Chapter 5: Earth, San Francisco, Torres-Paris Family Residence, 2400

L'Naan Paris wasn't exactly resentful that her high school graduation hadn't attracted as much attention as her sister Miral's graduation from Starfleet Academy. For one thing, Miral was about to board a starship and disappear on a six-month tour of duty, and she had just gotten engaged to her childhood sweetheart. Both events were worthy of celebration, L'Naan understood. Her own graduation was rather anticlimactic, since she had essentially finished "high school" at the age of sixteen and had spent the past two years taking university-level courses while trying unsuccessfully to pass two remaining required classes for her diploma: abstract art (which her father thought was funny) and physical education (which her mother thought was embarrassing).

Only days before Miral's graduation, she had finished a hideous sculpture intended to represent avarice and had managed to complete a series of track and field tests – setting no records, but managing to utilize her Klingon stamina to at least finish the events. Her graduation from high school was now official.

The Daystrom Institute for Artificial Intelligence on Galor IV had provisionally accepted her application for admission two years earlier, and L'Naan could have matriculated without completing her high school diploma. Her father, however, had encouraged her to remain on Earth, noting that she'd have the rest of her life to be an engineer but only a few years to enjoy being a teenager. Now that she was eighteen and carried a diploma, however, she had alerted the Institute of her intention to matriculate in the fall. She was one step closer to achieving her childhood dream of building of an android.

Her last summer at home had been mapped out months in advance. She would spend a few weeks visiting "Grandpa T," her mother's father, and then she would join Professor Chakotay and some of his students on an excavation on a moon in the Krylar system. From there, she would catch a passenger transport to Galor IV.

The carefully constructed plans had come unraveled after her first "date" with the Q she called Charlie. Apart from intriguing her, he had asked to join the Q Continuum. L'Naan still wasn't sure what that entailed, and she hadn't decided whether or not she was going to agree to do it; she did know without a doubt, however, that she would no longer be spending the summer hanging out with an old man or digging for buried archaeological treasure.

She was treading lightly around her parents, who were much less enthusiastic about Charlie's offer. As she padded to the kitchen that morning in her pajamas, L'Naan tried to figure out the best way she could break the news to her grandfather and mother.

The smell of freshly made raktajino hit her nose before she reached the kitchen doorway, and L'Naan could hear strains of a conversation between her mother and father.

"…never really thought about it," B'Elanna was saying. "If I had, maybe I would have tried harder to forgive him."

"You can't blame yourself," Tom said. "You did forgive him. You just didn't become friends with him. You have nothing to regret."

"That's easy for you to say. Look at you and your father now. Your mother even lived long enough to see the two of you become friends."

"Good morning," L'Naan interrupted cautiously. Her parents, both seated at the kitchen table, turned to look at her. "What's going on?"

"Sit down, squirt," her father said with a tense look on his face. "We have some bad news."

L'Naan took a seat at the table as instructed. Her mother laid a hand atop hers. "Grandpa T is dead," she explained.


Earth, Indiana, Bloomington, Janeway Residence

L'Naan stormed across the backyard toward Admiral Janeway and Charlie, who were kneeling in front of the flower beds. Just as Charlie held up a yellow poppy for Janeway's inspection, L'Naan shoved him squarely in the chest, knocking spring bloom out of his hands.

"L'Naan, what are you doing?" Janeway demanded as she stooped to retrieve the fallen flower.

But L'Naan didn't hear. "You," she growled, shoving Charlie again and knocking him a few steps backward. "You did this! You selfish monster!" She gave him one last, hard push.

The look of surprise on Charlie's face didn't register with her until he had already tripped on a rock. Charlie stumbled backward, arms flailing, and landed on his back on the hard spring ground. He sat up, slightly dazed, and tentatively touched the back of his head with two fingers.

Prepared to pounce on him, L'Naan stopped cold when she saw him bring his hand back to look at it: it was covered with blood.

"Charlie, what the hell?" she cried, pulling him to his feet.

Janeway dropped the bouquet she was holding and rushed over to them. She pressed her palm against the back of Charlie's head to stop the bleeding and led them back inside the house.

After Charlie's wound had been tended and both young people had calmed slightly, Janeway sat them down at the kitchen table. "All right," she said in a no-nonsense voice usually reserved for Starfleet subordinates. "Out with it. Why did you attack him? And how can you possibly bleed?"

Charlie and L'Naan exchanged a slightly nervous look, and Janeway realized there was a conspiracy at work.

L'Naan cleared her throat. "Admiral, I'm sorry I came bursting in like that," she said sincerely. "I just found out that my grandfather died."

Janeway's eyes widened. "The admiral?"

"No, ma'am, my mom's father. I was supposed to spend the next month visiting him, and when I found out he was dead, I thought Charlie had something to do with it to keep me here."

"I wouldn't do that," Charlie told them.

"What about your father?" L'Naan asked.

Charlie shook his head. "Your grandfather died of natural causes."

She bit her lip. "Well, can't you bring him back?"

"I'm really sorry, L'Naan," he said earnestly.

"I'm sorry, too," Janeway said, patting L'Naan's hand lovingly. "I know you were close." L'Naan nodded. "But that still doesn't explain how Charlie got injured."

Charlie looked at L'Naan. You promised you wouldn't tell her.

I won't.

"Just part of the experiment of trying to be human," Charlie explained lightly. "It's definitely not one of the better aspects of mortal life. I won't try it again, Aunt Kathy. I promise. I'm sorry if I scared you."

Janeway's lips pressed together into a thin line. She now had all the evidence she needed to determine that there was more to Charlie's arrival and to his request of L'Naan than either of them was willing to tell her. She just wasn't sure what she was going to do about it.


Greece, Mykonos, Paraga Beach

L'Naan surveyed the crowded beach, averting her eyes from the nude sunbathers. She spotted an empty patch of sand and pointed. "There."

As she led them toward their destination, she heard Charlie comment, "Finally some humans who understand how ridiculous clothing is."

L'Naan whirled around. "You are not taking off your bathing suit," she informed him.

"But those people over there –"

"It's been a tradition for people to go nude on this beach for centuries," her friend Lenaris chimed in. "Personally I prefer to remain covered up, but who are we to fly in the face of tradition?"

Charlie looked toward L'Naan again, but her eyes warned him that he'd already gotten her final verdict on the matter.

As she and Lenaris arranged their beach towels, Charlie watched them, uncertain of what to do. Then the two girls spread out on the towels, facing up to the midday sun.

"Come on," L'Naan encouraged, squinting up at Charlie. He was drinking in the sight of her and Lenaris in their bathing suits, and she'd caught him red-handed. She blushed slightly but couldn't resist smiling. "Lie down next to me."

Charlie did as instructed, lying on his back with his hands stiffly folded across his chest. "Now what?"

L'Naan laughed. "Loosen up. You're supposed to be relaxing."

"Hasn't he ever been to a beach before?" Lenaris whispered from her place at L'Naan's left.

"He doesn't get out much."

Although L'Naan was still uncertain whether or not she was going to agree to help Charlie, and although she still felt upset at the loss of her grandfather, she had to acknowledge that the summer was offering her fresh possibilities. Having a little time to spend with her best friend and new Q pal on a sun-drenched beach in Greece was certainly a plus.

After a quiet half-hour, Charlie sat up. "I'm dripping liquid," he complained.

"You're sweating," L'Naan corrected without opening her eyes.

"I feel hot." He looked out at the cresting surf and the people laughing as they splashed in it. "I'm going to get in the water." When he saw a look of worry cross L'Naan's face, he added, "I know how to swim."

"Just remember that you need to breathe," she reminded him as he headed toward the shoreline.

Lenaris flipped onto her stomach and looked at her. "Okay, L'Naan, what is with your friend?"

"What do you mean?"

"He's definitely not human. And if you've really been friends for a long time, why is this the first time I've ever met him? You've never mentioned anybody named Charlie before."

L'Naan sat up and shielded her eyes from the sun. "It's kind of complicated, Lenaris."

"Since when do we keep secrets from each other?" she pressed. L'Naan hesitated, and she demanded more forcefully, "What's going on?"

Out in the water Charlie was squatting down slightly so that the waves crashed over his shoulders. He was smiling, and it was clear that he was enjoying himself. L'Naan smiled back, happy to see him having a good time for the first time since she'd met him.

Lenaris followed L'Naan's gaze toward Charlie with a frown. "You are completely in love with him," she said with an accusatory tone. "Just tell me where you met him. Is he from the Enterprise? Is that where you know him from?"

"Yes," L'Naan lied easily. "We were in school together on the Enterprise. We haven't seen each other since then. That's why I never told you about him."

"What's he doing on Earth now?" Lenaris asked carefully.

Still watching Charlie, L'Naan explained, "The Enterprise is in orbit for a few days, and then Charlie's staying behind so he can start university in the fall."

"Oh, I see." Lenaris sat up abruptly. "You are lying!"

"I am not!"

"Yes, you are! I can tell by the way your left eye twitches a little. And the Enterprise is nowhere near this sector right now. I just read about an article about it in the newsfeed this morning."

L'Naan sighed and turned to her friend. "You're right. I'm lying. I'm sorry."

"What's going on?"

"Look, Lenaris, you're my best friend, but you have to trust me. I can't talk about this – about him – with anyone – not even you."

That wasn't the whole truth, for which L'Naan felt slightly guilty. After all, she had told Miral and Andrew, her parents, and Admiral Janeway and Chakotay. She was reasonably certain that by now Harry and Libby, the Doctor, Reg Barclay, and Icheb all knew about Charlie's offer, too. But they were all connected with Starfleet or with Andrew's birth somehow, and that set them apart. Telling a complete outsider like Lenaris just didn't seem right.

But she recognized the hurt in her friend's eyes. They'd been friends for a long time, and Lenaris was right: they rarely, if ever, kept secrets from each other. The last thing L'Naan wanted to do was drive a wedge between them a few weeks before they headed off to different schools. It was just one more to add to the list of challenges Charlie's arrival had presented her.

"I'm sorry," she said again as Charlie came sloshing out of the water. He dropped onto the towel to her right, diverting her attention.


USS Galileo, Private Quarters of Ensign Miral Paris

Andrew took one last look around Miral's quarters. It was only a sixth-month mission – short by Starfleet standards, he had to remind himself. He took her hand and kissed it gently.

"You always cause trouble the minute before I leave to go somewhere," she said as a warning.

"I won't this time," he promised. It was true. They'd spent every possible second together over the past few days, and any time they weren't talking about L'Naan, they were making love or talking about their future together. He wasn't exactly sick of Miral – he was too in love for that – but he didn't feel that her departure necessitated any kind of drama. When she first accepted the assignment on the Galileo, Andrew had been worried about the strain the light-years between them would put on their relationship and had feared something happening to Miral during her mission. He wasn't sure he was ready to admit it to her, but something about Q's announcement gave him more confidence that even though she was shipping out, she'd come back to him.

"I'll talk to you every day after my duty shift ends," Miral pledged. Andrew nodded. "I'm really worried about leaving right now. My sister doesn't really have a lot of friends to confide in."

"True," Andrew said, "but she does have at least ten people who consider themselves her godparents and aunts and uncles."

"You know, Drew, it's funny. When we were little, no one really worried about her. They all thought she was precocious, and it amused them, but everyone was always sticking their nose in my business. Worrying about me, giving me unsolicited advice. I was the one everyone thought needed guidance." She laughed slightly. "I guess that's really changed, hasn't it? L'Naan – she – she's smart, Drew, but she doesn't understand how life works in some ways. I mean, I always wanted to bend things my way, but I understand now that that's not how it works. L'Naan has this idealistic belief that the universe is on the side of the good, and that people have noble intentions. If Q sets her up to get hurt..." She frowned. "You have to promise me you'll look out for her."

"I will," he promised. "I'll look out for her."

"Q makes her feel important," Miral continued. "You have to remind her that going to the Daystrom Institute has always been her dream – and that it's equally important."

Andrew nodded again. "I'll try. I'll do whatever I can."

"Do you know she actually took him swimming on Mykonos?"

"Miral, I said I'd keep you posted."

"Okay, okay," she said with a nod, trusting that he'd take care of L'Naan as she would. She handed him a padd. "And you have to work on plans for the wedding."

"It's six months away!" he protested as he accepted the padd. "What is this?"

"Some notes I made since I won't be around to help you. Ask your mom for help, too. Don't ask my mom – she's terrible at things like that. But you should talk to her about it once in awhile. She'd never say anything to either of us, but if you don't let her voice her opinion from time to time, she'll feel left out."

"Miral, this is starting to feel less and less like a good-bye and more and more like a briefing."

She smirked. "You have a lot of responsibilities while I'm gone."

"I have to work, too, you know," he reminded her impatiently. "It's not as though I'll be sitting at home just waiting for you to return."

"Speaking of home…."

Andrew nearly groaned. "You're going to tell me to find my own place to live."

"Drew, we can't live with your parents after we're married."

"Why not? You won't be around most of the time, so what do you care where I live?"

"Honey, we need our own place," she insisted. She took the padd from his hands and set in on the dining table. Then she placed her hands on his chest. "Trust me, your dad wants you out of the house. Ask my dad to help you to find an apartment. He's good at that kind of stuff. But don't let him talk you into Oakland. I want to stay in San Francisco. Try to find something in the Mission District."

Andrew put his hands on her hips and pulled her closer. "You're getting really bossy, you know that? Have you forgotten that I outrank you?"

"Let's get one thing straight," she said in authoritative voice. She tapped his chest with her index finger. "You might outrank me at work for the rest of our lives, but I will always outrank you at home. Got it?"

He tried to bite her outstretched finger, but she pulled it back. "And what happens if I decide to be insubordinate?"

"Then you will be punished."

"What kind of punishment?" he asked, his lips nearly touching hers. He caressed the side of her face with the tips of his fingers.

"Try it and find out." She took his mouth with her own, and they kissed deeply for a moment until the computer interrupted them.

"The time is now 1630."

"We depart in a half-hour," she told him. "Time for you to go." She kissed him quickly. "I'll walk you to the transporter room."