Endings And Beginings
Naomi Wildman sat watching the stars pass by Voyager as they sped through the endless cosmos. Her friend Mezoti was brushing her hair as they did most days that they spent playing together.
"I wonder what Earth is like" Naomi said absently.
"Earth is an M Class planet in sector 001" Mezoti said.
"I know that" Naomi had the feeling she was being teased. "But I wonder what Earth is like to live on" the girl added.
"Have you not tried the holodeck programs?" her friend asked.
"Oh, of course I've done that. But it isn't the same as actually landing on a planet" Naomi said. Mezoti finished her work and then thought about what had been said.
"I too have been thinking of much the same thing. Though we face many years ahead in our journey home, I have heard many of the crew speak of Earth – or any of the other planets in the Federation" and the former Borg child smiled. "I am sure that we will find it agreeable" she joked.
"I think so too" Naomi said. They watched the stars streak by for a little while longer, and then they decided to leave so they could get something to eat in the Mess Hall. Mezoti had only just picked up her intricate hairbrush when the ship shuddered violently and sent both girls spinning to the deck.
"RED ALERT! ALL HANDS TO REPORT TO EMERGENCY STATIONS!" Captain Janeway's voice filled the room. The ship shuddered as both girls raced out of the viewing deck and towards the nearest place of safety – Naomi's quarters on the deck below them. As they rushed to the turbolift, one of the corridor walls blew outwards with an explosive force and rained bits of panel and conduit on the pair.
# # # # #
"Hull breach on Deck 8" Kim shouted from Ops. "Force fields are offline in some parts"
"Put them up where you can, and vent the atmosphere into space" Janeway ordered.
"Shields are at 75% and failing" Tuvok reported as the ship shuddered again.
"Bring the ship about and engage the ships astern of us" Chakotay ordered, and the ship shuddered more violently as consoles exploded all over the bridge and smoke poured out of the damaged workstations.
"That last hit took out our starboard impulse engine" Paris said. "I'll have to do this the old fashioned way" he said, and he fired full thrusters to turn starboard whilst reversing the sole working impulse engine.
"Locked on" reported Tuvok.
"Fire!" and the crew watched as the phasers lanced out the ship, struck the enemy vessels and did nothing to slow them down.
"Report"
"Our weapons are ineffective" replied the Vulcan.
"If we take another hit in the aft section of the shields, then we'll lose all our ability to move" said Torres.
"Can we warp?"
"No" came the curt reply. "They've knocked out the power relays to the nacelle controls. We still have warp power, but we can't engage the drive" and Janeway started to think about doing the one thing that she despised having to do.
"Harry. Signal the lead ship that we'll surrender" and there was a pause as he hesitated before sending the message. The reply came with a volley from all three ships they faced.
"Hull breaches on Decks 2 through 9" Torres said. "We've lost all main power, our phasers are gone and shields are next to useless" she added.
"We've no chance of getting away from them" Paris said.
"There's only one thing we can do" said Janeway.
"I fear you are right" said Chakotay.
"Computer, begin Auto-Destruct Sequence" ordered the captain.
'Auto-Destruct is offline'
"I'm detecting transporter traces on all decks" Kim said. "They're sending over some kind of pathogen" and he stopped as a choking feeling came over him. He coughed and spluttered with the rest of the crew as they were poisoned by the enemy ships.
# # # # #
"What… what happened?" asked Naomi as she came around. Mezoti was busy trying to open the door to the room they were in.
"Voyager was attacked by vessels" the girl replied. "I am uncertain as to who they are" she added.
"Where are we?" Naomi sat up and felt her head carefully.
"We are in a weapons room" Mezoti said as she gave up on opening the door. "This door panel is inoperable. We shall have to wait for someone to come and get us" and she helped Naomi to sit on a crate.
"What happened to us?" asked the first born of Voyager.
"You were knocked unconscious by the explosion. I too was thrown to the deck, but I managed to stay active. When it became clear that there was a hull breach and that the air was venting into space, I found us a refuge of sorts in the Armoury. Mr Tuvok told me once that it is stronger then other places like crew quarters" and Naomi took all of this in.
"Have you tried to contact the bridge?" she asked.
"I have indeed. However, it seems that internal communications are offline" replied her friend. "We should be safe enough here until help arrives" added Mezoti.
"I have a bad feeling about this" Naomi said. Mezoti was about to say that it was illogical about having feelings like this, but she knew that it had saved them and others on occasion. She remembered Naomi's leadership during the time that the crew had been abducted. "Do you think that there is air outside?" Naomi questioned.
"I am uncertain. There might be, but the likelihood of this is extremely low"
"Well we have to do something to make sure that people find us" Naomi said. She looked around and saw racks of phasers and a few hazmat suits. In one corner stood a pair of spacesuits – stored there for an unknown reason. "Lets put these on, and then we can get out of here" the girl explained.
"But the door will not open" Mezoti said.
"But what if we cut our way through the door or the bulkhead?" Naomi said. The other girl thought about this for a moment and then agreed that it was a better option then sitting and doing nothing when others might be in danger. The suits were designed for adults, but they at least had protection against possible vaccum. They both took a couple of phasers and fired at the door until each phaser was discharged and empty.
# # # # #
"We must find a member of the crew" said Icheb.
"We will have to walk around the damage" said the Doctor. "From what sensors are working, there is major damage to all decks and not everywhere has power or life support. Fortunately though, it appears as if there is a path from here to a turbolift on the other side of this deck" and Icheb frowned slightly.
"Then we had better start" he said. "Can you tie yourself into the internal sensors? No offence intended, but you are part of the computer and so you should be able to detect the nearest members of crew" and the Doctor did so as he transferred himself to his Mobile Emitter. As they were about to leave, the pair grabbed a few emergency medical kits in case they encountered injured persons along the way. While Icheb didn't have medical training, he did have the knowledge of many doctor stored in his mind whilst being a Borg. To their surprise they found not a single person heading in their direction for treatment, nor any Damage Control parties. The Doctor hadn't found any crew members on sensors, though there was a slight weapons discharge reading a few decks below them. As there was no indication of intruders on board, the hologram disregarded this report. He and Icheb boarded the turbolift and headed up to the bridge.
# # # # #
"The door is surprisingly strong" said Mezoti.
"Remind me to file a letter of complaint to Starfleet Command" Naomi muttered. She backed up a little before giving the door a kick. It wobbled on the frame for a moment before falling into the corridor outside. The two girls saw the immense devastation that a hull breach could do, and conduits, relays and other things sparked and fizzed at them.
"This does not bode well" said Mezoti over the com-link.
"I don't see any bodies" Naomi said. "With something this big, you'd expect bodies" and the two made their way slowly and carefully down the corridor in spacesuits too big for them to wear normally. Each of the girls carried a phaser in their hands. They were not supposed to use them, but neither knew if there were any enemies onboard Voyager. When the pair reached the turbolift, Naomi pressed the button and a car came and admitted them entry.
"Should we take off the helmets?" asked Mezoti.
"Better not" Naomi said. "We don't know if we would have to put them back again"
"I do not know where we should go" said Mezoti. "We can not reach your quarters as the damage is most likely reaching that point at least. I suggest that we attempt to get to sickbay" and her friend agreed.
"Sickbay" she called out, but the turbolift car didn't move at all. "Sickbay" Naomi repeated.
"The vocal command features seem to be offline. Try the manual override" said Mezoti. Naomi nodded and tapped out her destination in manually.
'That location does not contain a breathable atmosphere' reported the computer. To the girls, it sounded like that wasn't working properly either.
"Bridge!" they said at the same time. Naomi tapped it in, and the car lurched upwards, stopped, and then started again upwards.
"This doesn't bode well at all" Naomi said. The car shook slightly as it made a slow journey upwards, and the pair knew that the ship was losing more of its hull – both outer and inner hulls.
"Do you think that we'll find anyone on the bridge?" asked Mezoti as they neared Deck 1.
"We'll find out" said Naomi grimly, and she checked all of her phasers. She might still be a little girl, but she would not let any nasty aliens take over Voyager while she could help it. Her best friend did the same as the turbolift car came up and stopped at the highest area of the ship possible.
# # # # #
"If sensors are correct" said the Doctor, "Then we are about to have visitors" he and Icheb stood at the turbolift and aimed phasers from the bridge locker at the doors.
# # # # #
"HALT!" came the collective shout. The four looked at each other with stunned faces, before dropping all of their weapons.
"Miss Wildman" said the Doctor, "I am glad to see you"
"What happened here?" asked Mezoti.
"The ship was attacked by vessels unknown" said the Doctor. "I was surprised to have no injuries coming to sickbay, even though I had been informed about them" he said, and he gave the girls a hand in getting out of their suits.
"Well at least you survived" said Naomi pointing at Icheb. "But what are these piles of dust?" she asked – indicating the piles in front and behind various stations and around the bridge.
"The nearest pile is Lieutenant Commander Tuvok" said the former Borg drone.
"What?" Naomi began to panic. "What about Mom?" she asked.
"I'm afraid she is dead" Icheb said quietly. "The attacking ships blew down the shields and transported a pathogen on board. Every member not affected by this was killed and turned into dust" he said.
"So why are we alive?" Naomi asked. The grief of losing her mother and most of her friends was quite painful, but the girl knew that she had to stay together in order to help her remaining friends.
"Myself and Mezoti have protection from our remaining Borg implants. I do not have any idea why you have survived" Icheb said.
"Naomi was knocked unconscious by the opening of the attack" Mezoti replied. "I dragged her into a Armoury where we awaited rescue. After there was none, and after Naomi had come round, we donned spacesuits and phasered the door off. Sickbay was cut off, so we came here" and then she put a comforting arm around her friend.
"Thanks" Naomi sniffed.
"Our first course of action should be to determine if we can restore sensors" said the Doctor. "I'm only a Doctor of course, but I think we'd like to know if they come back to finish us off" he added.
"I will go down to engineering and see what can be done" Icheb said.
"I will attempt to reach Sickbay and gather medical supplies. With the damage sustained, I don't think we'll be using that any time soon" the Doctor said. "I'll get the twins to help if they manage to finish with the alcoves" and Naomi cheered up with the news the twins had also survived.
"Who is in charge?" asked Mezoti.
"I am the oldest person here" Icheb said.
"But the Doctor is in Starfleet…sort of" Naomi said.
"We could ask the computer" said the Doctor.
"It works up here?" Naomi asked in surprise. She explained that the computer was picking up their voices down below.
"The bridge has its own computer voice pickup" said the Doctor. "Computer?" and there was a soft chirping sound. "Go ahead" he said to the other three.
"Computer, based on recent events, who is in charge of the USS Voyager?" asked Icheb.
'Commander Naomi Wildman' it replied.
A/N:
And so ends the first chapter of the new series of mine (well technically its Paramount's series, but after what they did to the franchise with ST 11, I'm claiming Voyager as compensation – dispensation made to the Enterprise v Narada scenes).
Characters that doesn't seem to get a lot of fanfic time are the children on Voyager. Indeed, I lobbied to place tags for Azan, Rebi and Mezoti on the Voyager subsection! Anyways… This follows on from Children In Charge, and will now form a two part series as they attempt to repair Voyager and get back to the Alpha Quadrant. Note: There is even a few call backs to the events of Children In Charge as the fic goes on.
Now before you say that Voyager never had a lounge like I've said, there is a bank of windows on the lower section of the Primary Hull, and forward of the Aeroshuttle. After talking to someone who knows about the ST ships, I suspect this is where it is located! I am open to other ideas as I am to someone telling me where Naomi (and her mother's) quarters are!
My plan for the next chapter shall be to begin damage assessments, burial services for the crew and a few other things which try to make it realistic as much as possible.
I hope this meets with approval, and is liked as much as the first one.
Regards
Robert
(Next HP fic release is delayed pending writing issues)