Chapter 4
2376 - Voyager - Deck 5 - Sickbay
"B'Elanna! Tom!"
Captain Janeway and the Doctor looked up as Harry Kim rushed through the doors of sickbay and skidded to a halt, looking horrified at the sight of his two closest friends lying unconscious on the biobeds. He looked frozen for a moment, but then he went over to stand by Tom's side.
"What happened?" he asked, sadly looking down at his unconscious friends.
"They were attacked," Janeway replied, "We don't know who did it, but we have suspicions. If there is another attack, I will give the order to arrest the five girls and bring them in for questioning."
"The girls?! You think they did it?" Harry said, surprised.
"Yes. Tuvok has collected more evidence," she smiled a little, "B'Elanna wasn't too fond of them, was she?"
"Isn't to fond of them," Harry said, looking slightly panicked at her use of past tense, "Isn't!"
"Isn't," Janeway corrected.
Harry turned back to the limp forms and looked down at them sadly. When he felt a hand on his forearm, he looked up to see both Captain Janeway and the Doctor staring at him worriedly.
"You're sure you're all right, Harry?" Janeway said, suddenly looking like a concerned mother bear protecting her cub.
Harry smiled at this thought, "Yeah. Yeah, I'm alright. These things happen. It's part of being in space."
He might have fooled her if he didn't sound so miserable.
"Harry?"
"I said I'm fine!" he snapped. The doctor looked taken aback and retreated to the other end of sickbay.
Janeway sighed, "All right, Harry. You know where I am if you need me."
She turned and headed for the door.
"Captain!"
She faced Harry once more.
"Captain, I. . . . just catch whoever did it. For me."
Captain Janeway then gave Harry the strangest look as she answered, "I'll see what I can do."
Taylor and Charlie watched the two sets of feet leave sickbay before crawling out from behind the desk. Taylor's face was contorted with anger.
"How dare they," she growled, "how dare they blame us for their own internal problems!"
Charlie looked worried and sad, "How can they think we did it? How?"
"It's totally unfair," Taylor said loudly, ranting on, "they can't just arrest us if there's another attack! What evidence can they possibly have to convict us! What happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'? Or did they get rid of that in the four-hundred years since we hear it last?! Agh! We didn't do it! They can't do this! Why I outta. . ."
"Ahem."
Both girls spun around at the sound of someone clearing their throat. They gasped when they saw who was behind them. It was the Doctor. They hadn't even noticed that he was still in the room. Taylor blushed as she realized that he had heard everything she had said, and looked guiltily up at him.
"I. . .I can explain. . . we didn't do it, I was just. . ." Taylor tried to explain, but the Doctor cut her off.
"I believe you."
Taylor and Charlie looked surprised, but flattered and extremely thankful.
"You do?" Charlie said, smiling happily.
"Yes, I do," the Doctor said firmly, "And I intend to convince the rest of the crew."
A strong voice form the door startled them all.
"No, Doctor."
Naomi was standing in the doorway looking determined.
"What?! Why? You don't want me to convince the rest of the crew?" the Doctor said, confused.
"No," Naomi repeated, walking into the room, "Don't tell anyone anything."
"Do you mind telling me why not?" the Doctor pressed, "They're innocent!"
"I know. I'll explain when we get back," Naomi spoke hurriedly, while pulling Taylor and Charlie toward the back of sickbay. She opened the hatch to a Jeffries tube and motioned for Taylor and Charlie to climb in.
"Naomi," Taylor said frowning, "What's going on?"
"There has been another attack," she answered, her voice trembling slightly, "It's Harry Kim this time."
"What?!" the Doctor yelped, horrified, "Harry! But he left sickbay only fifteen minutes ago!"
"He was found unconscious in a turbolift," Naomi said quickly, "I was passing by when I heard the grown-ups talking. But that doesn't matter now! Security knows where you are! They're heading for sickbay right now!"
Taylor and Charlie needed no more convincing. They scrambled into the Jeffries tube.
"Doctor," Naomi ordered, "We need you to cover for us. Don't even say that you believe us. We need someone working on the inside."
The Doctor was still for a moment, then slowly, hesitantly, he nodded.
"Count me in."
Internally, the Doctor sighed, thinking, "I don't believe it - I'm taking orders from a five-year-old. My program must have peanut butter stuck in it.
He sighed as he realized what he had just thought and shook his head at the influence Tom Paris was having on his vocabulary.
Naomi nodded at him once, and gave him one last look before getting into the Jefferies tube and closing the hatch - just as security burst into sickbay.
"Ahhh!"
Rhanda's hand sliced through the air, hitting the soft shield with a thud. The shield went flying out of Meredith's hands and she landed on the floor, looking stunned.
"Wow," Rachel said in an awed voice from behind her, "Rhanda, I thought you took self defense, not annihilate the enemy!"
Rhanda grinned at the compliment, but a second later she froze in surprise as the side of a wall in the karate studio opened, and Taylor, Charlie, and Naomi tumbled out.
"What the. . .?" Meredith started to say, but Naomi cut her off.
"No time to explain, security is coming for you!" she said, very fast, while getting up and walking over to them. Then, before they could stop her, she pulled off their combadges and tossed them to the floor.
"Hey!" Rachel protested.
"They think you knocked out Tom," she explained quickly.
"What!!" Meredith said again.
"No time!" Naomi repeated, motioning with her hand, "Come on!"
The girls knew that this was not the time to protest. They got into the Jeffries tube and headed for sickbay, Naomi in the lead, explaining on the way.
Less than five minutes later, they reached sickbay. Naomi opened the Jeffries tube hatch leading to sickbay only a few centimeters, to make sure that the coast was clear. When she saw no one, she cautiously pushed it open further, and crawled out.
There was a sigh of relief from behind them, and the girls spun around to see the Doctor. Taylor, Charlie, and Naomi look relieved, but Rachel and Meredith tensed, while Rhanda put both her hands up in a defensive position.
"It's all right," Naomi reassured them, noticing their reactions, "He's with us."
Rhanda relaxed, but Rachel kept standing straight.
"Doctor, report," she said, making it obvious that she was now the leader of this miniature mutiny. The Doctor raised an eyebrow, but took his cues from the others and did not protest.
"Security came in just a few seconds after you left. I got them to leave, but they're crawling all over the place, looking for you. Harry was brought in, too," he added, motioning to another biobed next to Tom and B'Elanna's
Rhanda gasped as she saw for the first time, the still figure of B'Elanna Torres, who was obviously unconscious.
"They think we did that?" she said sadly. Everyone looked at her, then at each other, but no one said anything. No one needed to. For everyone knew the terrible answer to her question.
Captain Janeway stood silently listening to Tuvok's report. You didn't have to know her well to realize that she was angry. Her face was cold and blank, but her eyes were flashing dangerously, and her mouth was a thin line.
". . .and they are eluding capture," Tuvok continued impassively, "Security found no trace of them in sickbay, the last known position of two of the girls."
Captain Janeway interrupted him, "Damn! Harry and I were talking about them in sickbay. They must have heard us and taken the comment I made about arresting them seriously. I meant only that I wanted to question them." She sighed, putting a hand to her head and tilting it towards the floor, "All right. What about the other three girls?"
"The other three girls were in holodeck one," Tuvok said without hesitation.
Captain Janeway looked up, "Were?"
"They were gone by the time security arrived. They left the holodeck running however. There was a karate simulation running. The only clue we found were six combadges."
Janeway frowned, "Two girls from sickbay, three girls from holodeck one. . .and six combadges?"
"That is correct. It appears the other two girls were able to meet up the three in holodeck one before they escaped together."
"Tuvok," Janeway said slowly, "There are only five girls. Who does the sixth combadge belong to?"
The look Tuvok gave her could have been called uneasy, if he weren't a Vulcan.
"We have concluded," said Tuvok, "that the sixth combadge belongs to Naomi Wildman."
Janeway felt a cold block of ice drop to the bottom of her stomach, and for a moment she stood numb, unmoving. Naomi. . . She snapped back to command mode.
"What would Naomi be doing with them?"
Tuvok met her gaze.
"Naomi has been spending a lot of time with the girls," Tuvok said, "It is possible that she does not know about Tom, B'Elanna, and Harry. She may be with them because she wants to be.
Janeway frowned and looked doubtful. Tuvok noticed this and supplied another possibility.
"Or," he said, "it is also possible that she is being held against her will. In shorter terms - kidnapped."
Anger pierced Janeway's usually calm interior, as she stood in silence, horrorstruck at what she was hearing.
Then, the blood-red light reflected dangerously against her eyes as she said in a dead-calm voice, "Red Alert."
Author's Note: This is all the chapters for today. More chapters are to come. I will most likely do the chapters in sets. Five chapters at a time. Thank you for reading. Be patience in waiting for the next chapters.