Disclaimer: All characters, vessels, and science belong to Paramount with the exception of Sarah Janeway and anything else that I made up.
Author's Note: Remember-- You will NOT find out who Sarah's father is UNTIL towards the end of second season so please be patient. Thanks to everyone that's been reading this. It was pretty cool—I logged my fanfic account and this story had like 700 or so hits. When I logged back on later, it had jumped up to 900+ hits!! And now it's up past 1300+ hits!! Thanks guys!!
Anomaly
'Caretaker, Part One'
A soft breeze rustled the leaves of the trees in the Federation Penal Settlement in New Zealand as Captain Kathryn Janeway approached a group of inmates hard at work. She tried not to think of Sarah in Indiana, packing her most precious belongings and saying goodbye to her friends, as she resumed an authoritative captain's attitude. This mission was serious business—she had to get back into a commanding presence. There was no time to be caring and motherly.
She approached one man with sandy brown hair and inquired, "Tom Paris?" The man glanced up. He's so young, she thought, trying to ignore the ankle monitor he wore. "I'm Kathryn Janeway. I served with your father on the Al-Batani. I'd like to speak to you about a job I'd like you to do."
Tom crossed his arms. "I don't know. I'm already doing a job for the Federation," he sarcastically replied.
"The Rehab Commission is very pleased with your work and they've given me permission to discuss the matter with you."
He shrugged indifferently. "Then I guess I'm yours."
Tom followed her to a shaded area and they started to walk. Kathryn could tell it might be struggle to secure his assistance but knew that they needed him. Trying to break the ice, she commented, "I was your father's science officer on the Arias Expedition."
He responded with a partial smile. "You must be good. He only takes the best and brightest."
Time to cut to the chase, she thought, and she launched into her story. "We need your help, Tom. My mission is to track down Maquis ship that disappeared in the Badlands a week ago."
He frowned. "I'd advise against it, captain. I've never seen a Federation starship that could maneuver through plasma storms."
"You've never seen Voyager."
"Let me guess. You want me to take you to the Maquis."
"That's correct."
"I was only with them for a few weeks. I don't know very many of their hiding places."
"You know the territory better than anyone the Federation has."
Paris crossed his arms and gave the captain a sideways look. "Why that particular ship?"
"My chief of security had infiltrated the ship. He hasn't reported in some time."
"Maybe it's just your security chief who's gone missing."
"Doubtful." Captain Janeway looked at Paris squarely. "The ship was under the command of Chakotay, a former Starfleet officer."
"I knew him," Paris admitted. "But we never got along. Chakotay left Starfleet 'on principle' to defend his home colony. He considered me a mercenary who joined with anyone that would pay my bar bill." He gave a hollow laugh. "And he was right."
Tom got a serious look on his face and turned again to face Kathryn. "I don't have a problem helping you track down the Maquis, but I want to know what's in this for me."
"If you help us find the Maquis, we'll help you at your next outmate review." She replied. "Officially on this mission you'll be a Starfleet observer, nothing more."
Indignantly, Paris replied, "Captain, that's ridiculous! I'm the best pilot you could have!"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Paris. You'll have to be satisfied with observing."
Tom shook his head. "Story of my life."
Two days later, Sarah found herself on a shuttle with her mother headed for Deep Space Nine. She sat up tall in the seat adjacent her mother's, restraining herself from touching the control panel in front of her. She knew she was partaking in an incredible adventure. Almost feeling like a co-pilot, she tried to wait patiently as the shuttle made its way to the station.
Sarah felt eyes on her and turned to see her mother looking at her intently. "What is it mama?" she asked.
Kathryn sighed and looked away. "Nothing I guess."
Sarah was too intuitive for that. "You're worried I'll get hurt, among other things."
"I suppose it's too late to worry about that now."
"Don't worry mama. I promise I'll be careful."
"I know you will sweetie, but the Badlands are dangerous. I feel bad enough taking a crew of strangers in there, let alone my only child."
Sarah reached over and took her hand. "Don't worry. Everything will work out."
Kathryn smiled and squeezed her daughter's hand affectionately. "I believe you. Now, do you want to see the station or go straight to the ship?"
"The ship," Sarah said firmly.
"Then we're here," Kathryn said, carefully piloting the shuttle into view.
Sarah gasped and kneeled on her seat as her mother recited, "The U.S.S. Voyager. NCC 74656. Intrepid class. Variable warp nacelle configuration, giving it a sustainable cruising speed of warp 9.975. 15 decks, crew complement of 141. Bio-neural circuitry."
"The bio-neural gel packs help speed up the ship's processes, right?"
"That's right."
Sarah gazed at the sleek little ship in wonder. It was a thing of beauty, built for speed. As she took in the image before her, she suddenly felt slightly nauseas. She could feel her stomach quivering.
"Sarah, what's wrong?" her mother inquired.
"Nothing. I just felt kinda sick." Immediately, Sarah realized what she'd said and slapped a hand over her mouth.
"Then we're going to swing by Sick Bay."
"No! No, mama, please no!" All the color drained from her little face as she backed away from her mother, shaking her head in fear.
"Sarah—"
"Mama, no!"
"I understand," Kathryn told her daughter. "I know how much you hate anything to do with medical places but I don't want you getting sick before we've even left."
Sarah had jammed herself into a tiny space behind her seat and had her hands over her ears and was shrieking, "No, no, no!"
Kathryn sighed. Her daughter was usually a perfect angel but she had two major vices. The first was her aversion to anything medical related, the result of the excessive time she'd had to spend at various medical facilities as a baby. She would throw fits even at the mention of a doctor's office. In that kind of a state, it was impossible to talk to her until she'd yelled herself out. It had been war to get her in for annual physicals.
The second was her stubbornness. If she were convinced that she was right, she absolutely would not budge. She was headstrong when defending her position which could be an admirable trait but wasn't always a good thing, especially in a child.
Now Kathryn ignored the shouts coming from behind her and carefully piloted the shuttle into the shuttle bay. When they were docked, she turned around to find Sarah pale but through with her fit. She knelt down in front of her daughter and quietly said, "Let's go to Sick Bay really quickly and if you're good we'll run up to the Bridge. How's that?"
Sarah looked at the floor, then up at her mother and nodded with a ghost of a smile on her face.
The two left Sick Bay with their luggage, which they quickly dropped off at the Transporter Room to be beamed directly to their quarters. Sarah couldn't even carry hers alone, due to the fact that her bags were stuffed with all her birthday gifts as well as additional favorite toys and books.
As they walked through the corridors to Sick Bay, Sarah craned her neck all around, trying to see everything at once. The ship was obviously brand new. The corridors were huge, bright caverns to the small girl, and the control panels along the walls were a fascinating puzzle. She was so distracted she didn't even notice that they had arrived outside of Sick Bay.
Entering the room, Sarah had a death grip on her mother's wrist but she wasn't yelling which was a good sign. Kathryn called out for the chief medical officer who approached them from his office. "Captain," he greeted her. "What can I help you with?"
"Could you take a quick look at Sarah? She felt a little queasy on the way here."
"Certainly," he said, and he picked up a tricorder and proceeded to take some scans.
Sarah had her hands clenched and her teeth gritted. Her face seemed to say 'do your worst'. She glanced around Sick Bay quickly. The CMO and a Vulcan nurse were the only people in the room. Taking a closer look at them, she suddenly was engulfed by a strange feeling of loss and sadness. Confused, she slightly shook her head as the doctor was saying, "Nothing serious. Just nerves, anxiety. She'll be fine."
"Thank you doctor."
"You're welcome. Captain, while you're here I have a question. I received your medical records, as well as your daughter's. Your daughter's seem to be missing—"
"I know," Kathryn answered shortly. "It's a long story and I really have a lot to do before we depart. I'll explain later."
He nodded, "Acknowledged."
The two of them left Sick Bay and made their way to a turbo-lift and Kathryn instructed it to take them to the bridge. When the doors swished open at their destination, Sarah was awestruck. They stepped out and she got a better look at everything—the conn, the science station, the star-studded view screen, ops, tactical, and the command chairs. It was to these last two that Sarah gravitated. She ran her small hand on the arm of the captain's chair.
Her mother came up behind her and whispered, "Go ahead. No one's looking."
Sarah grinned widely and carefully seated herself. In her freshly pressed red turtleneck, sleek black slacks, polished boots, and carefully French-braided hair, she looked just like a mini Starfleet captain. "Make it so!" she said, in an uncanny imitation of Captain Jean-Luc Picard.
After a few minutes, Kathryn announced that she needed to go to her ready room. Again, for some unknown reason, all the color drained from her daughter's face as the girl touched the armrest of the first officer's chair.
Sternly, Kathryn insisted, "Sarah, you need to get something for that queasiness. Do you remember where Sick Bay is? I really need to get to work."
Sarah nodded.
"Head down there and ask for something to settle your stomach. It'll only take a second and it won't hurt. Can you be a big girl and do that for me?"
"Yes mama," she replied obediently.
However, as she approached the Sick Bay doors once more, she accidentally ran headlong into one of two men who were exiting them. She bounced off him and hit her head on the wall behind her and slid down to a sitting position. Rubbing the sore spot, she looked up and felt herself freeze up. They were officers, two men she'd never seen before in her life. She quickly stammered an apology. "I-I-I'm sorry sirs. It won't happen again, I swear…"
The taller man, a sandy haired, blue-eyed command officer helped her up. "Easy kid. No big deal."
He turned to the Asian operations officer standing next to him and commented, "This isn't a Galaxy class ship, Harry. I didn't realize there would be kids on board."
Sarah said, "I'm the only one, sir." She had snapped to attention.
The tall man's eyes widened. "Hey, easy. We're not going to report you. And you don't have to 'sir' me. I'm just 'an observer'," He stuck out his hand. "Tom Paris."
She shook it, a smile spreading across her face. "I know who you are!"
"You do?" He looked a little nervous.
She nodded.
The Asian man followed suit. "Harry Kim."
Sarah smiled and replied, "Sarah Janeway,"
Now they were quiet. "Uh, the captain's daughter?"
She nodded. For some reason, all her feelings of sickness had disappeared to be replaced with a feeling of destiny. "Are you two going to the bridge?"
They nodded.
"Can I walk with you?"
"Sure," they assented.
Once on the bridge, Sarah followed Harry and Tom to her mother's ready room. She slipped quietly away to sit on the couch as her mother rose to greet the two officers.
"Welcome aboard Voyager, gentlemen," Captain Janeway said. She tried to ignore the fact that her daughter was in the room. Now was the time for formality and protocol. As promised, she couldn't let the fact that her daughter was on board interfere with her duties.
Standing at full attention, Ensign Kim stiffly replied, "Thank you, sir." Tom Paris looked at him curiously.
"At ease, ensign, before you sprain something," she replied, trying very hard not to look amused. "In addition, ensign, protocol aside, I don't like being addressed as 'sir'."
"I'm sorry…ma'am."
Captain Janeway smiled. "'Ma'am' is acceptable in a crunch but I prefer 'captain'. If you gentleman would care to follow me to the bridge," she said, gesturing to the door. "Sarah, you can stay for the launch but afterwards you'll have to go to our quarters."
"Thanks," she replied with a winning smile.
Nice kid, Tom thought as he followed Harry onto the bridge.
Sarah hung back away from the center of activity as her mother introduced the two men, Tom and Harry, to her first officer, Commander Cavit. He shook hands heartily with Ensign Kim, but shook Tom's very reluctantly and only after Tom stuck out his hand. That's really rude, she thought, rather rankled. No matter what he's done.
Her mother then showed Kim to the Ops console, where he made the mistake of addressing her as 'ma'am' again. "It's not crunch time yet, Mr. Kim. I'll let you know when," she replied.
At Janeway's nod, Commander Cavit instructed Lieutenat Stadi to lay in their course and clear departure with Operations. Stadi confirmed it as they completed the pre-launch sequence.
At Captain Janeway's command of "Engage," Sarah could have sworn she felt the deck plates move beneath her feet, though she knew it had to be her imagination since the inertial dampers were on. This is it, she thought, feeling excited and scared as the ship departed Deep Space Nine for the Badlands, though she she somehow knew that the Badlands wouldn't be the end of it. We're on our way.
Author's Note: Sorry it's soooooooooooooooo long but I had a lot of information to pass along. XD Looks like maybe my version of Caretaker will have to be three parts instead of two. XD