cloth carefully away and slung the unconscious girl over his shoulder before striding away down the alley Kathryn had been standing in front of a few moments before.

Phoebe searched the entire market for her sister before running back to the hotel to find her parents. She told Edward who reassured her saying that Kathryn was bound to turn up soon and that it was very easy to lose someone in a crowd.

When twenty-one hundred hours had come and gone and there was, still no sign of her Edward alerted Starfleet and a search was mounted. They questioned the stall holders but none had seen her since the shower that afternoon. There was simply no trace of her. It was a very worried Edward Janeway who eventually tumbled into bed at three in the morning.

-/\-

That's it for this chapter. Reviews very much appreciated, please try not to be too harsh this is my first published fanfic.