Clap Hands

Black. Black as night—no, blacker than night. Not a star, not a wisp of gas, not a chunk of rock-nothing could be seen on the view screen display, in any direction. The word "darkness" could not come close to adequately describing the emptiness, which the crew had decided to christen the Void. That name, unfortunately, fit. The only thing the Void was filled with was, apparently, an overabundance of theta radiation. As to the source of the radiation, that was basically a void as well. No one knew where it came from. It was just there.

They had to travel through it. There was no help for it. The region lay directly in their path homeward; too big to go around without adding at least four years to their journey, and that, according to Captain Kathryn Janeway, was "simply unacceptable." As it was, from the information they'd received from long range scans, as well as that gathered from scientists on the last world Voyager visited prior to entering the Void, the trip would take about two years if they went straight through. Chakotay only hoped they would all survive until they could arrive at the other side.

Chakotay glanced around him. Only half the normal staff were on bridge duty. All Engineering tasks were handled from Engineering. Astrometrics, Operations, and other science labs were operational, but there was no current need for representatives of those disciplines to appear on the bridge. They did their work in their labs, using the minimal amount of power necessary to complete their projects. They had quite literally stocked up on power before leaving what Chakotay now thought of as the "visible" part of the Delta Quadrant. Every possible storage device for power sources had been filled to maximum capacity at their last planetary port of call. Unless something terrible lurked within the Void, their power should hold out throughout the journey. If only they could have loaded up on some sort of power source to prevent boredom!

It did not help that the Void, in and of itself, was a depressing place to be. That final port of call had turned out to be disastrous for the crew, particularly for two members of the senior staff. Those events had smothered much of the optimism the crew had developed after finally leaving the primary hunting area of the Hirogen.

That last planet had been beautiful. The Mynteran leaders had offered Shore Leave to the travelers who were about to submerge themselves within the Void. The captain had been assured by the Prime Administrator that Voyager's crew was very welcome to enjoy all the pleasures the planet could offer, while their merchants supplied them with all of the supplies they would need for their trip. What could possibly go wrong?

"Now, Tom and B'Elanna, let me assure you I would be delighted to care for our lovely little Linnis. You haven't had a chance for Shore Leave or any sort of vacation since Linnis' birth, outside of the Holodeck, of course, and I don't think that counts. Why don't you take a nice little 'second honeymoon?'"

"Neelix, thanks so much for the offer, but you know, we really want to spend this time together. Linnis has never been on an actual planet before. It's time to see how she does in a new environment, with real gravity. She's getting to be so much fun around now, I guess I don't want her to miss out on seeing the sites, either" Tom Paris said.

"And this resort we're booked into is supposed to be one of the best they have on the planet! I'd like to compare it to the one you set up on the Holodeck for all of us," B'Elanna added, as she folded a small sun suit and inserted it into Linnis' bag.

"Oh, I do understand, but you know, when they said it was reserved for off-worlders, I kind of wondered why. Who knows if it's really as good as they're telling you it is? Maybe that hotel is reserved for off-worlders because the in-worlders know it isn't all it's cracked up to be!"

"The pictures in the advertising brochure they sent up sure make it look nice. And if it's not, we can always come back early, Neelix, and set up for a bit of fun at your Holodeck resort. And then you can come in and join us!" Tom patted the Talaxian on the shoulder, giving him a kindly smile. "Or you could come on down with us, you know. We'd love to have you."

Tom ignored the growl issuing from his wife's direction. Neelix, wisely, did not.

"Oh, that's okay. I already did the mountain retreat resort with Samantha and Naomi last week, so I really shouldn't go off gallivanting on a second Shore Leave when everyone else is restricted to one. You'll have Harry and Seven along, too, to help out if you want a little private time for just the two of you. I shouldn't be greedy, even if I do so enjoy time spent with your little one."

B'Elanna came over to Neelix and patted him on the arm. "Thank you so much for understanding, Neelix."

"Well, I guess I'd better leave you two to your packing, but before I go, may I say 'Bon Voyage' to our littlest Voyager?"

"As long as you don't wake her up!" B'Elanna replied.

Neelix tiptoed into the second bedroom alcove, where Linnis lay napping in her crib. "Bye, bye, little one. Have fun on your trip!" Neelix whispered. He waved his hand over her head, but rather than stroking it, as he usually did when she was awake, he gently patted her on her chunky little leg.

After he'd left, B'Elanna turned on her husband. "What did you mean by Neelix 'coming with us!'" she hissed.

"Please, B'Elanna! I wasn't going to offer that he stay in our room! I've got plans for that room, and they don't include a Talaxian observer! I mean, Harry and Seven each have their own accommodations." His tone changed to the wheedling one that always seemed to convince her to do whatever it was that he wanted to do. "Isn't it bad enough we'll have to tone things down a bit if Linnis' crib isn't separate enough from our bed area? Like Neelix said, we're going to be wanting a little 'private time.' He understands, Be.'"

B'Elanna calmed down visibly and smiled at him. "Okay, Flyboy, you've made your point."

Tom swept his wife into his arms and gave her a warm hug. "This is going to be great! I can't wait!"

The hotel was every bit as beautiful as the advertisements had trumpeted it would be. The staff was attentive. When Harry and Seven requested that their rooms should be near that of their ship mates', the concierge quickly switched reservations for another group of travelers so that the Voyager crew members' rooms were directly across the hall from each other's. Trips to the favorite tourist sites in the area were arranged and took place without a hitch, although there was a bit of a drive each time to get to the resort's substantial gate in the complex's wall, which separated it from the rest of the "prime vacation spot on Myntera." The beach area of the resort was also extremely private. They bathed in pleasantly warm waters, enjoying surf that was a little too calm for Tom's taste, but perfect for Linnis, in B'Elanna's opinion.

And the food! The on-site restaurants served such delicious meals, B'Elanna asked if some of the dishes could be sent up to Voyager, to be programmed into their replicators. The chef was extremely flattered and sent samples up to the ship without any further urging. The food and drink service in general was efficient enough that even Seven allowed it to be "impressive." All in all, the first three days and two nights of their stay were everything Tom and B'Elanna had hoped for, perhaps even better than they'd anticipated.

The last night was not.

"Hey, Linnis, aren't you getting a teensy bit tired?"

His daughter grinned her still-toothless smile and laughed at her father. She could now sit on her own and flapped her hands up and down on her lap.

"Do you want to play our game, Linnis?" Tom asked.

Linnis replied by raising her hands up. When Tom began to clap his hands, Linnis imitated her father, chortling with every contact one hand made with the other.

"Look at you! What a smart baby you are! I'll bet you're going to be a chief engineer someday, just like your Mommy."

"I hope she doesn't end up chief on Voyager, still in the Delta Quadrant," B'Elanna sniffed.

"Nah, the captain's going to get us home way before that, isn't she? You're gonna go to Starfleet Academy in San Francisco, on Earth, if you want to, little lady!" Linnis clapped her hands so energetically at this that she toppled over backwards. Both of her parents laughed. When the baby started to whimper slightly, B'Elanna scooped her up off the bed and sat in the room's most comfortable chair to nurse her.

Once the baby had settled into a steady sucking rhythm, which B'Elanna hoped would serve as her bedtime snack, she asked, "Tom do you really want her to go into Starfleet? After what you went through with your father?"

"Whatever she wants to be, that's what she'll be. If she doesn't want anything to do with space or Starfleet, that will be her choice, not mine. I guess I can think of a few things I'd rather she not be. . . some of the professions represented in Sandrines wouldn't be my first choice. . ." B'Elanna laughed as visions of the gigolo and Gaunt Gary the pool shark came to mind, then frowned as she thought about some of the other denizens of the tavern in Marseilles. B'Elanna didn't care all that much for the proprietress.

"Seriously, B'Elanna, I do hope we get home in time for Linnis to have more choices of profession than she does on Voyager, even if coming to the Delta Quadrant is the best thing that ever happened to me. I found you, and now to have Linnis. . . I'm just so grateful. I'm the happiest I have ever been in my entire life, B'Elanna. I'm sure glad I didn't miss this trip."

Tom leaned over the chair and gave his wife a tender kiss on the brow, then bent a little lower to grace his daughter with an even more gentle buss on the top of her head. For the next several minutes Tom sat on the floor next to the chair, his left hand on his wife's knee, his right hand on his daughter's back, as B'Elanna nursed their child to sleep.

B'Elanna carefully laid her daughter down in the crib at the foot of the room's bed. It was a bit flimsy, in B'Elanna's opinion, but at least it had held up to her daughter's pushing around the mattress for the past two nights, It should hold up for the last night of their stay. The child did not stir when her mother rubbed circles in her back a few times, and B'Elanna gave a sigh of relief as she stood up and caught her husband's eye.

He was already lying naked in bed. B'Elanna gave a very low growl and pounced on him. Tom growled softly back at her and dragged her over to his side of the bed. As they began to exercise their version of "private time," their exertions quickly became so enthusiastic, they tumbled to the floor next to the bed. The floor was lushly carpeted, and they were perfectly content to remain there, reaching the heights of satisfaction while lying at the lowest surface of the room. They fell asleep right there, without bothering to climb back into the bed.

When the explosion came, Tom and B'Elanna were sheltered from the blast under their window by the stout wall next to the corridor and the luxurious, sturdy wooden bed that was positioned between the couple and the windows.

Linnis, peacefully sleeping in her flimsy little crib in the center of the room, was not so fortunate.

"Ensign Kim, I do not wish to remain in the Lounge any longer. Since we have completed my lessons in Social Interactions for the evening, I am ready to return to my room. We must arise early for our return to Voyager. I am already overdue for the commencement of my next regeneration cycle. It must begin within the next 12 hours."

"Of course, Seven," Harry replied with a sigh. Several rather attractive strangers had just settled themselves next to the bar, but he had promised the captain he would keep an eye on Seven while she was on her first true Shore Leave. He also had to admit to himself that he was also tired by the whirlwind of touristy activities they had managed to cram into the past three days of their Shore Leave.

Waving to the concierge and the security guard stationed by the front door as they left the Lounge, Harry and Seven ascended the stairway to the second floor. They had just cleared the balcony overhanging the Lounge and had barely started down the hall towards their own rooms when the building was rocked by a massive explosion. Both were knocked off their feet. Chunks of ceiling panels cascaded down on them. Although the hallway and floor substructure had apparently been built well enough not to crumble from the force of the explosion, the floor now listed to the right.

As he coughed in the swirling dust of the hallway, Harry could hear screams from the front of the building, where the Lounge was located. Dim cries for help could be heard coming from the rooms on the right. Harry raised his head and found Seven lying next to him. He reached out to her and called her name.

She turned her head in his direction. "I am conscious, Ensign," she said, before coughing three times in quick succession.

Harry stood up and offered Seven his hand, which she accepted and pulled herself upright. The tilting of the floor was more noticeable once they were on their feet. Harry leaned to the left, to the side of the hallway that was apparently less affected by the explosion, and Seven followed his lead. Together, they picked their way through the debris on the floor until they reached the door to Tom and B'Elanna's room. The door had buckled in its frame, and no matter how hard Harry and Seven pushed, it would not open. As they worked at the door, Harry called out, "Tom, B'Elanna, are you okay in there?"

There was no response. Seven, listening intently, finally said, "Ensign Kim, the child is not crying, and the noises coming from this side of the building indicate it may collapse at any moment. We must extricate the family from the premises."

"You're right, Seven. Frantically tapping his Comm badge, Harry shouted, "Kim to Voyager! Emergency! Five to beam up to Sick Bay!"

The Doctor's program was active that night. Despite his very specific warnings against certain non-syntheholic drinks he had learned were available in the night spots listed on some crew members' itineraries, several of them had overindulged in various exotic beverages while sampling the delights of Myntera. The EMH had set himself the task of replicating replacement supplies of his standard hangover remedies when he received notice of an emergency beam out to Sickbay. He immediately went into triage mode as five figures materialized.

Two were standing up right, and from a quick glance, the EMH could tell they could wait for evaluation. The other three were prone. The Doctor was distressed to see that the littlest member of Voyager's crew complement was one of them. He rushed to her side.

Whenever the EMH was in treatment mode, his programming prevented him from overt expressions of emotion. Despite this, at the sight of little Linnis Paris, the Doctor could barely control himself. While he evaluated the child with his tricorder according to standard protocols, he recognized the child's true medical status immediately. Carefully picking up the blanket folded at the foot of the treatment bed, the EMH gently draped it over the tiny form.

The Doctor heard Harry cry out wordlessly, while from behind him, Linnis' father called out weakly, "Doc, how is she? Why isn't she crying?"

The Doctor turned to his Field Medic. He did not have to say anything before Lieutenant Paris cried out in anguish. He also knew. Little Linnis Paris had breathed her last.

"How could you possibly conceal something so horrendous as this from us! We trusted you! You promised us a 'superior time' on your planet!" Captain Janeway's rage was so poorly contained, her first officer reached out and grabbed her arm to prevent her from running towards the view screen.

"I am so sorry, Captain. The insurrectionists had been quiet lately-no incidents for over a year. We thought the isolationist movement had lost its momentum. Our trade with other warp-capable worlds and representative ships such as your own have brought a great deal of prosperity to so many of us. . . It never occurred to us they would choose to make another 'statement' now. The security staff at the hotel were vigilant, we assure you. . . but one of the terrorists managed to get himself employed by the hotel, and . . . well, you know the rest."

"Have you caught the ones responsible?" she said savagely.

"The one on the staff was killed in the explosion, by his own choice, apparently, so we could not question him. We are actively searching for the others who must be involved, but it will take some time. They're so hard to catch. They must hide in plain sight. I'm sure you will want to leave orbit before we are able to locate any of more of them, but if you wish to help us in any way, we would welcome it. I can't thank you enough for the help you've already given us, Captain. You helped save many lives when you located the survivors and transported them out of the wreckage, to where we could provide them with medical care." The Prime Administrator paused briefly, then added, "And the families of those who were killed are grateful you retrieved the remains. Our own rescuers may have been injured, too, without your assistance. I only wish we could have saved your lost . . . crew member."

"We will be leaving orbit within the hour, Prime Administrator. Tuvok, please send the Mynteran authorities copies of our security scans and any other pertinent information that may help them in their investigation. Perhaps their people can get somewhere with it." The captain wearily took her seat, her rage spent. Nothing was going to change. They would have to leave the Myntera system and enter the Void without learning if the responsible parties were ever found and punished. The only one they could be sure about was the bomber who had died for his role in the crime.

The Prime Administrator thanked them for the data Tuvok had sent them, apologizing profusely again as the transmission ended. Captain's final acknowledgement was limited to the briefest of nods.

Five days after Voyager left the Myntera system, a solitary photon torpedo capsule was released, on a trajectory that would keep its course parallel to the huge, dark area of the Void. The desolate parents did not wish for the casket to enter that terrible darkness. Instead, the tiny capsule's surface would be lit by the reflected light of stars, highlighting it on its journey back in the direction from which Voyager had come. Linnis Paris was destined never to leave her birthplace, the Delta Quadrant.

The funeral was attended by all but the skeleton crew necessary for monitoring essential systems. Captain Kathryn Janeway recited the words of the Starfleet burial service in a husky, almost monotone, voice. She left the eulogies to Chakotay, Harry Kim, and Tuvok.

Naomi Wildman sat between her mother and Neelix throughout the service. Naomi had known others who had perished, but Linnis was the first person close to her who had died. She was taking it hard. So was Nanny, who stayed with the EMH in Sickbay, watching the service via the Comm system. The EMH comforted the HHT, silently reflecting upon the lessons he had learned about loss from his family program. He decided he would bring Nanny to that program after the service. They would have their own wake while the rest of the crew was having theirs in the Mess Hall.

The captain came to the Mess Hall briefly, speaking only to Tom and B'Elanna, before excusing herself and returning to her own quarters.

As the wake was starting to wind down, Neelix approached Chakotay. "Commander, I don't understand why Seven didn't use the techniques she used to save me when I was killed in that nebula."

"She tried, Neelix. Harry begged her to try, even though she and the Doctor knew it wasn't going to work, they did try. And it didn't work."

"How did they know it wouldn't?"

Chakotay gestured to the Talaxian to come back to the kitchen, to speak with him privately. The first officer did not wish anyone else to hear what he was about to share with Neelix.

"The baby's neural passageways were too damaged by the explosion, Neelix. Your death had been less traumatic, so yours were intact. Seven's nanoprobes could repair the danger to your biological tissues."

"So there was nothing they could do?"

"They transported the baby's body and then reassembled it from the transporter buffer, using the data from when she went down to the planet with her parents. But three days had passed, and for a baby of Linnis' age, a lot of growth happens quickly, even though it's at a level we can't see. There were many microcellular changes from her growth in the days after she went down to the planet. A sort of dissonance developed between the pattern that was in the buffer from when she went down to the planet and the last one, when she came back up. After the attempt, Linnis looked like she had been healed, but it was only a cosmetic change. Seven tried to bring her back with her nanoprobes anyway, but it was already a lost cause."

"I understand. Is that one reason we waited five days for the funeral? It wasn't only for Tom and B'Elanna to recover enough from their injuries so they could attend?"

"Yes. We wanted to make sure the nanoprobes had failed to heal her before we buried her."

Neelix sighed deeply. "If only I could have kept her up here on Voyager with me, like I offered!"

Chakotay gently grabbed Neelix by the shoulder. "Neelix, two of the most awful words in Federation Standard are 'if only.' There are so many things we would do differently if we knew what the ultimate outcome would be. Please don't say those words to Tom and B'Elanna. I'm sure they're going to remember your offer as it is. They couldn't have known. Believe me, Neelix, if the Prime Administrator of Myntera had told us anything about this rebellion, which has been going on for years, we would never have allowed anyone Shore Leave. I'm sure that administrator is saying 'if only' right now, if he has any sort of conscience at all."

"I appreciate you letting me know this, Commander."

"I knew I would have to tell you. And Neelix, the reason we're in here talking about this is that I don't want anyone else on the crew to know about it. Starfleet doctors have tried to use the transporter to bring someone back from the dead before, back home in the Alpha Quadrant. To my knowledge it's never been done successfully, although they haven't had a former Borg around who could use that nanoprobes technique. Maybe if very specific circumstances occur in the future, we might try to save an adult on the crew who has just died, to see if we can make it work then. But I don't want to get the crew's hopes up. Understood?"

"Absolutely, Commander. I won't tell a soul. I guess you've mentioned this to Mr. Kim and Seven, too?"

"I have."

"Well, thank you again. I think I need to go out and circulate a bit out there in the crowd. It's a sad day, and even a very competent Morale Officer like myself can only do so much. But I'll do my best."

"You always do, Neelix," the commander said with a smile.

Chakotay stayed in the cooking area for a few moments, thinking about their discussion. Of course, Tom and B'Elanna also knew about the experimental treatment; they'd had to endorse it. At least they knew the EMH, Harry and Seven had tried everything to save their daughter, but he doubted they had received much comfort from this knowledge. He guessed Tom and B'Elanna were regretting their decision to bring the baby to the planet, too. Hindsight: always Twenty/Twenty.

When he finally went back to the Mess Hall, the first officer looked around until he found the bereaved parents. They were sitting side by side on a bench in the far corner of the room, but he noticed their bodies did not seem to be touching. Ayala and Lang were speaking with them; perhaps it was more accurate to say they were speaking to them. Tom was nodding slightly, as if he were listening to what his fellow bridge officers were saying, but from the glazed look in Tom's eyes, Chakotay doubted he really heard anything. He was basically flying on autopilot.

Chakotay understood. Tom had undoubtedly been hearing the same words of condolence over and over again at the wake.

What really disturbed Chakotay was the look on B'Elanna's face. Her eyes weren't glazed over, they were expressionless, almost dead.

Chakotay approached them, to rescue them from the kindness of their crew mates, although no amount of kindness could bring back what an act of terrorism had stolen away. The transport buffer could reconstitute the body of the child so that she looked like the Linnis who had beamed down to the planet, but there was no way to reclaim her soul, crushed out of her tiny body by a vile act. What the parents needed now was time, time to heal, not just from physical wounds, but also of the heart. They would never completely escape the ache of their loss. Chakotay only hoped they could discover a way to live with that pain and find happiness once again.

=/\=