Estranged Relations

Chapter 3: No longer Daddy's little girl

It had been three months since Shinzon and Kat had their big blow up and everything seemed to be going back to normal for them. Alura helped Kat with her exams, and Shinzon was more courteous to them both. They actually acted like a family now that Alura and Kat had become close, and Shinzon was grateful to have his little girl back, and under control.

Kat studied very hard, because she had decided she wanted to be in Starfleet Academy with her friends. She had spent most of her time aboard Voyager and had such role models as Admiral Janeway, Seven, and B'Elanna. She and China would work together on the entrance exams China was going to have to take in a couple of months, and Kat felt she had a better grasp on that material than her high school studies. Tom Jr. would also study with them and they all became inseparable.

One day, Tom Jr. introduced her to the holoprogram "Captain Proton." His dad had created this interactive story when he was in the Delta Quadrant. China and Kat always played the damsels in distress and Tom Jr. always played the hero, Captain Proton. Kat had so much fun getting away from real life even if it was for a brief time each day. She decided one day to explore some of the other holonovels in the holodeck library and found it a much better way to learn than just reading her books. She even tried creating some of her own novels based on Earth's most historical figures.

One day she found a program marked Shinzon 1. She knew it was one of her dad's old programs. According to the star date, he had created it before she was born. She tried to access it, but to her dismay, it had high security codes. This made Kat even more curious and now her mission changed from trying to get back at her father by using Tom Jr. to finding out what secrets her dad was harboring in the holodeck files. She knew in order to break the access codes she would need to learn more about Starfleet's intelligence and so she accessed some of the classes Kathryn Janeway had downloaded for Icheb, a boy who had been turned into a Borg drone and then reclaimed by the crew of Voyager. She found the classes very hard, but she was determined to learn as much as the classes would teach her.

Six months later, she was talking to her father at the dinner table and he asked her about the programs she had been using. Kat was very surprised that he even knew she was using the holodeck and said that China and Tom Jr. had peaked her interest and she thought she needed to learn as much as she could. She told him she was trying to stay out of trouble and the holonovels and holoprograms were a release from boredom for her. Shinzon agreed with her that this would be a good way for her to spend her time while they were stationed in the middle of the Neutral Zone.

Shinzon also knew she had tried to access his old program of Deanna on several occasions. He didn't want her to think he was spying on her, but he didn't think she was old enough to understand why he had created that program, so he changed the name and the password every 15 days to keep her off balance. He knew his little girl was extremely intelligent, but to get as far as she had without him finding out about it until a couple of days ago was incredible. He was worried about the Deanna program as much as the one he had just created. Kat hadn't found his new one yet, but he kept it as hidden as he could. He thought about deleting the Deanna program, but something kept him from being able to do it. He wondered if he kept it to punish himself or if the memories of her fear was still attracting him to that part of his personality he so desperately wanted to hide from.

Kat tried to access her dad's program again, but the computer couldn't locate it. She requested it again thinking she had worded the name of the program incorrectly, but the computer's answer was the same. Kat wondered if her dad had received some kind of warning message when she had tried the program and decided if she was able to locate any of his programs again she would have to be more careful about breaking in.

Christmas Day arrived without warning and Kat woke up to Christmas music coming from the living room. She had stayed up late the night before trying to cram as much book work in as she could so that she would have the entire day to be in a new holonovel she had found. It was based in Victorian times and was about an intrigue between a governess and the married man she worked for. She would never be like this woman in real life, but to see how taboo this had been and how necessary deception was in this novel made her realize the knowledge she could gleam.

When she entered the living room a big Christmas brunch was laid out on the dining room table and Shinzon and Alura were waiting for her. She looked around the living room and saw an actual Christmas tree with gifts underneath. She looked to her father with curiosity. She didn't know he even cared about Christmas. They hadn't celebrated it since her mother had died. Kat felt this warm family scene was a little overwhelming. Her father looked back at her and he too had an odd expression on his face. Alura interjected when she saw them both looking at each other wondering who was responsible for all of this and said, "I thought it would be nice for us to have Christmas alone before going to share the day with our fellow crew members."

Shinzon turned towards Alura and thanked her for all of her efforts. Shinzon and Alura had been meeting secretly for several weeks now trying to quench their lust, and each night Shinzon would become rougher with his sexual embraces. He was finding gratification to be harder to achieve each time they were together. He noticed several old bruises on her breasts and abdomen now, but she never complained. He didn't know why he always felt guilty afterwards, but anything she wanted in return for her sexual companionship he was willing to give her if it was within his power.

Later that day the Enterprise pulled up on the Starboard side of Voyager and Picard transported over to be with his son and granddaughter. They exchanged gifts and talked about the days they had been away from one another. Shinzon told Picard about Kat's interest in Starfleet Academy and Picard told her that he would make sure she had all the latest information to study that he could get his hands on, and when she was ready, he would do whatever he could to get her admitted. It was a lovely day and Kat felt it was the best Christmas she had experienced in a long time.

The rest of the year passed by in a hurry. Kat had busied herself with studies and her novel. She had become so involved with the novel during her off hours that she had a hard time keeping track of eating and sleeping. The man in the novel was very obsessed with the character she was playing. He would come to her in the night and explore her lips with his and gently caress her body over her bodice. She always stopped him before it became too intense, sex was something she wasn't ready to experience yet. She did however enjoy the exploration she allowed to happen. He would tell her that he would wait for her, that her youth and beauty would not be spoiled by him. The attentions she received from him were taking the place of the affection she had never received from her father, or any of the boys from school. It made her feel more grown up and really loved. She felt as though her age had finally caught up with her intellect. The man in the novel was tall and slender built with blonde hair and blue eyes, Kat found him very attractive. He had a spark in his personality that left her wanting, but she knew that self restraint was something else she needed to concentrate her efforts on if she was going to become the woman she wanted to be, the warrior she wanted to be. This program provided the education she needed to accomplish her goal.

Shinzon found out about the time she was spending on the novel and asked Alura to explain Victorian Romance novels to him. Alura had understood his concern, and assured him that she was in a very tame novel. This was the first time Alura had lied to Shinzon, but she knew that if Kat were going to explore her sexuality this would be the safest way for her to do so, over the past few months she had grown attached to Kat and wanted her to find happiness, even if it was all holoprojected. Shinzon didn't pursue the matter any further and concentrated on the orders he had just received from Starfleet. They were to head to the Romulan home world to relieve the Pegasus for a short time. Shinzon didn't want to go to the Romulan home world, he had not resolved his feeling towards what they had done to Isabelle, but his loyalty lied with the Federation and he followed their orders and had his helmsman plot a course.