CHAPTER 7 - Caffeinated

The next morning, having temporarily had her fill of taking things apart – she did enjoy the process, just not the mess it made - Naomi focused her energies on completing the second dreamcatcher. She was going to try to intercept Leslie in engineering to give it to her but the computer told her that the Ensign was actually in her quarters. So, that's where she headed.

Leslie was apparently now feeling so ill from lack of rest that she was told to take the day off. Leslie, like Pete Murphy, was very appreciative of her thoughtful gift. The engineer seemed skeptical that this would help her sleep, but she promised to give it a try.

Naomi took her leave and exited into the hall but as she did so, she was almost ran over by a big, aqua-colored blur from next door. Crewman Chell was in quite a hurry, headed for the general direction of sickbay with one hand over his mouth. He barely even acknowledged that she was under his feet before sprinting off again. For a normally blue Bolian, he looked rather green, she thought.

As Naomi regained her footing, a little tiny light went off in her head. Three crew members all feeling ill and their quarters were right next to each other. How peculiar, she thought. Then she made her way to sickbay to talk to the doctor.

An hour later, Naomi was swinging her feet nervously on a biobed awaiting the return of B'Elanna Torres. She was in the company of Crewman Chell - who was no longer green but still clutching a bucket – Leslie Swinn, Pete Murphy and of course, the doctor. Chell had been quite obviously suffering the effects of having ingested a large amount of caffeine, which Naomi had learned is a substance that does not agree with the otherwise cast-iron Bolian digestive tract. The mystery was where he had consumed it.

The doors to sickbay whooshed open. "She was right," B'Elanna said walking briskly in to the others.

The doctor raised a holographic eyebrow. And all eyes turned to the engineer. Another woman in red uniform also entered behind her.

"The replicator central processing unit for that section of crew quarters is malfunctioning. It's caffeinating all of the beverages," B'Elanna explained.

"That's why we haven't been sleeping?" Murphy asked in astonishment.

Swinn simply shook her head. "It's been three weeks since I've had a good night's rest. I've tried everything, warm milk, hot tea, my grandmother's bullion broth…"

"All caffeinated," B'Elanna confirmed.

"What about you?" Swinn asked, turning to the woman in the red uniform.

B'Elanna addressed the doctor and Naomi first. "Ensign Brooks' is Murphy's neighbor on the other side. The quarters next to Chell were also affected but they're vacant."

Before the woman in red had a chance to respond, Pete interjected with a question to the doctor. "You examined me each time I came in complaining I couldn't sleep. Shouldn't you have noticed something?"

The doctor began running his tricorder over each of them again. "Caffeine metabolizes in 4 to 6 hours. I'm guessing that by the time you tossed and turned through the majority of your night and made it to sickbay you hadn't had anything else to drink, or you had more coffee to keep you awake for the next day."

Leslie nodded. "That's right. Both times I came to see you I had breakfast in the mess hall, not my quarters."

"Me too." Pete realized. "And I was drinking Neelix's coffee."

Chell chimed in. "I guess I'm glad Bolians don't have to consume liquids very often. The glass of tonic I ordered this morning was the first beverage I've had from my replicator in weeks."

The doctor stopped short of acknowledging them as he finished his scan of Brooks. "Ensign," he said as a concerned expression washed over his features. "You have nearly lethal levels of caffeine in your system. I have to treat you immediately. Don't you feel terrible?"

Brooks shrugged. Naomi noticed apart from her apparent poisoning she looked fine. "All I drink is coffee. I guess I'm used to it."

The other crewmen stared at her in disbelief.

B'Elanna simply shook her head, "She must be related to the captain."

After scuttlebutt had a chance to circulate this time, Naomi definitely noticed a difference in how people were treating her. She was fairly certain she had now personally met everyone on board Voyager. She had entertained more little compliments and pats on the back than she could keep track of. And she met each one with a shy smile. She didn't really crave the recognition, in fact it made her a little self-conscious, but she was very happy that the Pete, Leslie, Chell and Ensign Brooks wouldn't have to suffer any longer. The doctor said she should be proud of her powers of observation. And she was.

Two days later, the group of now decaffeinated crewmen were waiting for her at a table for breakfast. Over a meal of bagels and juice they thanked her profusely and assured her that they were sleeping quite well again. And poor Chell had stopped retching. When the others got up to return to duty, Ensign Brooks - who was now to be called Maria - remained behind.

"It was a really nice thing you did for us," Maria told her. "You have good instincts. Thank you for acting on them."

Naomi blushed and pushed the rest of her fruit around her plate. "It was nothing," she replied quietly.

Maria put her hand on the little girl's arm. "The doctor told me that if I had drank even another glass of water from that replicator I could have had a heart attack."

Naomi looked at her wide-eyed.

"You saved my life. I truly believe that," Maria held out a small box to the girl. "I know this isn't much, but I wanted to thank you."

Naomi just stared at her. Another gift. She shook her head. "I can't…." She said, and she truly meant it. Naomi didn't need more things, the relief that everyone was okay was enough for her.

"I insist," Maria replied, putting the box in her hand. "Wear it in good health."

Then Maria left, but not before giving the girl a quiet little kiss on the top of her head.

When Samantha Wildman returned home after work she found her daughter sitting quietly on the couch staring at the box.

"Hi sweetie," she greeted her. "Everything ok?"

Naomi nodded without looking up.

"How was your day?"

"Good," she replied finally breaking her glare with the gift that remained unopened.

"Did you enjoy your breakfast with the others?"

"Yes," the girl replied "Everyone thanked me again."

Samantha sat next to her daughter and considered the box but didn't ask. She waited patiently until her the girl offered further explanation for her uncharacteristically pensive mood.

Finally, Naomi spoke. "Maria Brooks says I saved her life." Her mother could see small tears forming in the girl's eyes.

"I've heard."

"It scares me. If I hadn't noticed…." The girl looked up at her mother.

"But you did notice sweetheart. And now everyone is fine."

Naomi sighed and nodded her head.

"She gave me this, but I didn't open it. And I don't want it. I started out with an apple," she explained. "I wanted to get….stuff in return. But now the whole thing seems kind of silly."

Samantha sighed. "The most important things don't come in boxes. I think you know that."

"You should have this," Naomi realized, and she handed gift to her mother.

Samantha opened the box. Inside was a simple silver chain with a round locket. Samantha smiled. "It's beautiful," she said. "I'll put your picture inside and I'll wear it every day."