The Final Battles / The Final Homecoming
Naomi awoke in quarters that looked nothing like anything on a Federation starship. It took her a few moments to realise that she was aboard a Klingon Bird of Prey, and she got off the bed and stumbled to the passageway outside. Asking a passing engineer for directions, she made her way to the mess hall for something to eat. A group of Klingons sat at long tables and laughed when they saw Naomi's slightly rumpled state.
"Are you hungry, child?" asked an older one.
"Yeah" Naomi replied.
"Sit, and I shall get you something" replied the female Klingon, and put a plate of Gagh in front of Naomi. The took one look at it and scrunched her face at it – much to the amusment of the Klingons.
"Perhaps she can not stomach real food" joked another Klingon.
"Perhaps you can not either" retorted Naomi. "I like Gagh, but only when it is live – not as limp as a salad" and the laughing stopped as they realised that the girl had some knowledge of Klingon foods.
"We all have to make do with what we have" said the first Klingon.
"That shouldn't be right for the Empire's finest warriors" Naomi said. "I'll eat this though, but I want Blood Pie to go with it" and when her father found her, his daughter was eating Gagh, Blood Pie and gaining the respect of the Klingons. He knew there was still a lot of catching up to be done with her. As he sat down, she was discussing the merits of why 2309 was a finer vintage then any other year of bloodwine.
"You were not in the quarters when I awoke" Greskrendtregk said to Naomi.
"I know, but I was really hungry so I decided to get something to eat" she said in reply.
"Do not be harsh with the child, Sir" said the Klingon who had first spoken to Naomi, "We have been swapping stories of courageous battles, great deeds and discoveries that will help our all of our peoples" and coming from a Klingon, this was high praise indeed.
'Naomi Wildman, please report to the bridge. Naomi Wildman, please report to the bridge' said an unseen male voice. Naomi was glad that her Starfleet comm badge was compatible with Klingon intercom systems.
"Naomi Wildman, here. What is the situation?" she asked, sipping from her bloodwine. Martok himself answered her question.
'Several Starfleet vessels have arrived with Engineering personnel and supplies. They are beaming over to make enough repairs to Voyager so she is fit enough for a warp tow" he said gruffly.
"Do you want me to come up to the bridge?" Naomi asked.
'That would be of great help' replied Martok. 'I shall await your arrival' and with that, the General closed the channel.
"If you excuse me" Naomi said to the Klingons in the mess hall, "I must go. I forever answer the call to duty" and with her hand in her father's, she strode for the bridge of the Rotarran.
# # # # #
"Ah, child, behold the sight" Martok greeted Naomi with a wave of his hand towards the viewscreen. Several Starfleet support ships had arrived and were beaming over people to begin making repairs.
"I would like to thank you again, General Martok, for saving us when you did" Naomi said.
"I could not leave an ally when they could be set upon by those Dominion dogs…" replied the battle hardened Klingon. "I believe my communications officer will set you up with a link to the fleet" and Naomi thanked him and turned as the on-duty Tactical Officer suddenly shouted out.
"General! I am picking up a small mass heading our way. Impact in ten seco… the object has vanished from my sensors"
"Are you sure it was not a sensor malfunction?"
"Quite sure, General" replied the officer, "I calibrated them this morning when I came on shi… Object has reappeared on sensors. It is on a direct course for our starboard power coupling. The Starfleet vessels are trying to shoot it down, but it keeps appearing in and out of space. I believe it may have a cloaking device of some kind"
"Sound battle alert and raise shields" ordered Martok.
"Too late!" cried the officer.
"Brace for impact" Martok said, gripping his chair arms for extra support. Naomi and her father made a beeline for the science and environmental stations as the experimental missile hit the Bird of Prey on the starboard side. Nearly everyone was thrown from their places, and a piece of the ceiling broke off a beam and impaled Martok through the chest.
"Medical Emergency. Medical team to the bridge. General Martok has been badly injured" said the communication officer.
"Incoming Dominion fighters, at bearing 183 mark 224" called out the Tactical Officer. The sound of the air filters trying to clear the smoke from the bridge could be clearly heard as they tried to figure out who would command the vessel. The solution was decided upon by Naomi who stepped over Martok's form and slipped into the Captain's chair.
"Tactical, get me a lock and a precise number of enemy ships. Bridge to Engineering, Naomi Wildman here. General Martok is down, and I have assumed command of this vessel. Put all power to weapons and shields" Naomi snapped off the orders like she had done on Voyager.
"I have seven ships closing in on the same course as before" said the tactical officer.
"Very well. Comm – send to the Federation ships 'Have assumed command of this vessel. Intend to attack. Wildman'. Tactical – put all available power from whatever we can spare it from, and place it into the forward shields. Target the lead ship and prepare to fire. Helm, new course – 183 mark 224" Naomi's orders were obeyed, and the little vessel swung around and charged towards the oncoming Jem'Hadar fighters. The ship ploughed straight into the mass of ships and fired everything at the lead ship. The explosion sent chunks of debris throughout the others, and several of them received direct hits to their nacelles, gain hull breaches or otherwise had severely lowered shields.
"The Starfleet ships are forming a defensive posture around Voyager" said the Tactical Officer.
"Very good" Naomi said. She looked at the readouts, being more or less fluent in advanced Klingon, and started coming up with an idea. "Are any ships undamaged?" she asked.
"The vessel on the port flank has sustained little damage. Its shields are a little weakened, but otherwise it is fully operable" the science officer said.
"Execute pattern Kirk Epsilon" Naomi said as a bunch of Jem'Hadar headed towards them.
"Captain?" the helm officer was confused.
"All engines full ahead. Hard to port" Naomi said, remembering she was not on a Starfleet ship at the moment.
"Understood" said helm.
"Can we rig the deflector to send out an EM pulse?" asked Naomi.
"You wish to disable the vessel?" asked the science officer.
"I was thinking that we might gain a lot of valuable information from an intact ship" Naomi pointed out.
"It will take me three minutes to rig the deflector" said the science officer, and without another word she turned back to her console and began work. The ship continued to shudder as it came under repeated attack.
"May I suggest something?" asked Greskrendtregk.
"Sure, dad" said Naomi, gripping the arms of Martok's seat as the Rotarran was hit by several torpedoes at once.
"Have the Starfleet vessels attack the Jem'Hadar vessels. The attacks will allow us to get the work done much quicker and without too much of a distraction" and the communications officer did as he was ordered to do by Naomi. The Starfleet vessels got pounded like small children by bigger kids, but they gave out a number of good shots in return.
"I have managed to get the deflector calibrated to emit an EM pulse of sufficient strength to disable the enemy vessel. However we will need to be within 50 Kellicams for it to be effective" finished the science officer.
"All power to the forward shields. Take it all from life support and weapons if you have to" Naomi ordered.
"Power diverted" said the engineer's mate.
"Helm, new course! 123 by 339 mark 1 – full impulse" Naomi said. This put the Klingon vessel on a collision course for their target. The other ship didn't flinch as they thought it their duty to the Founders to ram the Klingon vessel. The Bird of Prey flew onwards, and the forward shields got a battering.
"Shields weakening" reported the tactical officer.
"Understood" Naomi said, and then noticed that they appeared to be drifting off course at the same time they got hit in the stern.
"Helm going unresponsive" reported the helm officer.
"Can you compensate?"
"Yes, Captain, I can"
"Steady as she goes then" Naomi said. The science station trilled an alarm several times before it was cut off in mid beep.
"We are within range" the officer reported. When Naomi didn't give the order to fire, she turned round and repeated the notice.
"I heard the first time, science officer" Naomi said. "I want to get well within range to be certain of a good shot" and she looked over to helm. "Helm, maintain course and speed"
"But we'll be killed when we can shoot" said helm.
"You have your orders" Naomi told him. The officer swallowed deeply and complied with the order.
"40 Kellicams…" said tactical. "35 Kellicams…"
"Stand by to fire" Naomi said, and cued the communications officer to put her over the ship. "All hands, this is Captain Wildman. Brace for impact. I repeat: brace for impact" and all over the ship, everyone rushed to grab something very solid.
"30 Kellicams" the tactical officer said.
"Maintain course and speed" Naomi reported her earlier order. "Stand by to fire directly at her bow" she added.
"Deflector ready" said science.
"Shields are now inoperative"
"25 Kellicams"
"Fire!" Naomi shouted, and the Rotarran's deflector activated and hit the JemHadar vessel right on the front. The crackling of blue energy quickly spread all over the rest of the hull, and the Fighter started to tumble over and over as it lost power.
"They have lost all main and secondary power" reported the science officer as she scanned the ship. "They have life support, but that is on their batteries only" she added.
"The other ships have turned and run off. The Starfleet ships are asking for permission to pursue" communications said.
"Negative" Naomi said. "We need them to help Voyager as quickly as possible. Stand down from combat stations, put a tractor beam on the disabled vessel and tow it back to the task force" and a different shade of blue hit the Jem'Hadar ship, and the Bird of Prey started to drag it back to the waiting Starfleet vessels.
"The task force is resuming transporting of all engineering teams to the Voyager" said the science officer.
"Very well" Naomi said, and spun in her chair and looked at the engineer's mate. "Damage report"
"We have lost our port impulse engine, one of our shield emitters was knocked out during the attack and we have a few minor hull breaches" he said as he consulted his panel's readouts.
"Very well. Continue back to the task force, keep scanning the surrounding space, and keep an eye on the wounded bird. I don't want them activating the Self-Destruct on us somehow" Naomi said.
"Aye, Captain" replied the bridge crew.
"Tactical officer, I am leaving to go below. You have the bridge until otherwise" and then Naomi and her father left a bridge of astonished Klingon warriors.
# # # # #
"Is he going to be alright?" asked Naomi.
"The General sustained nothing more then a few broken ribs, some swelling to the brain and the associated tissue and nerve damage. The beam missed every single organ of his, and that is why he is in such a good shape" said the Doctor. He had assisted the Rotarran's normal medical detachment when the injuries started coming in – assisted by the former Borg Drones. "He should be awake in a few hou…" the Doctor began speaking. He was cut off by the sound of Martok stirring from the bed behind the hologram.
"What… happened?" he asked shakily, getting his sense back on an even keel.
"Some Jem'Hadar ships came in with power cut" Naomi said. "By the time we raised shields and charged weapons, some of the crew were rendered unable to serve. Because you had been knocked out, I assumed command and engaged the enemy. I wish to note for the record that I was impressed by the way your crew took orders from me. I am also impressed by the devotion to duty they displayed – your bridge crew in particular" and as Naomi told her tale, Martok was impressed even more by the abilities of the girl. She had assumed the command of a vessel that was not totally familiar to her, she had engaged the enemy, gained one confirmed kill with another probable and engaged a third ship and disabled for study by scientists. The wise Klingon knew that a great future awaited both herself and her friends should they join Starfleet.
# # # # #
Because of the attack, Starfleet had diverted an entire fleet to patrolling the sectors around Voyager's location. It took another week to get her most basic systems in the basic levels for sustaining life. All the radiation had been cleared from the ship, and so Naomi, her father, her friends, the Doctor and the ferry crew had returned to the ship to aid in the temporary repairs. Because her warp drive was now completely inoperative, they sent for a tug to tow them back to Sector 001. What arrived was a prototype sort of tug which could extend a warp field over Voyager so it wouldn't take the many months to get back at full impulse. Once everything was ready for the trip to Utopia Planetia, Naomi said goodbye to the fleet and the Klingons – they in particular had gained a deep respect for the group.
"I'm looking forward to standing on Earth and eating food that was actually grown on Alpha Quadrant soil" Mezoti said.
"Instead of Neelix's stews" commented Icheb from his place at the mess hall.
"I miss his cooking actually…" commented Naomi.
"We all do" said Azan.
"Although his Leola Root Ice Cream left something to be desired" added Rebi with a smile. The rest of the three week trip was spent making repairs to the operations of the ship. Life support was patched enough to last until they reached dock, and they had secured enough power to ensure for the memory core. Naomi wanted all of the crew's logs, letters and other records to be kept safe for the families of the crew members killed. Apart from that, all they had managed to do was keep the lights on and get the replicators online – though they did fail every 12 hours.
'Norland to Voyager' Naomi's comm badge chirped.
"Go ahead" Naomi said.
'We've picked up a distress call' said the Norland's captain. 'The ship is under attack by the Dominion and needs assistance. There are no other ships within range' and Naomi was struck by the terrible situation she was in. She had two ships – though one of them was next to useless, but she also had a duty to rescue those in trouble.
"Alter course to intercept that call" she ordered the Norland's captain.
'We have no weapons' replied the Norland's captain. 'We should keep away and attempt to alert a Starfleet vessel. They might get there in time to save some people' she added.
"I am telling you to divert to the location of the distress call, Commander" Naomi said.
'I refuse to take orders from a child who was jumped up through the ranks because of the deaths of her mother, ship's crew and captain. I don't care what you say, I am not taking my ship into danger' said the Norland's captain. The officers on Voyager hissed in anger from the statement. Although Naomi was still a little girl, she had proven herself to be a capable ship's captain, an honourable officer and had the respect of several senior officers. More then that, she had battled the Borg on several occasions, fought off major engagements by the Quagaars and the Norcadians and brought her ship back to the Alpha Quadrant. What was more, even though she had little more then parts flying in formation, she battled the Dominion with a crippled vessel twice and assumed the command of the Rotarran during the most recent battle – gaining the respect of all on board. Although the officers still knew very little of Naomi, they would defend her captaincy until ordered otherwise. Naomi though had decided to take matters into her own hands.
"Who is the next senior officer present?" she asked.
'Lieutenant Commander Margerital' said a deep male voice.
"Listen closely, Margerital" Naomi said. "I hereby relieve your captain of duty. Do you understand?"
'Aye, Ma'am'
"Confine her to quarters with a guard on her door. She is to be charged with failure to respond to a vessel in distress, and cowardness in the face of the enemy" and they could all hear the protesting officer being removed from the bridge.
'What are your orders?' asked Margerital.
"Change our course so that we will intercept that distress call. Put out a message to all Starfleet ships in the area to respond. Use Code 1" Naomi said.
'Aye, Ma'am'
"Do you have any kind of weapons?" Icheb asked.
'Navigational phasers and some low yield torpedoes for demolition work and to blast apart asteroids for mining work' Margerital said.
"Work on dialling up the yield" Naomi said. "If you can, then take some Anti Matter from your storage pods. That should give you a little boost. Dispatch a message to the ship under attack and tell her we are coming to their aid. Wildman out" and she looked around at those around her.
"Captain" said an Ensign, "We are in no position to fight. What do you propose to do?" he asked.
"While we have nothing that could do even the most microscopic damage, we do have the Delta Flyer though. We'll go ahead and cause trouble until we can get some more help. Voyager would never survive another fight at all" Naomi said.
## ## ## ## ##
"Three minutes until intercept" Icheb said.
"Naomi" Mezoti called from the tactical station on the Delta Flyer. "Sensor contact. Port quarter, close aboard. Dominion – Jem'Hadar Battleship class. Course 310"
"Is it turning to follow us?"
"No. It is continuing on its original course" Mezoti replied.
"Track steady on it" Naomi said. "We might be lucky and it decided to leave the ship, and us, alone and get behind its own lines" and they watched as the ship left sensor range at high warp.
"I am picking up the ship on sensors" said Greskrendtregk. He had been pulled aboard by Naomi on the flimsy excuse it was a father/daughter outing.
"What is the damage?" Naomi asked.
"Total. The ship is a complete loss. I doubt that anybody survived the attack. It was a passenger transport craft with a total compliment of about 500 people. I am reading multiple hull breaches, atmosphere venting, radiation from the damaged warp core, and it looks like her back was bro…" Naomi's father stopped speaking as something changed on his panel. "I believe my last statement was in error" he said with a faint smile.
"A survivor?" asked Icheb with some surprise in his voice.
"One Bajoran lifesign is detected. It is in an escape pod, however it can not launch because ejection systems are destroyed" Greskrendtregk replied.
"We are within transporter range" Mezoti said.
"Beam the survivor to the aft section" Naomi said. "Icheb, see if you can pull the ship's computer together enough for a data transfer to our memory banks. Once they are close enough, start relaying the information to the Norland and Voyager for safekeeping. Mezoti, you're with me" and with that she headed towards the back with Mezoti.
"Is she always like this?" Greskrendtregk asked Icheb.
"Oh yes" replied the Brunali, "And I wouldn't have it any other way" he added with a warm grin on his face.
"We need you in here, dad!" shouted Naomi from the Aft section.
#
The lone survivor turned out to be a little Bajoran girl by the name of Saghi. She had been travelling on the transport ship to Earth when her ship had come under attack from the Dominion. They had boarded the ship and started killing the passengers. They were about to kill her too when she had suddenly remembered something, and had shouted loudly that she was Bajoran and that the Dominion had a Non-Aggression pact with her people. They had spared her life, and put her in an escape pod to await rescue by a ship. She had some cut, bruises and a broken ankle as well as a small amount of radiation absorption. They treated her as best they could, but sent her directly to Voyager's sickbay for a complete assessment and treatment by the Doctor. The Hologram was happy to be in his own sickbay once more, and he went around humming a Bajoran lullaby in order to soothe the terrified girl's nerves. A message to Starfleet was sent out, and a hospital ship was dispatched to recover the bodies for transportation to the dead's respective home worlds. Saghi would continue onwards as a passenger on Voyager's trip to Utopia Planetia where she would then be taken to Earth and the Bajoran Embassy located there. It took them a matter of a day and a half to travel from the wrecked ship to the outer reaches of the Solar System, and the combined pair of the Norland and Voyager dropped out just before the Oort Cloud. Whilst on the trip home, the ferry crew had been working to do something special. Taking parts from the spares on the tug, they had patched the impulse drive enough for three quarters. They had managed to restore helm control to the bridge as well, and it was a teary eyed group of friends who took the bridge for the final time on the long way back. After the time they had spent fighting, hiding and travelling, the last four hours seemed to stretch for an age.
"Mr Icheb" Naomi was getting her own back for him calling her Captain the other day outside a formal situation. "Set course for Utopia Planetia – best possible speed" she ordered.
"Aye, Ma'am" Icheb replied, wearing his best tunic for the occasion. All of the friends had word their best tunics for the occasion of Voyager's return home.
"I am detecting a number of ships approaching" Mezoti said.
"Please tell me it isn't the Dominion…" groaned Naomi.
"I am quite certain they are not" Azan said from Ops.
"On screen" Naomi said. She was curious to see what ships were heading towards them. She assumed it was a convoy to one of the battlefronts. The viewscreen flickered into life and Naomi's jaw dropped. Hundreds of ships were approaching Voyager, from shuttles to pleasure yachts, passenger liners and freighters. Powerful Akira class vessels, enormous Galaxy class ships, dependable Excelsior class ships, reliable old Miranda class starships. They had all come out to escort Voyager back the final little distance. As they looked at the fleet, Naomi was certain that she could see the Enterprise-A and the Excelsior picking their way through carefully. They dodged round a couple of Nebulas, Norways and Sabers and flanked Voyager. Azan, Rebi and several of the Starfleet people were busy fielding calls from all of the ships, and Naomi was glad that she could cheat a little and use a recording of her voice to make it appear she was answering everyone. Her father, who was sat at his late wife's station, reported that their arrival was on all the subspace news channels. They watched themselves for a while before Naomi flicked it off because she wanted to do this the proper way.
"I have Utopia Planetia hailing us" said Mezoti.
"On screen" Naomi said, and a recognisable Admiral appeared on the viewscreen.
'Miss Wildman. On behalf of the whole of Starfleet, I wish to congratulate you and your friends for completing the mission that Captain Janeway set herself years ago. Your dedication is an inspiration to everyone in Starfleet'
"Thank you Admiral" Naomi said. "We have three quarters impulse restored, and we're coming in under our own power. As you know, we encountered a number of Dominion ships on our way back, so we have more damage then you were expecting in the first place"
'That is quite alright' said Admiral Paris. 'We have a dock ready for you here. I would consider it an honour to sign your Bell Book personally when you arrive here. Paris out' and the Admiral blipped off the screen.
"Receiving a hail from the Enterprise-A" said Greskrendtregk. Because of the many calls sent to the ship, he had taken over the task of local fleet communications. Before being told to do so, he put the hail on the screen – revealing the face of the President of the United Federation of Planets.
'Miss Wildman, I am so pleased to speak to you at last' he said. 'When I heard Starfleet was sending out an honour guard to escort you back in, I cancelled all of my appointments and jumped on the first ship I could. With your permission, I should like to finish the journey aboard Voyager' and Naomi nodded with a pleased expression on her face.
"I'll go down to the Transporter room and meet you" she began.
'I wouldn't want to make you leave the bridge of your ship' said the President. 'If it is alright with you, I will transport over to your bridge' and Naomi said it would be alright, and the President vanished from the bridge of James Kirk's old ship, and reappeared several feet from Naomi.
"Attention on deck. President, United Federation of Planets, arriving" Icheb said, and everyone on the bridge snapped to attention as the computer toned a bell twice.
"As you were" the President released them.
"Welcome aboard, Mr President" said Naomi, and she shook his hand.
"I am glad to be on this ship" said the man. "I remember seeing this under construction as I came to Earth for my inauguration. When you came back to the Alpha Quadrant, I read with rabid fascination all the logs you and your friends had made, the logs of the crew, the details of the battles you have fought in… This ship will become a legend in its own right" and Naomi led the President around the bridge and introduced him to each of her friends and to her father.
"Estimate three hours until Utopia Planetia" called the Ensign at helm, and Naomi was about to order everything to get going when she had a sudden thought.
"I would consider it an honour if you took the helm, Mr President" she said. The girl knew already how much of an honour Voyager was getting. For the last three hours of its current active service life, it would carry the title of Federation Flagship.
#
Naomi had the visual footage piped through out the ship so the rest of the ferry crew could see it. Every porthole at the massive shipyard and on all the ships docked there was filled with people watching Voyager return to its place of birth. Naomi had relieved the Ensign at the Helm and was guiding in her ship by herself.
"Yard Master reports we are cleared for Drydock 4" said Azan.
"Understood" acknowledged Naomi, and fired a gentle burst of thrusters to swing Voyager round. Instead of docking straight away, the girl decided to be cheeky, and she took the ship on a Victory Lap of the entire facility with every exterior light switched on. But all things come to an end, and she touched the starboard thrusters one more time and swung the ship round to face the dock.
"All stations: prepare for docking" Icheb called out. "All decks and all stations report ready for docking" he told Naomi as he got a series of green lights. With a tap of the impulse engines, the battered but victorious ship sailed towards the lattice structure.
"Standby to attach umbilicals" Rebi said.
"Port docking tubes are standing by" Mezoti put in.
"And three… two… one… shut down" Naomi brought the ship to a complete halt. "Connect umbilicals, disengage and make safe the impulse engines, secure all stations" and put herself on the channel she knew everyone was listening on. "Attention all hands, this is the Captain. We have just completed our docking with Utopia, and we are now on their power supplies. Crew disembarkation will begin as soon as possible. Please make safe all of your stations, and stand by to transfer all data upon orders from the bridge. Wildman out" and she slumped in her seat as it turned to face the rest of the bridge occupants. For the first time, she let all of the tiredness she had felt for over two years wash over her. She had completed Captain Janeway's mission of getting the ship back home.
"Party approaching Midships Port docking tunnel" Azan said.
"I think we should all go down and meet Admiral Paris" Naomi said, and roused herself from the helm and straightened her tunic. "Naomi Wildman to the Doctor" she called, tapping her comm badge.
'Doctor here' came the voice of the hologram.
"Admiral Paris is coming aboard. I wanted everyone ready to meet him" Naomi explained.
'I am on my way' said the Doctor.
"Lieutenant Pigeon, prepare to make a dump of all information to the shipyard's mainframe – except the crew data, logs, and everything else stored in the secondary core. You have the bridge" and with that she stepped into the crowded turbolift and headed down to meet the late Tom Paris's father.
# # # # #
"Request permission to come aboard, Captain?" asked Admiral Paris at the airlock.
"Permission granted, Admiral. Welcome aboard, Sir" Naomi shook hands very maturely with the senior officer. "May I present my friends and faithful crew? This is Icheb, a Brunali. You may be aware he is applying for Starfleet Academy for this year. The twins are named Azan and Rebi, and they are Wysanti. This is Mezoti, a Norcadian. Her people were responsible for killing the crew because they thought we had kidnapped Mezoti. This is the EMH Mark I – the only remaining one to do what it was originally supposed to do" and Admiral Paris felt a chill go through him at the look she gave him when she said that. "You'll find he does a lot more then treat injuries. I have treated him with nothing but the utmost courtesy as if he was a living being. The Bajoran girl here is Saghi. We rescued her from a ship the Dominion attacked. She only survived because she told the boarding Jem'Hadar that she was Bajoran, and therefore was part of the Non Aggression treaty with the Dominion" she pointed out each of her friends in turn plus Saghi.
"I am sure that your mother is proud of you – wherever she may be right now" Paris said.
"I hope so too, Admiral" Naomi said. "Would you care to take a tour of Voyager? Before the repair crews start on her" and Paris nodded in agreement.
"I think I would like that very much" he said, and followed the collection of children, one adult and one hologram all over the ship. The President disembarked and returned to Earth on a shuttle.
# # # # #
"Admiral on deck" said Pigeon as the turbolift doors opened. He and the three Ensigns stood ramrod straight as the group entered from the turbolift.
"As you were" Paris said. "Carry on" and they returned to their work. After a tour of the various bridge stations, Paris, Naomi and her father adjourned to the ready room to speak while the rest of the group got ready to disembark. The Doctor took Saghi to the airlock where a representative of the Bajoran Government was waiting to take custody of her until arrangements could be made for her return to Bajor.
"Admiral Paris" began Greskrendtregk, "Knowing the hard work that my daughter has put into getting this ship home, I was wondering what she would be getting. You must admit that these are exceptional circumstances, and she and her friends should get something other then medals" and Paris nodded his head.
"I am certain things can be arranged" he said.
"I only have a few things that I'd really like" Naomi said. "I want the Doctor recognised as being fully sentient. You did it to Commander Data, and he is an artificial creation like the Doctor. Icheb has his heart set on entering Starfleet Academy. I want you to make sure that there is no possible way he could fail the entry test. As for Mezoti, Azan and Rebi, I don't want them splitting up. I want adoption papers made up so we are all one great big family. As for myself, well… I want nothing more then to spend as much time as possible with my daddy" and she burst into tears at this point and fell into her father's waiting arms. All the stress and strain of over two years of looking out for her friends finally got to her and she cried and cried until she fell asleep.
"That girl is going to need a lot of counselling" Paris said.
"I know" said Greskrendtregk. "However from what her friends tell me, she still misses her mother somewhat badly" and the two talked until Greskrendtregk woke his daughter up. "Naomi, we must be going now. We can all take a shuttlecraft back to the house I have on Earth. I have a large amount of land in the back, and you can run about all day if you so wish" and he dried her tears before the three of them walked back on to the bridge. The Doctor was there as well, and was taking pictures for his holographic picture collection.
"We were waiting for you to come out" said Mezoti, rushing to her best friend and putting an arm around her in support. "We wanted to have a group picture of all of us on the bridge. One of us all at our stations, and one of the group in front of the viewscreen" and the pictures were taken, but then it came to one of the few remaining things Naomi had to do as the commanding officer of the USS Voyager.
"Computer, begin transfer of all remaining data from our memory banks to the shipyard mainframe. Authorisation Mihail Dmitrij Zhenja Boris You Vee Bee 7 6" she ordered it. "Attention all hands: you may disembark at this time. Thank you for your help in getting this ship back home. Wildman out" and she closed the channel and got a round of applause from her friends, father, Admiral Paris and the remaining bridge crew. Pigeon and the Ensign at helm had wanted to remain on duty until the last, so they had brought their duffels to the bridge. The bridge emptied of everybody but Naomi, her father, friends and Admiral Paris.
"I don't want to leave the ship…" Mezoti said.
"You want me to undock and get out of here?" asked Icheb.
"I think that wouldn't really work" Naomi said with a small smile. "Computer: how many people are onboard?" she asked.
'Eight, located on the Bridge' reported the computer.
"We should be going now" said Greskrendtregk. Naomi nodded and she watched as everyone else boarded the turbolift before it whisked them down to the port airlock. Naomi, being the Captain, took a turbolift of her own and did so after one last look at her mother's old station. The turbolift took her speedily to the nearest exit near the airlock, and Naomi walked the corridors alone – feeling the sadness of the occasion.
"We're all ready for you" Admiral Paris said, and the man led the way of the ship and onto the station itself. The last person off the ship was Naomi, and as she passed through the airlock, she glanced around the deserted corridors.
"Thanks" she whispered to the ship. Although battered, broken and leaking vital air, it had fulfilled its duty in getting its crew home – much as Naomi had got her ship home. The girl understood what Janeway had once told her of a ship and its Captain being one half of a relationship.
"Captain, USS Voyager, arriving!" somebody called out, and the drydock's computer toned a bell as Naomi stepped aboard. She saw that her friends and the ferry crew had lined up to one side of the cavernous airlock.
"All crew have disembarked, Admiral" she reported to Paris formally. Naomi was enjoying this little part greatly – pretending that she was Captain Janeway.
"Understood" Paris said. "You may dismiss your crew" he told the girl, and was impressed when she executed a perfect heel turn.
"Crew, Dismiss" and there was a great amount of cheering and applauding which lasted for what seemed like hours.
# # # # #
The Drydock used its cargo transporter to beam the Delta Flyer from the shuttlebay on Voyager to a small airlock on the upper part of the command section. After taking a long deserved three day rest in some quarters given to them, the group boarded the shuttle and started the last part of the trip back to Earth. They cruised along at half impulse, exchanging words with passing ships as they congratulated the group for getting back safely. They landed in a large field behind a house that looked straight out of a Huckleberry Finn novel.
"This is your home" said Greskrendtregk to his daughter the moment they stepped out of the ship.
"This is so cool" Naomi beamed, using a favourite expression of Tom Paris's.
"May I ask where we are going to live?" asked Mezoti.
"I believe my wife adopted you, so you can stay with Naomi and myself. As for the boys, the twins are more then welcome to stay here too. I have more then enough space, and the place has been a little empty these last number of years. Icheb though will not be able to stay for very long" Greskrendtregk said.
"Why not?" asked Naomi with alarm.
"Because I have it on very good authority that he will be accepted into Starfleet Academy" replied her father, and Icheb's jaw dropped in a very un-Icheb like manner.
"How do you know?" he asked.
"I was talking to Admiral Paris after Naomi had cried herself to sleep. He has said that even if you fail the entry tests, they would still admit you to the Academy" Naomi father busied himself for a few moments with the environmental settings. "I believe there is a lot you could ask for, and they would be happy to get you it" he added.
"Do you think they could give us our rooms from the ship?" asked Rebi.
"That is a little unusual, but I would think they would do that, little one" said Greskrendtregk chuckling.
"I must say this is a nice house" said the Doctor. "It must have cost a lot of credits" he added.
"Samantha would often say it was worth it" Greskrendtregk said, looked absent for a moment and then came back to reality. It was clear he was thinking of his late wife. He had spent a lot of time on Starbase 375 reading his wife's written logs, listening to them, watching the visually recorded ones and going over the weekly letters she had written about her life, duties and Naomi growing up. He had been amazed that in the entire time she had been alive in the Delta Quadrant she had never been unfaithful. If she had of been though, he would not have been judgmental of her. He knew of a human's need for companionship and intimacy on occasions. In fact she had been the most faithful of all the crew on the ship, with the only exception being the EMH. This was of course down to the fact Emergency Medical Holograms did not come equipped with a penis as standard.
"Why don't you go find somewhere to rest?" suggested the Doctor.
"I will prepare a home cooked meal for you to enjoy" Greskrendtregk said, and watched as they went to explore the upper floors of the house.
# # # # #
Naomi looked up at the stars in the sky, and for a moment wondered why they looked different to the ones she knew well. It still took her a few minutes to realise she was in the Alpha Quadrant now.
"Is something the matter?" asked Mezoti, putting an arm around her best friend.
"I was thinking about our journey here" Naomi replied, doing the same to Mezoti.
"Oh?" asked the girl. "Anything in particular?" she questioned.
"I was thinking about how well we were able to take care of Voyager – given the fact we were not a bunch of trained Starfleet officers" Naomi said.
"We didn't do too badly did we?" remarked Mezoti, looking up and locating Mars in the night sky. In her imagination, she thought she could see the battle damaged hull of Voyager. The entire Federation had been surprised by the amount of information brought back by the group, and Starfleet was going over every piece of Borg technology which would help defend against another invasion. In the meantime, they had gone over the Borg torpedoes with the assistance of the former drones and started producing their own torpedoes for use on Defiant class vessels. It was estimated that those alone were turning the tide of battle in their favour.
"I don't think we did" agreed Naomi. "I don't think we did too badly for Children in Charge"
A/N:
And so ends Children in Charge 2. I hope that you had as much fun and pleasure reading this as I had writing it. This has been a pleasure to write to be honest as it is different to the Harry Potter and Harry Potter Crossover fics I otherwise write.
References:
The actions that Naomi takes to disable a Jem'Hadar ship is the same sort of tactic used by the Breen to disable the Defiant before destroying her as well as other allied ships during the Dominion war.
Also in the same part, Kellicams is a Klingon term. Most writers use English terms, but I added it for a bit of a difference and authenticity.
A third thing in that bit is a little bit of dialogue from the TNG episode "Arsenel of Freedom"
The name of the tug that is sent out to bring Voyager back is named after the real life ferry MV Norland – a Falklands War veteran which took most of 2 Para down there (with the original P&O crew CHOOSING to remain aboard… badass or what?).
Saghi appeared in DS9 as a girl that spoke to Sisko when the Pah Wraiths sealed the Prophets in the wormhole (she asked him to make the Prophets come back), and spoke to him briefly before his Christopher Pike ceremony. She also spoke to him and Cassidy Yates before their marriage asking to be the Bajoran version of flower girl.
The Non Aggression Pact that is mentioned ensured that Bajor was not occupied by the Cardassians a second time during the time the Dominion had DS9 again.
If we have any Hunt For Red October fans in the house this evening, then I am sure you'll notice the piece of dialogue when they save Saghi.
The appearances of both the Enterprise-A and the Excelsior are nods to the films, but also refer to something mention in a previous chapter when it is said both ships are in the fleet museum.
The fleet that brings Voyager home is based on the one seen in Endgame Part 2, but I made it bigger and better – again based on the Falklands War when most of the ships returned to the UK. If you look at footage of the Canberra (in particular) returning, you'll know what I mean!
A Bell Book is used to note a ship's arrival into a port. I believe it more a navy thing, though I could be mistaken.
#
For the first and only time for this fic, I have a list of musical scores for key points in this chapter. (Each one listed with track number and details)
Dominion Attack – 11. Battle for Peace (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)
Voyager Gets Engines Working – 3. Clear All Moorings (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)
The arrival of the fleet – 9. The Heroes' March (The Last Starfighter)
Voyager docks one more time – 12. Signing Off (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)
Looking around the bridge – 10. Dining On Ashes (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)
Naomi walks the corridors for the final time – 19. An Ocean of Memories (Titanic)
Once again, thank you for taking the time to read this story. Can not wait for your kind reviews as you always give me – well most of you anyway….
For the last time, please leave a review on the way out…
Regards
Pixel