Disclaimer: Star Trek: Voyager is Paramount's brainchild. Chloe is mine. Go figure.

Author's note: Kind of a sequel to "Chloe." Makes many references to it.

Rating: It's written from a child's point of view. Go figure.



Eyes of Innocence



Hi, my name is Chloe Janeway and I'm eight years old. I had my eighth birthday last week on the 14th February. On Earth, some people celebrate it as Valentine's Day. It's all about love and kissing, and I always get something with hearts on for my birthday.

I live with my mum. My mum is called Kathryn. She is in Starfleet. She wears a red uniform, and has four metal pips on her collar. This means that she is a captain. She is the captain of the starship Voyager. We live on Voyager. Voyager is a long, long way from home. We are in the Delta Quadrant, which is a long way away from all the admirals on Earth. I used to live on Earth with my nanny. Sometimes, I stayed with my Auntie Phoebe and my Uncle Toby. They have two children, who are my cousins. They are called Caroline and Matthew and they are four and two. I used to play with them.

My daddy also lives on Voyager. He lives next door to me and mummy. I did not know him until I came onboard Voyager. I have lived onboard Voyager for two months. Everyone else has lived on Voyager for four years. A man called Q brought me here. He said that I was a present for my mum as she missed me. I missed her too. But now I live with her. I like living on Voyager, because I am with my mummy and I get to know my daddy.

My daddy is called Chakotay. He only has one name. He has a tattoo on his face. I've seen mummy run his finger over it when she thinks I'm not looking. I like my daddy. He is kind and clever and funny. He takes me horse riding on the holodeck. He lets me ride a horse and jump *huge* fences! When I lived on Earth, my nanny would only let me ride ponies, and I could only trot. She was scared that I would fall off. I've been riding for two years, and I have never fallen off.

My best friend is called Naomi. She is three, but she is half-Ktarin. This means that she grows up faster. So she is like an eight-year-old, like me. Me and Naomi are the only two children on Voyager, but Auntie B'Elanna and Uncle Tom are going to have a baby soon. It's a little girl, and they've shown me a holographic picture of the baby when I was in sickbay one day. Uncle Tom said that they are going to call her Miral after Auntie B'Elanna's mum and Kathryn after my mum. Uncle Tom says I'm not allowed to tell anyone because it's a secret. He tells me lots of secrets, and lots of funny stories too! Lots of them have Uncle Harry in it, so I can't tell them to anyone!

I call Naomi's mum 'Auntie Sam,' but her real name is Samantha. Naomi doesn't know her dad because he is in the Alpha Quadrant. She is like me, because I didn't know my daddy until I came onboard Voyager. Naomi calls my mummy 'Captain,' but if my mummy is in our quarters, or in the mess hall, or on the holodeck, then Naomi calls her 'Auntie Kathryn.' She has only just started to call her 'Auntie Kathryn.' Sometimes, she calls her 'Auntie Captain!'

Me and Naomi have to do lessons. Some lessons are good, like when we get to work in engineering. Auntie B'Elanna runs engineering, so we get to do lessons with her. We have to call her Lieutenant Torres then, only sometimes I forget. She doesn't mind. But because she is going to have a baby soon, sometimes we have lessons with Auntie Gill, who we call Lieutenant Taylor or Lieutenant Carey. Naomi calls Lieutenant Carey 'Joe' because Lieutenant Carey and her mum are good friends. Auntie Gill first babysat me when I first came onboard. She is engaged to Uncle Richard, and they are going to get married soon. At Christmas, Uncle Richard gave Auntie Gill a ring to make sure they get married before next Christmas. That's a long time to go. Me and Naomi want to be bridesmaids, but we haven't said anything.

My mum knew Auntie Gill when she was little, because my granddad and Auntie Gill's dad were both admirals and my mum babysat Auntie Gill and Uncle Tom when they were both little. My mum says that they were very naughty! Me and Naomi aren't naughty, although Uncle Tom says that we are! He's just joking - we think!

Uncle Tom says that one-day he'll teach me how to fly a shuttle. I asked if my daddy could do it, and he said 'No!' very quickly. I wonder why? Uncle Tom flies Voyager, but my mummy and daddy run it. This means that sometimes they have lots of work to do, so they have to bring it home with them. They're working now, sitting on the sofa together with lots of PADDs. Daddy's got his arm around mummy, and they look happy, even though they've got lots of boring reports to do. Daddy says that the most boring reports are from Seven of Nine and Tuvok. This is because Seven used to be a Borg, and Tuvok is a Vulcan.

They both think I'm doing homework, but I've finished. I had science from the Doctor, and it was easy - I had to write what different organs in the body do. I like science, but I don't like it when we have to work in hydroponics. We have to plant and weed things. That's boring. Neelix tries to teach us to cook with the things we grow, but I don't like cooking either. Using replicators is much easier. Daddy says that I'm like mummy. I don't know what he means, because mummy says I look like daddy. I have dark hair and dark skin, like daddy, but my eyes are blue. Mummy's eyes are blue. Daddy likes her eyes. He also likes mummy's hair, but she doesn't. I think her hair is very pretty.

I don't know why I'm writing all this down. Mummy and daddy will never read it, because it says on the front that only I can read it. I've been reading for nearly five years now, since I was three and a bit. First I learnt the alphabet, and then I started to look at picture books with mummy and Auntie Phoebe. I like reading.

When I went to school on Earth when I was four, I was the only one in my class who could read. I could also count, and I knew my two, five and ten times tables. Mummy taught them to me before she got lost. Now I know all my tables.

Some people teased me and were mean to me at school. They teased me because I had no mummy or daddy. Auntie Phoebe said that they were jealous of me for reading and knowing my numbers, and because I was so pretty. I asked Auntie Phoebe who my dad was then, and she said that she didn't know. He was a man who my mummy had met on shore leave. One day I will ask mummy how she met daddy. I won't ask her now, as she's busy and I've got to go to bed. Tomorrow is going to be good, because I have no lessons and Uncle Tom is going to take me skiing on the holodeck. I've never been skiing before, so it should be fun.