Okay, I suck at titles. But never judge a book by its cover-or, never judge a story by its dumb title.
Let me just say, that I have not seen the last few episodes of Voyager, so I have no idea how it turns out. This is just my version of events.
Now that that's clear, let me just say what I have to say, Voyager is not mine. Nothing about Voyager is mine. Except of course the characters I made up. See if you can spot them.............okay, whatever. Read, enjoy, and please review. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I love getting feedback!
Home
This was the day I'd been waiting for for a long time. It had taken months to set up a day both me and B'Elom were off duty. We wanted to go together, because it was after all, our first home. Sara didn't want to come, I guess she just wasn't comfortable with it. I don't blame her. I have some wonderful memories, but some terrible things happened on Voyager, which Sara remembers more vividly than I do. She is five years older than me. And none of the older crew members wanted to come. They all said, "Oh, no thanks, you go on. Have fun!"
So it was just me and B'Elom. And on one rainy, cloudy day, we went to see Voyager. Actually, the day hadn't started out rainy. In fact, it was so nice out, I insisted we walk to the museum. It's about a 45 minute walk from my mother's house to the museum, and me and B'Elom had a lot to talk about.
He's an engineer and he's been gone for 8 months on Deep Space 12, helping to build Voyager 2, the ship that's going back into the Delta Quadrant to explore more of it.
Yep that's right. They're going back into the Delta Quadrant. And both me and B'Elom are going with them. It's due to leave in about 2 years, when we hope we'll have enough experience to be made chief engineer (B'Elom) and pilot (me). But they need us. We were born in the Delta Quadrant, and spent the first 15 years of our life there. We know more about it than almost anyone.
Anyway, as we were engaged in a deep conversation about Richard Manon, captain of the Cassiopeia, and what a dick he is (B'Elom also served under him at one point), we didn't notice the rainclouds roll in, and it began to rain. Not just normal rain, nice rain, hard rain. Pounding rain. So we broke into a run, and arrived at the museum breathless, soaked and laughing.
"Look what the cat dragged in," a voice said. We looked up. Jason Parson was sitting at the front desk, his mouth stretched into a grin, and his eyes twinkling with amusement.
"Jason!" I cried in mock surprise, "Come here and give me a hug!" I opened my soaking arms. Jason laughed and crossed his arms, "Uh uh." He laughed, the said, "Go on back. I think we've got some spare uniforms in there. Go change, get dry, and come back, and I'll open her for you."
B'Elom and I went through the door Jason had waved at, and found the uniforms without much trouble. We changed and went back to Jason, who led us into the huge center room where Voyager lived now.
Jason Parson was a year younger than me. He was also born on Voyager. All together, a total of 17 kids were born there, at different times, including Naomi Wildman. Jason had never been interested in Starfleet. He was more into History. He always said Voyager would go down in history famously. He opened this museum dedicated to Voyager and her crew. All our data was displayed here, as well as constantly running holoprograms to give visitors an idea of what it was like to live on Voyager.
Recently, he'd had an enormous hall built, and moved Voyager from her special bay at DS9 to here. He opened it as an exhibit. Visitors can go through her (only to certain spaces) and can enjoy some of Neelix's cooking (he comes every Friday), or listen to one of the Doctor's concerts (he comes every Saturday). Its really cool.
But today, the museum was closed, and B'Elom and I were coming for the first time in the 8 years since we'd come home, to see our home. I don't know why we hadn't come sooner. I guess for the same reason Sara didn't want to come now. Too many memories. Not all of them good.
Jason unlocked the door to the Great Hall, "Welcome home," he said, as we walked in, eyes wide, staring at the huge, beautiful ship.
"Home," B'Elom agreed softly. Jason stared at her with us for a few seconds, then he said, "When you're finished, lock Voyager's main entrance behind you. I'll be at my desk if you need me." And he left.
B'Elom and I just stared at Voyager for a few minutes. Then we went in. I still remembered all my codes, so opening the locked door wasn't a problem.
I stepped onto the gray carpeted hallway. It was dark. I took a deep breath, and smelled hints of familiar smells that brought a wave of memories mixed with a strange homesickness.
B'Elom stepped past me, punched a few buttons on a wall panel, and with a low hum, lights flickered on. I looked at B'Elom, smiled and took a deep breath.
"Computer," I said, and broke into an even bigger smile when I heard the familiar chirp.
"Good to hear you again," B'Elom told the computer. He looked at me, "Where first?"
I shrugged, "Our quarters?" B'Elom grinned at me, put his arm around my shoulders, and we started down the hallway.
End of chapter one! Can I just say, I finished this in one evening! I'm so proud of myself.
Explanations of who everyone is are coming up in the next chapters, which should be out soon, if I get enough reviews!