Chapter Seventeen: Taken

Data and I were on our way back to the Enterprise when some sort of rift opened directly in front of our shuttle. I was thrown back violently against my seat as Data immediately tried evasive maneuvers, but to no avail. The rift seemed to swallow our shuttle — which shook vigorously for a few seconds. When we cleared the rift, it seemed to have disappeared and we were apparently in Romulan territory. Immediately upon our arrival, we were met by a large Romulan Vessel which dwarfed our shuttle. The ship locked onto us with a tractor beam. Upon being hailed, Data stated our situation and the fact we had traveled through some sort of rift. However, the Romulans were hearing none of it and insisted that the Federation had sent us to spy on them. Knowing that spies were almost never treated delicately, I panicked and grabbed Data's hand.

"Data..." I replied in a quivering, terrified voice.

"It will be alright. Try to remain calm." Data replied, the strength in his voice building my confidence — albeit slightly.

We were beamed off the shuttle and onto the Romulan ship. Data's phaser was immediately seized and we were led down a dimly lit corridor by four guards — presumably to the brig. I heard faint voices coming from inside a room, the doors opened briefly to reveal a medical lab. There was a small crying baby on the table. I only caught a glimpse before the doors closed, but it was enough for me to see that the baby was human! It appeared they were doing some kind of strange, painful experiment on the poor baby. Apparently I had been staring a little too hard because one of the Romulan soldiers sharply jabbed his disrupter into my back causing me to cry out.

"Keep moving and keep your eyes forward!" the soldier snarled contemptuously.

I saw Data make a very small and quick movement as he glared at the soldier, but thought better of it. Then he looked at me with a shocked expression on his face. I wanted to ask him what had happened, but knew that would be a bad idea. I gasped when I saw the date on one of the consoles. It was 2360! We had gone back in time over a decade! Hearing my gasp, Data noticed the discrepancy as well, but gave me a reassuring nod.

We were led to separate cells and I was interrogated for hours on end. The Romulans asked what I knew about 'the exchange' and I told them the truth; that I knew nothing! However, they didn't believe me and boy did I pay for it. They sat me in a chair and the next thing I knew, I was bombarded with unbearable pain that made my car accident injuries seem like a day at the spa. My muscles tensed and screamed for mercy — which was given at sporadic intervals to make room for more questioning. When they found that I wasn't telling them what they wanted to hear, the interrogator left the room, but not before saying: "Silly human, if you only told us the truth you may have lived." It was at that moment that I knew I faced execution.

For several moments, I only had my thoughts to keep me company. Although we had been there one day, it seemed like years! I jumped at the sound of the force field as it was deactivated. After closing my eyes and sighing, I prepared for the end. I was terrified that I was about to be executed, but when I reopened my eyes, I saw a most wonderful sight.

"Data!" I exclaimed, "I've never been happier to see you!"

"The feeling is mutual, Kadalynn." he said as he nuzzled my hair.

Data promptly broke the restraints on the chair to set me free. I immediately hugged him and cried.

"Are you alright Kadalynn? Have they hurt you?"

"Yes… but I'm alright now that you're here. How did you escape your cell?"

"I seized an opportunity when one of the guards lowered the force field in order to have me interrogated. I disabled the guards and acquired their weapons. Kadalynn, I need you to do something, but you must be very careful." Data replied very seriously.

"What do you need me to do?" I whispered fearfully.

"You must go to the lab and retrieve the infant. It is critical that he comes with us."

"What?! You want me to kidnap a child?!" I exclaimed in a whisper.

"Shh. It is not kidnapping since he does not belong to the Romulans. While you retrieve him, I will secure the area. I will then meet you in the lab and we will leave for the shuttle." Data said. I opened my mouth to say something, but he interrupted, "Please, do not attempt to argue. I need you to trust me."

"Data, of course I trust you. I just don't understand…"

"You will later, I promise, but there is not enough time to explain now. Take this."

He handed me one of the disrupters he had retrieved from one of the guards and my hand immediately trembled. I never held a weapon before. I looked down at the disrupter and Data grasped my hand to keep it from shaking.

"Please, do not point it at me." he said and I gasped when I realized I was so nervous I didn't notice it was pointed in his direction.

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

Data instructed me on how to hold and operate the weapon. The setting was on 'stun', but he also showed me how to change it to a 'kill' setting if necessary. The very thought of killing someone sent shivers down my spine. This was the toughest assignment Data had ever given me. He took the belt which held the disrupter's holster and moved close to me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and fastened the belt in place, keeping his hands on my hips after he finished doing so. Unable to contain my feelings any longer, I kissed him, not knowing if I'd ever get to do so again. He hugged me so tightly for a moment I thought I might faint, but he quickly ceased the embrace.

"We must hurry. Please, be very careful. I love you, Kadalynn." Data said.

"I love you too."

After that sentiment, we exited the room and I slowly progressed towards the lab. I traveled the dimly lit corridor while holding disrupter upwards and close to my body. I heard the alarm sound and my heart began pounding. I approached the lab and I ducked inside. There was a Romulan doctor in the process of wrapping the screaming baby up in a blanket as she tried to quiet him.

"Shh… it's okay, Shinzon. There's no need to cry my little warrior…" the doctor turned upon hearing me enter.

Not knowing what else to do, I pointed the weapon at her.

"Step away from the baby now!" I ordered.

The doctor sneered at me a moment before obeying my command.

"Okay." I said to myself before addressing the doctor again, "Where are his records?"

"Excuse me?"

"His records! Do not attempt to stall, doctor!" I said with an aggression I didn't know I had.

At that moment, I heard the sound of guards approaching so I quickly scooped the baby into my arm, holding him close to my shoulder. I retrained the weapon in the doctor's direction afterwards and quickly stood behind her. Immediately afterwards, two Romulan guards entered the lab, their disrupters drawn. I pressed my disrupter to the doctor's neck, praying I wouldn't have to fire. I could hardly think with the baby screaming in my ear and my head began to throb at the sound.

"Back away or the doctor gets it!" I sneered, trying my best to hide my fear.

"If you kill her, you'll lose your leverage." one soldier retorted after chuckling coldly.

I thought for a moment and regretted what I had to say next, even though I knew it was a bluff.

"Not quite. I'll still have the little one." I replied as coldly as I could to convince them that I was a potential threat to the child.

The guards looked at one another, then looked at me as if I were crazy. Nonetheless, they lowered their weapons.

"Drop your weapons and kick them away!" I ordered. The guards reluctantly obeyed.

The door opened and Data performed a Vulcan pinch on both guards, rendering them unconscious. He did the same to the doctor before checking on me.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's just get out of here, okay?" I replied anxiously.

The baby continued to cry as we walked through the corridors. I felt badly since I didn't know what was wrong, but it was a welcome distraction to keep my mind off the dozens of unconscious guards sprawled throughout the corridors. I caught a chill as I had a flashback to the day Data rescued me from the ship on which he discovered me.

"Why is he crying?" Data asked with concern.

"I don't know, maybe he's scared." I answered helplessly, "How did you secure the area so quickly?"

"I sealed off all access to this deck before disabling all the guards on this level."

"Sealed off? Wait a minute? Isn't the shuttle five decks down? How are we going to get there?"

"I reprogrammed the computer to accept my commands. The Romulans will not be able to use key functions until they figure out my password and that is a highly unlikely possibility. We will use the transporter to beam ourselves to the shuttle bay." Data explained.

A few moments later, we entered the transporter room. There were six unconscious Romulan officers sprawled on the floor. I looked at Data with concern and couldn't hold my curiosity any longer.

"Data, you didn't have to kill anyone did you?" I asked, not sure if I really wanted an answer.

"No. It was not necessary."

I exhaled a sigh of relief. As he punched the coordinates into the console, I realized the baby had stopped crying. Once everything was set, he guided me to the transporter pad.

"You will need to draw your weapon. There are likely Romulan soldiers awaiting our arrival." Data replied and I reluctantly withdrew my disrupter from its holster while clutching the baby securely, as if for comfort. As Data and I stood back to back, we were beamed from the transporter room to the shuttle bay. Sure enough, we had company. Immediately upon rematerializing, the Romulans fired upon us. I felt a cool sensation graze my abdomen. The sensation quickly turned hot and painful and I cried out before returning fire, stunning the Romulan that hit me. Data was so quick and stealthy; by the time I had shot the guard who injured me; he had already disabled the other five guards in the room.

"You are injured." Data replied with worry in his eyes.

"It's just a flesh wound. I'll be alright." I replied. I was more concerned for the baby and I checked to make sure he hadn't been hurt during the exchange. Thank goodness he hadn't been. I was surprised that he was sleeping peacefully.

It felt so good to be back on a Federation shuttle. Data treated my injuries as soon as we were far enough from the Romulan ship. When Data resumed piloting the shuttle, he looked to see if he could locate the rift we initially traveled through. Several hours went by and I became nervous that the Romulans would come after us. The baby was a welcome distraction and he kept me busy with things like changing his diapers, feeding and bathing him. I was sitting in the inner cabin humming a song to the child as he fell asleep in my arms. I looked up when I had the feeling I was being watched. Data was standing by the entryway, staring at me with a smile.

"Data, I didn't know you were there." I whispered.

"Did I startle you?"

"A little, but it's alright." I said before returning my gaze to the little one, "He looks so peaceful. It's like he finally knows he's safe."

Data stood by my side and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"Kadalynn, you are so beautiful!"

I smiled as I looked up at him before saying: "You're not so bad yourself."

Based on the look in his eyes I could tell there was something on his mind. Before I could ask, he was already revealing it.

"Kadalynn, would you like to have children someday?"

"I see Shinzon has got you thinking." I said with a nervous smile.

"I have been thinking about it since the beginning of our relationship. However, I did not think it was appropriate to bring it up… until now."

"I would like to raise a family someday, but I'm afraid…" I sighed before finishing the statement. It was hard to admit my self-doubt, "…I'm afraid I won't be a very good mother."

I crossed the room and gently placed Shinzon in the crib Data had replicated. He joined me and turned me to face him.

"Kadalynn, do not be so hard on yourself. I believe you would be a remarkable mother!"

Before either of us could say anything else, the shuttle sensors went off and Data swiftly returned to the pilot's cabin. Shinzon awoke and began crying. I held him in my arms as I left the room to join Data.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"The rift has reappeared. I am taking the shuttle through. There will be turbulence, please secure yourself."

I quickly buckled myself into a seat and held Shinzon close as I tried to calm his cries. The shuttle shook violently as it entered the rift, but the tremors quickly dissipated after we cleared the rift. Data immediately sent a communiqué to the Enterprise explaining our situation and that it would take us four days to return to the ship. However, the captain plotted a course to meet us, which cut our time in half.

During the two days before we rendezvoused with the Enterprise, Shinzon exhausted me. There were late night feedings and many diaper changes. Data offered his assistance when he was able to take a break from piloting the shuttle, giving me the opportunity to take a much needed nap and shower. The warmth of the shower soothed my aching muscles and relaxed my mind. When I was done, I entered the cabin and saw Data, holding the tiny sleeping baby in his arms, rocking gently as he sang an Italian lullaby. It was a beautiful thing to witness! At that moment, I imagined that he was holding our child and it filled me with warmth, but reality came crashing in when I suddenly remembered that I would not be able to have his children. Nevertheless, I shook off the negative thought and admired the scene before me. 'We could always adopt.' I thought with a hopeful sigh.

"That's a good look for you, Data." I said with a smile.

"It is for you as well."

"I wonder who this little guy belongs to and where he came from." I said as I sat beside Data on the sofa and admired the baby.

"There is no need to wonder, Kadalynn. I know who he is. That is why I asked you to bring him with us."

My jaw dropped slightly and I realized that Data would likely always be one thousand steps ahead of me.

"How do you know who he is?"

"When the Romulan guard escorted us past the laboratory, I overheard a conversation; one that detailed a plot to infiltrate the Federation. The plan would be carried out by Shinzon."

"But he's just a baby."

"Yes, he is now. However, I believe when the time came to carry out the plot, they would have accelerated his aging process so he could replace Captain Picard."

"Come again?"

"Kadalynn, this infant is the clone of the captain."

You could've knocked me over with a feather. I was beyond shocked. The situation suddenly seemed a bit awkward as I now knew that Data held the captain's double in his hands. I had changed his diapers for goodness sake!

"Make sure the captain is sitting down before you tell him the news." I sighed while gazing at Shinzon, who continued to sleep in Data's arms.