Dominos

"Open eye. Sellen-jer," said the girl quietly.

The silence was deafening, as everyone contemplated what had already been revealed by these returning children, children that weren't truly orphans, yet in a manner of speaking their natural parents were, as in effect they'd signed over their legal rights to the Starfleet officers, who weren't Starfleet, transferring all responsibility to persons who in effect became their masters.

"Oh what a tangled web we weave….." said a voice softly, still trying to get their head around what had transpired so far.

"...When first we practise to deceive. Sir Walter Scott, I believe," noted Data, making his crew mates smile.

"Meaning; that when we lie or act dishonestly we are initiating problems that turn into a domino structure of complications, which eventually runs out of our control," said Picard, his tone controlled.

"Which is the case right here, right now," the highest ranking female said, pausing to sigh deeply and added. "How to stop it!"

"I don't think we can stop it, now that the run of events have started. It's just a case of letting it run its course and hoping we can negate the final results."

"That's not a very positive outlook, Hayes," Necheyev's tone, dark.

"What choice do we have?" he responded, watching as Chakotay and Counsellor Troi quietly spoke to the two young children in the tattooed males care.

"Maybe we can stop it."

"Kathryn?"Questioned a voice she knew well, he smiled at her. "Got something in mind, Captain?" he asked after contemplating her thoughtful look. Paris and Torres grinned, so too did Ayala. They all knew that tone of voice. 'The Captain has a plan, tone; crazy plan maybe! But a plan.'

"Janeway?" questioned Nechayev, her tone indicating that the lower ranked woman needed to watch her step, now that she was back in the Starfleet fold.

"Jean-Luc, you called it a domino effect," she said, looking at her ranked counterpart. "To stop the dominos falling you need to pick a point in the line and knock out or pull out some of the dominos so as to stop it completing the pattern," her face getting animated.

"True. But you need to discern the pattern, in order to discover where to halt it," getting on her wavelength as they drew closer to each other. Both senior crews smiled realising where this was going.

"Question is; what is the pattern?" asked, Paris senior.

"That's something we're going to have to work on and fast," Janeway said, standing close to Picard, handing him the info that Reanna had given her earlier. "Because I feel we're dealing with more than one cause and effect," she added solemnly.

Chakotay quietly contemplated the earring with its open eye design. "Fleet Admiral Nechayev, a question for you, Ma'am. Religious personnel have automatic diplomatic immunity, do they not?"

"Yes, they do," frowning at him, puzzled, as he picked up the earring from Troi and quietly asked Doctor Crusher to scan it. The Enterprise's doctor used her medical tricorder to scan the earring as it dangled from the man's fingers, the two children watching curiously.

"This is interesting," checking her scans. "If I'm reading this right, that's not Bajoran silver. Data?" giving him her tricorder.

"You are correct, Doctor. It is not Bajoran. The chemical composition is not of the correct combination. From the readings I would deduce it is silver found here on Earth, possibly in the former county of Inyo at the Cerr Gordo mines," he informed them, head on one side as he accessed his computer memory.

"Those mines were abandoned centuries ago as unworkable!" said Hendricks.

"Yes, Admiral. For Adults to work." The implication of that simple statement had them all looking at the children around them, all were reasonably small, although one or two were obviously having a growth spurt.

"Dare I ask what happened if some of you, who got too big, or weak?" Admiral Owen Paris spoke carefully, voicing what all wanted to ask. The two tallest boys put their fingers in a gun shape to their head and pushed their thumb down.

Deanna gasped at what she could sense from all the children at that silent action, her hand going to her mouth, eyes wide. "You all witnessed it," her voice trembling, body shaking with the intense emotions, as if she were seeing it herself. "Romulan disruptor!"

Someone growled deeply as everyone knew what that weapon could do to flesh and blood, destroying the physical body from the point of contact outwards, not leaving anything behind to show the person had even existed, except for the impression on one's mind and memory.

"Bastards!" another voice whispered, into the tense silence. The two children next to Chakotay hugged him, sensing his anger; the girl reached out a hand to the woman seated on the ground in front of her. Deanna smiled and gently pulled her into a warm hug on her lap, comforting the stressed child. Many of the children were seeking comfort from the adults around them and each other, even Copper's two boys, who'd only joined these orphans in the catacombs under San Francisco, sought comfort from their mother. Miral too was quiet, accepting the love from her parents and Grandfather.

=/\=

In the FNN control booth, all was quiet as they silently echoed the vocal word 'Bastards' feeling helpless too, as to what the children had physically and emotionally gone through, all for the sake of what?

"Diplomatic immunity!? Pacifica! The President!"

"And every other planetary leader in the Alpha Quadrant," Gaffer growled. "What do you want?" he said looking at the Boss, who'd tentatively put his head round the open doorway.

"Sorry, Gaffer," he said, coming to fully stand in the glare of the editor of FNN. "Things are spiralling out of control…"

"You could say that," Gaffer noted sourly, still glaring at the man.

"This is bigger than even I realised at first," he gulped, as if plucking up his courage.

"Recriminations can wait for now," Gaffer said quietly. "Just say what you know," he added, by way of encouragement, realising the man wanted to help/atone for his part in trying to discredit the Voyager command team.

"I think I know where the dominos can be knocked out," Boss said quietly, holding the Gaffer's eye. Slowly at first a smile spread across the older man's craggy kind face, helping Boss to relax a little.

"Tell me more."

=/\=

The FNN channel had switched from their usual news feed to the conference on Pacifica, watching as all the delegates arrived at the planet's main space-port and entered the main conference lobby, where many of the Government heads were holding press conferences with their respective news reporters; but Jack Foord and his team were waiting at the main entrance for a different delegation, rather than crowd round Earth's Presidential team, which puzzled them, as the FNN reporter had travelled to Pacifica with the President's entourage. Foord had checked with the Pacifica authorities, who had arrived and who had not, grateful that the Bajoran representatives had still to show themselves.

Foord had been surprised when he'd gone to the Presidents party on Earth that the reporter who'd been reporting on FNN's behalf had been arrested and the equipment confiscated. So he'd quickly joined the President with his official pass checked and verified, on the Starship that took them at speed to Pacifica. Thus they'd arrived almost first.

"Do you think they'll show?" Foord's mate asked quietly, as she scanned the area with her camera.

"The Bajoran religious sect was the first to arrive apparently," he whispered, quietly waiting for the dark robed figures to come to the conference lobby, listening to Gaffer explain what they were required to do.

"Just try to contain them or distract them."

"We'll do our best, Gaffer," he assured, his boss softly. Then he spotted who he was waiting for, as the small group of six dark blue hooded trim figures, strode into the conference lobby. Carefully Foord and his companion approached the group who appeared so sure of themselves, that they didn't really take note of the reporter and the camera, until he spoke:

"Sellen-jer, Vedek!"