Pt 3 Passing Through

"Is she ever going to wake up again, Doctor?" a youthful voice enquired in a high-pitched,

piercing whisper.

"Of course, Nurse Naomi," the familiar stern voice answered but in warmer tones than Janeway had heard in the short acquaintance she could recall with the hologram. "The stimulant I administered to her is a fast-acting neural agent that- if you study the tricorder readings- indicate a distinct brainwave pattern shift. Now, do you remember how to read these indicators?"

"Sure, Doctor, that one shows alpha brainwaves- 'a' for alert- which means that the person is going to be waking up soon, right about-"

"Now," Janeway interjected, voice hoarse.

"What a wonderfully accurate diagnosis, Nurse Naomi," he congratulated her with a note of irony, and Janeway heard a smothered giggle from beside her head.

The Doctor hovered in view as she opened her eyes with a feeling of resignation. Gaining consciousness in Sickbay was becoming a waking nightmare and, worse, a terrible cliché. Turning her head, she at last caught sight of this mysterious 'Nurse'- a child!

"Captain!" the girl's face lit up.

Janeway gazed with some bewilderment at the girl who appeared to be half-human and, judging by the tiny distinctive horns on her forehead, half-Ktarian.

"I'm sorry, I don't know who you are…?"

"It's me," the young girl said, equally confused. "Naomi Wildman."

The name seemed familiar. Then Janeway remembered her puzzlement at receiving a 'card' of sorts from a crewmember, or so she had thought at the time. "Are you the one who drew the 'get-well' drawing for me?"

"Yes. Did you like it?" Naomi asked eagerly.

"Very much. You have quite some talent, Ms Wildman," Janeway smiled at her.

"Thank you. And you can call me Naomi," she said. "Even Seven doesn't use such a formal address, and she's pretty formal!"

"All right, Naomi. Then perhaps you should call me Kathryn," Janeway suggested.

The child looked at her with curiosity. "Okay…Kathryn."

"Now, now, don't monopolize our patient's attention," the Doctor drawled with an air of satisfaction. "Although having being able to complete as thorough an examination as I have ever been able to- short of surgery- with minimal fuss from the patient in question, I'm rather inclined to believe you a positive influence. Perhaps I should enlist your services more often, if only to distract the Captain from her habitual fussing while I attempt to practice my medical skills, as I have been programmed to do by the very best."

Janeway threw him a dirty glance, realizing that the hologram was right. She had been so enthralled with the revelation of a child on board a ship stranded in a far off quadrant and the relative normality of that child's social character that being scanned by the tricorder had not set off the usual alarms she was used to.

"But these troubles are my own," the Doctor waved a hand airily. "I shall allow the two of you to socialize on your own while I conduct my analysis."

"As you were," she said, taking his words to heart as she beckoned Naomi to follow her out of Sickbay, forestalling the hologram before he launched into yet another soliloquy.

"Not that I think I know better, Captain, but that's probably not the best way to handle the

Doctor," Naomi observed, skipping alongside her.

"What would you suggest, young lady?"

"Well," the girl said with a serious tone, eyes wide in sincerity, "it helps if you flatter him a lot and pretend to listen to what he says…then he'll do absolutely anything for you!"

Janeway had to laugh at the precocious attitude.

"Now that we're bonding," Naomi went on outrageously, "can you tell me what's been happening to you? I like to keep up with everything that happens on the ship, but when there's emergencies, it takes a while for me to find out the facts."

"I've been sick for a while, and now that I've recovered, it seems I've forgotten some things, about Voyager, the people on it, what's happened…" Janeway worded it carefully.

"Although it doesn't seem as though my illness has been fully dealt with, judging from this very latest Sickbay encounter. It seems as though I can't escape these walls!"

Naomi giggled, but would not be distracted from her fact-gathering. "So, when you say you can't remember stuff, do you mean you have something like amnesia?"

"Yes, you could say that. The Doctor isn't too sure what's happened and at the moment, there's no treatment for it."

"That must be really scary. You can't remember anything, even the major things that have happened?"

"No, so you understand that there are a few things I'd like to talk to people about. Would you mind humouring me?"

"Sure," Naomi readily agreed. "Ask me anything you like. I may not know the technical details like the adults, but I'm pretty sure I can fill you in on all the other details."

Janeway smiled a little at this charming declaration. "Thank you…"

Now that she had a willing assistant, someone whose time she didn't feel guilty about taking up and was not uncomfortable talking about the past few years with as she would with Chakotay, for example, or perhaps Tuvok, Janeway ruefully realized that she wasn't at all sure what she wanted to know! "Why don't we start with you? How long have you lived on Voyager?"

"All my life. I was born here- though that's not completely accurate, because I was actually born on a duplicate Voyager, which was created by a divergence field," Naomi pronounced the scientific term with obvious relish, "that duplicated every particle of matter on the ship.

Uncle Harry brought me over here, because the Naomi and Harry Kim here were dead," a little shiver passed through her at the thought, and Janeway grasped her hand comfortingly, "and the other ship had been invaded by the Vidiians."

"I wasn't expecting such a story from such a simple question," Janeway said, swinging the girl's hand as they walked. "But if you were born after Voyager arrived here, that makes you…"

"Three this year. I know," Naomi shrugged philosophically, "everyone says I look old for my age."

"You do look rather mature for a soon-to-be three year old."

"I think it's the Ktarian in me; mom was pregnant for like, fifteen months or something because of it. I don't know if I could ever go through that," Naomi touched the little horns on her forehead. "That would have hurt. But guess what? How old do you think Kes is?"

Janeway looked at her with amusement. "You're not going to trick me like that. I'm not sure of the exact figure, but I know that despite her looks, she's actually very young by human standards."

"She's turning six this year," the child stated. "Mezoti and me- and I," she corrected herself, "find it funny that she's only a few years older than us, when she looks like an adult and has a real function on Voyager too. She looks after a garden in Hydroponics, so we can have fresh food. My favourite is the takka berries she grows that Uncle Neelix fixes for us with Cherel sauce, although I'm not supposed to have it too often. Mom says it's not good for me," she repeated her mother's words and rolled her eyes.

"Too bad," Janeway said sympathetically, motioning Naomi to enter the nearby turbolift. "Holodeck," she told the computer, before continuing, "And- who was it you just mentioned then? A friend of yours?"

"Oh, Mezoti. She looks mature for her age too, although she has a bit of a problem 'cause she can't be sure exactly how old she is. Mezoti was in a maturation chamber to speed up her aging and mental processes, so she could be as smart as the drones in the Collective. But everyone else on the cube was killed, and she and the others were forced out before they were mature enough by Borg standards. That's why the Borg didn't come for them," Naomi said, then noticed the bemused look on the Captain's face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing. You're just a wealth of information, Naomi, unexpected details and all. Please, keep going."

The child continued her dissertation. "You went over there to negotiate, 'cause they had captured Uncle Harry, Uncle Neelix and Aunty Linda on a standard mission to gather supplies. We were all worried, because it was the Borg, after all"- the pitch of her voice changed dramatically- "and everyone thought there were heaps of adult drones hiding in the areas we couldn't scan, just waiting to capture us and assimilate us… But then you came back with all these kids!"

" 'Kids'? As in plural?" Janeway asked, feeling a little weak as they exited the turbolift.

"Yeah, Mezoti, of course, and Icheb," a smile appeared on Naomi's face at the mention of this ex-drone. "He's really nice, and he always listens to me and helps with me with things

I don't understand. Sometimes talking to Seven about lessons- she teaches me geometry- can be a little…" she winced.

"Challenging?"

Naomi nodded. "She tries, and I've learnt a lot from her, but she expects perfection, and it's demanding. Mezoti can be like that sometimes too, she's a bit bossy, sometimes, and mad when she doesn't understand things. Azan and Rebi, though, they are just- they're such boys!" she said exasperated. "And not like Icheb at all. They keep indulging in childish pranks and they also interrupt Icheb when he's working- he wants to be in Starfleet when we get back," Naomi said aside, and added in awe, "he's already studying for it!"

"What a diligent young man," Janeway said, when the girl looked at her as though expecting some sort of response to that statement.

Seemingly satisfied, Naomi went on, "And of course, there's Hana. She was just a baby, and very sick when she came aboard. Aunty Celes is the one who named her, for one of her little nieces, I think, and she has Hana living with her now, although she- Hana, I mean- still has to see the Doctor a lot," Naomi made a face. "At least when she grows up, she won't remember all those Sickbay trips. Hopefully."

Janeway sighed. "I know what you mean. Unfortunately, I doubt amnesia will be that selective in my case for the future."

Naomi laughed. "Anyway, that's all the offhand information, unless there's anything more

specific you want to know?"

"No, that was very thorough," Janeway demurred. "I believe I do need to be more thorough with my reading; I didn't even realize there were any children on Voyager until I met you."

"And there will be more, when Kes gives birth. I can't wait! She still doesn't know what she wants to call him or her; she hasn't even checked whether it's a boy or a girl."

"I suppose that makes it more fun. You can pick out all sorts of names for both boys and

girls without having to limit yourself."

"I guess. But it's going to be pretty cool. I wasn't allowed to help with Hana because she was very fragile, but Kes says she'll let me help look after the new baby," Naomi looked enthusiastic about the prospect, then suddenly asking, "Do you knit?"

Janeway arched a brow at the sudden change of topic. "Well, yes, I know how to, although I don't regularly indulge in it as a hobby, if that's what you mean."

"Oh, I was just wondering. I know I'm too old for a baby blanket," Naomi said with all the seriousness of a child not yet three years old, "but the- well, the other you from the Voyager I came from knit me a blanket. I still have it in my room. It's really nice."

"On behalf of my counterpart, thank you. And I suppose I could try my hand at it again…it has been a while for me. I might enjoy trying to pick it up again."

"Okay," Naomi said. "Maybe you could even show me how?"

The sudden shyness that enveloped the child seemed out of character, but Janeway had no hesitation at all in agreeing. "Of course, although you must recall one of the most vital rules that every junior crewman must commit to memory…"

"Yes?" she eagerly enquired, with the air that she would agree to anything at all.

Janeway smiled. "Never upstage the Captain!"

"I'll do my best," Naomi promised, then looked towards the Holodeck. "What are we doing, by the way?"

"I just had an idea to see what programs my- other self was playing. The last I recall was this new period piece, although the corset for the costume was ghastly."

"If it was that kind of period piece, wouldn't it be 'old' rather than 'new'?" the girl enquired with an innocent face.

The woman subjected Naomi to a mock glare before requesting the computer play the last simulation Janeway had run on the Holodeck.

"Shall we?" she said, affecting an air of stiff dignity.

"Thank you, ma'am," Naomi replied with an equal measure of formality, though the mode of address caused Janeway to roll her eyes.

As they stepped through the entrance, a startled shriek escaped Naomi as a large, menacing Klingon appeared out of nowhere, issuing a growling declaration of battle.

"Come, you miserable excuse for a warrior," he said with contempt. "Let us see if there is anything worthy of honourable combat beneath that weak human exterior."

A bat'leth materialized in their hands, barely allowing them the chance to grasp it firmly before the warrior swung his in attack. Janeway only just barely deflected it, the impact of the two blades jarring her arms unpleasantly.

This is no sort of program for a child to experience, she thought, hastily deciding to turn it off, although fending off the follow up maneuver from the Klingon left her breathless for a moment. Just before she spoke, Naomi cried out with a note of terror in her voice.

"Captain- there's another one coming!"

Janeway was not as successful this time; with two Klingons to battle, one easily struck her when the other occupied her attention. She cried out as very real pain as a shallow wound opened on her arm.

"Computer, end simulation!" she ordered

The Klingons and surroundings melted away, to be replaced with the familiar, rather dull contours of the ordinary room.

"Are you all right?" Naomi asked in concern.

Janeway grimaced. "I'll be fine," she said, gently probing her aching arm. "No serious damage done except to my dignity."

The girl still looked worried. "Aunty Kathryn," she began, leaving Janeway a little bemused at the mode of address, uncertain when she had made the transition from Captain to aunt, "the safety protocols were on, weren't they?"

They looked at each other for a moment, then Janeway closed her eyes, throat uncomfortably dry at the thought of what could have happened, what had almost happened. How many programs like that did she have anyway?

"Well, let's not find out the hard way," she quipped, and pulled up the list of programs from her database. Her lips tightening as a general pattern began to form. "I was hoping that my style of entertainment might reveal the frame of mind I was in," she shook her head. "And you know, I was told that I had been in a coma but no one thought to tell me I had become utterly insane as well."

Naomi giggled at that, "You're not insane, Aunty Kathryn. At least," she added mischievously, "I don't think so…"

"Here I am, baring my soul to you, and this is the reception I get," Janeway said dramatically, even as the impish smile on the girl's face seemed to strike a chord of some distant memory, the feeling that she had seen some other young face smiling up at her in just that same way. Shaking off the memory, she reluctantly added, "I think we had better go see the Doctor. He's not going to be overjoyed with me today."

Stunned at the number of visits she had paid to Sickbay in the past few days, the Doctor greeted her with the blunt summary, "This has to be a personal record, Captain. And might I add, it is a pleasure to note that I am your first measure in this instance, and not a last resort when you have collapsed and another person is forced to drag your non-compliant body to my Sickbay. I really do not understand this objection to my domain; it would be against the oath I am bound by, not to mention my programming, to practice methods of torture- although there are certain crewmembers I would dearly love the opportunity to test the limits of that programming with…" he trailed off, deep in thought, as he completed healing the cut with a dermal regenerator.

"Thank you," Janeway said brightly. "I feel terribly about your grievance, however, I believe it is time we take our leave of Sickbay, and visit Naomi's Uncle Neelix in the Mess Hall…" she smoothly steered the child out of the Doctor's domain once more. "After that fright, I owe you a bowl of- what did you call them? - Takka berries."

"Yes, ma'am!" Naomi said enthusiastically.

Janeway raised an eyebrow. "It isn't crunch time-"

Somehow, the little imp had anticipated her words and chimed in with, "I know it isn't crunch time," so that they spoke the last two words in unison, and then Naomi continued in a singsong manner, "but it sure will be munch time!"

She had to laugh at the quick wit. "How did you know?"

"That quote's legend around Voyager," Naomi said in a knowing way, clasping a hand around the woman's arm and urging her along. "And there's a whole lot more where that one came from…"

In the Mess Hall, the girl proceeded to recall significant quotes as they settled down in a corner with their dessert.

"So after that, every time something weird happened, people would go 'weird is part of the job'," she giggled.

Janeway sighed wryly. "Well…at least people are paying attention when I impart my wisdom. It could be worse."

Neelix approached them with a tray containing several strange contraptions apparently substituting as dishes of some sort. "And here we go, some of my special Takka berries for each of you ladies," he bowed as he served them. "With a cappuccino for the Cap- for Kathryn, and juice for Naomi."

Janeway took a sip from her cappuccino while gazing bemusedly at her meal. It was served in a delicately whimsical contrivance resting on two intricate miniature pillars with what appeared to be vines wreathing around them. The slender reed structure curved into a gentle arc with one end arching higher than the other so as to display a flower of some sort in a striking indigo shade, with contrasting yellow stripes at the centre of each sharply defined petal. So much care for detail and such talent had gone into its creation that she almost expected the bloom to feel as soft and glossy as a real flower. Touching it gently, only the cool sensation of marble revealed the illusion for what it was.

"Pretty, isn't it?" Naomi said with pride, as though she herself had carved it.

"Almost good enough to eat," Janeway said lightly.

At its centre- she now compared it to a small trumpet- was a break in the smooth finish of the pale red stem; a circular hole that was just large enough for the fruit that Janeway spied within to fit through.

Neelix handed her an alien utensil. "For the genuine experience, you use these," the

Talaxian said.

"Uncle Neelix, you didn't…" Naomi peered at the dishes.

"Forget the sauce? Never…" he chuckled, lifting a dish recognizable as a bowl from the back of the tray so she could see it then setting it on the table. "I know how fond you are of it," Neelix winked at Janeway. "Careful she doesn't finish all of it before you get to try it. Why, I remember one time she ate the whole lot when no one was looking…"

"Uncle Neelix!" Naomi cried. "I was a child, anyway, I don't even remember it," she said miffed. "It wasn't like I meant to or anything."

"True," the Talaxian took pity on her. "Sam put her down on a seat and then we were all singing 'Happy Birthday' to- Alyssa Hamilton, I think it was, and little Naomi was so quiet we didn't even realize what happened til Sam saw her sticky fingers dipping back into the bowl."

"Don't worry," Janeway laughed at the blush on Naomi's face. "I have a sweet tooth myself and it's nothing to be ashamed of."

"Indeed, and you might say that, Kathryn," Neelix said slyly.

Janeway narrowed her eyes. "What is it?" she said suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing at all…"

"That means something," Naomi piped up. "Come on, Uncle Neelix, tell us!"

"Just a memory that struck me when Kathryn mentioned that sweet tooth of hers- of one night that I doubled back to check on a batch of chocolate brownies I'd been attempting to duplicate after a certain Captain mentioned it was her favourite childhood snack, only to find the Captain herself delicately pinching one or two."

"So," Janeway cut in with a reproachful look at the Talaxian, "how exactly do we eat from these- things?" she raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sure Naomi can show you how it's done. She's the only one I trust with them," Neelix said, patting Naomi on the shoulder.

"It's rare that anyone else but me is trusted with using them responsibly," Naomi said.

"After the time that Tom Paris recklessly waged a mock battle with these works of art substituting for phaser rifles, you can understand my hesitance," Neelix said wryly.

"Were you able to repair them?" Janeway asked, who hated to think that such lovely art pieces could suffer such an undignified end.

He seemed gratified at the her concern. "Oh, that wasn't a problem; thankfully, we were all on the holodeck and I had simply used holographic replicas as I didn't have enough originals. You can imagine how thankful I was that the original pieces were not one of those used to wage war…and since then, they have been very carefully kept away from certain crewmembers!"

"How fortunate. Anyhow, I shall strive to be worthy of the honor you bestow on me, Mr

Neelix," she waved the 'fork' he had given her in a mock salute. "They shall be returned to you as I found them."

"Of course, Kathryn. Now, I just have to go and get ready for lunch- the Alpha shift should be finishing in an hour and I still have so much to do…"

"Thank you, Neelix," Janeway and Naomi called to the retreating Talaxian, before enthusiastically applying themselves to their dessert.

"First you pour in the sauce through the flower so that it flows down and coats the berries…" Naomi began to instruct the older woman. "Then you use your- well, I call it a toothpick, if that helps- the toothpick thing to stab at the berry in the center here, and then you just raise it to your mouth…"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Retreating to the quiet of her quarters after enjoying the treat with Naomi, Janeway curled up on a chair and shut her eyes for a moment. She noticed how odd it felt to relax. It must have been years since she had the opportunity to sit and do nothing simply because she felt it unnecessary to do anything else. In her current position, all she had to do was review her logs, since the experience in the Holodeck left her ill-inclined to experiment with other programs. The one had been enough to convince her that it would only result in yet another next visit to Sickbay and, she reasoned altruistically, one had to consider the Doctor. Seeing her once more might just cause him to blow a circuit somewhere, and then where would they be?

A chime sounded, heralding a visitor at the door.

"Come," she called, offering Chakotay a welcoming smile as he walked in.

"How goes the invalid?" he said jokingly, standing loosely with his hands clasped behind his back.

She gasped in mock outrage, "How dare you?"

"Pardon me, the Doctor is infectious in his jubilation. Having the great Kathryn Janeway in his Sickbay twice in less than twenty-four hours is…a coup of sorts for him. It reinforces his opinion that he is vital and imperative…to the stars continuing to shine, for the planets to orbit around their sun, the galaxies continuing to expand away from each other…"

"In other words, he is the center of the universe and I've been relegated to the role of mere wretched invalid?"

Chakotay shrugged, eyeing her warily, "Don't shoot the messenger."

"But you bring such glad tidings," she said with exaggerated delight. "I am regarded as no more than the sum of my illness, I am doomed to languish in the role of hapless patient, the Acting Captain encourages and actually advocates such a condition…what could possibly make this picture even rosier?"

"Interesting choice of words there, Kathryn," he withdrew his hands from behind his back to reveal a bouquet of the most exquisite roses Janeway had ever seen.

"Oh, Chakotay," she murmured appreciatively, rising to receive them from his outstretched hands. "These are gorgeous…" she grasped the roses, admiring the rich burgundy tones of the flowers, exploring the petals with one finger to feel the luxurious delicate softness and inhaled the pleasant fragrance with a deep breath. On impulse, she embraced Chakotay with one arm, encircling his waist with a quick hug that lasted a bare instant before she looked up with a brilliant smile, "Thank you, they're beautiful. I just have to put them in water…"

Watching her with a bemused air, Chakotay once again contrasted the 'new' Janeway with the old; the much welcomed warmth and vivacity of this Janeway as opposed to the impassive severity of the former, the spontaneous display of affection from Kathryn rather than the cold-shoulder from the Captain. The disparity in their personalities was so markedly evident, yet the transition from a genuinely concerned leader to a detached lone power had been so subtle, so gradual, that it had occurred right under their noses and it had been accepted til degree by degree, their much loved captain had been replaced by the coolly capable and remotely efficient façade she had projected. No one had fought the change, even Chakotay himself had given in under the force of her personality and her determination to focus on ship's business to the gradual exclusion of their personal relationship. He had not wanted to lose her by fighting her wishes, yet that failure had doomed any hope of furthering their friendship. Now that he had the chance to start over with Kathryn, he intended to re-establish the camaraderie between them and, given this encouraging scene, the campaign was off to a positive start.

"There's more where that came from," he said as Janeway finally finished fussing with the flowers at in their new home on her coffee table. "Would madam care for a tour of the Airponics bay?"

"She would be delighted indeed."

Chakotay held out his arm gravely, and after an elaborate curtsey, Janeway took it with great ceremony. Studiously avoiding each other faces at the risk of the tiny smiles tilting their lips breaking out into hysterical laughter, the two left arm-in-arm to explore the airponics bay.