Departures And Kidnappings
"Naomi?" Mezoti asked as she walked in.
"Mez… Mezoti?" Naomi said from the biobed she was on.
"You had me worried about you" Mezoti said. "Why did you do this to yourself?" she asked.
"I didn't want to feel upset from my mom's death, so I thought that if I took enough medicene, then I wouldn't be hurt that much" Naomi said, and she turned to look at the Doctor. "I'm sorry" the girl apologised.
"Its understandable" replied the Doctor, "But you should have come and seen me" he added. Naomi looked as if she would burst into tears. "Well due to my pure genius and skill, you may leave Sickbay now. But you are not to do any work for a few days – give the sadness time to pass" and he helped the girl off the biobed.
"Shall we go to the bridge?" Mezoti asked.
"Didn't you hear what I just said?" asked the Doctor.
"We are getting ready to depart" said the former borg drone.
"I see" said the hologram, and he really did. Naomi wanted to be on the bridge to say a last goodbye. "With your permission, Commander, I would like to join you on the bridge" and Naomi frowned at him, and then she switched to a feral grin.
"Computer – deactivate EMH" and the Doctor vanished from view.
"Run" and Naomi and Mezoti ran out and to the turbolift. They took it all the way up to the bridge, and as it did so, Naomi prepared herself for what had to be done.
# # # # #
The doors opened up, and the girls stepped out and Azan stood out of respect to Naomi.
"Stand easy" smiled the girl as Azan had stiffened to attention. She wasn't sure if he was doing this though Starfleet protocol or if the others hadn't decided to tease her slightly.
"Has all the cargo been stored?" Mezoti asked.
"Yes" Azan replied. "I was about to inform you of this" he added.
"Very well" and Naomi inspected a few of the bridge consoles – just to tease him back. It had taken some time, but the twins had been able to develop a sense of humour. Naomi tapped her comm badge and opened a shipwide frequency. "Naomi Wildman to the Doctor, Icheb and Rebi. Report to the bridge" and a few minutes later, the three had arrived on the bridge.
"Is there something the matter?" asked Icheb.
"No" said Naomi. "We could stay here and live out our lives on the planet. We could use Voyager for scouting for supplies and defence. However, Captain Janeway wanted to get Voyager home, and that is what I am going to do" and she looked at Icheb. "You are what I'd call an adult, so I can not force you to come with me and the Doctor. You can take a shuttle and leave and go any place you want. If you three want to go with him" she turned to the three other children. "Then I will not stop you from leaving" and there was a pause as she waited for someone to speak.
"After everything that has happened, I think we'd prefer to remain on the ship" said Icheb. "We have nowhere else to go" he added.
"And we'll force you to allow us to stay on Voyager" Mezoti added her twopennyworth in.
"It seems, Miss Wildman, that it's a case of 'Resistance Is Futile' on your hands" and the bridge was filled with laughter – even from icheb.
"I am sure that Captain Janeway would have something to say, but I don't know what. I guess I want to wish us all the luck in the universe" Naomi said. "Assume your takeoff stations" she ordered. They nodded in respect, and Icheb took the Engineering station, the twins took Ops, Mezoti took the science station and the Doctor headed towards the helm. "I'll take off" Naomi said to the hologram. The Doctor understodd that she wanted to be the one who flew the ship away from one of her mother's final resting places.
"Aye, Commander" he said softly.
"All stations, reports please"
"All decks are ready for takeoff" said Azan.
"Structual Integrety Fields are in place, and are rigged for transit through atmosphere" Rebi added.
"Artificial Gravity is powered up, and is working at 100% of rated power. Impulse drive is on but not powered. Thrusters are online and awaiting your command" Icheb said.
"Weather condictions are at optimal levels, and wind speeds are low enough to not affect our ascent" Mezoti said.
"Prepare for departure" said Naomi, and pressed the sequence that would allow them to take off. Voyager rose from the ground and hovered over the burial site. Very slowly, Naomi dipped the ship to port as Azan turned on every light on the exterior hull. After a few moments, Naomi righted the ship and entered the departure program. She got up out the seat and turned to the Doctor. "She's all yours" and the hologram smiled before sitting down at the helm.
"We're holding at 40,000ft" he reported.
"Status report" Naomi ordered, sitting at the First Officer's chair.
"All systems register as normal" reported Icheb.
"Continue to orbit" came the order, and Naomi did her best to sound like Janeway. The ship soared higher into the sky, and eventually entered into orbit. "Prepare to launch bouys" and after checkign them out, they launched them into their assigned positions in orbit of the planet they had named Voyager. The bouys contained a warning in all Delta Quadrant languages that there had been a terrible plague on the surface, and that no one should land under any circumstances.
"The bouys are in position are are transmitting normally" reported Azan.
"Right" Naomi said. She took a few deep breaths, and calmed her thoughts before giving out an order. "Set course for the Alpha Quadrant – Warp 5, and lay it into the navigational computer"
"Course set" the Doctor said.
"Engage" and the ship broke orbit and jumped to Warp and resumed its journey. Naomi waited until she was sure that everything was going as it should, and then she told everyone that they would be resuming the shifts. "You have the bridge, Icheb"
"Understood" and the rest piled into a turbolift and went down to eat, sleep or regenerate. Naomi went to her quarters, took the pill that the Doctor had given to her, and then she fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.
# # # # #
"Doctor?" Mezoti called out as she entered Sickbay.
"Is there sonething I can help you with?" asked the hologram as he came out of his little office.
"Well I think so" said Mezoti hesitently. "It is Naomi's birthday in a few days time, and I thought that it might be a good way to cheer her up" the girl suggested.
"Indeed it might well be just the ticket" said the Doctor. "I know that she has not been visiting the holodeck as much lately, so perhaps we should hold a party for her with her favourite holo program" and the two began making plans, and called Icheb up on the bridge so he could help in the planning as well.
# # # # #
Naomi entered the program, waited a moment, and then sat back and listened to one of her favourite pieces of music. Tom Paris had loaned her a few files of his for her to listen to, and the girl had found she liked the ones from mid 20th Century to early 21st Century ones the most. Looking through the database, Naomi had discovered that she also liked several of the classical pieces, though these were limited to light and airy ones. At the moment though, she was listening to a piece that Tuvok had once mentioned to her during one of her lessons. As she tried go to sleep once more, the girl made a pledge to herself to get her crew and Voyager to the Alpha Quadrant. Her last thought before slipping into the land of sleep, was that perhaps she might see the guiding tree that Neelix talked about sometimes. If she did, then maybe she might be able to see her mother, or the Captain, or Neelix or the rest of the crew.
# # # # #
It had taken weeks to gather enough vessels to go after Voyager, but they were assured that they would be able to easily get their target and bring her back to their planet.
# # # # #
Naomi stepped out onto the bridge, took the report from Rebi and started her shift on the bridge. She was about half way through her turn when her comm badge went off.
'Doctor to Naomi Wildman"
"Naomi here"
'Please report to Holodeck 1' and he closed the channel before Naomi asked what the matter was. She attempted to get Icheb up to mind the bridge for a while, but the comm system was refusing to put through her calls. This did not make her suspicious as the comm system had been damaged when a relay had blown on Deck 3 – the result of a bad spare part. She looked at the sensors, saw nothing on them and then took the turbolift to the holodecks. To her surprise, it was running a program, and she knew that if there was a problem with it, then some of the others would be gathering outside with panels over the floor. The doors opened up and she saw the Flotter program running and her friends inside by the pool.
"SURPRISE!" they shouted. She had forgotten that it was her birthday, but her friends hadn't and had gone to the trouble of sorting her out a little party.
"Happy birthday, Naomi" Mezoti hugged her best friend tightly. Everyone did the same, and she was led by the hand to the waterfall where Flotter normally resided. She looked around, expecting to see Flotter and Trevis, but saw neither of the pair.
"We deactivated the characters" said Azan. "As much as they are nice, it would be pleasant for this event to just have us" he added.
"We had to deactivate them because Mezoti got into a fight with Flotter over the title of 'Best Friend'. Flotter seemed to think he was that person" Icheb said, and then handed her a present he had spent hours thinking of and making. It was a miniature oven which could bake small buns and cakes. The heating unit came from a now vacant set of quarters.
"This is from myself and Azan" said Rebi, and handed Naomi their present – Flotter, and Treevis action figures. "You can have your own adventures now" he added.
"This is from me" said the Doctor, and he gave her her very own holocamera. It had taken him a while to make, even though he could have simply replicated one. The doctor knew that things which were home or hand made were often thought of as being better. The last few weeks Sickbay had resembled a disaster area as pieces of metal and circuit chips had been all over his desk.
"These are from me" and pointed out the two small boxes under the trees near the water. Naomi opened the first to find an environmental suit in her size, and in the second - much small box – was a old fashioned leather backed album of pictures of her and her mother. A number of them also included the crew when they had gone to parties – like the wedding between Tom Paris and B'lanna Torres.
"Thanks" she said
"If I was you, I would take out the album and look underneath it" said the Doctor, and she did so to reveal a framed picture of her mother in the dress she had worn for her last birthday. Naomi had said she looked very pretty that day.
"Thank you very much" she said quietly.
"It is illogical for you to cry at this time" said Icheb.
"Why?"
"It would be a waste of time" he said.
"Of what?"
"Of time making this food, and only letting it spoil" he said, and with a wave of his hand, a picnic blanket and basket appeared close to the edge. Naomi was surprised by the level of work that had gone into this.
"Is this all real food?" she asked.
"We have been making it for several days, and it includes all your favourite foods" said the Doctor. "Although as your physician I would recommend that you avoid all this unhealthy stuff" and Naomi rolled her eyes and giggled.
"You would say that" she laughed. They sat and ate the cold food first like sandwiches and jelly and ice cream. Mezoti called up a set of changing rooms and she, Naomi and the twins changed into appropriate clothing and went swimming. Icheb preferred to change alone and lie back on a water float – watching the fun going on around him. They came out after a while, showered and then came out to the warm food. A cake was brought out afterwards, and Mezoti and the twins got Icheb to dance with Naomi. As he did so, the Doctor took some snaps on Naomi's new holocamera so she had pictures of everything that had happened. The group was tired out by the late evening, so the Doctor offered to take a double shift at the bridge. Naomi declared that she had had too much cake and therefore decided that the turbolift couldn't carry her to her quarters. She opted to spend the night with the others in the cargo bay, and slept in the sleeping bag which had been kept there since she had become friends with the former drones.
# # # # #
The Doctor found he loved being on his own on the bridge, though this was because of the fact that he was playing an opera over the speakers. During his eight hours on the bridge, he did very little except to take scans, enter the results into the computer's database and keep an eye out for ships coming close to them. He didn't want the Borg to drop by anytime soon after all. Apart from this, his time was well spent with him finishing a few reports that he needed to do. The one major thing he undertook was to make a slight detour around a patch of what was called 'Space Weather' by most crews. He was relieved by Icheb who looked refreshed and ready to do his four allotted hours.
"How is Naomi?" he asked.
"She is… awake" came the reply.
"I think she had too much sugar at the party" the Doctor chuckled. He informed Icheb about the events of his shift, informed him of a few nearby planetary and a nebula which Voyager would pass by shortly. While Naomi's stated intention was to get to the Alpha Quadrant, she also wanted to map as much as she could whilst on the way there. As he sat at science and adjusted the sensors, Icheb thought about his friend and how well she was coping with her mother's death. Although it had been a few months since the event, she still sometimes talked as if she would come in the room. He assumed it was because she had not had a chance to say goodbye to her properly. He didn't know when this would end as he wasn't a councillor. What he did know was that she was getting over it, and that time would help Naomi. he was just getting ready to return to warp when a vessel – quickly followed by several others - dropped out of warp and hailed Voyager.
"This is Federation Starship Voyager. To whom am I speaking?" he asked after opening a channel.
'This is the Norcadian Defence Force. Hand over your hostage or we shall open fire' said a gruff male voice. Icheb scanned the vessels and saw they had powered their weapons and shields.
"Voyager is not holding any hostages" he said. "It may be that you are mistaking another vessel for ourselves"
'Do not give me that. You have taken a member of our people hostage, and you will hand her over before we open fire' and the ships locked weapons on Voyager. There was only one thing Icheb could do.
"Computer, Red Alert! Shields Up. All officers to the Bridge" and the lights dimmed as the ship prepared for battle.
'So, you would attack us would you?'
"We are merely taking steps to defend ourselves should you attack us. You may speak to our Captain shortly, and this incident can be resolved without bloodshed"
'This is acceptable' said the voice.
"Please allow us five of our minutes. Our laws state that we must take precautions when other races board our ship for fear of infecting said persons" Icheb said. He was not lying as such, but merely telling the person a bit too much.
'This too is acceptable. We shall await your Captain's signal' and the channel was muted. Mezoti, Naomi and Rebi came in one lift whilst the Doctor and Azan came on the second turbolift.
"What is going on?" asked Naomi.
"Several ships dropped out of warp and surrounded us. They locked weapons on Voyager and ordered us to hand over a hostage which they believe we are holding" Icheb said. "I have managed to 'stall' them for several minutes" he added.
"Can we out run them?" the Doctor asked.
"Yes, but they would fire upon us the moment we moved" Icheb said. "They also expect to speak to Captain Janeway shortly".
"That is unlikely to happen soon" said Azan.
"Perhaps it can" said Naomi as she quickly came up with a plan. "On my signal, Icheb, reroute the signal to Holodeck 1" and she entered a few commands into the Ops console.
"What is your plan?" asked Mezoti.
"Fancy a trip to the holodeck?" grinned Naomi. "By the way, who are these people? Have we met them before?" and Icheb nodded.
"They are called the Norcadians" he said, and Mezoti visibly paled.
"Is something the matter?" asked the Doctor.
"Me" said Mezoti in a whisper. "They are after me"
A/N:
Another exciting chapter for you to read!
Now I was very careful in this chapter to work out something here. In the episode "Tsunkatse" of Voyager, the ship is said to be in orbit of Norcadia Prime and clearly interacts with the Norcadians. Yet in the following episode, "Collective" the crew takes on five children – Azan, Rebi, Icheb, Mezoti and an unnamed baby. After determining that Mezoti was a Norcadian, Janeway should have put the ship about and taken Mezoti home. Therefore, Janeway is guilty of kidnapping Mezoti at the very least.
What follows is a reference to what Barclay does in "Pathfinder", and we'll also have a full engagement between Voyager and the Nocadians. We'll also be having some odd moments on the way home, simply to keep a grip on sanity – plus we'll also ask an important question: How quickly can an 8 year old go-kart through Voyager's decks.
If ANYONE has any suggestions for some crazy ideas for the group to do in order to stay sane on their long trip to Earth, then tell me. As I said before though, the next chapter will contain a full battle.
Regards,
Pixel And Stephanie Forever