Disappearances
Several weeks had past since the Doctor had created his holographic family. Following the Captain's advice, he'd finished the program, comforting his wife and son as they grieved the loss of Belle. It had been difficult but the Doctor was glad he'd gone through it. He hoped now he would be able to sympathize more with the crew.
In her quarters, Kathryn bent over a small tub, bathing Quinten. He squirmed in the water as she gently rubbed the soap away. He let out a string of garbled syllables as he small hands splashed beneath the water around him. Kathryn couldn't help but smile down at him as she reached for a towel and picked him up.
"There," she cooed, leaning down to kiss his forehead.
The child began to wave his arm about, as if reaching for something, a smile on his face. Kathryn looked up to see Q standing over her.
"Don't do that."
"Sorry, Kathy. I was just entertaining Junior."
"You could help by getting him dressed."
Q refrained from making any sort of comment. Instead he simply picked the child up and snapped his fingers. The towel was replaced by a one piece outfit. Kathryn raised an eyebrow.
"What happened to not using your powers around the baby?"
"Oh it was just once. He didn't mind."
Kathryn shook her head and went to drain the tub. Before she could reach for the plug, a voice echoed over the comm. system.
"Captain. We have a visitor," B'Elanna's voice informed her.
Kathryn and Q exchanged a nervous look. "On my way, Lieutenant."
"I bet it's the Continuum come to check up on Junior," Q hissed as they made their way to Sickbay.
"Why would they need to be taken to Sickbay?" Kathryn replied.
They arrived to find an alien huddled on one of the bio beds. The lights were dimmed and the temperature was rather warm.
"I've raised the temperature and lowered the lights. The room should be more to your liking," the Doctor informed the alien.
"Thank you."
"Who's our friend, Doctor?"
Before the Doctor could respond, the alien addressed the Captain. "I…I'm Nyrian. I…I'm not certain how I came to be on your vessel."
Kathryn gave him a kind smile. "I'm afraid we haven't heard of your planet. Our knowledge of this area is rather limited. Perhaps you can look at some star charts to see if you recognize any astrological markers?"
"Of course."
"Now…could tell us what you were doing before you appeared on Voyager?" Kathryn asked.
The Nyrian nodded. "I was walking out on the street on my home planet and then I was here."
"I'd like to conduct a few more tests in the meantime," the Doctor announced. He looked around before handing a hypospray to Q.
"What's this for?"
"The Nyrian. You're standing there. Might as well make yourself useful."
Kathryn looked around. "Where is Kes this morning?"
"She didn't report this morning."
"Computer, locate Kes," Kathryn ordered.
"Kes is not on board."
"What time did she leave?"
"11:32 hours."
A thought occurred to Kathryn. "What time did the Nyrian arrive on board?"
"11:32 hours."
"Doctor, keep me informed. I'll be in the Briefing Room." She paused. "Q, when you're done here, make sure Quinten gets his bottle."
Q nodded, not looking pleased to be used by the Doctor. Kathryn left Sickbay and tapped her comm. badge.
"Captain to all Senior Officers, report to the Briefing Room immediately."
By the time she reached Deck One, the entirety of the Senior Staff was seated in the Briefing Room.
"What's going on?" Chakotay asked.
"We have an alien on board who claims not to know how he got here. At the exact moment he arrived on Voyager, Kes disappeared."
"That's odd."
"Very. Harry, B'Elanna I'd like you to start investigating any possible special anomalies that could have caused the switch."
"Yes, Ma'am." Both Harry and B'Elanna stood and left the room.
Kathryn looked at the rest of her staff. "I want to be alerted if anything else like this happens. Dismissed."
Down in Engineering Harry and B'Elanna began analyzing sensor sweeps from the time Kes disappeared.
"Harry, start running a level one diagnostic."
"You sure? I mean I can start it but it's going to take a while."
"Just do it."
"Yes, Ma'am." Harry moved to another console and began inputting the command for the diagnostic when he felt a strange sensation beginning to overtake him. It felt like small insects were crawling all over his body. Before he knew what had happened, he found himself standing in what appeared to be a large garden. Kes was sitting on the edge of stone wall.
Back in Main Engineering, B'Elanna turned to find Harry gone. The doors opened and another Nyrian stood looking confused. She tapped her comm. badge.
"Torres too the Captain."
"Go ahead B'Elanna."
"Harry's gone and we have another Nyrian visitor."
"Send them to Sickbay."
"Aye, Captain."
By 12:00 hours two more members had been replaced by Nyrians. Kathryn was beginning to get a bad feeling in her gut about the exchanges. She'd called her staff back into the Briefing Room.
"We've lost two more crewmembers. From what we've determined, the exchange is taking place every nine minutes and twenty seconds. By the end of the day the majority of the crew will be gone."
Tom and Tuvok shared a look. Both men could tell something was off here as well. Chakotay started to open his mouth when Kathryn continued speaking.
"I want the Nyrians confined to the cargo bays until we figure out what is going on."
"Captain, they have been nothing but friendly so far. I don't see what locking them up will do."
"I appreciate your concern Commander but I just have a feeling about this. Something isn't right."
Chakotay let out a breath but gave a nod of understanding. He'd made his objections heard but for now, the Captain was still in charge. He left the Briefing Room and rounded up a few security officers.
"Get the Nyrians to Cargo Bay One."
Once the security detail had been assigned he headed for Sickbay. He walked in to find Sickbay with a new patient. "Doc, when you're done with our latest arrival, send them to Cargo Bay One."
"Understood, Commander."
By the end of the afternoon, the Cargo Bay was filled with Nyrians. Regardless of the fact that the nine minutes and twenty seconds still seemed to be the time between exchanges, more swaps seemed to be taking place. Kathryn's nervous feeling in her gut was continuing to increase, despite Chakotay assuring her that the Nyrians were just as confused as they were.
Presently Kathryn sat on the bridge, full of nervous energy. They had no idea where the Nyrian home world was and her kept disappearing without warning. She'd already lost Harry and Tuvok. There was no telling when the rest of her senior officers would disappear.
"Captain, you look a little tense."
"I am, Chakotay. I feel so helpless. We're no closer to finding out what's going on and I can't help but wonder who is going to be next."
Just then, B'Elanna's voice called over the comm. system. "Captain, I think we may have found something."
"On my way, B'Elanna." Kathryn stood. "You have the bridge."
She made her way to a turbo lift as quickly as she could, anxious to hear what B'Elanna had come up with. By the time she reached Engineering she was short of breath. She took a moment to compose herself before going to stand by B'Elanna.
"What did you find?"
"With the help of a Nyrian scientist I was able to find this." She hit a few buttons on display.
"That looks like a wormhole."
"that's what we thought…a baby one at least. One end seems to be opening up intermittently inside the ship. For all we know, we passed through while it was forming and snagged on it."
"Good work. Is there any way we can un-snag ourselves from it?"
"That, I'm not so sure about it."
"Well keep trying. Keep working with the scientist to see if you can come up with anything."
"Yes, Ma'am."
Just as Kathryn was about to turn and leave, a bright flash blinded her. After a blink or two her vision cleared and found Q standing there looking distraught.
"What is it?"
"It's Junior."
Kathryn's heart stopped. A million scenarios raced through her mind all at once and she began to sway precariously as if she might faint. B'Elanna reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder to keep her steady.
"Where…where is he?"
"I don't know. I went to go check on him. And he was gone…"
All the color drained from Kathryn's face and even B'Elanna's support wasn't enough to keep her knees from buckling. Q grabbed her before she fell too far.
"Get us to Cargo Bay One now." Her voice was hoarse but still held that tinge of command.
He didn't question her. He wanted to find out what had happened to their son as much as she did. Even if he was a Q, he was still a baby.