# Chapter 4 – Night

Three years later (and three years before events in "Alternatives")… Stardate 54949.4

Tom Paris gazed out at the blackness, and then leaned back in the pilot's chair. Although there was no sensation of speed, he knew they were traveling at warp eight point five. The dark nebula in which they traversed blocked most of the electromagnetic spectrum, but using the Val Jean's sensors, they were able to detect the center of the Galaxy and other X-ray and gamma ray hot spots to monitor their trajectory. With no large mass concentrations nearby, however, there was only minor perturbations and little need to alter course.

Only eighty seven more days until they came out the other side.

"Another day in paradise," Tom remarked, an attempt to break the silence.

B'Elanna was sitting next to him at tactical and frowned. "We should have gone around this god-forsaken void. Every day is the same and it's driving me crazy. I don't care if it would have added years to our journey."

Tom smiled and gave B'Elanna a wink. "Oh, it hasn't been that bad. A lot shorter than we originally thought after we found that vortex. Besides, Chakotay finally allowed me to convert a portion of the cargo bay into a holodeck and we've had some fun."

Tom's idea of fun was a bit different than B'Elanna's, but she had to admit she was growing fond of his company. She looked up from the sensors to give Tom a smirk. Funny how things had turned out. At first, she couldn't stand him. He was an ex-Maquis who had only been on Voyager to track them down. For whatever reason, Chakotay had befriended him anyway and her own opinions changed gradually as well. She shook her head and returned to gazing at the sensors. His resolve in pursuing her was finally paying off. There's only so much time you can spend optimizing the warp engines, and his interest and persistence despite her initial resistance had been charming. In a strange sort of way, this void had brought them together.

Seska entered the Val Jean's small bridge. "I'm finished in the galley. You two need anything?" she asked and looked back and forth between Tom and B'Elanna before finally settling on Tom. B'Elanna ignored her completely and pretended to be engaged studying the sensors.

Tom turned to face Seska. "I think we're fine, but it's been pretty exciting up here. About an hour ago I thought about making a half degree course change."

Seska widened her eyes in mock surprise and glanced briefly at B'Elanna back. "OK. I'm heading down to engineering to help out Chell and Rollins."

When Seska was out of earshot, B'Elanna whispered under her breath, "whoever you are."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

B'Elanna turned to Tom, her eyes blazing. "I trusted her! I believed her story about the Cardassian blood transfusion that changed her bio readings. She fooled us all. She was going to betray us."

Tom had heard it all before. He wasn't entirely sure he trusted Seska fully himself, but was willing to give her a chance. B'Elanna, however, was unwilling to budge. That was fine with Tom, but he knew it ate at her. "You just won't forgive her, will you?" Tom replied. "People do change. Look at me, for example."

"I don't know, it seems to me you've always been an arrogant ass" B'Elanna said and turned to Tom to gauge his reaction. He smiled, but didn't offer a retort. B'Elanna sighed. "Listen, you may have been an idiot, agreeing to help Star Fleet, but you never lied to us."

Tom ignored her. "It's been three years and she's been trying."

"What do I care? What do you care? She's not my friend."

"She wants to be again."

B'Elanna shook her head. "We don't even know her real name. Seska is a Bajorian name, not Cardassian. What is her real name Tom? She's still deceiving us."

Tom thought about letting it go. He was hoping, however, that by resolving B'Elanna and Seska's differences, it would enable B'Elanna some measure of peace. "She told Chell she grew up on Bajor and chose to call herself Seska when she was a girl. Maybe she wants to hold onto that memory."

B'Elanna didn't reply but stewed in her anger. It was like a comfortable blanket that she wrapped herself in. When Seska had confessed three years ago, B'Elanna had been ready to kill her right there. To hell with Chakotay and the rest. In fact, she had been ready to kill Chakotay for bringing that Borg drone aboard. B'Elanna frowned again and the anger she felt threatened to dissipate.

"What?" Tom said, interrupting her thoughts.

B'Elanna shrugged her shoulders. "What do you mean?"

"You're thinking about something."

B'Elanna sighed again. Tom was getting better at reading her, she thought. Chakotay, of course, had been right about Seven of Nine. The drone respected B'Elanna's space and had proved to be quite efficient. Months ago, when they had that run in with the Malon, it was Seven of Nine who had devised a protection against the theta radiation. In fact, it was Seven of Nine and Rollins who eventually extracted the information from the Malon on how to find that spatial vortex. The vortex had cut over a year from their journey through this void.

As if on cue, and before B'Elanna could answer Tom, Seven of Nine stepped onto the bridge. "Do you two need any assistance?" she asked.

"This is getting tedious," B'Elanna grunted. "We're in a void. Nothing has changed and nothing is going to happen."

Seven of Nine hesitated, but then turned to face Tom. "Mister Paris, when you are free, I would like to help you enhance the holomatrix you created."

"Interested in escaping to the holodeck yourself?" B'Elanna teased.

"I haven't given it much thought," Seven of Nine confessed. "It occurred to me, however, that since we have another eighty seven days left in this void, it would be beneficial to the crew's morale to improve the holodeck's performance. I believe I can use some of the spare Borg data nodes to increase the memory capacity, and with a few more holo-transmitters, we can increase the grid size."

"Oh great. We will all be assimilated," B'Elanna groaned.

"The Captain has approved my request to help Mister Paris."

Tom glanced at B'Elanna. "How about in another hour we meet in the cargo bay when my shift is through here."

"That would be adequate," Seven of Nine responded. "There is something else I wish to attend to and then I will see you in sixty minutes."

Seven of Nine stepped out of the bridge and back into the Val Jean's main corridor. The corridor formed an elongated loop about the upper deck with the bridge at one end and the galley at the other. Between and on either side were four of the crew quarters for the senior staff. Captain Chakotay, First Officer Ayala, B'Elanna Torres, and Samantha Wildman, were located up here. Samantha was not on the senior staff, but was allowed the extra space to accommodate her young daughter. The middle deck was larger and contained the rest of the crew quarters with most of those rooms doubled up. For a ship designed for sixteen, the Val Jean was filled past capacity with thirty of them in all. Seven of Nine corrected herself, thirty-one as of a few days ago. The lower deck held weapons control, engineering, and the relatively large cargo bay. It was there where Seven of Nine resided, for it was the only place on the small ship that could accommodate both the size and power requirements of her Borg alcove. Chakotay hadn't been too happy about that, her quarters being a corner of the cargo bay, but Seven of Nine assured him that she was fine with the arrangements.

Seven of Nine stepped briskly down the corridor headed to the shaft in the center that connected the decks. The Val Jean was too small to have a lift. As she rounded a corner, a small figure jumped out in front of her. She held what looked like a phaser in her hands, but on closer examination it was simply a toy facsimile.

"Give me all your money," the young girl said.

The girl was Samantha's offspring, a half human, half Ktarian hybrid. She had been born shortly after the destruction of the Caretaker's array. Samantha was a Star Fleet officer who had been rescued from Voyager before it was destroyed. Apparently, unbeknownst to all, she had been pregnant.

"Naomi Wildman," Seven of Nine scolded, crossing her arms. "What are you doing?"

"I'm playing Maquis," Naomi replied innocently. She looked at the toy phaser she was still pointing towards Seven of Nine and then lowered it carefully.

"I don't believe the Maquis were in the habit of stealing other people's possessions. Who provided you the parameters of this game?"

"Mom told me the Maquis are like Robin Hood and his band of thieves. Robin Hood stole from the rich and gave to the poor."

Seven of Nine shook her head. "The Maquis fought against the injustice of an ill-conceived treaty between the United Federation of Planets and the Cardassian Union. Although there is perhaps a dubious analogy with Robin Hood, I do not think the notion that the Maquis resorted to thievery is accurate."

Naomi looked up to Seven of Nine and continued to smile. Being half Ktarian, Naomi was significantly more developed than a human child would be, but she was still only seven years old. Seven of Nine decided a debate about the appropriateness of the current comparison was senseless. "Naomi Wildman, aren't there other pursuits you could engage in?"

"I'm bored," Naomi finally said. "Mom's still feeling sick and there's nothing to do."

Seven of Nine nodded. Samantha was still suffering from the effects of theta radiation poisoning. These past few months had been difficult for the child.

"Could you tell me the story of when you got your new eye?" Naomi asked hopefully.

"You have heard that story so many times, I think you'd be able to tell it to me by now."

"But I like hearing you tell it," Naomi persisted. "Particularly the bit about how Chakotay tracked down that Vidiian doctor."

Seven of Nine wavered. For some reason Naomi had latched onto her after the Malon incident, and Seven of Nine felt some responsibility to the child while her mother recovered. "There is something I need to attend to at the moment. Perhaps there are some programs you could run on the new holodeck in the cargo bay."

"Maybe," Naomi said dubiously, clearly disappointed. She seemed to brighten up a bit and added, "would you come with me?"

Seven of Nine was about to respond that she was too busy, but then realized that wasn't the case. In fact, she found it necessary of late to work at finding other tasks in which to busy herself. The Val Jean was operating at peak efficiency, and in the void, there was nothing for them to do but wait until they came out the other side. "I would be… happy to comply, but it will have to be later this afternoon" she finally said.

Naomi jumped a little in excitement. "Maybe you could help me come up with better rules for playing Maquis as well," she said hopefully.

"I will give it some thought," Seven of Nine replied. "Come to the cargo bay at sixteen hundred hours and we'll see what sort of programs we can find."

Naomi nodded, and skipped away back down the corridor in front of Seven of Nine. She heard Seven of Nine step down the shaft to one of the lower decks and then say something to someone else who was obviously coming up. She smiled and turned to position herself behind a piece of the bulkhead near the shaft. When the person emerged, she would pounce them. She giggled to herself at the thought.

Just when she was thinking whoever it was must have gone onto the middle deck, Chell's bald blue head popped out from the shaft. He took one step towards the bridge and Naomi jumped out from her hiding place.

"Stop!" she yelled, holding up her toy phaser.

Chell's eyes widened, and then he placed his hands on his chest. He groaned loudly and sank to his knees. "You got me," he breathed heavily, and then slumped forward onto the corridor's deck.

"I didn't shoot," Naomi protested.

Chell lifted his head up. "You didn't?" he said, and then sat up. He stayed sitting on the deck so he was at the same level as Naomi. "Who are you, a bandit?"

"No, I'm a Maquis officer," Naomi replied. "I'm fighting unjustice."

Chell nodded knowingly. "Ah, I didn't realize we were recruiting so young."

"I'm not that little. How do you fight unjustice anyway?" Naomi suddenly asked.

Chell made a dramatic movement of scratching his head, and Naomi laughed. "That's a good question. Hey, I'm going to the bridge, want to come along and we'll ask B'Elanna and Tom?"

"I'll have to go ask my Mom," Naomi replied. "She told me to stop bothering the people on the bridge."

Chell laughed and then stood up. "When I'm on the bridge, you can come and bother me anytime."

Naomi smiled. She liked Chell.

"How's our newest member of the crew doing?" Chell asked. "Have you recruited him into the Maquis?"

Naomi knew Chell was talking about Ayala and Amelia's new baby boy. He had been born just a few days before. "He's just a baby," Naomi objected.

Chell laughed again. "Just a thought," he said and turned towards the bridge. "You should see if he's ready. See ya squirt."

Naomi thought some more about it and then turned down the corridor. She knocked lightly on one of the doors, and soon enough, the door slid open. Inside she saw Amelia nursing the new baby in a comfortable looking chair that took up a large part of the room. Captain Chakotay and Ayala were sitting at a small table nearby. The quarters were cramped, but so was everywhere else inside the Val Jean.

"You can come in," Amelia said to Naomi, and so Naomi stepped in and up to Amelia and the baby. She put her toy phaser out of site.

"What do you think Naomi?" Ayala asked with a smile.

"He's so small," Naomi said. "Was I that small when I was born?"

"Smaller," Ayala replied. "You were born a few weeks before full term."

"What a day that was," Chakotay added, and Amelia nodded in agreement.

Naomi's mouth opened and she returned to gazing at the new baby.

Ayala lingered looking at his wife and son with almost the same wonder in his eyes, but eventually turned back to face Chakotay again.

"Are you sure about this?" Chakotay asked.

"Chakotay, you know I'll do whatever you decide," Ayala replied. "And I will always be there for you. But if it is my choice, I'm sure."

Chakotay sighed. His friend was looking much better, having suffered from theta radiation poisoning during their encounter with the Malon. It had been touch and go for a few weeks, but fortunately he had pulled through in the end. Chakotay wasn't sure what he would do without Ayala. He had been Chakotay's trusted right hand for many years. But of course Ayala wasn't going anywhere, he just wanted someone else to take over as First Officer so he could concentrate on his wife and new son. Hell, maybe he should have someone take over as Captain for a few months. He shook this thought from his head. "Who do you have in mind?" Chakotay finally asked.

Ayala nodded and glanced back over at Amelia. Amelia caught his eye immediately and turned to Naomi. "Come on Naomi, let's go show Tarik the warp core. He likes watching the pulsations."

Naomi dutifully followed Amelia out of the quarters. When they were gone, Ayala turned back to Chakotay.

"The most qualified Maquis would be either B'Elanna or Seska," he began immediately. Obviously he had been thinking about this for some time. "But I don't think either are interested."

Chakotay looked surprised. "You don't think Seska would want to be First Officer?"

"Oh, she might say she still wants to be, but I think she knows it would be disastrous. She wanted it too much before, and with everything that's happened…" Ayala pursed his lips, as if nothing more needed to be said.

"It would be disastrous," Chakotay agreed.

"As for the Star Fleet officers, Rollins and Paris are the most qualified," Ayala continued. He didn't sound too enthusiastic about them either.

"Not the young Harry Kim?" Chakotay replied with a smile.

Ayala seemed to be taking Chakotay's comment seriously, but then shook his head. "Maybe someday. Maybe he'll even take your place, but he's not ready yet."

Chakotay nodded in agreement. "What do you think of Rollins and Paris?"

"Don't get me wrong," Ayala replied immediately. "Both are good men and have been real assets, but…"

"But?"

"Rollins might be too much engrained with Star Fleet protocol. He'll ruffle a few feathers amongst the Maquis. And Paris has no interest in command. He's more interested in Torres and happy right where he is."

Chakotay frowned, but agreed with Ayala on both accounts.

"There is someone else," Ayala said tentatively.

Chakotay tried to think who of the Maquis or Star Fleet crew members might also qualify, and then it hit him. "Seven of Nine?"

Ayala nodded. "I wouldn't be here without Seven of Nine. She saved my life. Hell, she saved the whole boarding party."

That had been a close one with the Malon. Despite the intense theta radiation, Seven of Nine had kept her wits about her.

"When you first brought her aboard, I thought you were crazy," Ayala mused. "I kept a phaser handy and programmed with a rotating frequency just in case those first few months."

"You didn't have to do that," Chakotay replied with a frown.

"I know," Ayala responded. "Now. For whatever reason, she seems totally dedicated to you and this crew. I think she'd make you an excellent First Officer."

Chakotay thought back to earlier in the day when Seven of Nine had requested permission to help Tom Paris with his holodeck in the cargo bay. It would require diverting some of their scarce resources into a pursuit that on the surface seemed frivolous, but she had argued that the improvements would in turn improve crew morale. Many other instances readily came to mind of her looking after the interests of the Val Jean crew. The more he thought about it, the more he realized the wisdom of having Seven of Nine become the Val Jean's First Officer. She was indeed the obvious choice.

Chakotay nodded to Ayala and tapped his comm badge. "Computer, locate Seven of Nine."

"Seven of Nine is in her quarters."

Chakotay stood. "OK then. I'll go and speak with her immediately and see what she says." Ayala waved goodbye and Chakotay left the quarters and made his way to the central shaft and down to the lowest deck. Forward was weapons control and engineering, while aft was the entrance to the cargo bay. Harry and Gerron were playing some sort of game with darts just inside the entrance.

They both turned to face Chakotay when he entered. "Captain," Harry quickly said and straightened to attention.

"At ease Harry," Chakotay chuckled. If Chakotay recalled correctly, they were playing the same game the last time he had seen them the previous day. "Who's winning the game?"

Harry turned to Gerron and the young Bajoran shrugged. They both smiled and turned back to Chakotay.

"Carry on gentleman," Chakotay said and continued into the cargo bay and made his way to the back corner. Some partitions had been installed, at his insistence, to give Seven of Nine some privacy. He stood outside the partition and engaged the door chime.

The make shift door swished open and he heard Seven of Nine say, "enter."

The living area was stark with just the Borg alcove and a small table and chair. He knew the chair wasn't for her, but for the infrequent visitor, but then was surprised to notice a second chair in the back corner. Seven of Nine was standing by the table and on it was a ring of white candles. The lights were dimmed, and the dancing flames of the candles cast flickering shadows on the wall. As Chakotay approached closer, he noticed the candles were placed on a crown of sorts that could be placed on someone's head if desired.

"Today, by the old Earth calendar, is Saint Lucia's Day," Seven of Nine began, as a way of explanation. "December 13th, 2377. In my parents' logs, there is a mention of my mother celebrating this day when she was a little girl in Sweden, on Earth."

Chakotay stepped closer. "What is the significance of the day?"

"Saint Lucia herself was born in the year 283, possibly on the island of Sicily. There is no consensus as to the actual circumstances of her life, but it is likely she died a martyr's death for her Christian faith."

"Sicily is a long way from Sweden," Chakotay commented. "Why is Saint Lucia's life venerated there?"

"I believe it has to do with her name, which means light, and the fact that her feast day occurs close to the Winter Solstice. In Sweden, which is in Scandinavia and the far north on Earth, there is but a brief amount of daylight at this time of year. On Saint Lucia's Day, they are celebrating the lengthening of the days and the return of light."

"Did you celebrate as a child?"

Seven of Nine frowned. "No," she responded. "I was born on Tendara colony." Chakotay couldn't be certain, but he thought there might be a hint of sadness in her voice. She examined the candles closely for a short time and then leaned forward and blew them all out. It was dark for a moment, but then the lights in the small space that had been partitioned off as her quarters in the cargo bay brightened.

"My parents paid little attention to their heritage. There are only a few brief accounts of this day and similar celebrations in their logs, and those are usually only reminiscences from their childhood." Seven of Nine turned to face Chakotay. "I have observed, however, you and many on the Val Jean's crew take comfort in the beliefs and traditions of your ancestors. I have thus made it a point to acknowledge Saint Lucia's Day and other holidays from my heritage each year as a way of trying to reconnect to that aspect of my humanity." She glanced back down at the candles and added, "Although this is the first time I've actually replicated candles and lit them."

Chakotay smiled. "I am pleased you allowed me to share this moment with you."

"Typically the eldest daughter in the family dresses in white and wears a crown of twigs and nine candles," Seven of Nine mused. "She awakens the family in song. Sankta Lucia, ljusklara hägring…"

"There may be a few people still asleep. Perhaps it's not too late," Chakotay suggested. The corner of Seven of Nine's lips turned up slightly and the ocular implant above her eye raised, and Chakotay laughed knowing that this was the closest she was going to come to laughing as well.

"Perhaps another time," Seven of Nine replied. "Given our current circumstances, however, I thought it appropriate to at least light the candles. The celebration predates Christianity in Scandinavia and is centered on the annual struggle between darkness and light. In about the same time it will take the Earth to transition from winter to spring in Sweden, we will finally emerge from this void and darkness and find ourselves again in the light."

Chakotay was impressed with the many facets of Seven of Nine. He stepped over to the chair in the corner and pulled it to the table. He then sat down and motioned for Seven of Nine to do the same.

"I have a proposition to make you," Chakotay said. "Let us talk of the future."

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Author's note: Thank you scifiromance, The Cheshire Cheese, and lizzy74656 for your reviews of Chapters 2 and 3. The next chapter we'll be back to the "present" and find out what happened the next day after the events in "Alternatives". So, if you haven't yet read that story, you might want to read the first part again that takes place in this AU.