CHAPTER 2 - Patience

A very confident Naomi Wildman walked purposefully back to Holodeck 2. The computer had just confirmed that Tom was still there. When she reached the doors she was suddenly nervous for what program she would walk into. She had been told not to go into a holodeck unless there was an adult with her, something about 'questionable content'. But surely an exception could be made in this case. She looked to the computer screen to see what was running. "21st Century Flight Simulator" the panel had told her. There didn't seem to be anything questionable about that.

Naomi held the roses behind her back and entered.

Suddenly, the world around her was moving. She was inside some kind of very old, very large spacecraft. It was also quite loud and rather bumpy. She put one hand out to grip the side of the vehicle. Tom was in the front of the ship, harnessed to the seat. Through the forward window she could see a big red planet coming into view. The vehicle shuddered again and Naomi suddenly realized this was probably a bad idea.

"Computer, freeze program," she said.

Tom jerked to attention suddenly and lifted his hands from the console. "What's the matter B'Elanna, too bumpy for you?" When there was no response, he glanced over his shoulder. "B'Elanna?"

"She left," Naomi replied softly. She was still a bit shaken from the unexpected ride.

Tom unclipped himself and got up from his seat. "Hey Naomi, what are you doing here? And where did B'Elanna go?"

"She left ten minutes ago. I think she's mad at you."

Tom thought a moment. "Ten minutes ago? I thought she was working on the fuel injectors…" Then he put two and two together and realized that once again, he had been ignoring her.

"We were supposed to be on a date, but I guess I got a little caught up in this new program I found." Naomi gave him a concerned look. "I should probably go apologize."

Naomi nodded. "Probably a good idea." Then she put on a bright smile. "Want these?" She asked and presented the roses.

After Naomi's second swap she started to notice that not only was this getting a little easier, but that in addition to getting higher value items, she was also helping people. Tom was all too happy to take the roses and patch up the evening with his wife. And in return for her trouble, Naomi now had two full hours of holodeck time on the books with which to make her next trade. After making sure that the computer recorded the allotment for her, she decided to take a trip back to see her mentor.

"Hey kiddo," Neelix said, coming out from behind his counter. He noticed that she no longer had the fruit he had given her. Dinner was ramping up now and crew members mingled about happily filling their plates. "You didn't eat your merchandise, did you?"

"Nope!" She replied happily. "I bartered with it!"

"Good girl, what did you trade it for?"

"Flowers. And then I traded the flowers for two whole hours on the holodeck," she beamed.

"Well, well, well!" Neelix replied, a proud smile on his face. "Sounds like you're a natural."

Just then, Naomi's mother walked into the mess hall. "Hi sweetie, sorry I'm late." The ensign bent down to kiss her daughters cheek. "Hungry for dinner?"

Naomi was about to protest and explain that she had further work to do, but then her stomach growled in protest. "Yeah, I guess."

"Sleep on it," Neelix suggested, bending down to talk to her softly. "The trader I told you about, it took him years to get to that starship. The best deals are discovered with a lot of patience."

Patience, it seemed, was exactly what this girl did not have a lot of. Poor Naomi. She went to bed thinking about those holodeck hours. Then she dreamed about them and when she woke up, she thought about them some more. Her mother, who noticed that the little girl was inordinately distracted, had mistakenly thought that something was wrong. Naomi simply told her that she was trying to understand a lesson that Neelix had taught her. After all, if she did end up owning Voyager she would want it to be a surprise.

Ensign Wildman dropped her daughter off at sickbay for her morning biology lesson and kissed her on the top of the head before reporting for duty.

"Good Morning Miss Wildman," the doctor greeted her cheerfully. "Ready to continue our foray into the exciting world of mitosis?"

Naomi sighed. Her heart just wasn't going to be in this today. The doctor had just pulled her lesson onto the screen when two crewmen walked in. One of them was cradling his arm.

"What happened here?" the doctor asked, averting his attention.

"I slipped and fell down a few rungs in the Jeffries tube," the injured crewman replied. "Think I pulled something." Naomi wasn't sure who either of them were but this distraction was certainly more interesting than cell structure. She decided she would call the injured one "Mr. Broken." Mr. Broken had a yellow uniform on and he was rather tall. Skinny too, she thought. The other man, the one that had accompanied Mr. Broken, was also in a yellow uniform but was shorter with darker hair. She was going to call him Mr. Helper. She checked quickly to make sure that Mr. Helper didn't have any pips, otherwise he might need to be called Ensign or Lieutenant Helper. Nope, no pips, she thought. She thought that the two looked familiar but couldn't quite place them. They were talking casually while the doctor tended to Mr. Broken's shoulder.

"I'd give just about anything to have a couple hours in astrometrics," she heard Mr. Helper say to Mr. Broken. "But by the time Seven and the other lab rats are done for the day, I'm on duty. I'd totally be willing to miss sleep for the day but…."

Night shifters, Naomi thought. That's why I don't see know them.

"All fixed up Mr. Biddle. Watch your step next time," the doctor said. Naomi looked up to see the tall man hop off the bio bed. She noticed that he was in fact provisional. Maquis, she thought. The men left sickbay.

"Ready to continue?" the doctor asked cheerfully returning his attention her.

She let out a long sigh.

Naomi continued her day in a distracted fog. At lunch, she had chosen a seat alone in the back of the mess hall. The girl had completely forgotten to eat her food in favor people watching. She was searching for signs that someone might need a relaxing hour or two in the holodeck. By the time she retrained her attention on her soup, it was cold.

"How's it going there, lil Miss Merchant?"

Naomi looked up to see Neelix joining her from across the table.

"Not great," she replied, spooning at her soup and letting it plop back into the bowl.

"Something wrong with your lunch?"

"No, it's fine." she looked back up to him. "I can't figure out how to trade these holodeck hours."

"Mmm hmm…." Neelix nodded understandingly. "And they're burning a hole in your pocket?"

Naomi looked down at her pants.

"It's a figure of speech," he explained. "You don't want to hold onto your item, you want the next thing."

"Yes."

"Patience is a prison," Neelix offered. "But you'll figure out what to do with those rations. And even if your trading ends here, you can still have two full hours with Flodder all to yourself."

"Yeah…I guess." But these two hours were special, she thought. They were going to get her a starship.

"I have to get back to work, the lunch rush is starting." He gave her a kind smile and a wink. "Hang in there."

Naomi returned to her chicken and noodles. Two hours with Flodder would be fun. Maybe she could ask Seven to join her, it had been a while since they had played anything but kadis-kot together.

Then, floating in between the noodles and chicken chunks, Naomi saw an opportunity. Seven. If she could get Seven out of Astrometrics for an hour Mr. Helper would "do just about anything."

Naomi knew for certain what her next move would be. If only she knew who Mr. Helper was.