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: Wow—an update ahead of schedule!! Shocking, I know. Hey, I REALLY want to get into season two so I can reveal Sarah's father! Plus, season two has some amazing episodes.
I just wanted to let you all know that you are amazing and I don't know what I'd do without you. 44 reviews and 4075+ hits is fantastic!!!! I'm so happy you all like this story so well.
In addition, I'd like a special shout-out to go to Emily Rayne Paris and BorgGirl12 for reviewing each and every chapter. Thanks for sticking with me!!
Anomaly
'Parallax'
Sarah Janeway tried her very best not to skip as she walked through Voyager's corridors. She felt that she ought to be extremely upset that they were cut off from Earth and family and friends but the truth was—she just wasn't. She missed her friends and family, certainly, but being on Voyager was like a dream come true.
Like most children, she had adjusted very quickly to the new circumstances and settled in to a new way of life. Unlike most children, she knew just how difficult the situation was on the adults. She had seen so many crewmembers wandering around looking thoroughly forlorn ever since they had been officially stranded in the Delta Quadrant. She pitied them, but knew there wasn't much she could do.
Currently, she was headed for Sick Bay. Her mother had insisted she undergo a physical, due to the fact that since their arrival at the other end of the galaxy, she had been badly injured, probed, and exposed to several unknown factors. She wasn't looking forward to it, but she was no longer terrified out of her mind. Something about the past few days had made her fear of medical related things seem completely illogical. She still detested them, since her experiences as a baby had been firmly ingrained in her mind, but she no longer feared them as she had.
She entered Sick Bay and immediately wanted to step back out into the hallway. Lieutenant Joe Carey was lying on a bio bed in the back of the room, blood dripping down his face, and yelling that B'Elanna had broken his nose. The Doctor had to keep pushing him back down as he tried to repair the damage, as Carey insisted on sitting up and relaying his extreme anger to Chakotay and Tuvok who stood at the foot of the bed. The altercation had apparently resulted from a difference of opinion concerning a power grid.
Maybe this is a bad time, Sarah thought nervously.
The two senior officers suddenly turned around and walked past her on their way out. The door had nearly closed when she remembered that she had a question for Tuvok. The Doctor can't see me for a while anyway, she thought, and then ran after their retreating backs.
Coming up behind them, she realized too late that they were arguing. Tuvok wanted to have Torres thrown in the brig, while Chakotay wanted to have a chance to deal with her on his own.
"She's been my officer for years," the tall dark man insisted. "I can handle this without involving the captain."
The former Maquis seemed to sense a presence behind him and turned to see Sarah following at a distance. Heatedly, he said to her, "I suppose now you're off to tell your mother everything you heard."
Sarah's brow creased angrily. Folding her arms and frowning at him, she replied, "I had a question for Tuvok but it can wait. The issue you were discussing is for the senior staff to deal with. It's none of my business, and I'm not a tattletale." Looking at him squarely, she added, "If you'll excuse me." She then turned on her heel and returned to Sick Bay.
Chakotay, in shock, watched her go. Had he just been chastised by a little girl?
Tuvok spoke up. "You will find that Sarah Janeway, though quite young, has a mind unlike other children. She completely understands Starfleet regulations and comprehends things on an adult level. I would suggest you address her as such."
Chakotay filed the information away for future encounters. "Getting back to B'Elanna," he continued. "Let me try to deal with the situation first. If things don't work out, I'll go to the captain."
Tuvok stood for a moment, contemplating, then raised one eyebrow in typical Vulcan fashion. "Very well, Commander."
On his way to B'Elanna's quarters, the former Maquis captain was approached by two of his Maquis officers. Crewman Jarvin and Ensign Seska, who whispered of supporting a mutiny if he did. Angrily he rounded on them, threatening, "If I ever hear you talk that way again, I'll personally throw you in the brig for mutiny!" He hurried off, leaving two rather confused crewmembers behind.
Why do I feel so loyal to this captain?, he questioned himself. I hardly know the woman, she was sent to hunt my ship down, she can be rough at times, and her daughter clearly hates me. What is it?
He entered B'Elanna's quarters and was promptly almost nailed by a flying plate. She wasn't in a talking mood and wanted nothing to do with his suggestions of apologizing to Carey.
"I hate him," B'Elanna growled.
"Do you know how childish that sounds?" Chakotay countered. He paused, then added, "Carey might be next in line, but I want you to be chief engineer." He headed for the door.
"What does the captain think of this?" she asked, reluctantly interested.
Chakotay looked at her, then his shoes, then back at her. "She hasn't said a word because I haven't told her yet," he admitted.
When he entered the briefing room, young Sarah Janeway was just leaving. Their eyes met briefly as she crossed the threshold. As he took his seat and the door closed behind her, it hit him. I know those eyes, he realized. Someone at the Academy…no, someone we learned about at the Academy…yes, someone we learned about. But who? His revelation was interrupted by the captain calling the meeting to order.
Captain Kathryn Janeway began the meeting by bringing the shortage of power and personnel to everyone's attention. "We have to be careful with what we have," she cautioned, though she was sure everyone knew just how much they would have to become self-sufficient. "We don't have the luxury falling back on a starbase anymore. I need suggestions."
Kes spoke up in her calm, unhurried way. "The replicators draw a lot of power. If we grew some of our own food, that would lessen their usage. Cargo bay 2 could be converted to a hydroponics lab without a lot of work."
Kathryn nodded. "That will be your responsibility, Kes. Now, we are in dire need of a chief engineer."
Chakotay inhaled and thought, Here goes nothing. "B'Elanna Torres was my chief engineer for years. She knows almost all there is to know about engineering. If she doesn't know how to fix something, she won't stop until she does. She's also exceptional at improvising in pinch."
The captain felt the cool metal of the conference room table beneath her hands as she lightly drummed her fingers upon its surface. "I'll take it into consideration," she finally said, trying not to sound too reluctant. Chakotay was her first officer and he had every right to make a suggestion. He also seemed to have very good reasons for recommending Torres. She sounded like an excellent engineer. Why am I so hesitant?, she asked herself
Brushing the subject off for a moment, she brought up another of equal importance. "We also lost our entire medical staff. We're going to have to remedy that situation." Glancing at Tom Paris, she remarked, "Mr. Paris, you took biochemistry at the Academy, did you not?"
Tom looked a little startled as he sat up straighter and replied, "Yes, I did, but…"
Kathryn Janeway raised one hand and interrupted. "Congratulations. You just became a field medic."
The staff briefing and any further protestations from Tom were interrupted as the ship began to shake violently. Everyone immediately made their way to the bridge as the deck beneath them shuddered forcefully.
"Report!" the captain called out.
"We've encountered a spatial disturbance," Seska reported from her station.
"It's a Type-4 quantum singularity," Harry Kim specified. "There's a ship caught near the event horizon."
"On screen," Janeway ordered.
The image wasn't much good—a tiny grey ship obscured by the singularity was barely visible.
"We're receiving a transmission from the ship," Harry added, and patched it through. The message was erratic and garbled by heavy static. Nothing could be made out of the communication, even after Harry's valiant attempts to clean it up. In addition, there was no response to the message they sent in response.
"Tractor beam?" the captain inquired.
"Too much subspace interference."
Feeling as though he were taking his life into his hands, Chakotay tapped his commbadge, and, determinedly avoiding eye contact with Janeway, he contacted his engineer.
"Torres, any suggestions?"
After a slight pause, her reply came through. "I would recommend that we remodulate a tractor beam to match the subspace interference."
Keeping her face impassive, Kathryn contacted her engineer. "Carey, get to work with her on it."
"Aye captain."
Turning to her first officer, she said quietly, "Commander, will you come to my ready room?"
I knew it, he thought as he followed her off to the side of the bridge. She's furious.
Sarah awakened from her nap on the couch of the ready room to angry voices. She lay completely still as she listened to her mother and Chakotay argue about duty and protocol.
"I'm disappointed, Chakotay. Why would you ask Torres for solution, rather than Carey? You still consider the Maquis to be your people, don't you?"
"I thought Torres would give me a quicker answer. She's the best engineer I've ever known. She could teach at the Academy! You're right, Captain, I do consider these to be my people because nobody else on this ship will look out for them like I will. And I'm telling you: you're going to have to give them more authority if you want their loyalty."
"Theirs or yours, Commander?" Kathryn Janeway's face was calm but angry.
Chakotay shook his head, eyes flashing. "I have no intention of being your token Maquis officer!"
"Stop it!" Sarah could stand it no longer and got on her feet. She felt tears forming in the corners of her eyes. How could they survive seventy years like this? "This isn't a starship—it's a combat zone! Maquis against Starfleet!"
"Sarah, you shouldn't have heard all that…" her mother began.
"Well, I did and I can't take it anymore!"
"Sarah…" Kathryn said in a warning tone.
"Hold on captain. She has a point." Chakotay's eyes met Sarah's. He saw no hate. Maybe he had been wrong about her. He sighed, regaining his composure. Kathryn Janeway had also calmed down after looking at and listening to her daughter.
"All I ask, captain," he finished. "Is that you talk to Torres and get to know her."
The captain nodded stiffly. "Dismissed."
With a final glance at the captain's unique little girl, Chakotay left the ready room.
Before her mother had even opened her mouth, Sarah blurted out, "I spoke out of turn and I apologize. I know I shouldn't have."
Her mother sighed deeply. "You did speak out of turn but I think we needed that." Shaking her head, Kathryn admitted, "Unfortunately, your comment about Voyager being a combat zone wasn't too far off." She looked out the window of the ready room, contemplating their situation. "Sarah, go to our quarters. The ship could be in danger from a quantum singularity and I'd feel a lot better if you weren't on the bridge."
Sarah gazed at her mother for a while, her face calm and her eyes wise beyond her years.
"I don't think Commander Chakotay and I will get into shouting match after you made that point of yours. Don't worry—something will get worked out."
Finally, the small girl nodded. "I'll be in our quarters, then. Good luck," she added softly as she exited the ready room.
In Sick Bay, Kes was listening to the Doctor rant and rave about how he was now going to be used for every hangnail and splinter. He's rather sensitive, isn't he?, she thought. Then she realized he was also shorter.
"Doctor," she said. "Is there a problem with your holomatrix?"
"Why?" he asked.
"You seem…shorter than the last time I saw you."
Dubiously, the EMH instructed the computer to run a diagnostic on his program. As he skimmed over the readout, he exclaimed, "You're right! I've shrunk by approximately 10.4 centimeters!" He tapped his commbadge. "Doctor to Ensign Kim."
"Kim here."
"Ensign, there seems to be problem with my imaging matrix…"
"It'll have to wait, Doc. We're a little busy up here. Kim out."
"Of course," the Doctor muttered to himself. "People don't have the decency to turn off my program when they leave, why should they want to fix my imaging matrix?"
Kes felt badly for the hologram. "Someone will come down when they're finished Doctor. I'm sure of it." Nitrogenated soil samples in hand, she turned to leave. Pausing for a moment, she asked, "Doctor, have you chosen a name for yourself?"
"No, I haven't," he replied, still rather gruff. "I've been too busy treating bumps and bruises."
"Would you like me to deactivate your program before I go?"
The Doctor looked at Kes, the first person to see him as more than a hologram, the first person to really show him kindness. "Yes, I would. And thank you, Kes."
The young Ocampan woman smiled at him, then instructed, "Computer, deactive the Emergency Medical Hologram." He shimmered from view and she left Sick Bay for the hydroponics lab.
On the bridge, Captain Kathryn Janeway ordered the newly completed subspace tractor beam to be engaged.
"It's working," Harry reported from his station. "The beam has penetrated the singularity's event horizon."
However, right on the heels of this good news came bad.
"Captain, the new power relays are failing!"
Voyager jolted harshly and slowly began to be pulled into the singularity.
"Full reverse!" Kathryn ordered, holding tightly to the arms of the captain's chair. "Disengage the tractor beam!"
"I can't, captain," Harry said. "The combined force of the tractor beam and reversed engines is causing massive hull stress!"
"Disengage the impulse engines," she ordered.
Voyager began moving towards the singularity again.
"Janeway to engineering. Disable the tractor beam."
Carey's voice responded, "I'm going to have to cut the power feed manually, captain."
"Do it."
A few tense seconds passed before the bridge crew saw the tractor beam disappear and they were able to move away from the singularity.
Janeway stood and surveyed the situation. "We're going to need some help. Lay in a course for the Ilidaria system, full impulse. Have Neelix report to the bridge. It looks like we're going to follow his suggestion after all."
Kathryn made it to her quarters a few minutes later to check on her daughter. Her attempt to bond with Torres had failed miserably, especially when she had brought up the subject of Starfleet Academy. B'Elanna had irately told her before she left the ready room, "I didn't want anything to do with Starfleet then, and I'm sorry that I have to now." In addition, after Torres had left, the holographic Doctor had contacted her and informed her of the error in his imaging system, as well as the fact that nine crewmembers had reported in with 'severe headaches, muscle spasms, and sudden waves of dizziness', all of which could possibly be related to the quantum singularity. It was just one trouble after another.
She entered their quarters to find PADDs and books scattered about the floor and her daughter seated in amongst them. "Sarah, what is going on here?" she asked, staring at the organized mess. The raven-haired girl looked up at her.
"School," she said simply.
"School?" Her mother was confused.
"I'm four years old," Sarah Janeway replied. "That's plenty old enough to be going to school. I don't plan to spend all my time on Voyager reading or on the Holodeck. I want to be able to make a difference, eventually. I don't want to just be a passenger—I intend to earn my place here."
Kathryn Janeway sank down on the couch and rubbed her temples. "Sarah, you're still a child. Just because you're intellectually ahead of your peers doesn't mean you have to give up being a kid to study all the time."
"But mama," Sarah protested. "I like to study. Look," she added, holding up several PADDs for her mother to see. "Algebra, geometry, astronomy, comprehension, critical thinking, chemistry, Earth history, and a foreign language. I'm going to ask Tuvok to tutor me in Vulcan when he has some free time."
Her mother dropped her face into her hands. "Sarah, please. Don't try to grow up so fast—I don't want to lose my little girl so soon."
"Oh, mama…" her daughter ran to her side and threw her small arms about her mother's weary form. "I'm not trying to grow up. I just want to learn, that's all. I promise. I'll still be a kid."
Before Kathryn had a chance to respond, the ship quivered forcefully yet again. She was on her feet in half a second and had her hand on her commbadge in a half a second more.
"Janeway to bridge."
"We need you up here, captain."
"Understood. I'm on my way. Janeway out."
"I'll be back, Sarah," she added over her shoulder.
"Wait!" Sarah called out. "If I can't study now, can I come to the bridge with you?"
Her mother thought for moment, then relented. "Let's go."
Sarah grinned widely and ran after Kathryn.
When the two of them reached the bridge, Sarah took her usual spot on the floor beside the captain's chair. "Report," her mother ordered.
"We discovered another type-4 quantum singularity with properties identical to the first one," Ensign Kim reported. "When I double-checked the readings, I found that we're in the same position as before and that this is the same singularity." He looked up. "We're right back where we started."
Captain Janeway frowned. "Turn the ship around and engage warp 5."
"Aye captain," Lieutenant Paris responded.
At twelve million kilometers, however, the singularity appeared in front of them again. Knitting her brow thoughtfully, Kathryn instructed Chakotay, "Have all departments submit reports and inform the senior staff members of a meeting at 1500 hours."
Promptly at 1500 hours, Captain Janeway, Commander Chakotay, Lieutenant Carey, Lieutenant Torres, Lieutenant Tuvok, Sarah, and the Doctor, via a monitor, assembled in the briefing room. The Doctor submitted his report. "27 more crewmembers have encountered the symptoms I mentioned earlier. Unfortunately, I have no idea what's going on and I can't provide a treatment. Also, I'm still shrinking. So far, I've lost a total of 67 centimeters of height." The captain thanked him, then closed the channel.
The Doctor's dwindling stature, however, proved to be of assistance to B'Elanna when they moved on to the subject of the singularity. "A localized dampening field around the external sensors should allow us to contact the other ship. Maybe they know more about what's going on than we do."
Nodding in agreement, Captain Janeway dismissed everyone to get to work.
Back on the bridge, Sarah watched and listened as the deflector dish was modified and the dampening field was deployed. "We're receiving a transmission," Tuvok reported.
"Put it through," Kathryn ordered.
Another harshly garbled message, riddled with static, was played. However, when Tuvok cleaned it up, the voice was unmistakably that of none other than Janeway herself.
"That's the message you sent earlier, isn't it?" Sarah observed, surprised.
"It is," Kathryn agreed.
Everyone on the bridge, Sarah noticed, looked rather puzzled at this odd turn of events. How could they be the ones stuck in the singularity's event horizon? Everyone, that is, except B'Elanna Torres. She seemed to be thinking hard. Every so often, she would glance Sarah's way and then in the opposite direction.
Finally, she exclaimed, "Captain, I think I understand what's going on!"
Gathered back in the conference room, B'Elanna paced around the room as she explained her reasoning. "Imagine that you're sitting at the bottom of a frozen pond. You look up, and you see a reflection of yourself." She turned to face the captain. "That's sort of like the situation Voyager's in, only this reflection is time-delayed." She paused for a moment, and then continued. "By my calculations, we have nine hours until we're destroyed by the singularity. We need find a 'crack in the ice', in a manner of speaking, to escape."
Captain Janeway stood up and walked around the table to where B'Elanna was. Both of them were growing excited at the prospect of having a solution. "Voyager must have made a crack when we first entered the singularity," she said.
"Exactly," B'Elanna replied. "We just have to find it."
"What would make the crack visible?" Kathryn mused aloud.
The two women arrived at the same conclusion at the same time. "Warp particles!" they said together.
"Back to the bridge?" Sarah asked, only partially exasperatedly.
"Back to the bridge," her mother confirmed.
The deflector dish was deactivated, and then the warp particles were routed to it. The entire bridge crew waited tensely after the particles were deployed. At last, Lieutenant Paris announced, "I've found an irregularity in the event horizon." He magnified the image on the viewscreen.
Surveying the dimensions the sensors gave her, Kathryn cursed inwardly. "It's too small. It must have collapsed since we entered it. We're going to have to expand it."
"A dekyon beam would do it," Torres suggested. "Voyager's too far away, though. We'd have to use a shuttlecraft."
Janeway nodded. "Torres, you're with me. Commander, you have the bridge. Sarah, behave yourself."
Her daughter smiled. "I always do." She added, "Be careful."
Her mother smiled back as she entered the turbolift with B'Elanna. "I always am," she replied.
It didn't take long to reach the Shuttle Bay and launch a shuttle. Janeway and Torres sat in silence for some time as they flew slowly towards the crack and prepared the dekyon beam.
After a while, B'Elanna she ought to take advantage of the moment. "I want to apologize," she began. "For my earlier behavior."
Kathryn was silent and let the other women continue.
"The truth is, I left the Academy because I didn't think I could make it in Starfleet." She gave a mirthless little laugh. "My professors weren't sorry to see me go."
"Professor Chapman was," Kathryn corrected, checking on the beam's progress. "He thought you were a promising cadet and one of the finest students he ever taught. He placed a note in your permanent record saying he would support your re-entry if you ever reapplied. "
"Chapman?" B'Elanna asked incredulously. "He hated me! I was always fighting with him, questioning his methods…"
"Some professors like students who question their assumptions." Captain Janeway looked over at B'Elanna Torres. "So do some captains," she added.
They broke eye contact when a soft beep from the control panel alerted them to the fact that the shuttle had reached it s destination.
"The dekyon beam is charged," Torres reported.
"Fire the beam," the captain ordered.
They watched the bright orange beam lance out from the shuttle and enter the crack. The crack slowly expanded as the dekyon beam continued to force its way through.
"The hole has increased in growth by 65," B'Elanna informed the captain. Almost immediately, the lights in the shuttle flickered and warning alarms sounded.
Janeway tapped controls on the panel before her, but to no avail. "The shuttle's losing power. 65 is going to have to be enough." She turned the shuttle around and headed back to Voyager.
As the shuttle came about, the two officers stared in astonishment. There were two Voyagers.
"Well, this could be a problem," B'Elanna said, looking at the identical starships.
"We just have to think," Kathryn replied. "It's a simple choice: port, or starboard."
"Port."
"Starboard."
They had spoken at exactly the same moment. B'Elanna defended her selection first. "The port ship has to be the real one. They're moving toward the rift."
"But don't you see?" Kathryn responded. "That's what Voyager did twenty minutes ago. The starboard ship isn't moving." She shifted back to her station. "They're waiting for us."
"If you're wrong…" B'Elanna looked at the captain, leaving her unfinished statement hanging in the air. They both knew what could happen.
Carefully, cautiously, Kathryn guided the shuttlecraft back into the Shuttle Bay. Neither one of them breathed until they had landed with a thump on the docking port.
"Feels like a real ship to me," Kathryn said thankfully.
As soon as they reached the bridge, Voyager began moving towards the tear, which was slowly closing.
"The rift's length has decreased to 110 meters," Tom Paris reported. "It's too small."
Kathryn Janeway stepped up to the viewscreen and thought for a moment before she spoke. "At the Academy," she said. "In command school they taught us to always remember that maneuvering a starship is a very delicate process." She turned to face her crewmembers and her daughter. "But over the years I've learned that sometimes you just have to punch your way through." With determination, she ordered, "Mr. Paris, full power to the impulse engines."
"Aye captain," he replied.
Sarah Janeway tightly wrapped both her hands around the nearest railing support and prepared for a very bumpy ride.
The ship approached the rift, gathering speed. It jolted and shook and everyone reached for the nearest solid support. Control panels sparked and smoke clouded the bridge.
"Shields have failed!" Harry Kim yelled. "Port impulse engines have lost power!"
"Steady," Kathryn said, clenching her jaw.
With one final, great, violent buck, Voyager managed to punch its way through and cleared the singularity in one piece. Several bridge officers rubbed at bumps and bruises and Sarah and Tom gingerly brushed at bloody scratches. Otherwise, everyone was fine.
Captain Janeway sighed in relief.
"Punch your way through, huh?" Tom commented, looking at the captain. "I'll have to remember that one."
Chakotay, Sarah, and Kathryn laughed appreciatively.
Several hours later, Chakotay approached Torres in Engineering. "Congratulations, Lieutenant."
B'Elanna turned to face Chakotay.
"You've earned the position of chief engineer." He smiled at her and shook her hand. "Your first duty: Captain Janeway wants you get the warp drive online by 1300 hours."
"1300 hours?" B'Elanna asked in disbelief. "That's impossible!"
"Then maybe you need to get to get out there and break a few noses. Or," he amended. "At least bend a few." With a final smile of congratulations, Chakotay left engineering.
"Ok then," B'Elanna said, and she began to fire off commands to her new staff. They stood, just looking at her, until she added, "Please." Immediately, the officers seemed to relax and set to work at their given assignments.
Far above, Commander Chakotay had just joined Captain Janeway. They stood and watched as Torres and Carey spoke briefly, and then shook hands.
"Two crewmembers have already filed complaints on her promotion," Kathryn informed Chakotay. "I don't anticipate any major problems, though. Thank you," she added. "I might have missed out on a fine engineer."
"Thank you," he replied. "For giving her a chance." He watched the engineering staff scurry to work below them before he added, "Much of the credit, though, I think, should go to your daughter. If it weren't for her, we might still be fighting."
"Sarah does seem to have a rather calming effect on people. I was afraid to have her on board, but now it seems she'll be quite an asset, especially if the Starfleet/Maquis tensions rise up again." Kathryn smiled. "Shall we get back to our bridge?"
Tom and Sarah had just arrived in Sick Bay. Tom had a small cut on the back of his left hand, while Sarah had one near her right eye. When they didn't see the EMH right away, they walked into his office. Sarah immediately clapped a hand over her mouth in surprise and to keep from giggling. A very tiny Doctor was standing on his chair.
"I'm sorry, lieutenant," he said, trying to keep a dignified air about him. "But whatever it is, you're going to have to get it yourself."
"Oh, it's all right," Tom responded, sitting on the Doctor's desk. "It's just a scratch, really. You know, I like you better this way."
The combination of the diminished hostility between the Starfleet crewmembers and the Maquis crewmembers and the miniature Doctor made her laugh out loud.
We're going to be okay, Sarah thought, really relaxing for the first time in a week. We're going to be okay.
Author's Note: I hope all of you enjoyed this installation of 'Anomaly'! Sorry if the some of the character interactions seem a bit stiff—my main goal is to show how Kathryn and Sarah are coping and how the two of them interact with the other characters. Please review if you can!! The next chapter, of course, will be 'Time And Again'! Thanks for reading!!