I'd like to dedicate this story to my friends Suki and Jillian who inspired me to write again. Tina, for your words of wisdom, and Kendra Jade for helping keep it as accurate for Trekkers as possible and making sure the story flowed well.
By J.Ravenhair (Jeanna)
The Hidden Child
Chapter 1: New Mission
"Captain Chakotay," Admiral Janeway said. "How nice to see you ."
Chakotay smiled at his old friend and colleague. As Chakotay looked at Kathryn Janeway, he had memories flash before him of how they had met. He and Captain Janeway had been maneuvering through the badlands, and the next thing he knew they had been pulled into the Delta Quadrant by an alien entity who called himself the Caretaker. Chakotay had thought they would live out the rest of their lives trying to get home, and had resided himself to follow all the Starfleet training he had been given before joining the Maquis. He and Janeway had shared many adventures, gained new technologies and become close friends. Upon the return to Earth, he was reinstated by Starfleet as a Captain for his heroic duty aboard Voyager. "Admiral Janeway, it is always a pleasure." Chaykotay said. "What may I do for you?"
Admiral Janeway took a moment to think of the best way to present her new mission to him. "Chakotay, we have been through so much together, and I hope what I'm about to tell you will not change our friendship in anyway."
Chakotay said "Kathryn, you of all people know our friendship is tried and true, I would never take offense to anything you might have to say."
Janeway gave Chakotay a slight smile and preceded to explain herself. "You see, I have been asked to follow up on the diplomatic talks taking place at Romulus."
Chakotay looked at her without understanding "I thought Riker and the crew of the Titan were taking care of the situation."
"Yes, but Starfleet feels its time for someone with more diplomatic experience to enter into the proceedings, someone who can give a firmer stance on certain issues." Janeway stated with a knowing grin.
"So are you asking for Voyager back?" Chakotay asked shyly. He couldn't blame Kathryn for wanting her old ship back, he was also very fond of the memories created aboard this vessel.
"Actually I would rather ask that you and the rest of your crew accompany me to Romulus." Janeway said coyly. "I will only interfere when the need calls for it. Besides, I thought while we were en route, I would take some time to groom one of your new crew members, an Ensign Clearwater." Janeway said.
"I would be delighted to have you back on Voyager. Will Clearwater have graduated by the time we need to leave?" Chakotay asked.
"Clearwater will have his commencement on Saturday, so we will leave Sunday morning at 0800 hours. Please inform the rest of the crew to report back to Voyager immediately to make preparations." Janeway smiled as she gave her order.
As she turned to leave Chakotay's quarters she said sincerely, "Captain, it is an honor to be on Voyager again, to be with my family no matter how short or long this mission may be." Then Janeway left and went back to her office to contemplate what she had not told Chakotay about the special interest she had in Lee.
"Lee Clearwater," Lee went to the podium and received his communicator and pip. "Congratulations Ensign." Admiral Janeway said with a motherly grin. "Report to Voyager at 0800 hours tomorrow. We will be leaving Earth's orbit and I don't appreciate tardiness."
"Yes Ma'am, I will be there--on time." Lee gave Kathryn a boyish grin, then as the next graduate was announced he stepped down off the stage. He couldn't believe he had been placed aboard Voyager. He had put in for any ship, but Voyager or Enterprise were his favorite choices. To be put with Voyager and its crew was an honor and he was very proud of the results his hard work and perseverance had given him.
Lee went home and started to pack. He was so excited, he'd forgotten about how his parents were going to react. His mother Rose and father David had wanted him to stay on Earth. They knew if Lee went away they might never see him again, and they didn't like the idea of losing their only son to space. "Are you sure you won't change your mind Lee? Rose asked.
"Mom, this is all I've ever dreamed about. When I was a child and would beg you to let me stay up late looking at the stars, didn't you know that was where I wanted to be? Well, now I get the chance to be in those stars. I have the chance to travel through the stars, see new worlds and meet new people." Rose looked at her son with admiration and foreboding, then she left the room. Lee finished packing and tried to lay down and go to sleep. He found it very hard to do this with all the excitement of the day, but he finally drifted off.
As his sleep grew deeper, a dream started to take shape. "You worthless human!" A funny looking man was yelling at a young boy. The man had pointed ears and looked vaguely like the pictures Lee had seen of the Romulans. "You are worthless to us now, your protector is dead, and you shall be sent to Remus to die or endure the rest of your life as a slave in the mines." Lee watched as the little boy was tortured repeatedly by the whip of the Romulan guards. The little boy felt little relief when the man whipping him would stop, he was always told to continue working or receive more lashings. The little boy wanted to kill the Romulan guard, but was too little, all he could do was live on his fury, be brave and strong and endure his captivity until he escaped, or died.
One day a Reman named Vkruk finally stepped up to the Romulan guard and told him not hurt the boy any longer. He used a telepathic means of controlling the guard to do his will, and the guard walked away looking perplexed. The Reman befriended the little boy and the Romulan guard stopped whipping him when Vkruk was around.
Lee felt the pain the little boy was feeling, he felt the anger building inside of him as if it were his own. "How dare a Romulan beat a human boy !" Lee thought to himself. He awoke with a start, but somehow he still felt the pain the little boy had endured as if he had endured it himself.
The after affects of the dream stayed with Lee most of the morning. As the day progressed the dream receded into the depths of his memory. He enjoyed his first day on Voyager. He toured the ship and met his co-workers. He was a little intimidated to find he would be working closely with Seven of Nine.
He went to sickbay for a final check up before departing Earth's orbit. The Doctor gave him a clean bill of health and scheduled his iron injections for 0600 every morning. "You don't want to pass out due to your anemia now do you?" The Doctor grinned at his attempt of dry humor.
Lee had been receiving these iron injections at home since he could remember. He was hoping to get away with not having to take them once he was on board Voyager, but he knew the Doctor was right. He would be extremely embarrassed if he were to pass out during a shift. Lee smiled with the doctor hoping he had shown appreciation at the Doctor's sense of humor and said "Thanks Doc."
Lee settled into his quarters, and wrote a quick letter to his parents. He told them he would be going on a "diplomatic" mission and would be gone for several months. He also said he would write as often as he could. After finishing his letter, he laid out his clothes for the next day and went to bed.
The dream he had this night seemed much longer than the night before, and it was more vivid. He had made friends with some of the Remans in the mine. The Reman who had stood up for him, now took him under his wing as a father would a son. He dreamed of the hard labor, feeling as though he could die at any moment.
The dream progress and Lee remembered leaving the mines of Remus to fight in the Dominion War. The Remans had helped him build a secret base and a war bird which was superior to those of the Romulans. He had shown abilities as a leader and so the Remans made him theirs.
He was ruthless. He was someone the Romulans and the Remans feared and admired.
Then the dream became more intense emotionally. Lee started to feel as though he were living the experiences instead of watching them take place. He was walking to meet someone, the uniform the man was wearing had the insignias of Starfleet, but the man's face was obscured.
He felt the kiss a woman who had dark hair and dark eyes-- but she was resisting him. Lee would never impose himself the way he felt he was doing in this dream. He called her Imzadi, but wasn't sure what that meant. Lee knew this woman was someone special, but she feared him more than anyone had ever feared him before.
Then he saw the man with the obscured face, and this time Lee could feel his life draining away and knew it was because of this man. . .
Lee continued to feel the pain and suffering of dying as he struggled against the tumult of the dream. He looked over to his desk and noticed that a message had been posted on his desktop monitor. As he listened to Capt. Chakotay's voice requesting his presence at a meeting at 10:00 he told himself over and over that it was just a dream.
Lee looked at the time display on his monitor and noticed he only had two hours before the meeting. Lee went into to the bathroom to get cleaned up. When he looked into the mirror to shave, he panicked. Starring back at him was the image of the man who had been dying in his dream. The image in the mirror spoke to Lee saying "I am with you now, your destiny--is my destiny." Lee frantically looked for his communicator, tapped it and said "Clearwater to sickbay."
The Doctor answered "sickbay here."
Lee said "I need to see you, is now too soon?" "I think I'm having hallucinations."
The Doctor examined Lee very closely. He checked his brain wave activity to make sure he wasn't experiencing mental difficulties from being in space. He checked all of Lee's vital signs and did blood work to ensure Lee's red cell count was within normal parameters.
After the analysis was completed, the Doctor looked over all of Lee's tests and told him that his diagnosis was a bad case of home sickness. The cure would be to try to keep busy, but if the dreams and hallucinations continued to report back immediately.
The Doctor told Lee nonchalantly that he was released to go back to his duties and turned to work on a specimen he had under the microscope.
Lee arrived at the meeting in time for Admiral Janeway to speak his name for the computer records. "I've called you here today because we are en route the Romulan home world." Janeway said.
"Ensign Clearwater, I understand that while you were in the academy you showed a remarkable knowledge of the Romulan and Reman people, so I will be counting on your input." Chakotay said. "If you know of any space mines or possible scouting routines it would be helpful in avoiding the destruction of our ship."
"Yes sir, I will give you all the knowledge I have." Lee said.
"Good, now lets talk about our mission." Admiral Janeway said. "We are to set up negotiations between the Romulans and Remans so they can work out their cultural differences and become partners in trade. This will be difficult for most of our crew because of recent events between the Enterprise and the Scimitar. I want my officers to lead the way in diplomacy and I will demand you to be your best. Now lets get to work."