Regrets, Mysteries And A Big Surprise
"You wanted to see me?" the Doctor asked as he walked inside the ready room. He crossed over to where Naomi was lying on the couch.
"I ordered one of the ships destroyed" said the girl with her eyes closed.
"Icheb informed me of what happened" said the hologram. "I am sure it was the only thing to do" he added.
"But it wasn't" Naomi said as she opened her eyes and sat up. "The ship was disabled and wasn't going anywhere fast, but it was the same ship that transported the virus that killed my Mom. I wanted revenge, and I had Mezoti tear the ship to pieces" and Naomi broke into a sob and wrapped her arms around the hologram. "I'm a monster" she wailed. The Doctor held her until she had finished, and then injected her with something that would calm her nerves for a while, and he also gave her a sedative.
"You need a few days rest" said the Doctor.
"But who will run the ship?" asked Naomi, sniffing back the tears.
"If I might make a suggestion…?" ventured the EMH.
"Anything"
"Appoint a First Officer. You need to delegate tasks, or else you will become too exhausted to function"
"Who do you think I should appoint?" asked Naomi.
"I would suggest giving the job to Icheb because he is the oldest after you, has some Starfleet Academy training from the letters he received from Starfleet Command and has no problems with following your orders" the Doctor said. Naomi thought it over and slowly nodded.
"He does seem the best choice" she agreed. "And if I gave the job to Mezoti, then I'd just be showing favouritism" Naomi sighed. "I'll make you a deal, Doctor. I'll give the job to Icheb and then take a few days off and rest" and the Doctor nodded.
"That seems fine, Captain" he smiled.
"If you don't drop the 'Captain', then I'm confiscating your emitter" Naomi grinned before tapping her combadge. "Icheb, report to the ready room" and she counted to five before the Brunali arrived.
"What is the problem?" he asked.
"The Doctor has suggested that I become the Captain" Naomi said.
"This is logical" said Icheb.
"However, this means I need a First Officer to take care of things instead of me. I'm tired and worn out from all that has happened. The Doctor has suggested someone, and I happen to agree" Naomi said.
"May I ask who?" asked Icheb.
"You"
"Me?" Icheb was surprised.
"You are the oldest person on board, and you've had some training from Starfleet Academy. Plus, you've already had leadership time on that Cube you was on. I know that didn't work out so well for you, but I trust you" Naomi said, and she stuck out her hand which Icheb took and shook.
"Congratulations" said the Doctor.
"Thank you" replied Icheb. "What are your orders?" he asked.
"Begin making repairs where needed, keep scanning for any ships that might pose us a threat and keep an eye out for anything interesting" Naomi said. "I'm going to my quarters for a while before going to the Holodeck for a while" she added. "I need a rest, and I just want to be alone for a while" and Icheb nodded.
"Very well" he said. "With your permission, I shall begin damage checks, devise a repair plan and get repairs started" and Naomi nodded.
"And you don't have to ask my permission to do things like this you know" Naomi said. "If you think it needs sorting out right away, then get it done. Just come to me if there is something you are not sure about" and Icheb nodded. They headed out to the bridge together where Naomi announced her new appointment. Mezoti claimed that it was only logical and said so in a passable version of Icheb's voice.
"I could still put you in a cargo container and send you back to the Borg" Icheb replied, and a smile graced his features which was a change from the stern look he often had.
"Naomi would put you into space without a suit if you did" Mezoti grinned.
"That's enough you two" Naomi grinned. "Icheb, the bridge is yours" and with that she headed to the turbolift which whisked her away.
# # # # #
Mezoti waited until she had finished her work on the bridge, and headed down to Sickbay for a delayed talk she needed to have with the Doctor. When she entered, the hologram was going over some medical journals.
"Miss Mezoti" he greeted her.
"You know it is only Mezoti" said the girl while rolling her eyes.
"And you know that I was only practising my teasing on you. Naomi suggested it to me some time ago" the Doctor said as he saved the information on the screen and Mezoti sat in the office chair. "Now what can I do for you?" he asked.
"I am in need of your help" Mezoti said, and she started playing with her hands. "I'm not ill or anything like that, but it is still something that I am worried about" she added. "I need you to scan me" and the Doctor took her to a biobed and did the requested scans.
"I see" said the Doctor when he read the results. "This is serious" he added.
# # # # #
Naomi looked around the quarters she once shared with her mother. Even after the weeks and months after her death, Naomi still expected her mother to be in them or to call her on the comm. Sighing to herself, the girl went to her room and picked up a few things before heading to the holodeck for the day. She instructed the computer to play the Flotter program, and then walked inside to see her holographic friends.
"Naomi!" Flotter was the first to see her.
"Hi, Flotter" the girl replied. "Hi Trevis" she added when she saw the tree.
"You've been away a long time" said Trevis.
"Me and my friends have been very busy" Naomi replied, putting down the bag she had carried from her quarters down on the ground. "We had to fight some ships, and even had to blow one up" and both holograms could detect the sadness in her voice.
"I'm sure you had to do it" said Trevis kindly.
"You are not a bad person, Naomi Wildman" Flotter told her. "So… how long can you stay for?" he asked.
"The whole day" Naomi brightened. "The Doctor said that I should take at least a day and maybe more off. I've been trying to sort out the ship's problems by myself" she added.
"Well I, for one, am not unhappy to see you" said Trevis. "So what are we going to do now?" he asked.
"I just wanted to spend time with you, and maybe go swimming in Lake Joy" Naomi said.
"Want to play Hide And Seek?" asked Flotter.
"I guess so… then we can go visit the castle with the giant beetle in it. After that we could go swimming" Naomi said.
"The beetle has gone away to a far and distant land" Trevis said. "And it is too hot to run around" he added, looking up at the sun.
"Well I'll just go swimming then" Naomi said, and she opened the bag and pulled out her swimming costume that Tom Paris had replicated for her the previous year. She had just undone the catches that held up her clothes and had let it drop to the ground before she realised something – she was just in her underwear.
"I said Naomi was the person that likes red" Flotter said to Trevis. Naomi knew that they were just holograms, but she still felt embarrassed about standing in her knickers. It was almost like the time that Icheb had walked in on the Doctor giving Naomi an examination after she fell down from the lift in Engineering.
"Can you guys turn around please?" she said – going as red as a certain part of her clothing.
"Why?" asked Trevis.
"Because I am trying to get changed, and I can't do it when you two are watching me" Naomi blushed again.
"Let us go and get the things ready for Naomi by the lake" suggested Trevis.
"Okay" agreed Flotter, and the pair walked off into the forest. As she finished undressing and put on the suit, Naomi made a mental note to create a changing booth next time she went swimming in the Flotter program. When she was finished, she had the computer alter the simulation so that she stood next to her holographic friends.
"Ready!" she announced.
"We're sorry if we mad you feel sad" said Flotter.
"That's alright" Naomi replied, "At least you know now not to do it again. Besides, I should have created a changing booth to use. But its in the past now… now lets go swimming!" and the girl ran into the lake and had a good time.
# # # # #
"Do you know what I can do for this?" asked Mezoti.
"From what I have looked at, there isn't a cure as such" said the Doctor. "If I have read the medical texts concerning your species correctly, it is something of a normal reaction when your people reach this age. Of course, we have no other Norcadians onboard, so this makes the 'treatment' harder to effect. The only thing I can suggest is that you use the Holodeck after consulting all the data. It may be that there is something that can help you. If not… well we'll cross that bridge when we come to it" said the Doctor, and Mezoti thanked him before leaving Sickbay. She was just about to have a trip down to the Holodeck when Icheb called her and asked her her help in undertaking repairs.
# # # # #
Icheb had created a list of repairs that could be completed by himself, Mezoti and the twins. The group had split so that they could get started, and had left the Doctor to watch the bridge. The young Brunali had settled into his role as First Officer quickly, and had made up a report on the fuel status, a report on the remaining torpedoes and a report on what sensors had picked up. The first and third reports were constantly updated by the computer, and were done in a way that Naomi could understand well. The second one read simply as
Subject: Torpedoes
Status: None
Result: No more booms
Action Taken: Find or Make More
An alarm brought his attention to a console in Engineering which was flashing and sounding a warning tone.
"We lost the power again" he said.
"I shall attempt to bypass the relay" said Mezoti over the comm.
"That is not what it says in the manual" Icheb told her.
"How about we get the sensors working fully? Then we can do the repairs properly later on. I am sure that Naomi would much rather see a Borg cube a long way away rather then on top of us"
"Your point is taken" Icheb said.
"Tell me when sensors are at full power. I'll leave it like this until we have more time" Mezoti said.
"Understood" and Icheb watched the power level and sensor resolution go high into the 90% range, and hold around the middle. "I do not believe that we can get better then that without replacing the malfunctioning array" he said to Mezoti.
"Understood. It will do for the time being. I will get on to the next repair. Mezoti out" and just as the link closed, the Doctor's voice filled the empty air.
"Doctor to Icheb. Can you come to the bridge please?"
"Icheb here. What is the problem?" he asked.
"I'm reading a ship on sensors. It's a Borg Cube… but it is acting odd"
"Define 'odd' please, Doctor" Icheb sighed as he continued working.
"It is sitting dead in the water. There are no drones onboard, weapons and defensive systems are offline, sensors are disabled and life support is on minimal power" the Doctor's information made Icheb look up in surprise.
"Go to Yellow Alert. I am on my way to the bridge" and with that, he left for the turbolift.
# # # # #
"This is most odd" said Icheb. Sensors had shown nothing that varied from the scans that the Doctor had seen. Not wanting to take Naomi from her more then deserved R&R, Icheb brought the ship to a halt a short distance from the Cube, and was careful to lay in an escape course should this all be a trick.
"Sensors confirm my earlier report" said the Doctor. "I do not read any bodies onboard, nor do I detect any diseases or viruses onboard" he added. "The only thing wrong is that shields, weapons and defensive systems are all inoperable. It appears as if they were fused by the Borg in an attempt to Self Destruct – the drones presumably took to their escape Sphere. I do not know how or why it didn't complete. The Borg are normally very particular about leaving nothing of value" and Icheb agreed.
"This is true, but I do not want to disturb Naomi just yet. Let us run a complete series of scans on the ship, and compare them to the measurements we have in our database. I shall also call Mezoti and the twins up here" and they set to work – repairs put aside for now.
# # # # #
"You can't go home wearing that" said Flotter to Naomi.
"I know" she replied. "I've had such a good day, but I have to go home now and sleep, but I'll be back like I said!" and Naomi shut down the program and had the computer make the holodeck get warmer while she changed. As she walked back to her quarters to eat and then sleep, Naomi wondered what she would do for the next 60 odd years of the trip home. Flotter and Trevis would go only so far, and she also had a responacability to the crew under her command. The command of a ten year old who had no Starfleet training at all. Yes, this ten year old had lived her life on Voyager surrounded by the crew, but she still had no formal training then what she had managed to weedle out of the crew in exchange for running errands and things for them. On what was in her top three days, she even took the helm of the Delta Flyer. She had a small meal and then dressed for bed, allowing herself to drift off to a normal sleep.
# # # # #
"This is most atypical of the Borg" said Azan.
"I agree" said the Doctor. "But we have to know what is going on here" he added.
"The best way would be to board the vessel and attempt to access the databanks" Mezoti said.
"But Naomi wouldn't like that" said Rebi.
"I suppose we should wait for her to get up here" Icheb said. "But knowing what we know about Naomi, she'll want a complete report made for her. If you two" he pointed at the twins, "Begin flooding subspace. We should be able to cut off any links to the cube that the collective might have. For some reason, the cube was not destroyed by the self destruct sequence, though some systems are beyond repair" he stopped to think.
"I'm a Doctor, not a ship breaker" said the Doctor, "But if some of the other systems are still in working order, then couldn't we simply go over and take items that will be useful to us? We could certainly use a transwarp coil in order to get to the Alpha Quadrant" and Icheb admitted that the thought had not occurred to him as he had assumed that the transwarp coils would have been destroyed or damaged beyond repair.
"I will call Naomi" Icheb said.
# # # # #
"Icheb to Naomi Wildman" the call repeated several times before the girl replied.
"Naomi here – what is the problem?" she asked.
"There is a Borg cube several hundred yards off our port bow. It is completely unoccupied and is operating on very little power. We think we can salvage parts from it" Icheb said.
"I'm on my way" she said, and closed the link, got out of bed, had a quick sonic shower and dressed before heading to the bridge.
# # # # #
"I wasn't able to look at the holodeck yet" Mezoti whispered to the Doctor.
"I will find some excuse for you to visit, or you could wait until you're off shift" he said.
"I will wait until I am off duty, though technically I already am" Mezoti said.
"If Naomi intends to wait to see if this is a trap, then you could use it now" the Doctor said. Mezoti nodded before saying that she was going to have some relaxation time because of the work she had been doing.
A/N:
Hope you like this chapter.
Got a little bit of everything, promotions, regrets, brief nudity (I know the ages of the main characters, but lets just face it… my fic and therefore my rules) and something wrong with Mezoti. Anyone is free to guess – except RraiderV1 who knows already what it is.
Next chapter will have some salvage and then the beginning of the final arc which will cover four chapters – plus a chapter to describe what happens after they arrive back in the Alpha Quadrant. I'm getting a few other fics completed first before I do anymore on this, but please feel free to review my other works in the meantime. All flames will be used to burn Colonel Gaddafi at dawn.
Regards
Robert
Now a "Big Hit" in North Korea – according to my story traffic indicators!